Chapter Twenty-One

The alarm on Lena’s phone went off when they were leaving the restaurant.

“It’s time to call Viktor. I’ll meet you back at the room,” she told Dane with a calm she didn’t feel. Every time she was forced to speak to Viktor was another moment she felt powerless and weak.

She walked around the building, feeling the sun on her face as she took a breath to prepare herself to speak to Satan himself. It was such a beautiful day, she hated to ruin it so early in the morning.

“Lena, how are you?” he asked as if he really cared.

“Fine.”

“I trust you had a nice chat with Mackenzie this morning.”

She swallowed down the blinding pain at the reminder, as well as the urge to scream at the man. “How is Tobey?” she asked instead, not sure if she would believe him if he granted her an answer.

“Fine, fine. I just checked in with my associates, and they assure me he is comfortable.”

Comfortable. By whose standards? Viktor Kulakov would probably say her ex-husband was comfortable, even though she was pretty sure he was sleeping with the fishes, or whatever Viktor did with people who didn’t pay him the money they owed him.

“How is our friend?”

“Pissed off, but I’m dealing with it.”

“Keep watch, Lena. He will probably try to get you to side with him. He’ll pretend to be your friend so he can get you to drop your guard. I need Robbie Vanderhook, or whatever his real name is. You need to make sure Dane finds him.”

She almost laughed at the idea of Dane Ryan pretending to be her friend to get her cooperation. She actually wished he would pretend not to hate her. Maybe just a little. One look into his hard eyes, and she knew he would have killed her by now if he didn’t need her to make these phone calls to Viktor.

“And if I help, you’ll give—”

“We’ll discuss it once you bring me Vanderhook.”

Discussing wasn’t the same thing as doing. “But you said—”

“Let’s not play this tedious game. We both know you’re in no position to negotiate or make demands. Bring me what I want, and I’ll give you what you want. That’s how it works.”

Except, he wasn’t to be trusted. “How can you be sure Vanderhook is even still alive?” she asked. She’d heard the story of his untimely demise. Weller had assured Viktor he’d shot him six times and he’d been as good as dead when they left him there.

“I have my ways. Find the man and bring him to me. Call me back at three p.m.”

“Yes, okay.”

She set the alarm to go off before the next phone call, and tucked it in her back pocket. She felt the familiar tightening of her throat and hot tears filled her eyes.

Instead of giving in to them, she took a few deep breaths and looked up at the blue sky. Crying never helped. She didn’t know how much longer she could keep going like this.

Every time she got her hopes up and thought this nightmare would come to end, Viktor needed her to do some other impossible task.

She had no leverage, which meant things weren’t bound to change anytime soon. She glanced up at the hotel and let out a breath. Viktor had warned her not to trust Dane. That he might try to get her to side with him.

She’d laughed it off, but now she wondered if maybe that wasn’t her only option. Not the befriending part, because she didn’t think that was possible. But siding with him might be a step to ending this repetitive cycle she was caught in. She needed to do something. And he was a marshal, wasn’t he?

In the room, he was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for her. There wasn’t anything to pack.

“What did Kulakov say?” he asked.

“He said Tobey is comfortable.”

The only answer was a glare and a snort of disbelief. Right. Why would he believe anything she said? Especially when she was passing on information from a diabolical madman.

When they checked out, there was a box waiting for Dane. He tucked it under his arm and headed for the Jeep.

She wasn’t sure how to approach him about switching her loyalties. He probably wouldn’t believe her even if she had the courage to bring it up. He didn’t trust her, and she didn’t see that changing anytime soon.

She put the key in the ignition, but waited as he opened the box and pulled out a manila envelope with IDs, credit cards, and a new phone. There may have been other things in there, hell he might have pulled out the Hope Diamond and she wouldn’t have noticed.

Because all her attention was focused intently on the gun he pulled from the box.