Riku’s smile revealed small, straight teeth, perfectly white. They may as well have been fangs for all the kindness this upturn of his mouth showed in his stony face. With that sneer held in place, he reached into his jacket pocket and held up a phone, turning it around so I could see the silly sticker on the back.
A yellow smiley face with an X for its eyes. I bought it for Papa when it made me laugh in a grocery store checkout. A dead smiley face was humorous when I was so far from any danger that nothing Papa did ever seemed real. Imagine a murderous gangster with a sticker on his phone.
“Why do you have that?” I asked, my heart sinking as my stomach clenched like it was in the grip of a fist. Oh God, what did I do? “Please tell me where he is.”
Riku put the phone back in his pocket, my last link to my father disappearing, along with my hope. “I don’t know,” he said, voice like razor blades, not a trace of even a fake smile remaining. “The bastard got away from me. But now that I have you, I’m certain I can get him back.” He shrugged, thesmile returning and suddenly, sickeningly real. “Or better yet, Konstantin Fokin.”
His hand whipped behind me, grabbing my phone, which disappeared along with Papa’s. He stepped back, as graceful as a pop star on stage, and slammed the door in my face. I sank down onto the bare concrete, not feeling the cold seep through my clothes, too shocked to cry, as I pondered exactly how much I had fucked everything up.
Definitely the biggest mistake of my life.
Chapter 38 - Konstantin
I ended up at Dima’s house since the beach house was useless until the swarm of cops left. Olivia greeted me, unsure why I was there, and instantly worried that something awful had happened to her husband. We Fokins did seem to have nine lives, but all of us were perilously close to using them up. Any one of us could end up dead at any time.
“He’s fine,” I said at the look on her face once she saw me standing alone in her doorway. “At least he was when I left.”
“Why did you leave?” she asked accusingly.
I smiled at her fierce protectiveness, something I understood all too well. “Another emergency. The woman I’ve been keeping safe has disappeared.”
“I know all about Tatiana,” she said, motioning for me to follow her. In the kitchen, she started the espresso machine, moving with the efficiency of the personal assistant she used to be to Dima. “You wouldn’t believe how much this family gossips.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I said, not surprised that word had spread. The small talk was grating on my nerves. My thoughts were consumed with Tati. Where was she? Who was she with?
As soon as a cup of nuclear strong coffee was in front of me, she disappeared, returning a few moments later with a bland-looking young man, both tall and wide. “Our head of security,” she said. “Tell him how he can help.”
Any slight annoyance I had with Dima’s lovely wife evaporated, and I gave her a grateful smile she didn’t see because she was busy putting together a snack tray. I gave himTati’s phone information, informing him there was a tracker in it, and he left, telling me to give him five minutes.
“Feels like an eternity, I know,” Olivia said, setting a plate of vegetables, hummus, and seed crackers in front of me. “And I also know you won’t eat any of that, but I tend to work when I’m anxious.”
“Dima will be fine, like always.”
“Yes, I know,” she said, steady despite the worry in her eyes.
The guard made good on his promise, and within five minutes, he returned. “The phone is off, the tracker’s no longer pinging. The last location was about a mile and a half from the beach house.”
I cursed Grigor for not installing a more high-tech tracker, then just plain cursed him. I should have started in on Tati, but at the moment, I couldn’t be too mad at her. I was too consumed with worry for her safety.
My phone rang, and I told Olivia it was Dima. Her shoulders lowered with relief as I answered. “Are you all good?” I asked, since I left him in the midst of a fight. It was difficult to care too much about that when everything I had was focused on Tati. Right now, I needed him to stop caring too, so I could enlist him to help look for her.
“Better than good,” he said. “How’s my house?”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I bellowed as he chuckled. “It’s fine, but swarming with cops, that’s why I’m at your main place.”
“God, don’t get that one burned down, too.”
“Can you just tell me what has you in such a good mood?” I demanded, in no state of mind for jokes, when my stomach felt like I had eaten glass shards.
“When we got to the next location after the warehouse, we managed to grab a guy who’s very desperate to stay alive. Supposedly, he knows where Grigor is. It’s not far, and he says he’ll take us there.”
“That’s awfully convenient, isn’t it?” I asked, not daring to hope it was true.
“He knows he’ll die painfully if he’s lying,” Dima said, and I could envision him shrugging. “It’s the best lead we have.”
“And we have to take it,” I said, resigned to trusting a stranger who might be leading us into a trap. “Because now Tati’s missing, too.”
“Hurry up and get over here, then,” he said, hanging up. A second later, his location came through.