‘You’ve been looking for me,’ he said, his voice as growly as his accent was thick.
‘Put the knife down,’ Dani said.
Was that the best she could think of?
Popescu grinned evilly.
‘I have a whole team of officers coming this way,’ Dani said. ‘Don’t do anything stupid.’
Popescu snorted. ‘No. You don’t. You two are all alone.’
‘Where’s Alex?’ Dani asked.
Popescu flicked his gaze over his shoulder. Dani took her chance and shuffled forward a half step. Ana’s eyes went even wider than they already were, as if warning Dani to stay put.
‘I finished him off,’ Popescu said.
Ana moaned and squirmed.
‘She did a good job, but he wasn’t dead. Not quite.’
Why would Popescu kill Alex?
Then Dani got it.
‘You’re running from Victor,’ Dani said.
Popescu looked disgusted.
‘You and Silviu were both running. Because we stopped you with that body. You know we arrested Silviu earlier tonight?’
He didn’t react at all to that. Had he already known?
‘She was called Maria,’ Dani said. ‘You were coming here, right? To dispose of her. This is the place you always come to dispose of bodies, whenever Victor asks. But you were caught by the police. And now you’re a risk to Victor. He wants you de—’
‘Shut your face, you stupid bitch,’ Popescu snarled, flicking the knife towards Dani.
The angry reaction was undoubtedly supposed to intimidate Dani. But Popescu had made a mistake. Even though he’d seen Ana’s previous handiwork, he’d still underestimated her. With the knife away from her throat, Dani knew what was coming.
She wouldn’t pass up on the opportunity either.
Dani raced forwards. She reached out and grabbed out, toward the workbench. Grabbed what she could. A wooden stump – a broken handle? A weapon of sorts, at least.
Ana stamped on Popescu’s foot, grabbed hold of his knife arm with both her hands. She tried to wrestle the blade further away from her. But Popescu towered over her, and was thick and muscly to boot. Ana was nowhere near a match for his size and strength.
Popescu threw his fist into Ana’s side. She squirmed and he pulled his arm free and lifted the knife to drive it down into her neck.
‘Ana, move!’ Dani screamed.
Ana did her best. She pulled to the side. The knife slashed across the flesh of her shoulder. She cried in pain. Dani swung the wood in an arc towards Popescu’s face. He didn’t see it coming. There was a crunch as wood hit bone and he stumbled a half step back. Dani wound up to hit him again. She never saw the meaty fist winging towards her face.
Popescu’s thick knuckles smashed into her nose. Blood spurted and Dani reeled back and lost her footing. She was on her way down as Popescu delivered the same hammer-like blow to Ana. Her head snapped to the side, and the blow sent her crashing into the shelving. The side of her skull cracked horrifically against the metal, and she plummeted awkwardly to the concrete floor, smacking down a fraction of a second after Dani.
Dani lay on the floor. Dazed, nearly out of it. She tried to shake her head. Blinked a few times to clear her fogging vision. She couldn’t lose consciousness. Not now. Not like this. She fought against it with everything she had. Across the way, Ana was crumpled on the floor, unmoving, as a line of blood dribbled down her face from her hairline.
Dani glanced up. Popescu was hovering right over her now, one thick boot either side of her torso. He used the heel of one to turn Dani onto her back. She groaned and writhed but her world was swimming, her body distant, and she didn’t have the strength to fight back, however much she willed herself to try.
Popescu dropped down. His hefty weight crushed Dani’s chest, knocking the air from her lungs. Her head spun all the more and she once again fought to stave off unconsciousness.
Popescu pinned her arms with his knees. He looked down on her with hatred and disgust.
‘You shouldn’t have come after me,’ he snarled.
Dani didn’t say anything. She could barely breathe, let alone speak.
‘If it hadn’t been for his stupid sister…’
His sister.
His sister. Clara Dunne?
Dani’s brain fired now, his words exactly what she needed to find clarity. Dani bucked and writhed. Not that she intended to throw him off, but she needed an inch to breathe properly. To think properly. To talk, and keep him talking, before he thrust that knife down into her heart, or her neck, which he could do at any second if he wanted.
‘You killed Clara,’ Dani said, her words still choked, though at least she’d got them out. His distraction was exactly what she needed. ‘You killed Clara because she knew the truth.’
Popescu clenched his teeth. ‘She had to go.’
‘But you didn’t bring her here. Not like the others. Why?’
‘Because… I hate this place.’
‘How many people have you killed? How many have you brought here?’
Popescu shook his head. He was looking more and more angry. Surely that wasn’t a good thing.
‘You still don’t know a thing,’ he said.
‘Then tell me. Why did you kill Liam?’
He shook his head. ‘You really don’t know anything.’
He looked almost disappointed.
That was when he lifted the knife, and plunged it down into Dani’s flesh.