Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 89090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Natalya’s eyes pop when she spots me. She looks relieved before it is quickly replaced with panic. “I swear to the big guy that I did everything in my power to change his mind.” She waves her hand at the cash register I’m marching toward. “And I charged him full price for the bow tie even with it being on special.” As she catches her breath from the swiftness of her words, I yank open the drawer under the cash register and search through a bundle of business cards. “If you’re looking for the local employment agency, don’t bother. I visited them on my way to work this morning.”
Stunned, I peer up at her. “You’re leaving?”
My shock leaps onto her face. “No. Not unless you’re firing me.”
“Why would I fire you?”
“Because I…” Her words trail off as her nose screws up. “Did you see Yev last night?” When I nod, she murmurs, “And…” Her eyes pop again. “Ohhh… my bad. I thought this was your cranky face.” With a hip swing, she slams the drawer shut, then points to the break room. “There are condoms in the back… third shelf on the right.”
“I’m not after condoms.”
When I yank the drawer back open, good luck rains down on me. The business card I’m searching for is at the top of the sloped stack.
I’m partway to the door when Nat’s assumption smacks back into me. “Why would we need condoms at work?” Before she can answer me, a reflection in the side mirror of a dark sedan captures my attention. He has eyes I’d never forget, but instead of welcoming me with outstretched arms, he cranks the ignition and whizzes down the street for the second time in under twelve hours.
What the?
“Who was that?” Natalya asks, scaring me half to death.
“I don’t know.” I’m not lying. Those eyes couldn’t have belonged to my father. There’s no way he would be only feet away from me and take off like a crazy man. He’d never hurt me like that.
Needing to finish one puzzle before cracking open another, I spin to face Natalya. “Why don’t you close up and head home? Trade is slow, and we’ll make enough online orders to keep the doors open next week.”
“It’s Saturday. We never close on a Saturday.”
“We do now.”
After squeezing her hand in silent pleading for her not to fight me on this, I tell her I’ll be in touch before returning to my apartment.
Annika is no longer seated by the door. She’s standing by the window, peering down at the street.
I have trouble deciphering which way is up when she whispers, “That was him. The man in Yev’s apartment was the same man in the sedan.” She spins to face me, her eyes full of silent apologies. “I swear to God, I made sure no one was following me. I took several different routes and changed my coat on the subway.”
“This isn’t about you,” I mutter, easing her turmoil. “It is about me.”
She joins me in the living room, her extended stomach swaying along with her gentle steps. “How can you be so sure?”
I hand her the business card, stunning her into silence. The last five digits of the local number are identical to the ones she jotted down.
It is the direct line to Leon Cabanow’s office.
30
POLINA
“If he’s hurt Yev, I’ll—”
“Brutality might be how things work in your family.” Vasily glares at me to make sure I can’t miss the disdain in his voice when referencing my family. “But my father isn’t like that. He’s respectful, kind—”
“And the last person to see Yev alive.”
He brushes off the accusation in my tone with a pfft before straying his eyes to the scenery whizzing by his window. I contacted Vasily the instant I linked a connection to Yev’s disappearance with his father. He told me I was being ridiculous until he spotted the numerous requests from his father for them to meet today.
The messages were marked urgent.
That’s why we’re sitting in a black car, driving to an unknown location.
Supposedly, Leon’s stipulations included me.
I almost told him to shove his demands. The only reason I didn’t is because not even the street kids Micah and Feo regularly took under their wing when Yev was abroad knew of Yev’s whereabouts.
It is as if he up and vanished.
“What were they discussing, anyway? If your father is such an upstanding member of society, why does he hang off Yev like he wants a replacement son?”
It dawns on me that things are harder on Vasily than I realized when he mutters under his breath, “He probably does.” He scratches the stubble he didn’t have time to shave since he spent most of his day hungover and sick. “The address on the GPS is for a fight circuit my father is trying to get off the ground.”