Page 67 of Savage Little Secret

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Sean questions me as he steps away from the wall, meeting me in the middle of the alleyway.

“I’m done swallowing another lie from you. I know that you killed Mikhail!” I snap at him. I haven’t seen my friend in forever because of him. It has to be him.

Sean throws his hands up. “I didn’t kill him! He never made it to the meeting!”

I shake my head at him. “You’ve given me that excuse over and over, but I don’t believe you. Mikhail isn’t the type to miss anything.”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Dmitri. I never laid eyes on him that day!” Sean assures me.

“Prove it!”

“Fine!”

I stare at him as silence rings up and down the alleyway, our shoulders lifting and falling with heavy breaths. “Fine? You can prove it?”

Sean pinches the bridge of his nose and nods. “I’ll give you the surveillance footage of the place we were supposed to meet so you’ll stop telling people I killed him.”

“Why didn’t you just give it to me weeks ago when I asked for it?”

Sean narrows his eyes bitterly. “Because I was hoping that you would take my word for the situation and leave it be.”

“He was my friend and the Pakhan. I’m surprised the Bratva hasn’t jumped down your throat about this,” I growl.

“I guess they don’t care about him as much as you do,” Sean replies with a shrug. When I tense up like I’m about to swing, he holds his hand up. “Relax. I’ll get you the footage, and you’ll see that Mikhail was never there.”

“The footage better not be edited or doctored in any way,” I warn him.

Sean rolls his eyes. “I’m not trying to piss you off even more, Dmitri. You’re already exhausting. I’ll give you the original video file.”

I grind my teeth for a second at his attitude, but I’m glad to be getting the footage. Aside from rescuing Cara, finding out what happened to Mikhail is a huge priority for me. Things just don’t feel right.

“Fine. I want it soon,” I tell him.

Sean nods. “I’ll get it sent over. Are we done here?”

“Well, we’ve made no progress on finding Cara, so I guess we are. There’s nothing more to discuss,” I mutter as I take out my phone to double check that a call hasn’t come through. I can’t begin to count how many times a day that I check my phone.

“You heard anything else from her captor?” Sean asks me.

I shake my head, a frown tugging at my lips. “They said they wanted to trade. If they’re not calling, it means they’re setting something up.”

Sean rubs his jaw in thought. “I’m interested to know what they want. Obviously, I don’t have it since they called you and not me.”

I have access to a lot, and if I’m determined enough, I can get just about anything. But what will it cost me? My life?

For Cara, I’m willing to give it.

“When I hear something, I’ll let you know,” I say, my anger starting to ebb away. At least he’s working with me regarding what happened to Mikhail.

Sean nods. “Let’s hope it’s soon. It’s been too long already.”

As I watch him walk out of the alleyway, concern twists and turns in my guts. He’s right. It has been too long.

I don’t know what kind of conditions Cara is dealing with right now. Where are they holding her? Are they feeding her? Treating her like they’re decent human beings?

If she’s suffering, someone’s going to pay in pieces.

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