Vanna gulped air. She didn’t want to go back to the filth, the whores, the heroin. She didn’t know what was going on, but this man was now clearly in charge of her, and at least for now, she had to play along. She let out her breath and pretended to think. Then she planted one hand on her hip, angled it out, and smiled seductively. “I guess I’ll stay.” She paused. “So? Did I pass?”
He didn’t answer.
“What’s your name?” she called out.
More silence. “C’mon. Make one up if you want to. I need to call you something.”
Then, “I am Vlad.”
Vlad? What kind of a name was that? She shaded her eyes again and tried to make out his features. She couldn’t. “Well, Vlad. What happens now?”
A throaty chuckle came from the shadows.
Vanna was suddenly tired of the bullshit. “Okay. Tell it to me straight. What do I have to do to get out of here? How much do you want?”
He sidestepped the answer. “Where is home?”
“Colorado.”
“Why you leave?”
A sharp memory of her mother bit into her. Why hadn’t they been able to make it work after her father died? Maybe Vanna should have been more caring. Her mother was as broken as she was. Maybe they could have patched each other up instead of ripping each other to shreds. Vanna needed someone who cared whether she lived or died. Maybe, over time, she could have broken through her mother’s problems and found that love. Her father would have wanted that.
“Tell me,” Vlad said.
She shook her head.
“Okay. What is your name?”
“Vanna.”
“Vanna? What name Vanna? For TV show?”
“It’s short for Savannah. Hey, do you think we could turn down the lights? I’d really like—”
Ignoring her request, he cut her off. “Why you come Chicago?”
She pressed her lips together. He didn’t have to know.
“I waiting, Vanna.” He emphasized the word “Vanna.”
She kept her mouth shut.
“Is big secret?”
She shook her head.
“You tell me. Now.” He sounded irritated.
Vanna considered it. Maybe it wasn’t such a big deal. He’d probably heard the story before. “My mother and I weren’t getting along. So I came to see my sister.”
There was a sudden pause. Then, “You have sister here?”
“Well, a half sister,” she replied. “Look, if it’s money you want, I can borrow some to pay you off,” she lied. “Really. Just give me a chance.”
“Where is sister?” His voice grew cool. The throaty laugh was gone.
“I—I don’t know. Things happened so fast…” Her voice trailed off. Maybe she shouldn’t have brought up Georgia.
“You want I call?”
Vanna looked at the floor. “She doesn’t know I’m here,” she said softly.
She heard him shift. Had she made a mistake? Maybe she should never have mentioned Georgia.
“What is sister name?”
She didn’t answer.
Even though she couldn’t see Vlad, she had a sense he was leaning forward. Waiting. “Tell me her name.”
Again, she shook her head.
“Vanna, you want make you talk?”
Vanna ran her tongue around her lips. She had fucked up. But there was no way to unring this bell. She had to tell him. “Her name is Georgia.”
“Georgia? Georgia what?”
“Georgia Davis.”
Once again, a silence so long and deep that it seemed to suck all the air out of the room. What had she done? She wrapped her arms around herself protectively. Finally, Vlad cleared his throat. What came out of his mouth next shocked her. In fact, it scared the shit out of her.
“Your sister…she is police?”
She went rigid. How could he know that? Who was this man? Why would he think Georgia was a cop? A mental alarm blasted her brain. She had to fix things. Fast.
“There’s no fucking way my sister is a cop,” she blustered. But even as she said it, she recalled her mother telling her how she’d married a cop in Chicago all those years ago. That man had been Georgia’s father. It was possible. But how did this man know?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the rustle of movement. Vlad stood up and came toward her. She lifted her chin, like an animal sniffing the air.
When he came into view, she took a step back. She recognized him. He was the man in the leather jacket who’d come to the hooker apartment a month earlier. Who’d chosen her and Jenny and brought them here. Whose orders had been obeyed without his saying a word.
She looked him over. Muscled and well built, he was the type she wouldn’t mind fucking. Skin so pale it was milky, eyes so icy blue they could probably cut glass. High cheekbones, a nose that looked like it had been broken once or twice—but who cared about that?—and a mass of thick hair, black and silver, particularly at the temples. Still, there was something wild and dangerous in his face, something that made her feel there were no boundaries he wouldn’t cross. His expression was cold and detached. He stared at her as if she were nothing more than a lump of clay.
“A sister. Police. Georgia Davis.” His gaze turned calculating, as if he was putting things together. Finally he smiled, as if he had just figured it out. But it was an odd, crooked smile, a smile that highlighted his sharp features but did nothing to warm his face. “Well, well. How you say? It is small world.”
She recoiled.
He called out something in Russian. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw, or maybe felt, Zoya, who was lurking at the entrance to the room, stiffen. He talked to Zoya, whose eyebrows rose sky-high. Then he switched back to English. “How you say? This is my lucky day.”
Vanna took a step back, but he closed in, invading her space, moving so close she could smell his aftershave. She didn’t recognize it. An icicle of fear slid up her spine.
He cupped her chin in his hand, still with that strange, crooked smile. “I think we have fun now. How you say? Kill birds with stone?”
“Kill two birds with one stone,” Vanna murmured.
“Yes.” Vlad paused. “We see how good a cop sister is.” He grinned as if he was very pleased with himself. ”Zoya. Go into kitchen. Get paper. Pencil. We plan.”
Vanna shivered. Her bravado vanished. Something was off. Really off.
Vlad turned back to her with a cold smile, one that, curiously, reminded her of her mother in one of her moods. Then the smile vanished, and he gazed at her with barely disguised contempt. “You now gonna be my favorite girl.”
Zoya came back into the room with paper and pen.
Vlad motioned to Vanna. “Bring her to me in an hour.”