I GAIN ENTRY to Gail’s house like she already knows I’m coming. That makes me nervous. Withdrawing my gun, I enter her kitchen. She’s standing at the end of the counter holding a full glass of wine that hasn’t been touched. She’s trying to appear calm, and that tells me she must be aware of her daughter’s disappearance. I’m tempted to take out my phone and check for Mila again, but I had before coming in here and she was at the hotel.
“Nicholai, you took my daughter.” This time Gail drinks from her glass.
“No harm will come to her.” I slowly lower my gun. She has no weapons that I can see, and I don’t think she’ll kill me, not knowing where her daughter is.
“I have men searching for her right now, Nicholai.” Gail places the glass back onto the counter. Her eyes are on fire with anger that she’s fighting not to display.
“I need answers. You told me I pissed off some pretty powerful people. I want to know who.” I close the back door behind me before stepping into the kitchen.
“If any harm comes to my daughter…”
“That’s up to you, Gail,” I snap back, knowing she’s wasting time. Time isn’t a luxury I have right now. “Now, answer my questions and I will let your daughter go.”
“How many times do you think my daughter has been kidnapped?” The question is delivered with a raised brow. Gail drinks deeply from her glass.
“Three times,” she answers her own question. “Those three times, the men who took her died a slow and painful death.”
“You can keep threatening me, but they won’t find your daughter. I’m not stupid, Gail.” I itch to check my phone again. What if they found Mila? She would be dead. I don’t think they would have found her that fast.
I have to believe I still have time.
“Who ordered the kill on me, Gail?” I withdraw my gun again, wanting her to answer quickly.
“Oleg.” That confirms my suspicions.
“Why?”
“When you have all your answers, then what?”
I cock the gun. “Then I leave here and you get your daughter back.”
Gail holds my eye, and I have no idea what’s going on inside her head. She’s a clever woman.
“I don’t know why he ordered your death. I was happy to assist since you killed Dimitri. You were just meant to deliver him to the can, and from there, I knew I would get him back. But you killed him instead.”
“What do you mean, get him back?” No one came back from the can.
Gail steps closer to me, completely ignoring the gun I still have pointed in her direction.
She exhales loudly. “Dimitri got out of the Bratva by doing a favor for Oleg. I didn’t learn about that favor until a few years ago. Dimitri helped cover up the disappearance of Victor’s daughter.”
She’s talking about Mila.
“But I think someone discovered the girl, and Dimitri was being brought in for questioning. Oleg said it was standard and that he collected everyone from the can, so he would make sure Dimitri was safe.” Gail’s hands curl around the counter. “Only he wasn’t.”
The fire returns to her eyes, and I don’t want her thinking about Dimitri; I want her to stay focused.
“What do you think Victor would do if he was aware you held this knowledge?”
Gail’s face pales. “I just want my daughter back. I had no hand in his daughter. None.”
Her voice rises and I hold up a hand, feeling accomplished in what I wanted to do—take her mind off Dimitri.
“It’s not looking good for you, Gail, conspiring with Oleg.”
“You killed Dimitri, and I was happy to assist with your death. I still am.”
I grin at her honesty.
It makes sense how Dimitri got away from Bratva. I wondered who had alerted Oleg to Mila’s whereabouts. Now I’m questioning who sent me the order to collect her. Was Oleg hoping she would try to escape and I’d kill her and then he would wipe me out?
“You sent your men to my home to kill me. Was that the only order?”
Gail looks away for the first time. “No. Oleg gave me specific instructions to send them into a front living space, where a girl was being held. She was to be killed too.”
“Do you know who she is?” I raise the gun at Gail.
“No, but I think I can figure it out.”
The phone starts to ring, and Gail looks to it. I point at the phone with my gun. “Answer it, and put it on speaker.”
Gail doesn’t look away from me as she opens the phone and places it on speaker.
“Did you get her?” Gail asks.
Sirens wail in the background. “They got away. She’s with a blonde woman. They pulled the fire alarm in the hotel, and I think others are working with them.”
I take my own phone out of my pocket and open it up. Mila’s dot is moving. She’s a few blocks away from the hotel.
“Did you see Irina?” Gail’s voice betrays her emotion for the first time.
“Yes, boss. She’s fine. We’ll get her.”
“You better,” Gail snarls before ending the call.
“I’ll have her back to you within the hour,” I say. “You can call off your men. Mila witnessed a murder of a young girl by Oleg. That’s why he’s trying to make her disappear without dirtying his hands.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Gail clutches the phone in her hand.
“Helping him isn’t about Dimitri. He would have killed Dimitri anyway. He knew too much. Maybe I gave him mercy.”
“You burned his body. I couldn’t even have a final goodbye!” Her angry words fuel her steps. “He won’t stop!” Gail fires out.
“I know.” I know Oleg won’t stop coming for me or Mila. “Call off your men,” I say, as my own fear for Mila grows.
“No.”
“I will deliver your daughter back here.”
“You think I will heel just like that?”
“Yes, if you know what is good for you.” I raise the gun.
I see it in Gail’s eyes. She won’t submit. “If you were going to shoot me, Nic, you would have already done it.”
She’s right. I don’t want to leave a child orphaned.
I put the gun away and slip back out through the back door. Talking to Gail didn’t solve my problem. Mila and I were targets, and that didn’t change. But at least I know who’s behind it and why. I’m not stupid to think that Gail won’t have me followed. I take out my phone as I drive and check to see where Mila is. She’s at a park.
I keep checking the rearview mirror to make sure I’m not being followed. I’m not surprised when a black jeep takes a left, right, and another left just as I do. I wait until I’m coming up to a red light before I stomp on the gas pedal. Horns blow as he tries to follow me but gets stuck behind the red light.
I take off and continue zigzagging through the city until I’m sure I’m not being followed. I dump the car close to the park and start to walk.