“Tolyan,” I answer.
“Oh my God!” She sounds like she’s been crying. Her breathing is staccato with panicked hitches. Is she going to be able to talk coherently?
Consoling an emotionally unstable woman isn’t my forte. Besides, I have a job to do.
“Somebody kidnapped Angelika!” she shrieks.
I wince at the volume. “Calm down. Did you call 911?”
“No. Somebody else did. I figured I should call you.”
She’s cleverer than I thought. “You did well.”
“I have their plate.”
“No need.” It’s likely fake. “Just tell me what happened.”
She does, her words rushing out so fast that each syllable tumbles over one another in a hurry. I pull out the pertinent facts and quietly add Eric Jones to my non-urgent to-do list.
When she continues to babble, I cut her off. “Let me talk to my contacts and see what I can do.” Then I hang up before she can add more unnecessary information in the name of “helping.”
As I stand, Lizochka comes out of her office. “I just got a text from Rhonda. Is Angelika okay?”
She must’ve ended her conference call early. No matter how important the foundation’s mission is to her, she isn’t the type who can ignore what happens to her people.
“Let’s go into your office,” I say.
Once we’re in her office, she whirls around. “Our intern gets kidnapped in broad daylight, only three blocks away?”
I nod. Unlike Rhonda, Lizochka doesn’t panic. But then, she has a core of steel underneath that pretty exterior.
“I need to talk to Paul,” she says.
Paul is the chief of police. “That should help. I’ll track her my way.”
“Please tell me you put a tracker on her.”
I smile a little. I didn’t just hack Angelika’s phone, but put a tracking code in the OS. And right now, it’s traveling down the 110 toward Long Beach. My guess is they’re heading to one of the empty warehouses near the port. That’s the most logical and easiest option someone like Roy would choose for kidnapping a defenseless young woman.
He should’ve hired a better-quality crew. Third-rate thugs don’t pay attention to important details like tossing the kidnapped person’s phone. Rhonda said three people were involved. Bet they’re smug and overconfident. How can three gangbangers lose one unarmed woman?
“You can find her, right?” Lizochka says.
“Yes.”
“And bring her back safely?”
I put my hands on her shoulders. “I promise. She’ll be fine.”
I didn’t come up with a backup plan just to botch it. And after I dispose of Roy today, she won’t leave me.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Angelika
The men park in a deserted lot with weeds growing between cracks. I look around…but there’s nobody. Just empty service roads with no traffic. The air has a hint of the sea, but I doubt we’re near a crowded beach.
Are they going to kill me and throw my body into the water?
I clench my teeth so they don’t chatter. I don’t want to die. Not like this. But I don’t want to beg for my life, either. Roy would enjoy that, but it wouldn’t save me. He said he’d come kill me when I was at my happiest.
The irony makes me want to laugh. When I was truly at my happiest, he didn’t show. Now that I’m in a cold war with Tolyan, Roy’s here.
As Rings hauls me out of the car, I consider resisting. I could kick him…and then what? Run? He and his buddies could be carrying guns. I’d only end up getting shot, which means if the universe decides to give me a real opening, I might be too hurt to take advantage. So for now, I’m going to play along and look for a way to escape.
The three drag me inside a huge, dilapidated building. There is only one room in the left corner with a door still intact. Two folding chairs. One is empty. Obviously for me.
The other…
The other is occupied by the monster I never wanted to come face to face with again.
“Hey there, sis.” Roy smiles like he does every time he sees me. It’s friendly, almost brotherly on the surface. But underneath it’s devoid of sincerity or any sort of genuinely friendly emotion.
And it’s always made my skin crawl.
He’s a tanned six foot one, with hair that’s impeccably, stylishly cut. His V-neck shirt and slacks are casual but look expensive. He wears black Air Jordans, all cool and comfy. Everything he puts on enhances his even features. He’d be handsome if it weren’t for the mean gleam in his eyes. No matter what he does, he can’t hide that from the world.
The men haul me over to the chair, handcuff my hands to it and then stand to the side, like an audience before a play. Roy’s grin widens. A cat thrilled to see a mouse trapped.
“I’m not your sister,” I say, unable to stop myself from showing how much disgust he inspires in me. I want to wipe that smile off his face. “You disgusting piece of trash!”
He jumps to his feet fast enough that his chair tilts back and crashes to the concrete floor. “Me? A piece of trash?” He points his finger in my face. “You shameless bitch! You’ve been acting like a complete filthy slut all your life!”
“I’m a slut when you’re the pervert who always snuck into my room?”
“Because you begged me to!”
What the fuck?
He starts ranting. “Yeah, that’s right. You begged me! I could see it in your eyes! Filthy bitch. I was going to just kill you, but now that isn’t going to be enough. I’m going to kill your boyfriend, too! This is what happens when you’re an ungrateful slut bitch! You didn’t even thank me right for the birthday present!” He reaches into his pants pocket and throws something at my face.
I squeeze my eyes shut and duck, in case it’s something hard or a bag of acid. I wouldn’t put it past him. But it hits my face limply and falls. I look at the pink, rubbery thing in my lap. It’s a life-sized penis replica. It isn’t that big, and it droops badly.
What the—
Then I remember Tolyan telling me he intercepted the package from Roy and took care of it. I shouldn’t laugh, but it bubbles up anyway. I clench my teeth and press my lips together tightly. Tolyan claimed Roy has some kind of sexual dysfunction. I didn’t believe it at first, but now I wonder…
“Are you laughing at me?” Roy demands.
I shake my head. I don’t want him pushed over the limit—and mocking his sexual dysfunction would be going too far. There’s no way he could kill Tolyan if he faced him fair and square. But Roy doesn’t believe in fair.
“You are laughing at me! You cunt!” He walks up rapidly and backhands me.
My head snaps to the side and pain explodes. A coppery tang fills my mouth. I blink a little. My vision clears slowly.
Roy’s breathing hard, his chest heaving. He towers over me, his legs braced apart. If it weren’t for the fact that he’s facing a woman who’s at least fifty pounds lighter than him and tied to a chair, he could pass for a warrior.
“You bitch! I’m gonna make you sorry—”
A loud crash outside cuts him off. He swivels his head.