Chapter 25
“How do you deal with that?” Sophie asked as she took her last slurp of her Big Gulp.
“The fans?”
“Yeah. It’s so intrusive. Like they want a little piece of your soul.”
I shrugged. “They don’t really want me. They’re just excited to see someone that they’ve seen in a movie. Mostly, they’re not really interested in me. They’re interested in Natasha Blade. Looking at it like that makes it a lot easier.”
Sophie got up from where she was sitting at the desk and held out her hand for my empty cup. I handed it to her. “That makes sense.”
“It’s going to happen to you one day,” I said as I watched her put our cups in the trash.
“Yeah, sure.” She scoffed.
“Really, Sophie. You’re talented. Now that I’ve seen what you can do, I’m going to talk to my agent and have him represent you.”
She turned around, her eyes wide. “Kit, you’re out of your mind.”
“No, I’m not.”
She stumbled back to the desk chair and plopped down. “Explain to me why you would want to do something like that for me, when my stepbrother blackmailed you in the worst possible way so I could get a part?”
“Because you’re mired in this mess just as deeply as I am.
You’re a victim too. But I’m not doing this out of pity, I’m doing this because you're good. And this is how this industry works. Yeah, you work your ass off, and go to audition after audition, but sometimes it is just luck, or sometimes it's someone helping you out. That’s what this is. You’re unlucky that you're in this mess with me, and therefore I’m helping you out. ”
I watched a smile bloom across her face. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
“I’ve been told that a time or two, but it’s always nice to hear it again,” I said with a grin of my own.
My grin got even bigger when I heard a buzzing sound. It had to be Code. I lunged for my purse, but when I pulled out the phone that Code had given me, it was blank. I turned to Sophie. “It must be your phone.”
She got up and went to her bed and scooped her phone out of her purse. Then she stared at it in amazement. “It’s a text from Russell,” she gasped.
“No fucking way.”
“Way,” she nodded. “He says he’s on a plane to Knoxville. He must have actually listened to one of my hundred voicemails.”
I felt a surge of excitement burst through me. At last we could get to the bottom of things. We could stop everything. The deepfake of my racist comments. We could get him to stop blackmailing all those other people.
“When is his plane due to arrive, did he say?”
I watched Sophie’s thumbs furiously text back her brother, then she looked up at me. “He’s due to touch down in an hour and ten minutes. Do you know what that means?”
“This nightmare is almost over?”
“No, I’ll finally be able to beat the shit out of him the way he deserves.”
I shrank back a little bit. For just a half a second I felt sorry for Russell Dunlap.
I’d texted Code with Russell’s ETA, but I hadn’t gotten a response.
I hated that. It meant that they were in the middle of the operation, which scared the hell out of me.
They could all have superpowers like Natasha Blade, and I’d still be ready to throw up.
My stomach lurched and I realized I really did feel nauseous.
Aw shit. The hot dog felt like it was going to come back up.
“Kit, Russell just got into an Uber, he’s on his way,” Sophie said.
“Still feeling bloodthirsty?”
“Oh yeah,” she said. I winced when she cracked her knuckles.
“Sophie, don’t forget the big picture. I need him not to release that video of me. I’m not sure hitting him is the right way to accomplish that.”
She walked across the room and put her hand on my shoulder. “I know what I’m doing. I promise. He won’t release the video.”
I looked into her hazel eyes that were so sure and finally nodded. “Okay. I trust you know what you’re doing.”
She squeezed my shoulder. “I do.”
We both turned as her phone rang, with a distinctive ringtone. “That’s Russell.” She went and picked up her phone.
“Hey,” she greeted him with a smile in her voice. “We’re on the top floor, last room on the left, 1430. I can’t wait to see you.”
I raised an eyebrow, as she hung up.
“What? It’s true. I can’t wait to see him.”
I looked at Sophie, really looked at her. Yeah, she seemed resolved, but she was also three inches shorter than me and twenty pounds lighter. She really didn’t have the physical strength to hurt a man, which was good. I needed Russell on my side, not pissed off.
I watched as she went over to the door and opened it. She stepped out, looked down the corridor, then stepped back inside. She pushed the security latch against the doorframe, then closed the door, forcing the door to hit it, so the door couldn’t close all the way.
“What are you doing? Anyone can just push the door open and walk right in,” I protested.
“Nobody is out there. Russell is coming right upstairs. He’s the one who’s going to push open the door, and I’ll be waiting.”
She positioned herself in the little hallway where the door would open and Russell would step in.
We waited.
I heard muffled footsteps on the carpet.
“Sophie?” The door pushed open, and for just a moment I saw a short man in a Star Wars t-shirt. “Where are—”
Sophie already had her arm cocked, and she slammed her fist right into his nose.
Russell staggered backward, his hands coming up to cover his nose. Sophie grabbed a forearm, and jerked him forward, walked around him, opened the door, and moved the latch back where it belonged and firmly closed the door.
“Fucking A, Soph. I think you broke my nose.”
I rushed forward and yanked at the backpack he had slung over one shoulder. “Give me that.” I commanded.
“What do you think you’re doing?” His question came out muffled.
“Give Kit your backpack, or I’ll blacken your eye,” Sophie growled.
“Okay, okay, okay.” Russell took one hand away from his bleeding nose and shrugged the backpack off his shoulder, then thrust it at me.
I placed it carefully on my bed, tuning out Sophie and Russell’s reunion. Despite the punch, Russell was thrilled to see his baby sister.
I pulled out Russell’s laptop from his pack, then placed it on the desk. When I opened it, it fired up. Good, I didn’t need to find the cord.
“Tell me your password.” I called over my shoulder.
“You’re out of your mind.” Russell rushed over to my side. “Get away from there. That’s mine.”
Sophie grabbed his arm and pulled him back. I took that moment to really look at Russell. Despite the bloody nose, he looked like his driver’s license, but what I hadn’t expected was him being so small. No wonder Sophie was confident she could take him in a fight.
“Give Kit your password.”
“No.”
“Russell, you have no choice. The Russians are here in Jasper Creek. They followed us. They probably planned to torture us to find out where you were.”
Russell’s hand dropped from his nose, and he went as white as a piece of paper. “Viktor is here?”
“Yes,” I bit out. “Sophie is telling you the truth. His goons already beat Eddie half to death trying to find you, that’s how he found out about Jasper Creek. He’s there right now, planning to kidnap us.”
“But— That’s impossible. How did Eddie find out where you were?”
“He hired a private investigator,” Sophie explained. “Now give Kit your password.”
“What’s the point? You wouldn’t know how to find out anything.”
“No, I wouldn’t, but I know someone who would. If he comes out his face-off with the Russians alive. And that’s on you, you absolute, piece of shit. You caused this. Password please.”
“Move out of the way,” Russell said. “It’s a seventeen miscellaneous character password. I mostly know it by muscle memory now.”
I got up out of the chair and Russell sat down. He keyed in the password, and got back up. “I need Kleenex.”
Blood was now dripping down his chin.
“I’ll get you some. Stay right here,” Sophie said. “Kit has a gun. After everything you’ve done, she won’t be afraid to use it,” Sophie lied.
Russell paled again.
Good.
I picked up my phone and saw I still didn’t have any messages from Code.
Fuck!
KIT: We have Russell in our room. I have the password to his computer. Please, please, please, tell me your safe. I love you.
I waited. Still nothing.
This was taking too long. I pushed back a sob.
Please God, keep him safe.
Keep them all safe.
But keep Code safe. I’m begging you.