“Mish, I’m sorry to call so early…”
“Everything alright?”
“No,” I squeaked, and then inhaled sharply, trying to keep ittogether. “Listen, can you find people? Missing people?”
The other end of the line remained completely silent.
“Misha?”
“I don’t know, Katya. That’s not something you should mess with. When people disappear, it’s not usually a happy ending.”
“Please…” I was desperate and not afraid to admit it. This was Elena. And, if I were being honest, it was also my guilt because a lot of time had gone by, and I hardly noticed her absence. Not only did that make me a terrible friend, but a terrible person too—I’d known she wasn’t doing well, but much like everything else, it was easier to be blind. “Please, Misha.”
The phone scratched with a deep sigh.
“I swear I spend more time on you than anyone I actually fuck. This is why I pay girls. I’ve got a busy day, but if you can be ready in an hour, I’ll be in the neighborhood. Two rules—you aren’t allowed to complain, and you’re not going to tell Vitali.”
I’d have to figure out who I was lying to later. “Alright. Where are we going?”
“To see the only person who can help you. You’re going to ask Sergei.”
I didn’t want to see Sergei. Even at the time, I knew it was a mistake, but my heart was breaking, and the notion that I could do something for Elena wouldn’t leave my mind.
He picked me up within the hour, so I didn’t have time to regret my decisions until later.
“I’m not about to question who you’re looking for, and you’re not going to tell me,” he warned. “It’s none of my business unless Sergei makes it my business.”
“Not Vitali?”
He chewed on the ever-present cigarette in his mouth. “I don’t work with Vitali anymore.”
Oh.
“Why?” A stupid question, considering the last few days, but we were speeding through the streets with nothing to look at but sad, gray buildings, and any distraction was a good distraction.
“I’ve told you before. I don’t like to shoot. If things come up, alright. I’m a team player, but Team Vitali has been a bit much lately.”
“Because of…” I cleared my throat. “Me?”
“Don’t think yourself so important. There was some personal business, sure. But Sergei wants the Chechens gone, and that’s not looking pretty. Vitali has been refusing jobs out of the country—because of you, and yes, that part is your fault—so he’s being repurposed. But stuff’s brewing with or without him, so I moved to collections duty. Want to know something funny?”
It wasn’t going to be funny, but I nodded anyway.
“This whole thing has been happening for a while, he and Musa both fight dirty, and—”
“Who is Musa?”
“Blyad,if you’re going to interrupt, I’m making another rule for the car. Musa is the Chechen Bratva’s Sergei. They’ve been mildly petty, but since the war ended, things have gotten more heated. Then, Sergei decides to light sparklers at Elit and offs Musa’s oldest—Dmitri.”
We made a great buddy-cop comedy duo, because he was right, that wassooofunny.
Wait…
Alright. There was more than one Dmitri in the world.
But there wasn’t. I didn’t see him at Elit, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there.
I definitely saw Lyosha.
