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Michael’s already waiting for me in the car when I get outside. I slide into the black Range Rover, and it drives us away from the estate. I pull up Helena’s bedroom cameras while we drive to check on her. She seems to be anxious, thinking about something. If I were there… I wonder whether she would confide in me or not. She seems to be going in circles.
Perhaps when I return, I can help put her mind at ease.
The drive is short, but it’s more than enough time for my imagination to stir. The things I’m planning to do to her when I get back will more than make up for whatever bullshit Nikolai is considering at this meeting.
We turn down the only street that takes us from the main highway, heading out of town and down to the small cabin where Nikolai is waiting for us. It’s quickly apparent that Michael has severely underestimated the number of men here. It’s easily as many as last time, if not more. A couple still sit in their cars and watch as we approach. They signal our arrival into handheld radios as we park but don’t get out to escort us in. Good.
I signal for a few of my men to hang back and watch the cars. Better to have all our bases covered. I hope the twins have plugged into their radios, too. It will be good to listen back over the meeting just in case anything slips my notice.
As soon as I walk inside, I realize he wasn’t hoping for negotiation.
A single chair in the center of the dim room seats a man. His hands are cuffed behind his back, and he wears a hood over his head. I can hear the horrible rattle of his lungs from across the room. There's dried blood on the hood and on the man's clothes, indicating that he's been severely beaten.
Nikolai stands just behind the handcuffed man, speaking with his underboss. He turns to greet me once the front door shuts. “Ah, you’ve made it.”
I don’t bother with pleasantries this time. “What the hell is this?”
Nikolai’s smile spreads. “This?” He gestures to the man in front of him with two hands. “This is a gift,” he grins even wider, laughing at his own joke. When I don’t respond, he reaches forward and yanks the hood violently off the man’s head.
The man doesn’t react at first. He makes a low, pained groan which signals to me that he’s not quite as close to death as I had originally thought. He tries to raise his head to see where he’s wound up, but he blinks and tries to slowly shake the hair out of his eyes—one of which is swollen badly.
Even as distorted as his appearance is, I recognize him right away.
Alek.
“I must thank you for the information that you have shared with me about Helena’s true identity. I am not sure I would have been able to get it out of her as easily as you did,” he says flatly. He wags a finger in my direction. “Oh, and I went ahead and took care of that other loose end for you.”
Nikolai phrased it in such a way that I know he means for me to ask follow-up questions, so I’ll play along for now. “Loose end?”
Nikolai nods, and a slow, knowing smile spreads across his face. “Yeah, the man that she was staying with. I’m not sure why you let him live in the first place. What was his name again?”
I don’t answer. He doesn’t actually expect me to answer.
“Right, Abram.” Nikolai nods arrogantly. “This is the part where you are supposed to say,thank you,” Nikolai says as he steps closer to me. He claps me on the shoulder and shakes me slightly in what might have been considered a friendly gesture if it weren’t for the coldness in his eyes. “See? We already make such a good team!”
It’s a good thing that Helena isn’t here. I don’t want her to hear this.
“I was surprised that you had made that move without saying anything,” I remark while fighting the urge to shake his hand off my shoulder. Though it makes sense now why he arrived early if he was fact-checking my progress. He probably had some of his undercover men arrive and do the dirty work, only for him to collect the rest of the information himself later.
“He stayed strong for a good long while. As he should, man of his standing and all. Didn’t want to give us much of anything—even when we tortured him forhours.” Nikolai laughs.
If I didn’t give a damn about Helena, I don’t even know if Abram’s death would have bothered me. How many times have I done basically the same thing?
“But—” Nikolai says loudly as he steps into the room once more, walking a slow circle around the bloody man. “By killing him, we were free to turn his house inside out until we found all of the papers that he had forged to get them here. It was everything I needed to prove his guilt. He should have known better than to keep records of their name changes. Rookie mistake for somebody so seasoned.”
At least Michael and I were right that it was Nikolai’s men who killed Abram. I can hardly believe they were bold enough to go behind my back and do whatever they want.
Nikolai leans forward and claps his hands on either side of Alek’s bruised face, and the man winces. “And that’s how we were able to find the connection to this sorry bastard.”
It should bemekilling that “bastard”. It’s the very least that he deserves. I’ll be damned if I let Nikolai take that kill from me.
“So, tell me, Daniel. What is taking so long? You aren’t getting cold feet, are you?” Nikolai says as he sharply turns the focus of the room from Alek to me. “I know that my ex-fiancée has a way of working her way into charming even the coldest of hearts.” He smiles sinisterly at me. “I mean, I’m living proof of that. But it’s all an act. The moment she doesn’t need something from you… the viperous bitch will turn on you.”
Alek jerks and curses in his chair. It appears that he doesn't care much forpeople insulting his sister. But I'm not sure why. He hasn't even had the decency to be in her life. Nikolai slaps the man's face once more and presses his finger to his lips to silence him.
I can see where this is going. Things are going to get ugly if we don't continue to agree. We'll both lose good men if this turns into a shootout, and I'm not willing to make that sacrifice.
“I’m not having second thoughts about anything, Volkovich. You asked me to make her suffer and that’s exactly what I’m doing. I figured the more pain the better.”
