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)
The stairs led down to a tunnel: not some dirt-walled, prison-escape thing but a concrete-lined passage big enough to stand up in; there were even lights. There was also a rack at the bottom of the stairs with five black holdalls, each one with a paper luggage tag. Gennadiy grabbed V, M and G. I stared at him, amazed.
“I’m sorry I didn’t make a bag for you yet. Take Bronwyn’s.” And he threw me the B bag.
The tunnel ran for about a hundred yards and ended in a metal spiral staircase. Valentin went up first and gingerly lifted the manhole cover at the top, gun drawn...then climbed out and waved us up. When I emerged, I saw we were on a footpath in a small park, down the street from the mansion and hidden from it by thick foliage. When everyone was up, Gennadiy led us down the footpath to the street, where a blue minivan was parked. He felt under the rear bumper and pulled out a key, and we all piled in. As we pulled away, I heard the distant bang of the police breaking down the mansion’s door. “Pretty slick,” I admitted.
“I had to allow for the possibility that one day, you might actually catch me,” Gennadiy told me. He looked at the dog on my lap. “Sorry, it’s a little cramped.”
I cuddled the dog close and ruffled its fur. It turned and licked my neck. “I consider it a definite plus,” I said seriously.
Valentin drove us across town and finally stopped in a strip-mall parking lot. We did it, I thought, still a little dazed by the whole thing. The cops have no idea where we are. We beat them.
I caught myself. When did the cops become ‘them’?
We climbed out. The rain had eased to a light drizzle that dampened our faces and made the dazzling, blue-and-white lights of the strip mall feel shockingly cold and stark. Gennadiy took me to one side. “We should talk about what to do next.”
“What is there to talk about?” I asked blankly. “We track down Grushin.”
“That might not be possible anymore.” He was trying to keep his voice calm, but I could hear the fear underneath. Fear for me. “The mansion and everything in it is gone, seized by the cops. All our bank accounts are frozen. My men have all been arrested, and by now the cops will have gone to the hospital and taken Radimir, too.” He waved his hand at the four of us, at the minivan. “This is it! This is all we are, now!” I looked around at our sad little circle: it was terrifying, how far and how fast the Aristov empire had fallen.
Gennadiy took the B holdall from me and tugged open the zipper, showing me what was inside. “There’s twenty thousand in cash in here. Bronwyn’s fake passport won’t work for you but I can get one made that will. By tomorrow, you can be out of the country.”
I shook my head. “I want to stop this guy.”
His self-control snapped and he grabbed my face between his hands. “And I want you alive! Blyat’, Alison, for once in your life, don’t be stubborn!”
I stared into his eyes, an awful, cold certainty setting in. “If I say yes, you’ll come with me?” He didn’t answer. “Both of us get out!” My voice started to shake. “Right?”
He dropped his eyes. “You know I can’t leave Radimir.”
I nodded sadly. I understood. But that meant… “I’m staying,” I told him.
He sighed, exasperated, and scowled down at me...and then he pulled me into a tight, tight hug. At last, he drew back, brushed my hair from my face, and kissed me reverently. “I must have been a saint in a previous life,” he said, “to deserve you.”
I hugged him again, and then the four of us sat down on the hood of the minivan to figure out what the hell we were going to do. The sun was going down, and the temperature was starting to drop. I pulled my thin denim jacket tighter around me and, as soon as he saw I was cold, Gennadiy wrapped me up in his arms. But inside, a deeper chill was rolling in. We had nothing, no more leads. And the clock was ticking: by now, an APB would have gone out on all of us. It was only a matter of time before we were arrested.
I dug in my purse to see if I had a charger because my phone was running low. But the first thing I found was the carton of Bronwyn’s medication. Crap. She was probably under police guard at the hospital now. I turned it over in my hands…
And suddenly sat bolt upright. “I know what Grushin’s doing,” I said.
Everyone looked at me.
“You remember that tobacco billionaire,” I asked, “the one who went to Grushin’s clinic? We need to find him. Right now.”