38. Maksim
Maksim
I wake up and see the sun is high in the sky. I slept later than I’d planned. I’m surprised that I haven’t been pulled from bed by an emergency.
Arlind hasn’t responded.
I kiss her once and push myself off the bed. My body protests. Everything hurts. My ribs, my shoulder, my knuckles where I split the skin on someone’s jaw.
“I’ve got things to handle,” I say.
“I know.”
I shower and dress. When I come back out, she’s sitting up in bed with the sheets pulled over her, watching me move around the room. She doesn’t need to ask where I’m going.
“I want you to do something for me today,” I say.
She perks up. “Okay.”
I sit on the edge of the bed and face her. “Cinder’s going to one of the houses this afternoon to meet with the women who are still there and go over security protocols and answer questions. I want you to go with her.”
Her eyebrows go up. “Really?”
I need to give her a job. She needs to feel like she’s part of the solution. This is something she can do that I can control.
“She asked for you,” I say. It’s not entirely true.
Cinder didn’t ask; I told her, but Lila doesn’t need to know that.
“The women are scared. They’ve seen other women leave.
Some of them have been approached. They need to hear from someone who isn’t me or Cinder that they’re safe. Let them know they have options.”
“What kind of options?”
“Any option they want. They can stay. They can leave with a severance package. They can transfer to a different house. I’m not holding anyone against their will.” I take her hand. “I think they will appreciate you talking to them.”
She seems confused. “Me?”
“Can you do that?”
She nods slowly. “Yeah. I can do that.”
“Good.” I stand and kiss the top of her head. “Cinder will pick you up at two. She’ll brief you on the drive over.”
I leave her there and head downstairs, where Damien is pouring a cup of coffee.
“Status?” I ask.
“Quiet. Police haven’t connected the three locations to us. The witness from the first house is being treated at Jackson Memorial. We’ve got eyes on him.”
“Good.” I pour my coffee. “I’m sending Lila with Cinder to the Coral Gables house this afternoon.”
Damien looks at me. “Really?”
“That house has the most security of any location I own,” I say. “Cinder will have four men inside and two outside. The cameras are live. The panic system is functional. If anything looks wrong, they lock down and call it in.”
I can see in his face that he doesn’t love it, but he knows better than to argue.
“Where will you be?” he asks.
“We’re meeting with the supplier in Little Havana at three, then going to the club to review the new security rotation.” I sip my coffee. “I’ll be close. If anything happens, I can be there in thirty minutes.”
We leave the house and start our usual rounds.
I get a text from Cinder at two-forty.
We’re here. All good. Women are nervous but listening. Lila’s doing well.
I exhale. Keep me posted.
Will do.
An hour later, I’m sitting in my office at the club reviewing the security rotation when my phone rings.
“Maksim. It's one of the men at the Coral Gables house. "We were attacked. Multiple shooters. Front and back. They came through the front door before we could react. They had to have been watching the rotation — they knew exactly when to hit.”
I hear more gunfire, and the line goes dead.
I’m on my feet and moving. I’m shouting at Damien, who’s coming down the hall toward me with his phone in his hand and his face ashen.
“They hit the Coral Gables,” he says.
“I know. Get the car. Get everyone. Now.”
We’re in the SUV in less than a minute. Sampson drives. I’m in the back with Damien. My phone is in my hand, and I’m calling every number I have for that house. No one answers. Lila and Cinder aren’t answering. The guard who called me isn’t answering.
My heart races. I’m kicking myself. I should have known it was too quiet.
The house is in chaos when we pull up. Police cars.
Ambulances. Yellow tape. Neighbors standing in their yards with their phones out.
I shove through the crowd without slowing down.
A cop tries to stop me, but I don’t even look at him.
Damien handles it. I hear his voice behind me.
I’m through the tape and moving toward the front door.
The door is off its hinges. There are bullet holes in the frame, and the walls inside are pocked with them. The floor is soaked with blood. The medical examiner is there, zipping up a body bag.
I find Cinder sitting on the back steps of the house, with a paramedic kneeling in front of her. She’s got a bandage on her arm and blood on her shirt. Her face is white. Her eyes are red.
She looks up when she sees me, and something in her face cracks.
“Maksim.”
“Where is she?”
She closes her eyes. Opens them. My blood runs cold.
“They took her,” she whispers.
A choked sound escapes my throat. I can’t breathe.
“I’m sorry,” Cinder sobs. “Oh God, Maksim. I’m sorry.”
I don’t believe it. There’s no way.
“Where. Is. She. Cinder.”
“They took her.” Her voice breaks on the second word. “I fought. I tried to get to her. There were too many. I couldn’t stop them.” She presses her hand against her mouth.
My knees buckle. I barely manage to sit down.
“I’m sorry, Maksim. I tried. I fought.”
I refuse to believe I lost her.
“Cinder!”
I turn to see Ava stumbling outside. She’s got blood in her hair and on her arm. Her face is gray from blood loss. Red blossoms across her stomach. I don’t know if she realizes that she’s bleeding. Her face is streaked with tears. She stops when she sees me, swaying on her feet.
A paramedic runs up to her. “Miss! You’ve been shot. Let me check you out!”
Ava stumbles, and I jump up to catch her. “Ava, go to the hospital,” I say.
“Lila!”
“I know. I’ll handle it. Go to the hospital.” I look at the paramedic. “Take her. Now. Knock her out if you have to.”
It’s cold. Ruthless. I don’t have the capacity to deal with anything else.
I walk through the house. I see the bodies, but I can’t let them affect me.
Damien is talking with one of the detectives who has just arrived. He takes one look at me, and I know that he knows.
He walks toward me, puts a hand on my shoulder, and steers me toward the SUV.
Damien gets me into the back seat and closes the door. I stare at the headrest in front of me, frozen.
My phone vibrates in my hand with an unknown number. I know who it is before I answer. I’ve known since I walked through that door and saw the blood on the floor.
“Yes?” I answer.
“You took what was mine.” Arlind’s voice is calm. “Now, I’ve taken what’s yours.” A pause to make sure his words sink in. “Come and get her.”
The line goes dead.
I sit with the phone in my hand. The buzzing in my ears is gone. Everything is very clear now. The kind of clarity that only comes when you have nothing left to lose and everything left to fight for.
“Damien.”
He turns from the front seat.
“He has her. He wants me to come for her,” I say.
“It’s a trap.”
“Obviously.”
“I’ll get a team together.”
“I’m not leaving her there.” I look out the window at the house. “I know what he’ll do to her. Every hour she’s in his hands is—” I can’t finish that sentence.
Silence. I take a few seconds to pull myself together.
“I need everything we have on Arlind’s properties,” I say. “Every warehouse, house, and location that his people have been seen in or near in the past thirty days.”
“Already pulling it.” Damien holds the phone against his shoulder. “I’ve got two guys reaching out to contacts right now.”
“I need to know where she is.”
“On it. We’re going to the estate. I’ve got the guys bringing everyone in.”
It’s what we’ve planned. If there’s an attack, my home is the best place to hunker down. We can defend it.
But it doesn’t matter if she’s not behind the walls.