“We have to go out and find her,” I said, pushing past them.
“No we don’t, Stephan. They probably just got scared and took off. To be honest, it’s probably for the best anyway because that girl was holding you back,” Eduard said, and I wanted to slam him into the door.
“That girl has a name, and how are you going to just ignore the fact that the bathroom is covered in blood? Something terrible obviously occurred, and you’re going to try to tell me that I need to focus on my job right now?” I said, punching the wall.
“You barely know her, Stephan. It really is a waste of your time,” Feliks said, and I couldn’t believe the audacity of the two of them.
“You two are the ones wasting my time, and if you aren’t going to help me look for them, then I’m just going to have to go out and do it myself,” I said, running down the stairs to my car, before they could give me another reason why I should stay back and forget everything that I saw.
“Well, we have work to do. I told you, Stephan, if the two of them came between you and the job, we’re just going to have to start doing things without you,” he said, and I couldn’t believe the words that were coming out of his mouth.
“Fuck off, Eduard. Go do what you have to do. You both can only hope that you do enough small, pointless jobs to pay your rent because that’s probably as far as you’re going to go in life. It’s a shame, and it’s also a shame to see just how detached you both are from reality. Don’t even bother trying to involve me in whatever you have going on, I want no part. I’m going to save the girl I care about, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t touch my things until I can come back and claim them,” I said, making it clear that it was time I took my business elsewhere.
“Come on, Stephan. Don’t be like that,” Feliks said, but nothing either of them could say would change my mind. I needed to save Annika, to make sure that both her and Natalia were safe from whatever trouble occurred right under my roof.
I didn’t say another word to them, getting into the driver’s seat of my car, knowing that the painting I’d been harboring like a fugitive was sitting safely in the trunk. I started up the engine, pulling out of the driveway probably never to return, heading in the direction of Annika’s parents’ house. It was the only place I could think to start looking for her, hoping that there would be a clue in there somewhere to find out who could’ve possibly taken her and what they wanted.
I tried to replay the few hours before I figured out they were gone, recalling the few noises I heard coming from the floor above me, but they didn’t sound like someone had broken in, and I was well aware of what that would be like.
There was no shouting, no gunfire, nothing to indicate that our home had been breached, but they were still missing, so whoever took them had to be skilled. My heart sank to my stomach the moment I thought it would have to be the same people that showed up at Annika’s house demanding that I give them the painting I stole from them.
I banged my hand against the steering wheel out of frustration, realizing that I could’ve prevented this in the very beginning if I had just done more to make sure that the house was secure, checking in with the girls every once in a while to make sure they were okay. Now, they were missing, and I had no idea how I was going to find them.
I pulledup outside of Annika’s home, breaking in through the front door by fiddling with the lock long enough, taking in how well we were able to restore it to how it appeared before everything went down. Everything seemed to be virtually untouched since we were last there, but I wasn’t any less concerned that something had happened to the both of them. I felt it in my gut that something wasn’t right, that they were both in some danger that even I wasn’t aware of.
I was warned by those men what would happen if I didn’t give up the painting soon enough, Is this their way of collecting?
I thought, rummaging through everything I could find, looking for a clue, or something to point me in the direction of where they could’ve gone.
I kept replaying the last few moments Annika and I had before she went off to bed to sleep off the day, kissing her on her forehead, letting her know how incredible a job she did. It hurt to think that she was out there somewhere suffering, and if there’s a sliver of a possibility that Eduard and Feliks were right and they took off, I just wanted to make sure that she was safe.
If you really did get second thoughts Annika, I’m not going to be angry. I just want to make sure that you’re alright, and that no harm ever comes to you.
I searched the entire house, nearly turning it upside down looking for something, anything that would give me any indication of where they might’ve disappeared to. Before I was just about to give up hope there, I noticed a stack of mail sitting on the entryway table, and I made my way over to it, running through each name and address before I stumbled on one that caught my eye.
Chadova? I’m pretty sure Annika told me that’s Natalia’s last name.
I opened up the envelope, rereading the letter over and over again until I could fully take in what it said.
“What the fuck? There is no way you didn’t know about this, Annika. There is no way you didn’t know that Natalia’s father had been using you to get to your father,” I said aloud, frustrated, angry that I didn’t see the signs earlier. When Natalia had said that their parents didn’t get along, the last thing I would ever think would be that they were in a constant war together.
It seems that both of your families are operating on much higher stakes than either of you realized unless one of you did.
The letter had said that Annika’s father needed to pay back the money owed to Natalia’s father, otherwise there would be consequences.
Natalia didn’t strike me as the type to be interested in this world, but if she had been helping her family all along, then Annika was in much more danger than I thought. I wondered if I would even be able to save her knowing how much cavalry Natalia’s family must have at their disposal.
I didn’t know if it was my newfound feelings for her or just my blind stupidity, but I took one look at the address on the envelope, feeling it burn a hole in my memory while I got back into my car to start driving to Natalia’s home. It was quite possible that I wouldn’t have any way of getting in without her family’s guards taking me out on the spot, but I had to be smart, and I had to find out if they really had anything to do in what happened back at my house.
If you are in danger, Annika I promise that I will get you out. I made you a promise a few nights ago that I wasn’t going to let anything happen to you, and I will live up to that.
The drive felt like forever until I was parked a few blocks down from where Natalia’s family mansion stood. It was just as grand as Annika’s but in a completely different part of town, as though both of their families had decided to reign over separate territories.
The fact that they even remained friends at all boggled my mind, thinking that with such animosity between their families, there would be no way for them to maintain a friendship together. I could’ve imagined that it caused a lot of trouble for both sides, but now, it was bordering on violence, and I knew that Annika’s family would never stand for something like that, especially because it was their own daughter.
I was well aware that my family never liked them much either, but what was happening between these two families seemed to be something entirely different. Something about it felt dark like this was in the works for quite some time, and I could only hope I didn’t give Natalia the opening she needed to get Annika alone. I was kicking myself at the possibility, disappointed that I failed to do the very thing I promised her I would do, but I kept trying to convince myself that it wasn’t too late to fix things.
If I can just get to you in time, Annika, get you out of the trouble you’re in, I can keep you safe, and make sure no one ever hurts you again.
I had to figure out how I was going to play this, and how I was going to snoop around their house knowing the entire property was crawling with guards. It was quite possible that Natalia had been in there with her family, plotting how to take down the Novikovs for good.
I’m coming, Annika. I’m coming to get you.
