Chapter 24
Daniel
“What’s the update?” I ask Michael the moment we’re alone. He pulls the sliding door shut behind us for privacy.
“I’ve just been informed that Nikolai’s mobilizing his men to head this way. The twins have intercepted a message with coordinates to the place he wants you two to meet. According to the satellite imaging that they found, it’s a small, secluded cabin way off of the highway, just outside of town,” Michael says plainly.
I’ve always appreciated how he just cuts right to the chase and never sugarcoats things. It means that he still values my time, even after we’ve been together this long.
Nikolai, eh?I don’t like that he’s managed to get a cabin this close to town and that none of my men have caught on to it before now. “Have they arrived already?”
“There are a few cars parked outside the place but not nearly as many as before at the motel. The twins have been looking into air traffic logs, and it seems that Nikolai brought his private jet down here last night, but there haven’t been any updates about what he’s been doing since he arrived.”
“That’s a lot of time unaccounted for…” I trail off, thinking. It’s not like he knows the location of this property. And if there had been people snooping around looking for information or updates on my progress, it would have been brought to my attention.
“Yeah. The general tone of the messages seems to indicate that Volkovich’s not pleased with the speed things are going. He wants the girl dead,” Michael says.
“He’s choosing to be this impatient… but I can’t let this stand. Round up a few of our best guys and get the cars ready.”
Michael nods and leaves the room. A familiar irritation starts to creep up the back of my neck. I hate working on another man’s timetable. And I really don’t appreciate being rushed. Least of all right now, when I finally had a breakthrough with Helena.
I still haven’t fully decided just what it is that I’m going to do with my pet. If he’s thinking that I’m going to be bringing her along with me or delivering the proof that he wants of her death, he’s going to be sorely disappointed.
Henry’s coming down the stairs with Carolina as I’m on my way out the door.
“Where are you going?” he asks.
“I’ve got to step out on some business. Behave while I’m gone—or else.” I wink at him so he knows I’m only teasing.
Michael’s already waiting for me in the car when I get outside. I slide into the black Range Rover, and it drives us away from the estate. I pull up Helena’s bedroom cameras while we drive to check on her. She seems to be anxious, thinking about something. If I were there… I wonder whether she would confide in me or not. She seems to be going in circles.
Perhaps when I return, I can help put her mind at ease.
The drive is short, but it’s more than enough time for my imagination to stir. The things I’m planning to do to her when I get back will more than make up for whatever bullshit Nikolai is considering at this meeting.
We turn down the only street that takes us from the main highway, heading out of town and down to the small cabin where Nikolai is waiting for us. It’s quickly apparent that Michael has severely underestimated the number of men here. It’s easily as many as last time, if not more. A couple still sit in their cars and watch as we approach. They signal our arrival into handheld radios as we park but don’t get out to escort us in. Good.
I signal for a few of my men to hang back and watch the cars. Better to have all our bases covered. I hope the twins have plugged into their radios, too. It will be good to listen back over the meeting just in case anything slips my notice.
As soon as I walk inside, I realize he wasn’t hoping for negotiation.
A single chair in the center of the dim room seats a man. His hands are cuffed behind his back, and he wears a hood over his head. I can hear the horrible rattle of his lungs from across the room. There”s dried blood on the hood and on the man”s clothes, indicating that he”s been severely beaten.
Nikolai stands just behind the handcuffed man, speaking with his underboss. He turns to greet me once the front door shuts. “Ah, you’ve made it.”
I don’t bother with pleasantries this time. “What the hell is this?”
Nikolai’s smile spreads. “This?” He gestures to the man in front of him with two hands. “This is a gift,” he grins even wider, laughing at his own joke. When I don’t respond, he reaches forward and yanks the hood violently off the man’s head.
The man doesn’t react at first. He makes a low, pained groan which signals to me that he’s not quite as close to death as I had originally thought. He tries to raise his head to see where he’s wound up, but he blinks and tries to slowly shake the hair out of his eyes—one of which is swollen badly.
Even as distorted as his appearance is, I recognize him right away.
Alek.
“I must thank you for the information that you have shared with me about Helena’s true identity. I am not sure I would have been able to get it out of her as easily as you did,” he says flatly. He wags a finger in my direction. “Oh, and I went ahead and took care of that other loose end for you.”
Nikolai phrased it in such a way that I know he means for me to ask follow-up questions, so I’ll play along for now. “Loose end?”
Nikolai nods, and a slow, knowing smile spreads across his face. “Yeah, the man that she was staying with. I’m not sure why you let him live in the first place. What was his name again?”
I don’t answer. He doesn’t actually expect me to answer.
“Right, Abram.” Nikolai nods arrogantly. “This is the part where you are supposed to say, thank you,” Nikolai says as he steps closer to me. He claps me on the shoulder and shakes me slightly in what might have been considered a friendly gesture if it weren’t for the coldness in his eyes. “See? We already make such a good team!”
It’s a good thing that Helena isn’t here. I don’t want her to hear this.
“I was surprised that you had made that move without saying anything,” I remark while fighting the urge to shake his hand off my shoulder. Though it makes sense now why he arrived early if he was fact-checking my progress. He probably had some of his undercover men arrive and do the dirty work, only for him to collect the rest of the information himself later.
“He stayed strong for a good long while. As he should, man of his standing and all. Didn’t want to give us much of anything—even when we tortured him for hours.” Nikolai laughs.
If I didn’t give a damn about Helena, I don’t even know if Abram’s death would have bothered me. How many times have I done basically the same thing?
“But—” Nikolai says loudly as he steps into the room once more, walking a slow circle around the bloody man. “By killing him, we were free to turn his house inside out until we found all of the papers that he had forged to get them here. It was everything I needed to prove his guilt. He should have known better than to keep records of their name changes. Rookie mistake for somebody so seasoned.”
At least Michael and I were right that it was Nikolai’s men who killed Abram. I can hardly believe they were bold enough to go behind my back and do whatever they want.
Nikolai leans forward and claps his hands on either side of Alek’s bruised face, and the man winces. “And that’s how we were able to find the connection to this sorry bastard.”
It should be me killing that “bastard”. It’s the very least that he deserves. I’ll be damned if I let Nikolai take that kill from me.
“So, tell me, Daniel. What is taking so long? You aren’t getting cold feet, are you?” Nikolai says as he sharply turns the focus of the room from Alek to me. “I know that my ex-fiancée has a way of working her way into charming even the coldest of hearts.” He smiles sinisterly at me. “I mean, I’m living proof of that. But it’s all an act. The moment she doesn’t need something from you… the viperous bitch will turn on you.”
Alek jerks and curses in his chair. It appears that he doesn”t care much forpeople insulting his sister. But I”m not sure why. He hasn”t even had the decency to be in her life. Nikolai slaps the man”s face once more and presses his finger to his lips to silence him.
I can see where this is going. Things are going to get ugly if we don”t continue to agree. We”ll both lose good men if this turns into a shootout, and I”m not willing to make that sacrifice.
“I’m not having second thoughts about anything, Volkovich. You asked me to make her suffer and that’s exactly what I’m doing. I figured the more pain the better.”
“Good. Then I am glad that I’ve brought Alek here as extra motivation to move faster!” He moves to the ledge above the small fireplace and pulls a silver flask from his pocket. He pours what looks like vodka into two small shot glasses and holds one out to me. When I don’t take it right away, he downs the first one.
I’m trying to sort out what his comment is supposed to mean. I have to assume that he means I’m going to get Alek once this is all over as a prize for a job well done. It’s a little patronizing—but given how much I’m going to enjoy killing that bastard, I’ll allow it.
My silence isn’t the reaction that Nikolai wants. He reaches into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulls out a folded picture. “Here’s further proof that you can’t trust a single thing that viper says. I figured this would help keep a clear head.”
He holds the picture out for me, and I take it. It shows three people sitting together. Alek with his arm around Helena… and Lilian sitting right beside them. My sister is there, smiling brightly and leaning into Helena like they are the best of friends.
The air in the room starts to feel thin. I show nothing on my face as I take in all of the details of the picture in my hands. She lied to me. She lied and I believed it. Again. She played me for a fool another time. How the hell can I keep falling for her bullshit? She looked me in the eye and lied. She sobbed and cried as she denied knowing anything about my sister.
I press my tongue against the roof of my mouth firmly to keep from saying anything.
“You can keep that, Daniel. Think of it as another gift. From what I understand, Alek here met Lilian through Helena. She’s the one who introduced them and started the whole thing. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? What else could she know and be lying about? What’s she withholding? Even if she starts spouting secrets like a fountain… can you really believe any of them? Her word isn’t worth much… is it?” Nikolai shrugs and accepts a shot of vodka from his tall, stoic underboss.
He holds one out for me, and I politely decline.
“Suit yourself, but I think that you’re going to need it very soon.”
How could I have been so naive? My mind is racing, going over every word she”s said to me and piecing it all together. She lied, there”s no doubt about it. Does she knowwhat happened to Lilian? I”ll tie her up and carve the truth out of her if necessary, but I really, really hoped it wouldn”t come to that.
My mouth feels like sandpaper.
Nikolai downs the second shot meant for me and throws the glass into the fire slowly dying in the hearth. The flames flare for a moment. “I look forward to our continued partnership, Colombo. But if you want to have the pleasure of killing Alek yourself and securing this alliance with my family, I want Helena’s head by tomorrow.”
Nikolai snaps his fingers and two men come up and roughly grab Alek under his arms and start to half-guide, half-carry the nearly unconscious man out of the room. The rest of Nikolai’s men follow suit. Volkovich stays to leave last.
“Tomorrow, Colombo,” he says again in an openly threatening tone. “Or the whole deal’s off.”
He leaves without another word, not even bothering to close the door behind them. Michael and I sand in the cabin and listen as their cars pull away and leave. I grab the first item closest to me and hurl it against the far wall with all of the strength I can muster.
“Fuck!” I shout as I throw a second thing. It doesn’t make me feel much better.
I can’t believe I let her fool me. I wanted to believe that I was getting through to her. Sure enough, she made me think that I was falling for her. That we were becoming closer. I was almost ready to call this whole thing off because I didn’t think I could hurt her!
Oh, but I could hurt her now.
I was going to give up everything. No fixing my family’s name or reputation. I was going to ruin a powerful alliance because I was going to let her live. I was going to let her near Henry! How could I have been so stupid?
She’s going to pay for this mistake.
I storm out the front door and take the driver’s seat of one of my Range Rovers and tear off down the road. She’s going to explain herself right now, or she’s going to pay for her lies in blood.