I take out the cell phone and turn it on. I leave it sitting on the table to power up as I search the next two drawers.
A bang on the door has me grinding my teeth.
“Can’t you hold them off longer?” I press my finger to my ear as I try to speak to Nicolai.
No answer, but no one bangs on the door again. Getting out of the chair, I try to pull open the filing cabinet, but it’s locked. Removing the knife from my pocket, I wriggle it around in the lock. Using the palm of my hand, I slam it into the handle of the knife; the lock gives way. They aren’t built very strong.
I pull open the top drawer and search the B’s. I’m looking for The Brigadier, which I knew won’t really be filed, but time is tight, so I start with the obvious. It’s two drawers down that I find a file on me and open it.
Another loud bang on the door has me stuffing it into the band of my trousers. Closing the door of the filing cabinet, I return to the desk where I left the phone. It’s looking for a fingerprint. I power it off and put it back in the drawer.
“Can I come out?” I ask Nicolai.
No answer. I remove the chair carefully from under the door handle. And listen. But there is no noise.
“Yes, come out and tell everyone what you are.” Nicolai’s voice is still slurred in my ear.
I open the door to an empty hall. I don’t stall but get into the elevator and take it all the way down to the ground floor.
The moment I step out, the noise of Nicolai has attracted every member of staff as he fights with Igor’s security. I’m surprised they haven’t taken him out back and beaten him.
Nicolai spots me, and his voice grows louder. The lobby is large enough that I go unnoticed out the front door.
Getting into the car, I take out the file and start to read it. I’m expecting to find a list of jobs about me, but that’s not what I’m reading. It’s about my childhood. All about my father being incarcerated and how I went to Camp Cempt.
I’m flipping to the next page that lists all my training. How the fuck did he get this information on me? The door opens, and I look up as Nicolai gets in. He starts the car, takes a glance at the papers. “Did you get what you needed?” He asks as he pulls away.
“I’m not sure.” I return to the pages and continue to read my fucking life.
“He was investigating me,” I say as I turn to the next page.
“Why?” Nicolai asks, running his hand through his hair. Red marks on his neck make me pause.
“It got rough?”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle. Was it worth it?” Again his gaze darts to the file.
“General Obshcheye’s pet.” I nearly fucking laugh at that. The General didn’t have pets. I was his favorite, but that didn’t mean anything if I fucked up.
It’s just pages and pages about me. Flipping to the next page, I find a report. “I might have something,” I say to Nicolai, who keeps looking at me. It’s a report about the job.
All seven bodies were found burned at number forty-two, Court Town, Industrial Estate. “It’s a report,” I say to Nicolai as I read on. “It’s a report by me closing the case on Evie and the girls.”
Nicolai frowns at me as he slows down outside his home.
I glance down at my signature at the end of the report. “It says I found seven bodies at the warehouse where the girls are being kept.”
“So he takes you off the case saying he found them but files a report saying you found them dead?”
“Why me? Why did he pick me for the job? Why investigate me?” Frustration claws at me. I should have taken the phone with me. We would have been picked up on video footage along with the security saying I had been there, but stealing the phone would have been wise.
I turn the page, and it’s the final one. It’s a request to retrieve the girls and bring them back safely. It’s a request to Igor. Initials that I can’t make out are scribbled on the bottom.
“Igor was requested to get the girls.”
“That just confirms what we already know. That he’s a soldier, the request must have been from The Brigadier. I rip the piece of paper out of the file and hold it up to the window to see if I can make out the initials.
“OB is the initials,” I say as Nicolai parks the car and turns it off.
I drop the page. “We need to get to the warehouse, get the girls, and burn it.” I tighten my grip on the file. “We need to do what the report says before he does it.”
“What if he knew you would break-in? What if this is a setup?”
“This is a setup.” I hold up the letter again. “He picked me for a reason. He signed the report with my name for a reason.”
My past intrigued him.
“General Obshcheye,” I say as it all clicks into place.
“You said the initials were OB.”
“Obshcheye Baluev. That’s the General’s name.” I exhale as I place the file on my knee and grin at Nicolai. “He picked me because the General is the Brigadier, and I’ve always been in his favor.” I laugh now as I think of how clever Igor was. “He picked me to the do the job because the
