The drive was silent except for the sound of tires on the wet streets and the rhythmic hum of windshield wipers. The constant stream of prayers Ginny sent made no noise in the car, but she hoped Someone in heaven was hearing them.
Twenty minutes later, they arrived at Clearwater Heights. Pavlo let her and Sokolov out in front of the trailer.
“Hide the car and hurry back,” Sokolov said.
Pavlo nodded, and Sokolov pushed her toward the door. “Are you expecting anybody today?”
The associate she’d hired to help her with the properties had resigned, apologizing and explaining he had to protect his reputation. She shook her head.
Sokolov used her keys to open the trailer door, and they stepped inside.
Another place for them to leave in shambles, and this one wasn’t hers. I’m so sorry, Kade. So sorry.
But whatever state they left the trailer in would be the least of Kade’s worries if Sokolov made good on his threats.
Sokolov pushed Ginny into one of the metal-and-fabric guest chairs. “Don’t move.”
He started the search at the file cabinet, opening every file and tossing papers on the floor after he looked at them.
Pavlo returned a few minutes later, and together, they tore the space apart.
It took a couple of hours for them to look at everything. When they were finished, Sokolov’s lips were set in an angry line.
Pavlo’s face was red, his eyes bulging.
He stalked behind her and grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked. Her head snapped back, and she pushed on her toes to try to relieve the pressure. But he pushed her shoulder down with his other hand. “Where is it?”
“I swear, I don’t know anything.”
Pavlo dug his fingers into her flesh.
She gasped, tried to duck away, but with his grip on her hair, she couldn’t move.
Sokolov stepped in front of her, looked down at her, and shook his head. “We don’t want to kill her yet.”
“I’m not going to kill her.” Pavlo squeezed harder. “I’m just going to hurt her.”
“Stop,” the older man said.
Pavlo let her go, and she pulled in a deep breath, closed her eyes. She couldn’t do this anymore. She couldn’t take another minute of it.
Please, Lord…
Pavlo said, “You told me if we didn’t find it—”
“I know what I told you.”
She kept her eyes closed. She didn’t want to see what was coming. She wanted to float away.
The sound of something being dragged, then a gentle whoosh of air. “Open your eyes,” Sokolov said.
She did and found him seated in front of her.
“I do not want to let my friend violate you. I’ve seen what he does to women, and it is not pretty. However, you will tell us anything we want to know when he’s done with you. So please, make it easier on yourself. Just tell us now.”
She said nothing. There was nothing else to say. She had no idea what he was looking for. She had no idea what her father had given her.
Nothing. He’d given her nothing.
Dad had spared her a few moments of conversation now and then when she was a kid. He’d smiled at her, he’d asked about her days sometimes, and she’d called his casual concern love.
No father who loved his child would put her in this position.
Her mother had betrayed her. Her sister had abandoned her. Her father was about to get her killed.
And the God she’d desperately wanted to believe in was nowhere to be found.
There were no words for any of that.
While Pavlo was gone to get the car, Sokolov stared at her. “I am very disappointed.”
“Me, too,” she said. “I’d love nothing more than to give you what you want and send you on your way.”
Which wasn’t true. What she wanted was for these men to pay for what they’d done to her mother. And she wanted to protect Kade. And she didn’t want to die. Not like this, not now.
“Your father gave it to you,” he said.
She shook her head and looked away. Her gaze snagged on the poster-sized artist’s rending of Clearwater Heights, which had been tossed on the floor and walked on.
What a beautiful dream. She hoped and prayed Kade would live to see it come true. These men had no reason to kill Kade or anybody else. They would kill her, no doubt, but why would they risk murdering a bunch of other people who had nothing to do with any of this? Maybe, if Sokolov could stay out of prison, he’d let Kade use his money and develop this property. Maybe it would be built and Kade would never know his business partner had murdered the woman he loved.
The thought brought tears to her eyes. Funny, she hadn’t cried all morning. Not while she’d witnessed Pavlo and Sokolov destroy her home. Not when Sokolov had watched her change her clothes. But now, at the thought of Kade’s love, tears dripped from her eyes.
“Your father gave you nothing?” Sokolov said. “In those final few months before he died, he handed over nothing to you.”
“I already told you,” she said, “he gave me no papers, no books, nothing he could have written instructions on.”
“Not even a birthday present?”
She shook her head, lifted her bound hands, and touched her fingertips to the pendant hanging from her neck. It had been a gift from Dad.
The door banged open. Pavlo said, “Let’s go.”
Sokolov was watching her closely. He nodded, and they both stood.
They were settled in the car when he said, “That pendant… Did your father give you that?”
She sighed. Of course he would take her last connection to her family. He’d destroyed everything else. Why not that, too? They would strip her of everything that mattered before she died. She nodded. “He gave it to me a few days before he died.”
Pavlo backed away from the trailer and angled the car toward the highway.
“Wait,” Sokolov said.
Pavlo braked hard.
Sokolov reached out, grabbed the pendant, and yanked.
The chain broke easily, and he held the black crystal—or glass, probably—up to the dim light outside. “Go to the clubhouse.”
“Boss, we gotta get—”
“Nobody is coming here today. We are all alone.”
Pavlo parked on the far side of the partially constructed structure so that if anybody did go to the trailer, they wouldn’t see the car.
Usually, Sokolov managed her, but as soon as the vehicle stopped, he opened the car door and rushed inside.
Pavlo came around and pulled her from the backseat. He pushed her through the mud to what would eventually be oversize French doors. Right now it was simply a gaping hole framed by two-by-fours. They stepped onto the concrete slab.
The roof and exterior walls had been built. Inside, it was dark and dreary and creepy.
Sokolov was on the far side of the room looking at his phone. What was that about?
But no. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she was able to see better. He was holding his phone in one hand and the pendant in the other. He had the camera app on and pointed at the pendant.
The flash went off.
“I need it…” Sokolov’s voice trailed as he messed with his phone.
“Whatcha looking for, boss?”
“I need your flashlight,” Sokolov snapped. “It’s too dark in here.”
Pavlo pushed her to the floor. “Don’t move.” Then he crossed to Sokolov. “What’s going—?”
“Just get out your flashlight and don’t ask any questions.”
She’d never heard Sokolov be so short with anybody. But it wasn’t anger in his voice. It was eagerness.
Which made no sense.
Pavlo lifted the flashlight to shine on the pendant.
Sokolov grinned. “And there it is.”
“What?” Pavlo angled to look.
Sokolov slipped the pendant into his pocket. “When we were in China, I saw them in souvenir shops. They weren’t as nice as hers. That’s why I didn’t realize they were the same.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Necklaces. The ones in China, when you looked into the crystal with a light, they had I love you written in all different languages. Typical foolishness aimed at tourists. Hers was different.”
They both glanced at Ginny, who hadn’t moved. Who should have moved, should have run. Except both Pavlo and Sokolov were armed. Now that they had what they wanted, they had no reason to shoot her.
Now that they had what they wanted, they had no reason not to.
She couldn’t seem to get herself to move. Moving meant getting shot in the back. Staying meant… Would Pavlo get his way, or would Sokolov make it simple?
This was it. This was when she’d die. This was where she’d die. And nobody was here to stop it.
She needed to run.
Pavlo focused on Sokolov. “What did you see?”
Ginny shifted slowly forward and set her hands on the concrete.
“The instructions, of course,” Sokolov said. “Just like I told you.”
She very slowly turned her toes beneath her so she was on her hands and feet.
Pavlo glanced at the man’s pocket. “I don’t get to see?”
She looked around. She’d go out the door and around the building. Her best shot would be the woods, but they were a good fifty yards from here. She’d head in that direction. Maybe if she caught them off guard…
There was no way she’d make it, but she had to try.
“Of course you do. But right now, we must take care of her.”
She pushed to her feet.
Pavlo glanced her way.
She sat back down, but it was too late. He walked over to her and kicked her in the side.
The force knocked her sideways. She landed on her shoulder on the concrete.
“I told you to stay put.”