Chapter 17 Natalya #2
He’d said that he was taking it for my own personal safety. That it could be tracked. Would my father even know how to track a cellphone? I doubt it. I’ve seen him struggle with the remote before.
And anyway, it can’t hurt to make a phone call. Just to talk to Ilya really quick. It’s possible that she’s heard something. Also, I’d like to bounce off this whole thing with Mikki. I don’t know why it sounds familiar…
I turn the phone on. It takes a few minutes to load up, but once it does, it starts chirping. A string of notifications pops up on my screen… and they’re all from one person.
My father. I sit and count them as they roll in… He’s called about ten times, left at least five voice messages, and there are no fewer than fifteen text messages.
I open the text messages and they’re all variations on the same question.
Where are you? Heard you were staying with Ilya, but she says she hasn’t seen you.
Where the fuck are you?
You’d better answer me, dammit. Answer the fucking phone!
Each message gets more and more pissy. He must have heard about what happened in the park. The minute I think that, I almost laugh. He’d have to care about me to be calling about that.
Maybe he’s heard about the other thing. Maybe this is him worried about my safety. Cruel or not, he’s still my father. There has to be some parental instinct that wants to keep me safe.
I guess… I guess it’s possible that he’s changed his mind. Whoever he was talking to on the phone, he was asking them to do the job for him. If he’s looking for me himself, then maybe he called them off. Maybe in his own fucked up way, he actually is worried about me.
I look for Ilya’s number in my contacts. He said something about going to her apartment. I need to find out what happened when he showed up there.
“What are you doing?”
I look up and see Anton standing in the doorway. Shit.
I just freeze, sitting here red-handed. “I was just… I needed my phone—”
He takes a step toward me and I move away from him. He stops, his dark eyes flashing warning at me.
“I just need to talk to my friend,” I tell him. “My father has been looking for me and I need to know what he said to her.”
He studies my face for a few seconds, then he says in a calm voice, “Give me the phone, Natalya.”
He puts his hand out expectantly and I’m tempted to tell him no again… but I don’t. This isn’t some little sex game between us. This is real life and in real life, I don’t want to be on the angry end of a Pakhan.
I cave and hand over the phone. “You don’t understand,” I tell him. “If he’s looking for me then it means something.”
“I don’t care what you think it means.” He turns off the phone again and walks over to one of the paintings on the walls. “Cellphones are beacons for people looking for you. I told you that when I took it from you.”
“Wouldn’t somebody have to at least have my number or something to search my phone? Or maybe be somewhere nearby? I’m practically in a fortress right now. Nobody could get close enough to do anything… probably.”
He gives me an annoyed glance as he takes down the painting revealing a safe embedded in the wall. He enters the combination on the number pad in quick succession and pulls the handle to open it. “I don’t need this headache right now.”
“Anton, this isn’t right. I need to find out what’s going on. It might be important.”
He puts the cellphone in the safe and shuts the door. “What you need is to have faith that I will protect you. There are a lot of pieces to all this that you’re not aware of. You could accidentally trip things up for all of us by making a phone call to your friend.”
“How?” I say incredulously. “She’s not even a part of any of this. Who would she snitch to?”
“Anyone,” he says. “She might not be one of us, but she could easily decide to sell you out to the right person if given the right motivation. For all you know, she’s already done that if your father has spoken to her.
He might be tracking you as we speak. And since you’re afraid to go back to him—”
“All the more reason for me to find out what’s what. If he’s talked to her, then maybe she can clue me in—”
“No deal,” he says. “The cellphone stays in the safe while you’re with me.”
That pisses me off. I glare at him. “Just because you don’t trust anybody doesn’t mean that I have to be the same way. Some people are reliable. Some people actually have your back.”
He glares at me, a fire burning behind his dark eyes. “You think I don’t know what loyalty is? Do you really want to talk to me about loyalty?”
His throwing that back at me does make me feel a little silly. He rolls his eyes. “I don’t know why I’m arguing with you about this. No cellphone. Not while all this is going on. You’ll get it back when you’re safe again. Got it?”
I clench my jaw, glaring at him angrily.
“Natalya.”
“I got it,” I tell him, walking away. “I’m going to sleep in my bedroom. You have a good night, Anton.”
I walk out, half expecting him to stop me. He doesn’t. He’s said his piece and I’ve said mine.
When I get to my bedroom, I realize I don’t even have the shirt I was sleeping in anymore. Guess I’ll sleep in this gigantic robe.
At least it stopped raining.