“It’s not… I don’t know yet. I don’t have a problem with the idea just…” Baxter releases me and takes his seat again, giving me the space to form a full coherent thought. “It’s not very spontaneous.”
“Where did you get the idea that I was spontaneous?”
I think of the clothes laid out for me this morning. The bedroom that is always tidied despite me never seeing another person in the room. “Yeah, fair point.”
“If you want spontaneity, you’ll need to give me three weeks’ notice.”
I leave the room on his laughter.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
BAXTER
When the guards call from the gate late that afternoon to say that Andrej Darnell is on the premises, my first thought is to have them open fire on him. Then I could call Pavle, the syndicate head, to express my sorrow at the terrible, terrible accident.
My second thought is fairly similar, without the courtesy of a phone call. My third, fourth, fifth, and sixth ideas fall into adjacent lines.
Unfortunately, I live in the real world and there are consequences I don’t want to explore for doing exactly what I want to. Instead of telling the guards to kill him and tear his body to pieces, I let my choicest daydreams play out for a split second behind my eyes, then instruct them to let him through.
The walk to the front door takes forever. A pulse beats high in my throat, and I steal a glance at the hallway mirror to check that I still look in control. The sleepless nights have reddened my eyes but I’m otherwise unscathed.
“Andrej,” I say when he reaches the door. “What a surprise.”
“Really?” His gaze drifts up and down before he jerks his head back towards his vehicle. “Am I safe to leave it there or are you still having trouble with unwanted intruders?”
My jaw clenches with a burst of delicious anger that he knows my business, but I force it to relax in case this is a fishing expedition. “It’ll be fine there. What intruders are you talking about?”
His stony gaze meets mine. “I don’t know. That’s why I’m here.”
I stand aside and wave him through, gesturing to the guard outside the door to stay beside the car. The moment I close the door, he’ll ransack the vehicle, checking for any traces that could be helpful.
“We’ve finished lunch, but would you like some refreshments? I’m sure Nora won’t mind whipping something together if you’re hungry.”
“I didn’t fly down to this godforsaken city to be fed, Balabanov. Can we just get straight to the point so I can get back home to do my actual job?”
“Fine.” I wave him into a room off the main lobby, closing the door to seal us in. “What are you here for?”
His face reddens and for a second I think he’s about to explode, then he places his hands palm down on the table and wrestles for control. “Would you like to explain why you’re investigating me?”
“Your men were involved in my daughter’s abduction.”
“Bullshit.” His hands clench and it takes a second before he smooths them down flat again. “If I had a problem with you, I’d be happy to come down here and tell it to you, face to face. My team had nothing to do with this.”
“Sergio Mannika.”
The name doesn’t cause the slightest flicker of recognition.
“He runs a skating rink near the airport. He launders money from your Otago routes.”
“The fuck he does.” Andrej’s eyelid twitches. “I know who works for me and this man isn’t anywhere near my payroll.”
I pull my phone out, swiping to an image of Sergio, facing the camera. “Perhaps you know him by another name,” I suggest, pushing the device into his hand.
But Andrej doesn’t even glance at the screen. “He’s not one of mine.”
“We have—”
“Who’s we?”
