Alexei’s gaze turns sharply toward me before his eyes return to the road. “How do you know it’s a trap?”
“A guess. Maybe I’m wrong.” It’s an evasion because my nerves are frayed like old wires, and I need a minute to think before I say more.
Any generosity from Polasky is suspicious. First, because he’s not generous. Why would he suddenly, without pressure or prompting, offer me my passport ahead of schedule? And second, if everything was all right, he wouldn’t contact me directly. For thirty days, I belong to Alexei who is one of Polasky’s fighters and clients. Polasky wouldn’t give me the means to leave without warning Alexei. Polasky knows how much I want my passport. If I got it early, I might just take it and run. So if Polasky wants to see me alone, it’s because there’s something he doesn’t want Alexei to know. Or because he doesn’t want Alexei to prevent me from disappearing. That’s assuming he intends to give me the passport at all. He might just be dangling it as bait to get me to meet him. I think about the dead Russian messenger, and his message that I’m in danger. The only people who really know me in America are a few Russian girls who are trapped like me, and Egorov, Polasky, and Alexei.
Alexei’s not a danger to me, at least not in the way the messenger meant. Alexei’s a danger because I care for him, despite our troubling relationship.
To understand why the messenger was killed and why Polasky and Egorov sent him, I’ll need to speak to Polasky alone. Dangerous though. I need insurance… a way to protect myself.
“Alexei, where can I get fentonir?”
“What?”
I return to speaking English. “Fentonir? A drug? They gave me this to make me high and weak on the night of the fight.”
“Oh, it was probably fentanyl. It’s a narcotic. Like morphine and heroin, but more powerful.”
“Sold in the streets? Like other poppy drugs?”
“Yeah, but it’s a synthetic opioid. It’s not from plants.”
“Hmm.”
“Why are you asking about it? You want to try it again?”
“No, no. Egorov and his doctor use it as poison. I want to know where they get their poisons from.” I narrow my eyes. “It was an injection. Always it must be taken this way?”
“No.”
“Hmm. Do you think it was in the poison they put on Vlad’s hands?”
“Maybe.”
“I would like to know.”
“Are you planning to poison someone?”
“Polasky is a friend to Egorov, and eventually I will have to see Polasky to get my passport and money. He will think you are done with me and not a worry to him. What if he gives me drug, so I sleep until Egorov comes for me? Polasky could sell me again. For Polasky, money is king. He could think this is a good plan.”
“You think Polasky is trying to lure you back to Bloodsport sooner because Egorov offered him enough money to make it worth breaking the deal he has with me?”
“I do not know what arrangement Polasky makes with Egorov, but they are working together sometimes. Egorov could not start death fights in Bloodsport without approval of Polasky who runs the club, right? So they are both killers, I think. And not to be trusted.”
Alexei nods. “I agree.”
I rub my eyes and sigh. “I’m tired. I need sleep.”
As I recline my seat, I close my eyes. My brain needs a rest from thinking and talking. I hope I can trust Alexei, but I did meet him at a party of Egorov’s, and Polasky was there as well. Then Alexei’s new brother, a Russian American criminal, tries to trick me into confiding in him, promising I’ll be safe, and immediately after, Alexei whisks me away. It’s too much.
Also, all this is in addition to the dead messenger who didn’t get a chance to warn me where more danger is coming from.
Honestly, I don’t know who to trust anymore.
* * *
Natalia
Alexei doesn’t take me back to his beautiful apartment. Instead, he drives to an industrial area and pulls the car into a warehouse. Alexei locks the warehouse door behind us and says, “This place has a loft, and the Bloodsport people don’t know I own it. No one does yet.”
