I drive to the warehouse. The scene is still secured, yellow tape and bored cops on our payroll going through the motions. The file will soon be marked unsolved , and life will go on. Except for Igor. His life stopped on a dirty warehouse floor with Sofiya's knife in his throat.
Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
The security guard, Ben, is easy to find. Sitting in his car, smoking, and looking like a man who saw something he wishes he hadn't.
I knock on his window, and he jumps, nearly dropping his cigarette.
"Ben Hawthorn?" I ask.
"Who's asking?"
I show him my Bratva tattoos marking me asVor v zakone. The ones that mean I'm untouchable. The kind of man you answer honestly or don't answer at all.
"Oh." His face goes pale. "Yes, I'm Ben." He rises slowly to his feet as he exits the car, his age showing on more than just his face.
"I hear you saw something last night, someone leaving through the back."
"I...yeah. Maybe. It was dark."
"Describe them."
"I don't know. Short, moved fast, a wearing dark clothes. Could've been anyone."
"Man or woman?"
He hesitates. That hesitation tells me everything.
"I couldn't tell," he says finally.
Good boy.
"Your daughter," I say, conversational and friendly. "Madison, right? Studying engineering at ASU?"
His jaw tightens. "Leave her out of this."
"I'm not threatening your daughter, Ben. I'm just making conversation." I casually lean against his car. "It's expensive. College. Gotta pay for books and housing. Takes a lot of money to support a kid through that."
"Yes…" His voice trails off, theWhat do you wantremains unspoken but clear.
"I want you to…be a little forgetful. Man your age, not a hard thing, am I right?” I chuckle, and he returns the sound, though he sounds nervous. “I want you to tell anyone who asks that you don’t remember any suspicious activity. Just a normal night until someone found the body."
"And when I have?"
Smart man. He knows he doesn’t have a choice, it'swhen, not if.
"Then your daughter finishes school, gets her degree, and builds a life far away from men like me. Far away from violence and warehouses and bodies on floors. And best of all, you both walk away debt free."
"And if I don't?"
I don't answer, just look at him, letting the silence carry the threat. Let his imagination fill in the blanks. He's smart enough to understand.
"You’re right," he says, voice steady and choice made. "My memory, it's just not too good anymore."
"Good." I push off the car and reach into my pocket. I hand him a stack of bills. "For your daughter's future."
His hand shakes slightly as he takes it. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me. Just remember what happens to people who don’t keep their word." I level him with a meaningful glare before turning away.
