"Oh, um..." I glanced back down the hallway for a moment, chewing nervously on my lower lip. When I glanced back, Sergei was still staring at me. "I'm not the only one."
I didn't want to say more than that because I didn't know how much Clark knew or if he'd go tell Brasov what he'd heard. Clark wasn't a bad guy. He was just a little bit in awe of Anatoli Brasov. He hadn't learned to hate him yet.
Sergei frowned before glancing at Andrew. "Take to car."
I nodded. "I can't leave—"
"I get." Sergei propped Andrew up against the wall before flashing a surprisingly wide smile at Clark. "Your cute little friend help me."
It wasn't a question.
Clark's face flushed. "You think I'm cute?"
"Da."
"Ohhh," Clark purred, "you have an accent."
I panned to look at Clark. Where'd he been? Sergei had had an accent since the moment he opened his mouth. It hadn't suddenly appeared. I also could have sworn his English had been a whole lot clearer when he had first started talking, but maybe that was me.
This whole night seemed a little insane.
"Where friend?" Sergei asked.
"A hidden room in Brasov's office. His name is Cam. He knows help is coming, but I'm not sure he'll go with you. He doesn't know you."
"You no worry. You get Andrew to car."
"Oh, what car?"
And where?
Sergei dug into his pocket and then held out a set of keys. "Black SUV parked around the corner on Ninth Street."
Damn, one block over.
This was going to be interesting.
I grabbed Andrew's arm and placed it around my shoulder again and then grabbed him around the waist. He was bigger than me, and I wasn't positive how much he'd been drugged, so I wasn't sure if walking was something he was capable of, but I could hope.
"Come on, Andrew," I said as I started moving us toward the door. "Let's get the hell out of here."
I'd be real happy never to see this place again.
Getting Andrew out the back door was easy enough, but getting him across the parking lot was an effort in frustration. Andrew weaved a lot, and being bigger than me, that meant I weaved a lot. We were all over the place.
It was a mess.
I expected to be caught escaping at any moment. When we reached Ninth Street and the large black SUV parked on the corner, I wasn't sure whether to breathe a sigh of relief or to keep on going.
I clicked the button on the key ring to unlock the vehicle and then pulled the back door open. Getting Andrew inside the SUV was as hard as getting him across the parking lot. By the time I buckled him in, I was sweating. Considering I was dressed in nothing more than little boy shorts, that was saying a lot.
I should have been freezing.
I stood next to the car and looked down the street. I didn't know if I should climb in with Andrew or go back and help Sergei rescue Cam. I really just wanted to stay with Andrew, but I felt an obligation toward Cam. It wasn't as though we were bosom buddies or anything, but he was in the same mess I was in, and it felt wrong to leave him behind.
The cold was starting to seep in, but I stood there on the sidewalk like an idiot. Afraid to get into the car and afraid not to. I knew I needed to get out of the cold at the very least or escaping Brasov was going to be the least of my worries. I'd freeze to death.
Maybe there was something in the car I could cover up with. With that hope in mind, I started looking around the vehicle. I found a white dress shirt and pulled it on right before Andrew started patting his suit jacket.
