The man is marching towards me, and I pull the trigger several times, but nothing happens. I’m staring at the gun, wondering why it won’t work. I have no idea and don’t get any more time to try again as the man reaches out and takes a handful of my hair, dragging me forward. I don’t release the gun until it’s kicked from my numb fingers. It slides across the floor and doesn’t stop until it hits the skirting board.
He drags me from the bedroom, and as I pass Michail, he gargles for the final time before life leaves his gaze.
We move quickly down the hall as I’m dragged from the bedroom and into the living space.
I’m released without warning and fall to my knees in the middle of the lounge. Air stills in my throat, and all I can think of is what Lucca said earlier about the girls being raped or beaten. Is this how they were being handled?
“Where are my sisters?” I ask, standing up.
Sweat drips off the side of his face. His eyes dart around the space, and he isn’t focused anymore.
“Where is he?” He barks, pointing the sword at me.
“I don’t know.” I want to ask about my sisters again, but he moves closer and brings the sword to my throat. My hands rise into the air like I can stop him from killing me.
“Don’t lie to me.”
The sword nicks the sensitive skin of my neck. Warm liquid dribbles down, leaving a path of blood that soaks into my top.
“I’m not lying. Please.”
The sword is removed from my neck, and he points at the couch. “Sit down and don’t try anything.”
My legs feel like they are encased in blocks of cement, but when he points the sword at me again, I manage to make my way to the couch.
“Are my sisters dead?” I ask after a few moments of him sweating and pacing in front of me. He glares at me and tightens his hold on the sword.
“Be quiet.” His snarl has me sinking further back into the couch. My neck still aches, but I think it’s stopped bleeding. I feel petty even thinking about my sore neck when Michail is dead in my bedroom and what will happen when Lucca walks through that door? Will I have to watch him die before I’m taken?
That thought wraps itself heavily around my shoulders as I sit, waiting for Lucca to come back. The moment the red light appears over the elevator, both the man with the sword and I lean forward. The doors open, and Lucca steps out. He looks up at the man, but his gaze doesn’t touch me.
My body starts to tremble, and I want to go to him, but I don’t dare move a muscle.
Lucca takes off his jacket slowly, like a man with a sword isn’t standing in his lounge.
“I want out.” The man with the sword holds it with both hands as he takes two steps in Lucca’s direction, but he’s smart enough to keep his distance. Lucca’s calm is unsettling, and I don’t know if it’s that he doesn’t care if I die or if this man is no real threat to him.
Lucca hangs his jacket up on a rack, and his gaze touches me. It’s quick, but his eyes flicker down to my neck.
“You hurt her.” He states.
The man quickly looks at me before frowning back at Lucca. “I want out. That’s all I want.” He’s sweating again. I can see it making a pathway down the side of his face.
“Michail,” Lucca calls his name, and I close my eyes against the image of Michail's gaping throat. I didn’t know him, but he was a man, a man who might have a family and didn’t deserve to die.
“He’s dead.” The man shuffles back and forth. “I just wanted to clear the air, but he wouldn’t let me. I had no choice. I want out of this.”
“You think I have the power to allow you to walk away from this?” Lucca’s voice is calm, and he unbuttons the sleeve of his shirt and rolls it up to his forearm.
“You’re the fucking Handler.”
My heart won’t slow, and now as this man swings the sword in a large arc with anger, I’m afraid he’ll turn and remember I’m sitting here and slice me to pieces.
The room closes in, and black dots swim around my vision. I dig my nails into my arm, and the sound that had ceased comes flooding back.
“You knew the moment you started this job that there are only two ways out.” Lucca takes a side step that brings him closer to me.
“You’re not doing yourself any favors, Handler. I can kill you both right now.” He barks.
“I think you’re intelligent enough to know that I can’t really grant you what you want.” Lucca unbuttons his other sleeve and rolls it up.
“I was only a lookout.” The man starts, and there is a dip in his voice.
Lucca nods. “Did you work with Sacha?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s dead.”
I’m staring at Lucca, feeling like he’s trying to provoke this guy, who doesn’t need any encouragement at all.
The man is shaking his head. “I was just talking to him.”
“I was just in his home, and his throat was sliced.” Lucca nods at the sword.
“I promise I’ll let you leave here with your life if you tell me where the girls are.”
The man half laughs. “I don’t know. They didn’t tell me where they were taking them.”
“Who are ‘they’?” Lucca asks.
The man is shifting from one leg to another, making me nervous. I glance behind me, I could slide off the couch and crawl behind it, but if I move, he will
