He laughs. “Greg?You don’t strike me as a Greg.”
“Would you believe I work at a tattoo shop up on Rugged Mountain?”
He laughs, even harder this time. “Last I checked you didn’t have a lick of artistic talent, or an affinity for tattoos.”
I flex my arm, showing off the sleeve I’ve started. “Greg does, though. He’s big on tattoos.”
Ryan shakes his head and hops into the truck next to Everleigh. Viktor isn’t far behind.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Viktor groans, “I’m glad you were here to kill that fucker before he got to Everleigh, but what the hell are you doing here? How’d you know to come back?”
I throw my hand up on his shoulder and let a breath out slow. “I’m here to kill you, brother.”
Chapter Twenty
Everleigh
Running makes sense when you have somewhere to go. Right now, I don’t. I have no one in fact. No one except Lucy and these three gangsters, and I can’t wrap Lucy up any more than she already is. That doesn’t stop her from calling me, though.
“Are you okay? You weren’t answering. I thought something awful happened.”
I don’t even know how to tell her what’s happening, so I opt for the Cliff notes. “I’m with Ryan and Viktor now. We’re on our way to the—”
“Don’t tell anyone where we’re going,” Viktor growls.
I look up toward him, but don’t question what he’s said, even though it’s only Lucy, and I know without a shadow of a doubt she isn’t going to say anything to anyone. Now isn’t the time to start questioning things. There will be plenty of time for that later.
“It’s okay,” she says. “I’m just glad you’re safe. That’s all I wanted to know.”
Viktor takes the phone from my hand. “What did the reporter know?” His voice is dark and rough.
I can’t hear her very well, but I strain to hear what I can.
“He wasn’t a reporter. He kept talking about some guy named Gedeon. He said eight million was stolen. He’s convinced the key is well… the key.”
“Is it?” Viktor growls.
I can’t tell what she says, but I imagine by the grimace on Viktor’s face, she told the truth.
“Thank you,” Viktor rumbles. “I’m sending one of my guys by to watch you until this is over. He’s six foot five, with black hair, and he’s got an anchor tattoo on his left hand. If a guy shows up for you and doesn’t look like that, don’t let him in.”
I don’t hear her response, but I imagine it’s something kinky and ill placed.
He hands the phone back to me. Why does he have to be so attractive when he’s doing bad guy stuff? Something is wrong with me.
I let Lucy go, then stare blankly ahead, watching as we pass by every hotel that I imagined we’d stay at.
“Where are we going? I think these hotels are pretty nice. They’re—”
“I have a bug out place. It’s in the mountains, and no one knows about it. We’ll stay there tonight.”
“And what about Max?” I ask. “He’s following us. Why does he want to kill you?”
Viktor looks into his rear-view mirror, then adjusts in his seat and leans one hand on the wheel, running his hand down over his beard. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but that man isn’t killing me. If he was, he wouldn’t have killed that bullshit reporter back at your place.”
“Where’d he steal the money from?” Ryan’s squeezes me tighter as he talks to Viktor. “He wasn’t working with anyone. I thought he kept his distance from the beginning.”
“We hired him for odd jobs as needed. It’s all Dad could trust him with. He must have figured a way in and taken the money. That’s why he was paranoid, it’s why he ran, and it’s why you ended up with Everleigh duty.” Viktor exhales loud then slams the steering wheel. “I didn’t mean to say it like that.”
