I nodded. “Of course. When?”
“As soon as possible. We need to handle this.”
“At the café?” I asked. “And what time?”
“Whatever time works for them. Today if possible.”
“Probably this evening, when they’re finished working. Maybe nine o’clock.”
“Set it up and we’ll be there,” Sandor told me.
“Okay.” I nodded.
“Axel is going to take you home,” Sandor continued. “And he’ll stay at the café all day, making sure no one comes around and hassles you or your family. I’m going to stay here with your brother, just in case.”
“I have to get the SUV fixed,” Axel said to him. He turned to me. “Is there a tire place in town?”
I nodded. “There’s one garage in the area, but he may not have four tires for an expensive SUV like yours. We can call him.”
“If you can’t get it done,” Sandor said, “I’ll have Natalia drive up with a new set and we can have the local guy put them on.”
Axel nodded. “What about my other task?” he asked.
“Don’t worry about it. That’s secondary.”
Axel turned to me. “You ready to go?”
“Yes. Thank you.” I nodded but paused in front of Xander and Sandor. “Thank you for everything.”
“You’ve already thanked us,” Sandor said gently. “I’m just glad Axel got there in time.”
I followed Axel out to my father’s truck and frowned. “What happened to your SUV?”
“I guess the Bojovnik Brat wasn’t happy about what I did to their men last night so they retaliated.”
“They might not be rich or powerful like the royal family,” I said, getting in, “but they’re dangerous. They take a lot of money from businesses like ours, so they must need it for something important.”
“Greed isn’t enough?” Axel asked, putting the truck in gear and pulling out of the parking lot.
“I don’t know.” I glanced over at him. “I don’t know what motivates people like them. People that hurt others for no reason beyond money.”
“Men lose their minds for power.”
“Power. Like the power of the people you work for?”
“I work for your government, your king. Do you resent them?”
“The king? No. He has a thankless job. But the government, like many around the world, is broken. The priority is the big cities, the big companies, the people who hold the most influence. Even if it’s not intentional.”
“It’s definitely not intentional with King Erik,” Axel said quietly. “He’s one of the most honest, hard-working men I’ve ever known. He never sleeps. He never stops thinking about the needs of the people. Maybe he does focus on the bigger cities, but he’s only one man and one thing I can tell you for certain is that he doesn’t have enough help. Not that he can trust anyway. So it’s slowing down the process.”
“I understand that. And for me, personally, I’m young enough to hope this will get better in my lifetime. But my parents? Our friends and neighbors? Many are giving up hope. The winters here are hard. Much harder than you think. It’s not just the cold and lack of food, but road conditions—sometimes the sick can’t even get to the hospital. Children can’t get to school. Supply trucks can’t get into town. Last January, Kostya and I, along with three of his friends, walked four kilometers to where a semi coming from Hiskale was stranded. We carried sacks of food in backpacks. The driver slept on our neighbor’s floor for three days until we could dig him out. Life here in winter is miserable. Much more difficult than the government realizes.”
“Well, lucky for you, this is your chance to tell Prince Sandor exactly what’s happening.”
“Yes.”
We pulled up in front of the café and Axel looked around. “Goddammit, the SUV is gone!” He got out of the truck and pulled out his phone.
“Axel, wait!” I hurried after him. “It was to be a surprise. My mother texted me. A tow truck was sent and our local mechanic is taking care of the tires.”
He paused, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. “That’s very kind. Thank you. It saves us a lot of hassle.”
“We take care of each other here in Vinake. Including the royal family, should the need arise.”
Axel and I walked into the café and my heart broke a little at the damage. The mess had been cleaned up but there was almost nothing left. Our entire lives revolved around the café, and without it, we would have no money to live.
“It’s going to be okay,” Axel said. “The king will help. You’ll see.”
“Even if he gives us the money to replace everything, in cash, it will take months for replacement furniture and supplies to arrive. We can’t survive months without work, especially since summer is when we make the bulk of our money.”
“I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” Axel looked around. “Damn, they did a number on your place. Little bastards. I’d like to kick their asses again.”
I smiled, despite the dire circumstances. “I’d like to kick a few asses myself.”
His eyes met mine. “Sometimes it feels good to take out a little aggression. You ever do any martial arts?”
I shook my head. “We have nothing like that here in Vinake.”
“Have you always lived here?”
“Yes.”
“Have you been to Hiskale?”
“A few times, for a day or so at a time, but it takes all of us to run the café, so there’s no time to travel.”
“You said you were going to the U.S. this summer. What happened?”
“I had to give them all the money I’d saved for my trip when we were short once last month.”
“Those Brat guys.”
“Yes. But that was all I had and there was nothing to hold them off this time.”
“Sonofabitch.”
“You’re here.” My mother came out of the back, wiping her hands on a towel. “I’d like to see your brother. Can you watch the café?”
“What’s to watch?” I asked her. “There are no customers or anything cooking.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I made stew upstairs in our apartment and Katia baked loaves of bread. This way we can feed the workers at lunch.”
“Mom…” My voice trailed off at her soft smile.
“This is what we do, Solange. If we have nothing for them, what will they eat?”
“What will we eat?” I demanded. “We have nothing left!”
“There’s meat in the freezer and vegetables in the cellar. They’ll pay us for lunch and we’ll figure out what to do for tomorrow. One day at a time, my love.”
There were so many things I wanted to say about that, but there was no point. We’d had this argument many times over the years and she always put the welfare of our friends and neighbors before everything else. Even me sometimes. That was why I’d started saving for a trip to the U.S. One of my friends had met an American soldier in Turkey two years ago and now she was a wife and mother living in some place called Kissimmee, Florida. She said it was close to Disney World and had invited me to come visit.