Chapter 22
Aurora~
Kasimir had reported back that Armen’s sister and niece had known nothing, but I didn’t need them to know anything: I just needed them to set the trap.
After I’d fallen asleep last night, I’d woken up this morning to an empty bed, and Viktor’s whereabouts unknown.
Though I could have called him or sent him a text, I hadn’t been overly concerned with where he’d been or where he still was for that matter.
Yesterday had gotten ugly, and even I could admit it, and if I didn’t get my emotions under control soon, then things were probably only going to get worse.
I also wasn’t eager to bring children into this disaster, and I was pretty certain that Viktor felt the same way.
It was plain as day that we weren’t good for one another, and having been raised by parents who had always presented a united front, I wasn’t interested in raising children in a household filled with cold silence or maddening rage.
At any rate, when I had called my father to check in, he had informed me of what he had learned this morning, and it was that Kasimir had been unable to get anything useful from Darya and Zoya Orlova.
According to Kasimir, they’d known nothing, but he also hadn’t been able to torture them, so he couldn’t swear his last name to it-his words, not my father’s.
However, I had a theory that none of the others knew about, and so Darya and her daughter were a lot more useful to me than they were to the Korolevs. Of course, since I couldn’t let that be known without proof, I had formed a different plan of attack, and Viktor and Kasimir had fallen for it.
After I’d gotten off the phone with my father, instead of contacting Viktor, I’d had Dima call Kasimir, asking him to call me or stop by.
Luckily for me, Kasimir’s curiosity had been strong enough for him to come right on over, and after having a reasonable conversation with him, he had agreed to drive me to Darya’s to talk to her myself.
While I’d been careful not to criticize his interrogation techniques, I had pointed out how speaking with another woman might put her better at ease.
I had also suggested that putting a face and name to the victim that she’d heard about might soften her up a bit.
Of course, instead of just agreeing with my common sense, he’d had to call Viktor for permission first, and much to my surprise, Viktor had given it.
Granted, knowing that I’d be with his brother had probably been the only reason why he’d said yes, but regardless of his reasons, I’d taken it as a win.
So, now we were all sitting in Darya’s living room, and for all that Kasimir’s reputation was a brutal one, I noticed how Zoya Orlova-Kuzmin looked like she wanted to murder him where he stood, and it was hard to blame her.
Having only known Kasimir for a few weeks, I could only imagine how their interrogation had gone.
Darya, on the other hand, looked like she was about to crack at any moment.
“Thank you for allowing us into your home,” I said after having introduced myself.
“Of...of course,” Darya stammered, throwing quick glances up at Kasimir as he stood behind me like a sentinel.
With the briefing that Kasimir had given me on the way over, I said, “It’s my understanding that your brother provided for you both when he’d been alive.”
Darya nodded, wringing her hands in her lap. “I...he told us that he was a driver for a very important tech CEO, and that the man was very generous with bonuses and tips...stuff like that.”
“We don’t know anything,” Zoya blurted. “We really don’t.”
“His...his house was searched,” Darya said. “Nothing was found.”
Even if these women knew anything, it was obvious that they weren’t going to tell me with Kasimir in the room. No matter the truth, optics mattered, and Armen Orlova had conspired to kill the Korolev Sovietnik’s wife, and if that wasn’t punishable by death, then I didn’t know what was.
So, looking back over my shoulder, I glanced up at Kasimir. “Can you give us a moment?”
“No,” he quickly answered, brooking no room for argument.
“You’re not needed here, Kasimir,” I pointed out.
“My brother would argue otherwise,” he snorted rudely.
“Your brother isn’t here,” I drawled out.
“If you think I’m leaving you alone with these two, you’re out of your mind,” he said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s not going to happen.”
“Because what do you think is going to happen?” I bit out, not appreciating the hovering, especially after having seen the footage of the pier. “Do you honestly believe that I can’t handle anything that might go wrong?”
“Oh, I know you can,” he chuckled. “But if you think that I’m looking to piss off my brother, you’re wrong.”
Okay, this wasn’t working.
“Fine, then we’ll compromise.”
Kasimir flashed me a gorgeous smile. “I wasn’t aware that you knew how to do that.”
Ignoring that, I said, “You and Zoya can wait in the kitchen while I speak with Darya.”
“I...I don’t want to go into the kitchen...kitchen with him,” Zoya immediately objected, and I wanted to shake my head at the girl, but her quick protest played right into my plan.
“Awe, lepestok,” he cooed. “And here I thought you’d taken a liking to me.”
I had no idea why Kasimir was calling her petal, but I also didn’t care. “Take her to the kitchen, Kasimir. I won’t be long in here.”
The teasing in his voice gone, he said, “Let’s go.”
Zoya looked like she wanted to argue, but the girl was wise enough not to, and I watched as Kasimir led her into the kitchen, and I also let out a sigh of relief. I was also very aware that I didn’t have much time, so I got straight to the point once they were out of ear shot.
“What’s your biggest concern here, Darya?” I asked. “Now that you’re aware that the Korolevs aren’t going to kill you, what’s your biggest concern?”
“That...that’s it,” she stammered.
“And what’s your plan as far as finances are concerned?” No matter what she’d said, money was everyone’s biggest concern when you didn’t have any.
“Zoya...she’s been applying to jobs, and...and I still have some money left over from...” Her eyes slid away, almost afraid to say her brother’s name. “I still have some money.”
I gave her a quick nod to let her know that I’d heard her. “Well, what if I said that I could help you guys out financially if you did me a small favor?”
The woman immediately began shaking her head. “No...oh, God...no. I...I’d never take anything from you, Mrs. Korolev.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to correct her about my name, but she wasn’t wrong. “It’d be to thank you for the favor-”
“Mrs. Korolev, I don’t need money,” she quickly said. “I just need Zoya safe, so...so if you can promise me that, then I’ll do whatever it is you need. I just...just promise me that your family won’t make her pay for my brother’s mistakes.”
It was a promise that I couldn’t make, but I made it anyway. I made it anyway because I’d do anything necessary to keep it. “I promise,” I semi-lied. “I promise that Zoya will not be harmed at the hands of the Korolevs.”
Her pretty face flooded with relief, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine what these past few weeks had put her through. “Okay, what...what is it that you need?”
Lowering my voice a bit, I said, “I’m going to give you a phone number to call. When they answer, I need you to lie and say that you know all about the plan that he had with your brother.”
Darya’s eyes widened as she realized what this was. “Oh...”
“You will tell him that you have proof, and if he doesn’t want you handing that proof over to Viktor, then he will agree to meet with you,” I went on. “You will demand one-million dollars from him, explaining that you and your daughter need to leave before the Korolevs kill you.”
She gave me a choppy nod. “O...okay...is that...that it?”
“You can ad-lib whatever you need,” I told her. “You just need to make sure that he agrees to meet you. You need to be convincing.”
“Is...will this be between...just between me and you?” she asked, her blue eyes quickly looking in the direction of the kitchen.
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Okay...” she whispered. “Okay...how...right now?”
I shook my head. “No. You’ll do it once we leave. I will leave you a burner phone to call him from, and once he agrees, you destroy the phone.”
She nodded again. “Okay, just...okay, give me the details.”
Fifteen minutes later, Kasimir was driving me back to Viktor’s, and he’d been proud as punch when I’d told him that I hadn’t learned anything new, either. He’d uttered those annoying four little words of I told you so, but if the man only knew.