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A wave of hot air hit me from behind, lifting me off my feet and sending me flying toward the front gate. Chunks of the car sailed past me on my left, some of them on fire. Pieces of house were landing on the lawn all around me as I hit the icy ground and slid belly-down across it. My body was half numb from the impact. My chest hurt when I breathed—probably a fractured rib or two.
I pushed myself up gingerly and turned to see the front house with the daycare on fire and the one behind it obliterated. Parts of the lawn were burning, and some of the ice had melted instantly into puddles that now steamed and even bubbled in spots. A mushroom of smoke and ash was dissipating over the second house’s wreckage, and the roar of its blaze stung my explosion-damaged ears.
Some motherfucker had just tried to blow me up. The Ivanovs were either dead in that room, or those were decoys and they’d already skipped town.
A chunk of chimney had sailed over my head and slammed into the front gate, knocking it completely off its hinges. I hurried out, thinking only of warning Vasily, Sergei…Alissa.
But as I reached my car, checking under it and under the hood for tampering first, something else popped into my head again. Who the hell knew I was coming? Who sold me out?
There were only two people who had the knowledge and opportunity to do this, and thinking of either of them made me sick. For the only men to know that I was coming after the Ivanovs here were the same two I wanted to warn.
I didn’t call either of them. My head was spinning, so I followed my gut. And my gut said keep silent and get the hell home to those I cared about.
Who might also be the next on my enemy’s kill list.
Chapter 17
Alissa
Isurfaced from deep dreams of lying in Gregor’s arms to discover that he was gone, the apartment dark. The cat was sleeping on Gregor’s pillow and lifted its head to blink at me as my phone kept buzzing.
I didn’t recognize the number. I hesitated, but finally connected the call, in case it was something urgent and Gregor had had to call on an unfamiliar phone. “Who is this?”
“Hi, baby.”
I immediately felt like throwing up. It was Alan again.
For a moment I considered hanging up, but I was angry now. Having Gregor at my side, and getting Michelle back, had made me braver.
“I’m not your baby, you sick piece of shit. My investigator told me everything. Stalking my house with a rape kit? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I-I didn’t do any of that,” he stammered. This damn lunatic never seemed to know how to take it when I stopped being nice. “Your guy lied to you.”
“Bullshit.” Tears brimmed in my eyes, but my voice was only shaking from one emotion, rage. “You want to kidnap, rape, and kill me. You got caught in the act and warned out of town. And instead, your dumb, crazy ass is harassing me again. I swear toGod, if you show up again,I will shoot you myself.” I might have to borrow a gun to do it, but I sure as hell would.
“Jesus! Would you listen to yourself?” he complained, like I was the nutcase in this situation. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“Another lie. Just give it up, damn it!” I hung up.
He called over and over until I picked up again.
“What the hell do you think this is going to accomplish, Alan? It’s not like I’ll ever go back to you after what you’ve done!”
“I know, I know, we broke up and you’re salty and want to make me work for a reconciliation.” His tone was so condescending it was all I could do not to scream at him.
“No, I’m saying you fucked things up so badly, and continue to fuck up, and because of that I am never going back to you. Ever. You don’t act like a cop or a good man, you act like the fucking criminals you’re supposed to put away. I’m sure you took a goddamn bribe from the Ivanovs to keep from actually doing what was needed to find and rescue my baby. You know how I know that? Because you took almost a year pretending to look and then gave up. Then, a goddamn private investigator was able to find her intwo fucking days.”
He was breathing heavily now, like he was running a race. Adrenaline. “You’re lying.”
“She’s sleeping thirty feet away from me. No thanks to you. All thanks goes to the man who actually did the job. So stop deluding yourself into thinking we will ever be an item again. You may not be scared of legal consequences, but I can still expose you.”
There was a long silence.Hang up, I begged silently.Give up. Leave us alone. You’ve done enough damage.
But Alan wasn’t done yet. Instead, he started laughing. It was a low, dry, rattling sound, strangely ugly. It frightened and enraged me all at once. I was about to hang up again when he said, “You could try to ruin my reputation. You could do that. I doubt anyone would believe you, because you’re just some single mom and I’m a decorated cop.”
“Not for long,” I cut in. But he just plowed on.
“Let me tell you a little something. First off, yeah. The kidnappers are mob connected, and that makes them off limits to us or anyone outside of their organization. But your investigator? The one who supposedly got your kid back? He’s on the same fucking payroll as the guys who took her.”
