Chapter 64 Episode 64
1600 Words
“And I’m sorry about that. I should have taken better care ofmyself. I was just—”
I look over my shoulder at her, eyebrow raised. “Did you seeme crying and eating whole tubs of ice cream?”
Elise rolls her eyes. “That’s how people in movies mourn. Wedon’t do that. Not in our family. We just… keep going.”
Her timid voice breaks my heart. Elise has been through fartoo much in her short life. We both have. From day one, we’vebeen mourning.
Mourning the fathers we lost.
Mourning the mother we had.
Mourning the protection we needed so badly and were never,ever given.
But if it’s up to me, Elise won’t have to mourn anything everagain. Which is why I have to get her out of here. It’s whywhat happened with Nikolai in the library can’t change mymind.
At the end of the day, no matter what is between us, nothingmeans more to me than protecting my sister.
“And we have to keep going now,” I tell her, trying to conveyas much fierce meaning in as few words as possible. “I’mdoing my best to keep you safe. I’m asking you to trust me.”
Elise gnaws at her lower lip.
“I know Nikolai has given us… well, everything,” I admit.“But trust me: there’s more you don’t know. Stuff I can’t tellyou.”
If Elise refuses to come with me, I’m not sure what I’ll do.Unlike Nikolai, I didn’t pack a Bratva doctor and a syringe fullof sediment in my bags. I can’t knock her out.
Even if I could, she’s too heavy for me to carry. And if she iskicking and screaming, Nikolai will be on us before her dooris even open. I badly need her to agree to come with me, but Itry to hide my desperation.
“Yeah,” she says. “You’re my sister, B. Of course I trust you.But… you have to promise to see a doctor when we get back. Ineed you.”
Tears brim in my eyes. I nod. “Deal. Done. Absolutely.”
Elise slips on a pair of shoes and pockets her phone and acrystal paperweight from the bookshelf. “We can pawn it forsome cash,” she explains when I give her a questioning look.
I wave her away with both hands. “I don’t even want to knowwhere or why you came up with that idea.”
“Should I put it back?”
I shake my head. “No. He has more money than God. Hewon’t miss a few priceless knick-knacks. But this is the onlytime I will ever condone stealing. You hear me?”
A few weeks ago, it drove me crazy that Elise sarcasticallycalled me “Mom.” But now, I see it for the compliment it is.It’s a tiny token of love. One she’s been trying to give awayfor years without success.
I take her hand in mine as we slip silently out of Elise’s roomand into the hallway. She lets me hold it, to my surprise.
Along the way, we snag an antique-looking trinket dish, somecrystal glassware from a bar cart, and a gilded letter openerfrom a hallway table. If we can find a pawn shop quickly, itshould be enough to get us a rental car.
We’re in the back hallway, heading towards the rear of thehouse where I saw a door into the backyard, when I hearmovement.
“Quiet,” I mouth to Elise, tip-toeing around a corner towardsthe back patio.
I open the door as quietly as I can and usher Elise out. Then Ileave it cracked open to avoid the noise of closing it. As soonas Elise and I are at the corner of the house, I grab her arm andpull her to a stop.
“Whatever happens,” I continue, “no matter who appears orwhat they say, you stay quiet and follow my lead.”
“Do you have something planned or—?”
“Just promise me you’ll listen,” I interrupt. “Ready?”
She nods again, and we move around the side of the housetowards the main street. Apparently, if we exit the drivewayand keep walking, we’ll run into Prospect Park. That’s what Iwas told, anyway. That’s where they’ll meet us.
We stick to the landscape along the sides of the driveway,moving from tree to tree, doing our best to blend into theshadows. By the time we’re moving across the street to thetree-lined median, I’m cautiously optimistic this might work.
Then a car pulls up alongside us and the doors snap open.
A man in a black bomber jacket and dark, wavy hair climbsout from the passenger seat while another man stays behindthe wheel. He hitches a thumb towards the backseat. “Get in.”
Elise grabs the back of my shirt and tries to pull me away.
“It’s okay,” I reassure her, even though this wasn’t supposed tohappen quite like this. We’re still too close to Nikolai’s house.He could see us.
I turn to the man. “Who are you?”
“It doesn’t matter who I am,” he says. “It matters who you are.Belle Dowan, right?”
Elise gasps behind me. “How does he know who you are?What’s happening?”
I ignore her and nod. “That’s me.”
“No,” I say, straightening my spine. I try to keep my voicesteely and steady. Elise needs something she can lean on. Iwant so, so badly to be that something.
The passenger gets out and comes around the back of the car.He’s an entire head taller than me, and he reaches for mypurse. “Get in, girls. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
Elise is breathing heavily behind me. “Belle?”
I want to pull her into a hug, but I have to stay focused. Thisisn’t exactly how I thought it would go, but I can improvise.But if we’re going to do this directly in front of Nikolai’shouse, we need to move faster.
“We aren’t just going to climb into your car,” I say, playing mypart as well as reminding these men what their job is.Kidnappers aren’t supposed to ask nicely, and the cameras arewatching, so they need to read their lines right.
The tall man grins. “Then I’ll throw you in.”
He grabs my arm and pulls me towards the car. Elise yelps andgrabs my other arm. I fist my hand in the sleeve of her sweater.She can’t run away. She has to stay with me. For this to work,she has to stay—
A gunshot echoes down the dark street.
My heart leaps into my throat. I turn around just as the mannext to me drops to the ground…
With a gaping hole in the side of his head.
Before I can even process it, another shot rings out. The driverslumps down, bashing his chin on the top of the car doorbefore he collapses back into the front seat. Every bit as deadas the first.
“Oh my God!” Elise screams. She grabs my arm and reels meaway.
This time, I go with her. I’m too stunned to argue. None ofthat was meant to happen.
“Who did that?” I whisper, looking around.
Even though I already know.
I turn back towards Nikolai’s house just as he steps off thecurb. His gun is raised and ready. Once he’s sure the only twomen in the car are dead and no one else is nearby, he lowers it.His expression is surprisingly neutral, considering he justkilled two people.
“Are you okay?” he asks. “Did they hurt you?”
Elise runs to hide behind him. “No, I’m not f*****g okay.What the hell is happening?”
My little sister is sobbing. I can barely even move. Can barelythink. Can barely breathe.
A second later, Arslan walks towards the scene. “Clean-upduty again,” he grumbles. “My favorite.”
His voice is thick with sarcasm, but surprisingly thin on shockand horror. Probably because he’s neither shocked norhorrified. This is normal for him. For both of them.
“We have to call the police, don’t we?” Elise asks. She looksfrom me to Nikolai. “Those guys. They’re—”
“Dead now,” Nikolai finishes. “They were going to hurt you,and I stopped them. I don’t think there’s anything for thepolice to do.”
She blinks at me. I just nod. There’s too much to explain. Toomuch I haven’t told her. It will be easiest if she just listens toNikolai.
Elise is stuck to Nikolai like glue. In her mind, he just savedher life. But I trail behind, and Nikolai notices.
“Move quickly,” he barks. “We need to get inside beforeanyone notices us.”
We follow him back into the house, walking straight up thedriveway and through the front door.
How long was he watching us? Did he have eyes on us theentire time we were “sneaking” out of his house? Maybe heeven laughed as we darted amongst the foliage. I can picturehim, face aglow from the security screens, chuckling while wecreep along like Pink Panther-esque idiots.
This was all so stupid, wasn’t it?
Inside, Nikolai pushes me towards Elise. “Get her to bed andmeet me back here.”
I start to walk Elise to her room, but she shakes me off. “No.Talk. Do what you need to do. I’m… I’m okay.”
I squeeze her arm. “What you just saw wasn’t okay. You’re inshock.”
- Writer
