Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
I left them for a moment and ran to the hallway where I’d last seen Alison. She was crouched next to a photocopier, gun up, guarding the donors, and when I saw her safe, a huge swell of relief closed up my throat. I grabbed her and pulled her into my arms, then crushed her against my chest so hard she oofed. Then I took her cheeks between my hands and kissed her.
I went back to check on Grushin’s man. The others had formed a circle around him, and Valentin was attempting to question him. “Where is Viktor Grushin?” he hissed, a knife to the man’s throat.
The man shook his head.
Finn picked up a tire iron and stepped forward. “Tell us where your boss is, or I'll start knocking out teeth.”
But the guy still wouldn’t break. It was just like the assassin I’d interrogated at the bar: Grushin had him so scared, he’d rather die than talk. Anger and violence weren’t going to get us anywhere.
I sucked in a long breath of calming, cool air, dug deep...and squatted down next to him, waving Valentin and Finn aside.
“I know that you’re scared,” I began. “Grushin’s probably threatened people you care about.” Blyat’, I’d sat in police interrogation rooms a thousand times, but I’d never realized how hard it was on this side of the table. I kept thinking about what this man had done, all the innocent lives he’d helped to snuff out, and it was like a sparking live cable dangling over a pool of gasoline. I had to work so hard to keep a grip on my anger.
I forced my voice to be calm...and continued. “But even if Grushin gets away, we’ve still destroyed his operation here in Chicago. He’s going to be pissed at the people who let it happen, and you’re the only one still alive. Do you think he’s going to care that you didn’t talk?”
The guy looked at me sullenly, saying nothing. Every instinct wanted me to grab his throat and crush the life out of him. But then we’d have nothing. I looked at Alison, and she nodded.
“We’re your best chance,” I told him. “If you tell us where he is, we’ll stop him. He won’t be able to hurt you or your family.”
Then I crouched there silently, waiting. I looked at Alison and she was staring at me, stunned. I was shocked, too. Just a few months ago, I wouldn’t have been able to do that.
Grushin’s man took a long breath. “He’s at his townhouse,” he said. “403 West Brenton.”
I let out a long sigh of relief, nodded and rose.
“Kill me,” said the man.
I froze, staring at him.
“If I’m the only one alive, he’ll know it was me who talked,” said the man bitterly. “This is the only way he doesn’t go after my family. Kill me.”
I exchanged a horrified look with Alison.
“Come on, just do it!” snapped the man, his eyes tightly closed. “Just fucking do it!”
I put my gun to his head and fired.
Everyone stood there silently for a moment, shaken. Then Alison spoke up. “If we want to get Grushin, we have to do it now. This guy’s a master at disappearing, and as soon as he hears we hit this place, he’ll run, and we’ll never find him. We have one shot at taking him. And we need him alive. The only way we expose this whole thing is with him in front of a Grand Jury.”
“What do we do with them?” asked Mikhail, nodding to the donors.
“Liam, take ‘em to the bar,” said Finn. “Get them some food and show the little one my pinball machine. The cops can pick them up when this is all over.”
I nodded in thanks, warming to him a little more. “Alright,” I said. “Let’s finish this.”
67
ALISON
As we raced through the darkened streets with Valentin at the wheel, I dialed Caroline. “Don’t hang up!” I said as soon as the call connected. “I need your help!”
“Where are you? What’s going on? Jesus, Ali, there’s an APB out for you! I could lose my job just for talking to you!”
“Look, there’s a lot to explain, and I don’t have a lot of time. But I need you to get Halifax and Hadderwell and Fitch and a tactical team and come to 403 West Brenton, right now. You can take me and Gennadiy into custody as well as the guy who’s actually behind all this.” I didn’t know how things were going to go when we got to Grushin’s house. This way, if it went well, the FBI could show up, and we’d all be heroes. And if it went badly...at least they’d still catch Grushin. “But please, Caroline, I need you to trust me and do this for me. Right now.”
For a few seconds, there was just panicked breathing as Caroline debated. I sat there digging my fingernails into my palm. Then, “Okay. Okay, I got you.”