Chapter 23 – BODHI
BODHI
Asharp knock disrupts the silence.
“Lennox.” Dimitri’s voice, cold and flat. “Kozlov wants you. Now.”
Emma’s fear spikes through the bond, bright and sharp, and I squeeze her hand once while yanking my T-shirt over my head.
“Stay in here,” I murmur, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Don’t open the door for anyone but me.”
She nods, pulling the robe tighter around herself.
“I’ll be back.” I promise. “Soon.”
She’s trying to be brave, trying to tamp down the fear so I won’t worry. It makes my chest ache.
My bear fights me the whole way to the door.
Dimitri is waiting in the corridor, leaning against the wall with his arms folded and that patient stillness that makes him more dangerous than men twice his size.
“Took your time.” He regards me, shrewd and suspicious, as I lock the door and pocket the key.
“She was pretty freaked out. Had me checking all the windows and under the bed.” I roll my eyes. “Why? Do you need me to knock out the bad guys and clean up the mess?”
Hoping my surly demeanor and sarcasm will make follow-up questions less likely, I stare back.
“So long as that’s all it is.” He ignores my attitude, pushes off the wall and falls into step beside me, close enough that our shoulders almost brush. It’s an attempt to establish dominance and remind me who holds the power here.
Because stupidly, he thinks he’s the more dangerous of the two of us.
We find Kozlov in his study, reeking of cigars and strong cologne. A mahogany desk the size of a small boat sits in front of heavy curtains that frame tall windows overlooking the manicured grounds. Kozlov stands behind the desk, vodka in hand, silhouetted against the glass.
Dimitri positions himself by the door. Whether he’s guarding the exit or blocking it, I’m not sure.
Kozlov sets down his glass with a sharp click. “The men from last night. Are they sufficiently well disposed of?”
“They are.” I keep my posture loose and my hands visible, nothing to suggest I’m anything other than a loyal soldier reporting in. “Nobody’s going to stumble across them, if that’s what you’re concerned about.”
Kozlov glances at Dimitri, and I immediately know that questions are being driven by his head of security, and not Kozlov himself.
It’s Dimitri who doesn’t trust that I’ve done what I was asked.
“Worried they’re going to blab some other secret you shared with your girlfriend?” I taunt, turning to face Dimitri, letting him know that I’m aware of what he’s doing.
“I never told her anything.” Dimitri snarls. “But she had eyes, and a big mouth, apparently.” His gaze narrows. “I wanted to make sure she didn’t tell them anything else before you got rid of them.”
He’s attempting to save face by lowering Kozlov’s opinion of me, but I need to stay on Emma’s detail and show Kozlov I can be trusted to guard her on Saturday.
“Then you should have told me that instead of storming out like a fucking pussy and leaving me to clean up.” I shrug and look at Kozlov. “It’s a little late to tell me that now.”
Kozlov looks between the two of us, trying to decide whether this is just two cocky men measuring dicks and blowing off some steam, or if he actually needs to deal with something bigger.
“At the very least, we need to make sure he didn’t leave them somewhere fucking stupid, Boss.” Dimitri is imploring his boss not to trust me, and rightly so.
“By going back to the bodies and attracting attention to them? Genius move.” Raising my eyes to the ceiling, I pray Kozlov chooses to let sleeping corpses lie, but clearly, his faith in Dimitri, and his judgement, is rock solid.
Which is bad news for me.
“It’s not personal; I just can’t leave anything to chance.” His smile doesn’t reach his eyes. It never does. “Pavel and Piotr will accompany you. Show them the spot. If it’s as good as you say, we’re done. If not...” He shrugs, the gesture almost lazy. “Find somewhere better. Together.”
There’s movement in the doorway, then Pavel and Piotr appear as if they’ve been waiting for their cue, which they probably have. Pavel sports a purple bruise blooming across his jaw from the attack, his eyes dark with resentment. He’d love to report back that I messed up and get me in trouble.
“Fine. Let’s get this over with.” The wrongness prickles at the back of my neck, but I keep my expression bored.
As I stride out, Dimitri mutters something about watching Emma personally under his breath, trying to bait me. I don’t give him the satisfaction, but I do allow my bear to begin planning all the ways he’s going to hurt him when we can finally exact our revenge.
The three of us take one of Kozlov’s sleek black SUVs. Pavel immediately lights up a cigarette which chokes up the clean air and makes my bear uncomfortable and testy. I drive because it gives me control and time to work out what the hell I’m going to do.
The road winds north through sparse countryside, as I point the vehicle in the direction of the dense forests where I did, in fact, drop off the men.
The location is remote, wooded, and teeming with wildlife.
It’s the perfect place to dump two bodies, which I might have two more of if I can’t talk my way out of this.
As I drive, I keep my hands loose on the wheel and my posture relaxed, but every sense is sharp. Piotr’s breathing behind me is faster than normal, while Pavel’s fingers drum an irregular rhythm on his thigh. I feel the weight of their attention, even when they’re pretending to watch the scenery.
They’re waiting for something to happen, just as I am.
Unease blooms in my chest. Not my own, hers. Disturbingly sudden.
Emma’s anxiety bleeds through the bond, faint but growing. I grip the wheel tighter and force myself to focus on the road.
“Shame about Emma,” Piotr finally says, breaking the silence. His voice is casual, but I catch the glance he exchanges with Pavel in the mirror. “She’s going to need to toughen up before the Ashworths get their hands on her.”
I keep my grip steady on the wheel, and my voice monotone and unaffected.
“If.”
“What?” Piotr asks, brows dropping.
“If they get their hands on her.” I explain.
Silence. The engine hums. Trees blur past. In the rearview mirror, I catch Pavel shoot Piotr a warning look, so fast I’d have missed it if I wasn’t watching so closely.
“Right.” Pavel’s voice comes out too smooth. “If. My mistake.”
The wrongness that’s been prickling at my neck spreads down my spine, cold and insistent. They know something I don’t. And since I’m supposed to be her guard, that’s not a good sign.
Has she already been sold? Did the Ashworths offer enough money to satisfy Kozlov’s greed and bypass the auction entirely?
The thought makes me ill.
I keep my face neutral and my breathing even, but my mind is racing. Something is very wrong.
“The turn-off’s ahead,” I say, slowing the vehicle. “Track through the woods, then the quarry.”
The SUV bounces along a rutted dirt path that’s barely wide enough for the vehicle. Branches scrape against the windows with a sound like fingernails on glass. The forest presses in, dense and dark, swallowing the weak daylight. There are no other tyre tracks. No signs of life.
Then the trees fall away, and the quarry opens up before us.
It’s a wound in the earth. Sheer rock faces a drop of fifty feet to water so black that it reflects nothing, swallowing the grey sky whole. Wind cuts across the exposed clearing, sharp with the smell of pine and wet stone, stirring the dead leaves that have gathered in drifts against the rocks.
No birds. No traffic noise. Nothing but the whisper of wind and the crunch of gravel as I park and kill the engine.
Then silence rushes in, and we all know something’s about to go down.
The wrongness in my chest sharpens suddenly. Not prickling anymore, stabbing. Emma. Something’s happening to Emma.
“Let’s go.” Pavel starts at my loud voice booming suddenly in the quiet interior, and my senses tingle. He doesn’t strike me as the jumpy sort, not ordinarily, anyway.
We climb out, and the cold hits immediately, cutting through my jacket, raising the hair on my arms.
Pavel and Piotr hang back but position themselves on either side of me as we approach the edge, their movements too casual, hands hovering near their waistbands.
They think they’re being subtle.
Two hard men, ready to take care of business and pretending not to be nervous, but their instincts are telling them they’re seriously outgunned. They’re praying Dimitri is wrong, and we can all walk out of here together.
I walk to the edge and look down, gesturing for them to come and take a look. The water is still as black glass, impenetrable, giving nothing back. A body could sink into that darkness and never surface.
There’s no way to know if they’re down there.
“You dumped them in there?” Pavel peers over the edge, keeping well back from the drop. Wind tugs at his jacket. “Long way down.”
I glare at him like he’s an idiot.
“That’s the idea.”
Piotr circles the perimeter behind me, gravel crunching beneath his boots, as he puts distance between himself and Pavel. Flanking me.
“No drag marks.”
I flex my muscles and fold my arms across my chest, emphasizing my physical strength. “Don’t need to drag anyone if you’re fit enough.”
Pavel scoffs and nods, but his hand moves to his gun, fingers curling around the grip. “You’ve got an answer for everything.”
“Because it’s the truth.”
Piotr stays quiet, which tells me he’s going to move first, while Pavel keeps talking, staying the focus of my attention. They have this all planned out.
I press my lips into a thin line.
So, this is how it’s gonna go.
“You know what I think?” Pavel says, louder now, trying to keep me engaged with him. “I think there’s nothing down there. And I think you’re not who you say you are.”
I remain silent, knowing nothing I say at this point is going to matter. They’ve been given a job to do.
Piotr draws his weapon, the click of the safety loud in the quiet.