“I’ll give you some,” I said. I just about managed to keep the pain out of my voice. “Enough to get started. A hundred thousand.” I poured vodka, my knuckles white on the bottle.
“You’d do that?” she asked quietly. “Why?”
I turned around. “You saved my life.”
She stared up at me andchyort, there was a different kind of hope in her eyes. “Weren’t we mortal enemies just a few weeks ago?” she asked.
Don’t break.Especially not now, when I’d be saying goodbye in a few hours. “A hundred grand,” I said coldly, “is a small price to pay to have you out of my hair forever.”
She locked eyes with me, challenging me, and my expression almost faltered.Yebat’!She was too good at reading me. I pushed aglass of vodka into her hand and turned away, drinking and not tasting it.
“Where would I go?” she asked.
“Wherever you want,” I said coldly. “I don’t care.”
26
ALISON
I stared at his back,at the way his muscled shoulders rose and fell as he took slow, deep breaths.Trying to calm himself because he’s mad? Or because…Had I seen what I thought I saw in his eyes? Or was it crazy to think that someone like him could have feelings for anyone?
It doesn’t matter now.I turned away and started pacing, firing up my cop brain and getting practical. WherewouldI go? I’d always wanted to see Europe. Paris? Rome? Or somewhere cheaper, where the money would last a long time? Brazil? What would I do? A fake passport would get me into the country, but it wouldn’t stand up to detailed background checks, so I sure as hell wasn’t working for law enforcement ever again. That part of my life was over.What else do I know how to do?
My stomach lurched.Nothing.
My steps grew smaller. I could tend bar, or mop floors: something where people wouldn’t ask too many questions. A job, not a career. I’d never be able to risk coming back to the US. I’d never see Calahan, or Kate and Hailey, or Caroline again.
I stopped in front of an antique mirror bigger than I was. The worst part wasn’t being on my own or never coming back. It was that Istill had no idea who’d done this to me, or why. Which meant that whatever they were up to, they’d get away with it.
I stewed and stewed on it. Then I looked up, caught myself in the mirror, and glared. “No,” I said aloud.
“No, what?” asked Gennadiy, sounding genuinely confused.
I turned to him. “No, I’m not leaving the country. I’m staying. I want to find out who’s behind this and take them down.”
27
GENNADIY
I blinked. “What?! No!”I marched over to her. “They’ll kill you!”
“I need to clear my name. Get my job back.”
The anger blossomed inside me, dark clouds filling me. “It’s just ajob!”
She was getting mad, too. “It’s not just a job! It’s—” Her voice fractured for a second. “It’s all I have!”
The shame in her voice hit me deep in my chest, and an uncomfortable echo rolled through me. All she had was her work. How different was that to me?
I tightened my lips and leaned down to her. “You’re not thinking clearly. Take the money and get out of the country!” I hated the idea of never seeing her again. But I wasn’t letting her get killed.
“No!”
The clouds were black, now, and shot through with lightning. “Why not?!”
“Because… Because if I go, then they win!”
I hurled my vodka glass into the fireplace. “Blyat’!” I roared. “Ty samaya upryamaya zhenshchina, kotoruyu ya kogda-libo vstrechal!”
