Her cheeks redden, and they are the perfect shade against the rest of her creamy skin. I hold out my hand, and she stares at it in confusion before she takes it.
“I want to show you something.”
“What is it?” Her voice shakes slightly.
My body rings with an excitement I haven’t felt in a very long time.
We leave Nicolai’s home, and Evie slows down, pulling on my arm. “It’s okay, Evie.” I glance at her but don’t stop walking.
She doesn’t believe me, and I don’t blame her. She keeps walking, looking around the area. She’s hesitant, but she lets me drag her along until the security team comes into view, and then she stops walking altogether.
I release her hand, but she doesn’t run. Her hands hang at her side, her pulse pounds in her neck.
“What’s happening?” Her voice is a whisper, a terrified whisper.
“I found the girls. They are in the guest house.” I point to the front door.
She’s taking a step away from me. Her reaction wasn’t what I expected. “You’re lying.”
I don’t answer because deep down, she must know I’m not.
“They’re behind that door?” She’s pointing at the door now like it’s a fucking beacon of hope.
“Yes. Leah is there too.”
She bites her lip and frowns at me. Her eyes fill with tears, and she glances from the door of the guest house and back to me.
“If I walk through that door, I won’t be ambushed and taken by Igor?”
Her fear isn’t irrational, but it still irritates me. “I told you. You are staying with me.”
She stares at the door again. I don’t think she heard me as she starts towards it. Her steps grow faster until she reaches the door. She starts to turn the handle, but the door is pulled open.
A large pair of doe eyes take in Evie. No words are exchanged between the girls. They fall into each other’s arms and fall apart. The tears they spill and the sound of their sobs have the other girls arriving at the door. I’ve never been more uncomfortable watching seven wailing women. The security seems to move a bit away from the door.
All of them hug Evie, and it’s only now I see I did the right thing. Her happiness at this moment makes it all worthwhile.
I leave them and return to the house. Igor answers on the second ring.
“You killed my doctor. I really liked him.” His voice is tense.
“I didn’t. The same men that killed the security team broke into my home and killed two of my men and took Evie.”
There is a silence that stretches out, and I allow it.
“Yet you got away.”
“I did.”
His heavy breathing into the phone shows his temper that he is trying to keep in check.
“You broke into my office?”
“You had me investigated.” I fire back.
He pauses, but it’s brief. “You answer to me, boy, not the other way around.”
I turn and look out the back window that spans across half of the kitchen wall. From here, I can see the guest house. The front door is closed. Evie and the women must have retreated inside.
“Who do you answer to, Igor?”
There is silence, and I know my question throws him. “No one.” He’s nervous. His confidence is wavering.
“I got to the warehouse, but I was too late. I’m sorry. It was ablaze, and I saw several bodies inside.”
I change the phone to the other hand as I continue to look out the window at the guest house.
“You think you’re clever?”
His question pisses me off, and I move away from the window. “You’re a piece of shit, Igor. I know everything, and if you want to keep your balls in your pants and not have them relocated to your fucking throat, I’d just listen if I were you. You have the report for the fire already filled in, so file it.” I wait a beat, and when he stays silent, I regret not doing this face to face. How I would love to see the strain on his face as he fights to contain his pride that is now damaged. “It’s clear the men attacked my home and took Evie. I’m lucky I got away with my life. I think that will stand in your favor, that I’ve survived.”
I pause now.
Igor clears his throat before he speaks. “I’ll make a record of the fire and the attack. So the case is finally closed.”
“Yes. The case is closed. In a funny way, you got what you asked for.” He had, after all, set all of this up. It had gone exactly as he had planned; only the women didn’t end up in his hands but mine.
He hasn’t hung up, and I’m sure he wants to ask me where they are, what I intend to do with them, but he can’t bring himself to ask those questions.
“Goodbye, Igor,” I finally say.
I turn back to the guest house as Nicolai comes out the front door. He speaks to his men before walking back towards the house.
“You look like you need a drink.” He says the moment he steps into the kitchen.
I slip the phone into my pocket. “I think the drink is for you.”
Nicolai pours out two shots of vodka and walks to the window where I stand. I take the shot from him.
“I think I may be traumatized.” He downs the vodka. “They sound like a bag of cats.”
I grin as I drink my shot of vodka.
“I was afraid to move.” The fear is real in his eyes, and I grin again.
“Thank you for everything.”
Nicolai gives me a curt nod before going back and refilling his shot. He brings the bottle over to me, but I wave him
