“Mikado.” I touched his arm, his puffy coatsinking under the pressure.
He stopped. Dark shadows hung over us in themeager light from the few streetlights above the area.
“Listen.” I kept my voice even, matter offact. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you about Viktor. You wereright. And your boss, Alexander, he killed a boy right in front ofme. It was awful. They shouldn’t be able to do this.”
“There’s no turning back now.” He started towalk along the platform, and I stopped him again.
This was it. It was my chance to turn him.“What if there was a way to make a difference?”
He narrowed his eyes at me.
I swallowed hard. “What if there was a wayto put an end to it all?”
Chapter 26
He shook his head. “There is no way to endit. I’ve gone over every scenario I can think of, and there is noway to beat the bratva. You and I, we’re stuck. Forever.” Hestarted to walk away again, his shoes thudding on the dirtysidewalk.
“Mikado, you know we have to stop this,” Iblurted.
He stopped, twisted back to me and said,“What are you talking about? There’s nothing we can do, and even ifwe could, it would be suicide. Some rich people lost their cars,sad day for them. You’ll have to learn to deal with the guilt inyour own way.” He turned back and walked on. A car passed by us,but other than that, no one was around.
“Mikado,” I yelled out. “It’s more than justthe cars.” He stopped again, and I moved toward him, speaking morequietly. “They’re also shipping a container of kids to Africa to besold as slaves.”
“You’ve lost it.” He threw his hands abovehis head as he walked, clearly exasperated.
I ran after him. I took hold of his arm, andhe stopped and sighed loudly. I walked around him to face him. “Ithink you know what I’m talking about. You don’t want to thinkabout it—you don’t want to admit your part in it—but you know it,don’t you?”
Mikado just stared at me, but he didn’t turnor try to walk away.
“You know I’m telling the truth.”
Finally, Mikado looked down, shame marringhis features. “So? So I know, what good does that do anyone?There’s nothing we can do. And if we tried, we’d end up just likethem.”
“What if I told you that if you got meinside, I’d be able to get the kids out without gettingcaught?”
“I’d say you were a liar or delusional.Alexander has an army in there.” He raised an eyebrow.
“I have a plan to end this, but I needyou.”
He didn’t move or speak, just stared atme.
“All we need to do is get into the office—Ineed to get my eyes on the documents and find out where they’rekeeping the kids. No one would even know. You saw all the chaos. Wecould make a difference, Mikado.”
Something shifted in his eyes and posture,like a weight was just lifted. He looked up to the dark sky.
“If we get caught,” I said. “I’ll say it wasme, that I threatened your family or something.”
He snorted. “You think he’d care? Not even.”He folded his hands over his stomach.
“You’re right. Just get me in and leaveme…You get out.”
“No way. I’d feel responsible for whathappened to you.”
My heart thudded with hope for him. He was areally good guy stuck in an impossible situation. I had to helphim. He didn’t belong with these awful people. I took a deepbreath, leaned into him and whispered, “What if I told you I knewsome people who could relocate you and your family and get you outof the bratva?”
He grabbed my arm and whispered back, “Areyou telling me you’re working for someone? That you’reundercover?”
“I can’t explain, but I can tell you we’renot alone. We can do this, and once it’s all over, I can promiseyou you’ll be done with the bratva forever.”
“So, this is why you got involved withViktor?” He rubbed his hand through his hair. “Who is it? TheFBI?”
“I can’t tell you that. But I do know theycan save you and your family, and you would finally be free. Allyou have to do is get me access to that shipyard.” I could tell hewas seriously considering it. A nasty wind had picked up. I shouldhave felt cold, but I didn’t.
“I don’t know.” He looked all around.
“Well, I’m going back, with or withoutyou—but it would be easier if I had you to help me.” I started backup the stairs when he called out to me.
“Wait.” He ran to me. “You swear you can getme and my family out of here?”
“I swear.” I looked him directly in theeyes.
“Okay. I’ll help you get in. And the FBI orwhoever is helping you, they can help you get out, right?”
“Right.” Jeremy would never let the bratvaget their hands on me.
Mikado stood still in his eerie way for amoment, then nodded.
“Awesome.” I pressed a palm to my heart.“You’ll see. Everything will work out. Thank you. I’m going to giveyou a number to call after we’re in. What’s your number?”
He gave it to me.
“Excellent.” My skin tingled and an emptyfeeling settled in my stomach as nerves about going up againstAlexander hit me. I kept to the task at hand to distract me. “I’mtexting it to you right now. Call that number and say, ‘I can’tbelieve I dialed the wrong number six times in a row.’ They willthen give you the coordinates of a phone. On that phone you willfind contact information that will get you to safety.” My mouthwent dry and a feeling of giddiness washed over me thinking thatMikado, at least, would be safe.
I knew once I was inside the shipyard,Jeremy would be there with the team watching over me, and as Idrove out with the stolen kids, he would be there to back me up andhelp me get the kids to safety. I sent the team a text telling themMikado and I were going back in and to stand by.
Mikado and I stole a car from the
