AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Is this you fishing? I expected better.”
“I’m gonna crack this story one way or the other.”
“Tell you what,” I suggest. “Let’s take a little drive. Just around the corner. You can ask me as many questions as you want in that time.”
His nostrils flare. “I’m not getting in your car.”
I shrug. “Then I’ll get in yours. Unless, of course, you’re scared to be alone with me?”
The easiest way to get to a coward is through his ego. Fyodor taught me that, back when he was more than just a walking shadow.
Sure enough, Remmy bristles on the spot. “Fine. My car, then.”
While Remmy gets into the driver’s seat, I drop Kirill the location I plan to have Remmy stop at. Then I slide into the cramped passenger seat of his LeSabre.
Ping. Ping.I glance at my screen. Two messages, sent within seconds of each other.
KIRILL::thumbs-up:
EMMA:Ruslan, what are you doing?
I put my phone away, conscious of the fact that Remmy keeps glancing at me. His knuckles are bright white as he shifts gears and starts driving, though he makes a big show of whistling like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
“You’ve got ‘til the empty lot on 58th,” I tell him.
He scowls. “That’s not very far.”
“Then I suggest you talk fast.”
He leans to the side and pulls out a small recording device. “On the record?” he ventures.
I shrug. “Go for it.”
“Is it true that you’re in the process of launching an illegal, highly dangerous, possibly addictive drug that’s funded by Bane Corporation?”
I don’t falter. “Of course not. I’m not in the pharmaceutical industry. Nor am I a drug dealer. I run a high-end security tech firm. That is my primary source of revenue.”
Remmy grinds his teeth. “I have it on good authority—”
“Do you have a name?”
He grimaces. “Not as such, no.”
“So then it’s hardly ‘good authority,’” I dismiss with a chuckle.
“I’ve heard people refer to you as ‘pakhan.’Is it true that you are the head of a Russian crime syndicate?”
I lace my fingers in my lap. “I’m a businessman, Mr. Jefferson. That is all.”
“And what about the disappearance of Mattias Helva?”
The name rings a bell, but I feign ignorance. “Who?”
“A young man on your payroll. He disappeared a few weeks ago.”
Ah, right. The skinny scientist with the smart mouth. The one who ate a bullet for his betrayal. “I’m sure the Bane teams in charge of that sort of thing are working diligently to assist the authorities in whatever ways necessary. But I don’t keep track of every single one of my employees on a personal basis, Mr. Jefferson.”
“Just the pretty ones?”
