25
Alice cuddled her knees to her chest, watching the news channel for anything about her disappearance, or her parents, or the dead bodies at the house in Silver Lakes. There was nothing. They were only talking about the mutilated dead girl found on Klapperkop. Chilikov’s voice was in the distance. Something else was wrong. She could hear it in his voice. He tried to sound calm, but there was a sadness in it. It was no longer just business as usual.
“Valentin is dead,” he said, still staring at his phone. He wiped a tear from his face and turned away from her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “What happened?” She wasn’t sure what else to say. She didn’t really care whether any of Ivan’s men lived or died, but for her own sake, she pretended to give a s**t.
“Car crash,” he said.
“I’m sorry. Are
