“Hello?”
“I heard you just quit.”
“I need to find her.”
He cleared his throat. “You didn’t hear this from me, but we just got news that he crossed the border at Peace Arch. Customs found his passport in the system and sent us the footage of him crossing by vehicle without incident.”
“Did you see Mila with him?”
“Footage only shows him in the vehicle. He’s driving a 1995 brown Ford Bronco with a white top.”
There was a lump in my throat, but somehow I was still speaking in a cold, clinical voice. “What now?”
“We’ve alerted Interpol. There is a BOLO on both sides of the border and this file has been turned over to the RCMP Major Crimes unit.”
“Are they going after him?”
“We can’t legally cross the border to go after Sergei. We’ve contacted the proper authorities in the United States, but they may or may not launch an immediate manhunt for him. As of now, they are only communicating with our Major Crimes unit. I’m not even sure who took over this case.”
A wave of helplessness washed over me. Mila had been taken by someone who was more monster than man and her abduction was already getting lost in a sea of fucking bureaucratic bullshit.
“Thanks for your help.”
“Good luck.” He disconnected the call.
Viktor looked at me. “What can I do?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
MILA
I wokeup to the sensation of water being tossed in my face. I started coughing and sat up. I was in the backseat under a blanket. The door was open, and Sergei was standing next to the car.
“Sit up.”
I struggled to do as he asked. My head was pounding like crazy.
I winced. “My head.”
“You’re dehydrated. Drink.” He shoved a water bottle at me.
Was it a good sign that he was trying to keep me alive? Did that mean he wasn’t going to immediately kill me? I drank half the bottle and then paused to breathe. We were sitting at a rest stop off the highway. It was dark and deserted, empty of other vehicles. Dark, rolling clouds crossed the sky and there was a cold wind. I shivered. Across the parking lot was a washroom with a single yellow light that barely illuminated the dark doors. Large moths fluttered around the light.
“Where are we?”
To my surprise, he answered me. “About two hours south of Seattle.”
I froze in shock. Not only were we hours away from home, but he had somehow illegally crossed the border with me, into the United States. How would Axel even find me?
The thought almost made me crumple.
No one was coming to save me. My uncle and aunt, Axel, my guards, anyone who knew anything about me was currently in jail. No one even knew I was missing. Giselle was the only person who’d known about me, and she was dead.
I focused on Sergei, trying to orient myself. “What time is it?”
He opened the door wider. “It’s almost ten. Get in the front seat.”
My legs were like rubber, but I clutched that water bottle and shakily moved to the front seat. He slammed the door shut and then got in beside me.
