“Nothing for now,” I bite out, leaving the room and slamming the door behind me.
I’m halfway down the corridor before Leonid and Igor catch up.
“We’ll find her,” Leonid says. “If she’s on her way to the airport, she won’t get far. You have enough connections to prevent the plane from taking off.”
Yes, I do. But even if she’s already in the air, I’ll find her, and when I do, there will be hell to pay.
33
Kate
My mouth is dry when I wake up. It takes a moment to focus my eyes. The room is unfamiliar. An overhead bulb throws light on the concrete walls and floor. The only furniture is the bed I’m lying on.
My stomach twists. What happened? Where am I?
I try to sit up, but my arms are stuck above my head. I can’t move them. Craning my neck, I take in the handcuffs around my wrists.
In a flash, it all comes back—the accident, the man who shot Dania’s driver and then injected me with something.
My pulse speeds up. What does he want from me? Either he’s kidnapped me for ransom, or he’s the man who wants Alex dead. If the latter is the case, I don’t have to wonder hard why he took me. A shiver runs over my body.
Who is he? Being in the dark only makes my situation worse. Knowledge is power. Right now, I have no power. All I have left is control. Losing my calm isn’t an option. I have to breathe and keep a level head to figure out a way to escape.
Deep breaths, Kate. In and out. Focus.
The sound of a key scraping in a lock comes from the other side of the door. I strain my neck for a visual to assess the danger. The door swings open, and a man I don’t recognize enters. A waistcoat stretches over his corpulent torso. Thinning gray hair frames his round face. He watches me with narrowed eyes as he advances to the bed.
Whoever he is, this man is evil. It’s evident in the excitement that flashes across his ugly features as he takes in my restrained position. I swallow hard, trying to hide my fear.
Towering over me, he says in a thick Russian accent, “You must wonder what you’re doing here.”
No longer able to support the weight of my head with my neck muscles, I let my head fall back on the mattress. “The question has crossed my mind.”
He seems amused. “I have to congratulate you. You’re very calm for someone in your situation.”
I’m not, but I’m glad he thinks so. “Who are you? Where am I?”
“Vladimir Stefanov.” He sits down on the edge of the bed. “You’re a guest in my house.”
I scoot to the other side of the mattress, as far away from him as possible, as more dread fills my veins. I’ve heard the name before. Alex told me it was Vladimir Stefanov who’d hired the man to abduct me in New York. “What do want from me?”
“You’re going to bring me Alex Volkov.”
Even though it was the answer I expected, I go cold. “How?”
“A trade.” He looks pleased with himself. “You for him.”
My mouth goes dry. “How do you know Alex will do it? Who says he even cares that much about me?”
Stefanov chuckles. “Oh, he does. Why else did he come running to Russia to protect you when my hitman threatened your life?”
I suck in a breath. “My hospital key card. That was your doing.”
“Yes,” he drawls.
“Who took it?”
He raises a brow. “Remember Ivan Besov?”
It takes a moment before I place the name. When it comes back to me, I exclaim, “The man who fractured his wrist?”
“You were lucky that he slipped in the snow.” Stefanov folds his hands over his stomach. “That part wasn’t planned.”
I go even colder as my suspicion is confirmed. When the attempt to kidnap me from the alley failed, this man, Stefanov, sent Besov to snatch me on my way to work.
How did Stefanov know I was on my way to the airport? My stomach turns over. Did Dania sell me out?
“How did you find me?” I ask in an unsteady voice. “Who told you where I was headed?”
“One of my men was watching Volkov’s house from a building across the river. He spotted a small person getting into the back of a car and managed to take a photo. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be you.”
“You had us followed.” Anger mixes with my fear. “You ordered the man who took me to crash into our car. We could’ve died in that accident.” My voice escalates in volume. “He shot the driver.”
Stefanov shrugs. “You didn’t die.”
“I’m an American citizen,” I say, my heart thumping with a wild beat in my chest. “You can’t just kidnap me in broad daylight.”
“Maybe not in America.” He grins. “But this is Russia.”
My pulse goes into overdrive. “Alex won’t let you get away with this.”
“He will. This time, I’m not planning on failing.”
Breathless with fright, I ask, “How is this supposed to work? What happens now?”
“Now we wait for Alex to arrive. And then…” He pushes a finger against his temple and makes as if to pull a trigger with his thumb. “Bam.”
It takes everything I have to maintain my pseudo-calm. “Why? Why do you want Alex dead? What do you want? Money?”
He gets to his feet. “If it were about money, I could’ve simply traded you.”
“Wait,” I say as he walks to the door, but he leaves without sparing me another glance.
Horror washes over me as the situation becomes terribly clear.
Alex and I aren’t leaving here alive.
34
Alex
It’s been an hour since I left the hospital, and there’s still no news about Katerina’s whereabouts. I’m pacing my study, checking my email and phone every few seconds. The lunch Tima brought stands untouched on my desk. Mikhail won’t let Dania’s interference go unpunished, but I feel like killing her all the same. I’m still undecided about what to do with Lena.
A knock falls on the door. Leonid enters, his face somber.
“Any news?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “What about Nelsky?”
My phone vibrates in my pocket. I take it out and look at the screen. I’ve been sending business-related calls to my voicemail, preferring to keep the line open in case there’s an update from one of my men.
My heartbeat picks up as I register the name on the screen.
“Have they found—” Leonid continues.
I hold up a hand to silence him. “It’s Igor.”
Leonid’s expression goes tense, reflecting what I feel inside.
I swipe the answer button and put the phone on speaker. “Tell me you have news.”
“She’s not at the airport,” Igor says in a rushed tone. “No one matching her description has checked in.”
I assume she would’ve changed into normal clothes before entering the airport building. We don’t know what she’s wearing, but my men have her passport photo on their phones. They’re questioning both passengers and airport staff, asking if anyone has seen the woman in the photograph.