I laugh despite myself. “Tell Ekaterina thanks…” I press the phone to my forehead for a moment, breathing until I can talk again, “and I’m glad she’s going to be there. Cora might need her.”
“Cora will need you,” he said gently, “but we will be right by your side. She’s our family now, as well.”
Jonas comes barreling up the aisle, with a huge grin. “I’ve narrowed it down,” he says. “There are three banks total. They’ll need Cora to access the money.”
“Why?”
He rubs his eyes, he’s as exhausted as the rest of us. “Schmidt created a biometric code that requires her retinal scan and a sweep of the tattoo under black light. It’s odd, but I have heard of something similar being done before.”
“Did you hear that?” I ask Giovanni, who is still on the line.
“I did,” he said, trying not to sound too eager. “We’ll see you in George Town.” There’s a little cheer in the cabin when everyone hears the news.
“We’ve got five more hours,” Carlo says quietly. “Why don’t you get some sleep? You’ll want to be at your best for this.”
Forcing a smile, I put a hand on his shoulder. “I can’t.” And then I start pacing the aisle again, thinking of my wife.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
In which we meet the parents, and learn there are even worse parents than Cora's.
Cora…
I’ve already tried the door that I believe leads to the hallway, and it’s locked. Of course. The windows have a wonderful view until I look down and realize that trying to escape from said window would result in a drop onto jagged rocks. Far enough down to have time to get out a good scream.
There’s a door to a nice bathroom with nothing in it. Not even shampoo to squeeze in their eyes or a toothbrush to sharpen into a shank. Just paper towels and toilet paper, no cloth that I can rip up and try to strangle them.
I’m looking out the windows when the door finally opens. It’s the attractive, older sniper lunatic, carrying a paper take-out tray with coffee and pastries.
“Ah, good. You’re awake.” She says this with such approval that it feels like I did something more impressive than regaining consciousness. “Now, darling, you need to eat.”
“Well, that’s one improvement over my captivity with your son,” I said calmly. “You’re not starving me yet.”
Her face lights up again. “Ah, clever girl!”
“It’s not that difficult,” I sighed, rubbing my eyes. “You called me the same nickname, and it felt just as disgusting. Your family definitely has some skill in wreaking chaos.”
I knew who she was. Of course, I knew. The minute she called meLiebsteand gave me that horrible smile at the airfield. It hit me like a lead weight pressing on my chest, a cold, immovable certainty that she was His - I mean, Schmidt’s mother. Her disgusting son was reaching out his spidery fingers from the grave, still trying to destroy my life.
“Hmm,” she tilted her head thoughtfully, “I prefer to see us as agents of change. You know, I do so love your name. I used to read a book calledDie Dämonin Cora und ihre Todesarmee -translated,that’sThe Demoness Cora and Her Death Army- to the children when they were very young. I’m a literature professor, you see, and it was always such a pleasure introducing them to new worlds and adventures, shaping their passion through reading.”
I’m trying so hard to stay in control when every cell in my body wants to leap across this table and tear into her face.
Just like I did to her son before he shortened my chain.
This fucking family… how could this woman be as evil and disgusting as Gerhard was? I have to stay enraged, it’s the only thing holding me together right now. “Is there a reason you dyed my hair back to brown?”
She frowned - god, even her frown is graceful - and fingered a lock of my hair. “Blonde was such an unattractive shade for you. Now you look like the beautiful girl my son fell in love with.”
Why can’t I get away from this fucking family and their horrifying brand of psychosis? “Are you ready to tell me why you and Marietta - uh, ‘not Marietta’ - kidnapped me?”
This woman really is beautiful until she smiles, and then she looks just like her son, that piece of shit. Then her slim, elegant features elongate and she looks like a snake ready to devour me whole. Just like Schmidt’s greedy, ugly face when he thought he was charming me.
“To start, I am Hilda Elsa Schmidt, Gerhard and Lina’s mother. When those disgustingschweinfrom the Mafia and Bratva destroyed my sweet boy’s home and invaded his privacy, they took his most precious possession. You.”
I’m grateful I haven’t eaten yet because that last addition would have made me vomit. “I’m not a possession, Hilda. I’m a human being. Just like those poor women that your disgusting son destroyed.”
The slap comes so fast that it doesn’t even register until the burn blooms on my cheek. “You will never speak of my boy like that again,” she says. Her breathing is heavier and I see her fists clench on her lap.
