A chill raises the hairs on the back of my neck. After long enough without any basic need—and to an addict, heroin is a basic need—you’ll do anything for it.
“By the time two years had passed, Z and his best friend Semyon were shooting up every day. They started stealing from Kolya. Keeping just a little bit of the take. It was easy for Z. He handled some of Kolya’s books. But then Kolya found out and he had two of his generals beat the crap out of them.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t just kill them.”
“Semyon is Elena’s brother. I think—well, Z thought—Elena begged Kolya to keep them both alive.”
“Kolya’s never going to let Elena walk out of there. If she’sthatspecial to him, he’s going to kill her before he lets her go. But he might sell Semyon to teach her a lesson first.”
Wren shows me a few of the diary entries, and it’s obvious Zion was in a bad way. And completely in love with Elena.
By the time she’s done, the entire bleak picture spreads out like a frayed, old canvas. A megalomaniac with an empire built on fear and the desperate need for what he provides. A scared twenty-something girl hoping this American kid with connections can free her from an abusive boyfriend-slash-owner. Her drug-addict brother who may or may not still be alive.
“And she doesn’t know where her brother is?”
“Nope.” Wren pulls up the last message the girl sent Zion just a week ago.
I am scared, Z. Kolya will not let me see my brother. He brings in girls every few days. At the last auction, he sold five. He tells me every day if I do not behave, he will sell me too. Where are you? I have not heard from you in so long. Please do not leave me here.
Bringing up a spreadsheet, Wren shakes her head. “He’s not making enough money off the drugs anymore. I ran the numbers. He’s losing hundreds of thousands of rubles every month.” Wren shows me her calculations, and I ease the computer off her lap to scan through the various files.
“The human trafficking won’t be enough either. Not with this bottom line. He’ll be out of business—or dead—in six months.” Wren stares at me like I’ve grown a second head. “I went to college, sweetheart. Got a minor in math.”
“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean—” Her cheeks flush with color, and she stares down at her hands, twisting in her lap as she plays with her bracelet.
Silencing her with a kiss, I savor the way she leans into me. How she stills, as if nothing can touch her when I’m around. And she’s right. I’ll protect her until my last breath.
22
Wren
Ryker starts slowly and methodically assembling the gear he’ll need for the day, and I sit with my arms wrapped around my knees. “Take me with you.”
“No.” He doesn’t spare me a glance as he picks up a second clip and tucks it into a strap on his shoulder harness. “You’re safer here.”
“Physically, maybe. But I hate not knowing what’s going on. Please. I can’t take another day like yesterday. You might as well lock me in a closet for all the good I’ll be here alone.” Just the thought of needing another Xanax has my stomach twisting into a knot.
He stops, so still I’m not sure he’s breathing. The look in his eyes…for a split second, he’s not here, but then he shakes his head and sighs. “I have to plant at least eight cameras around Kolya’s fortress today, Wren. He has lookouts everywhere. I can’t watch out for them and for you.”
My lips twist into a frown. “You don’t have to ‘watch out for me.’ Set me up in a cafe and I can monitor the whole square.” Turning my tablet around, I show him the view I have from the three traffic cameras in range of the former hotel. “And as you bring the cameras online, I’ll have an even better view.”
“Too dangerous.”
“Is it? What’s worse? Me having coffee in a cafe with you on comms? Or me here, hopped up on Xanax? I hate taking them. They make me loopy. You saw me last night. What good would I have been if you’d been followed back here? None.” I stand, going chest-to-chest with him, but even throwing my shoulders as far back as I can and rising up onto my toes, the top of my head only reaches his chin.
I’ve got him, though. Even as messed up as I was last night, I understood how worried he was about me. About us. “I have anxiety, Ry. The meds I take every day help keep it manageable. But the panic attacks…they make me feel like I’m going to die. I can’t breathe. I can’t think. Let me help you. It’ll help me too.”
Dropping his head so our foreheads touch, he wraps his arms around me. “You need to do everything I tell you. No questions. No arguments. No hesitation.”
“I will.” Relief flows through me, loosening the knot working its way up to my heart. “I’ll stay put. I just want to be close.”
“If I tell you to run, you run.” He draws back and meets my gaze. “I don’t care what’s happening to me or anyone else. You run and you don’t stop until you get to the backup car. Then you drive yourself to the airport and get on a fucking plane to any friendly country you can find. You understand?”
“Yes. Western Europe, the US, Canada, or Japan.”
With a nod, he releases me and then reaches for my pack. “All right. Show me what you need to bring.”
* * *
