“If I tell her… this does not worry you?”
“No.”
“She will forgive, huh? Shame on her. On you both.”
This causes his expression to harden, and we fall silent. After a long time, he goes out and comes back with a cocktail drink for himself and a cup of tea for me. At first I won’t touch it, but then I remember my Egorov plan. If Sasha Stroviak falls unconscious, maybe I can get a key for the shackle off his body.
I watch him over the rim of my mug, waiting for him to put his glass within reach.
“Whatever you’re planning, forget it.” He stands and walks to the dresser. After he finishes his drink, he sets the empty glass there.
He guessed I planned to drop something in his drink? How? “Why do you say this?”
“I’m not new at what I do.”
My teeth chew on my lip, then I take a drink of my tea before setting it on the night table. “You kidnap lots of people?”
He nods, without looking at all embarrassed. “Sometimes I even kidnap people I like.”
My mouth opens to speak, but I can’t find the words. Finally, I tilt my head as a strange thought comes into it. “Did you kidnap your wife?”
He nods.
“Ah,” I say softly. “She forgives this. Your wife is too nice.”
“She’s too nice to me,” he agrees.
“You love her?”
He nods.
“This, I believe.” I sigh and lean back against the headboard. “Did you have hard life? Is that why you become American Mafia gangster?”
He shrugs.
“I believe my life was harder. Should we talk and see?”
He shakes his head. “But if you want to talk, go ahead.”
“You’re the American. Your people do small chats when you pass people in street. Mine, no.” I cross my ankles, making the chain rattle. “But you are not smiley like most Americans. You live in Russia for some time?”
“Never.”
“Hmm. I once lived in building with broken pipes. Walls are ice. I drink snow for water.”
“What did you learn?”
“Learn?”
“When people have nothing, they learn what’s really important.”
I revert to Russian for a moment, thinking about my home. “People are the most important. Staying close together and helping each other, it keeps you from wanting to give up. Food and water, of course, are necessary. And some clothes and shelter so you don’t freeze to death. Other things, not really. I do not want to live in a broken place again. But if I must, I can survive.”
“That’s an important thing to know. The people who survive against great odds are the ones who believe they can.”
We talk for a while, and it relieves the tension. Whenever he steps out, he’s not gone for too long, which is reassuring. When I ask, he unhooks me so I can use the bathroom.
I’m tempted to fight being chained again, but I know against him I’d stand no chance of escaping. It would probably make him angry, too. Sasha Stroviak is clearly not a man who likes his time wasted.
