"I told you. I don't know what you're talking about," April said again, her voice stronger now.
"Vince already gave up the password," the man said. "We persuaded him to. And he was ready to sell you out anyway, I have to say. He was begging for his life." His smile turned cruel. "He tried to convince us we should traffic you instead. Said we could make good money that way. He didn't care what happened to you."
Horror crawled up April's spine. Vince had tried to traffic her?
"So we have the password from him," the man continued. "And all we need from you are the seed numbers."
"The what?"
"The seed phrase. The recovery code that grants access to the crypto wallet." He said it slowly, like he was explaining something to a child. "Vince said you counted the cards when you played Blackjack in Vegas." He tapped his temple. "That takes a good memory, no?"
That wasn't really how card counting worked, but April wasn't about to school him.
"Vince has the password. You have the seed phrase memorized. Together, they unlock a very large fortune."
April's mind reeled. Crypto? Seed phrase? What the hell was he talking about?
"I'm still confused," she said, her voice shaking. "I swear, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know anything like that."
"Oh, I think you do," the man said. "Otherwise, why would you run? Why disappear so completely that even Vince couldn't find you for ten years?"
"I ran because he beat the hell out of me!" April's voice rose. "I ran because if I didn't, he would have hurt our child. That's why I ran. Not because of some…some crypto scheme I don't even know about!"
"Oh yes, your child, little Kevin." The man's smile widened. "Such a sweet boy. Don't you want to go home to him? If you give us the code, you can. And as I said, we will even cut you in. I don't like to hurt women. I don't like to hurt mothers of sweet boys like Kevin. Just give us the numbers, and we will let you go. There is plenty for everyone. That's all you need to do."
April's chest tightened. He knew Kevin's name. He'd seen Kevin, or at least knew enough about him to?—
"I'm telling you, I don't have it," April said desperately. " Vince is scamming you. There is no crypto. There is nothing. I don't know why he's doing this."
The man's expression hardened. "Then I'm afraid we're going to have to get a little rough with you, April, because I don't believe you. I don't believe you at all." He stood, looming over her. "You are a gambler. A card counter. A cheat, really. You lived that life. Vince said you were part of his operation before he went to jail."
"That's not true!" April pulled against the zip ties, panic flooding her system. "I had nothing to do with any of that!"
"Maybe that's part of the reason why you ran," the man said thoughtfully. "You didn't want to be caught. You were the one who had all the money. But Vince kept the password as a safeguard. Wise of him, I think."
"This is crazy." April's voice broke. "He's making all of this up. Please, please just let me go. I promise I won't turn you in. I won't tell anyone, I swear it. Please just let me go."
"No, April." The man's voice went cold. "I'm afraid this was your last chance, and now we're going to have to get a little?—"
The door burst open behind her.
“Dimitri!” a man said, followed by rapid-fire Russian—angry or upset, April couldn't tell which. The man in front of her—Dimitri, she assumed—fired something back in Russian, sharp and commanding.
He looked at April. "I'll be back in a moment, dear."
The overhead light went off. She heard the door close. Then she was alone.
April immediately started working at the zip ties, twisting her wrists, trying to find any give in the plastic. Nothing. She tried to throw her weight forward, then back, hoping to loosen the ropes around her torso. But whoever had tied her up knew what they were doing. The recliner was heavy and didn't budge. Her legs were bound too tightly to attempt any of the zip tie tricks she'd seen on YouTube.
She was trapped.
She realized she was still wearing her engagement ring. She ran her thumb over it again and again, feeling the contours, the smoothness of the blue-sky stone.
An eerie calm settled over her. Shane would find her. He had to. They had a whole life in front of them.
Minutes passed. Then an hour. Then forever.
April watched through the muddy window as the gray afternoon light slowly faded. The rain never stopped, steadyand relentless. Finally the daylight was gone completely. A light came on outside—streetlight or yard light, she couldn't tell—casting shadows of dancing leaves across the plastic cover.
