Page 102 of Saving Sophia

Callie glowered at Brad and cradled her cheek but didn’t say anything else.

“You know,” the moon-faced man said to Callie, “your anger is misdirected. We were going to arrange for this one”—he jerked a thumb in my direction— “to have a little accident in a few days, but you wouldn’t have been involved. You’re the best dancer in the club, and Brad here is very fond of you. He just doesn’t know how to show it.”

Callie turned a hateful gaze at Brad. He smirked.

“But your little friend had to complicate things by running her mouth.”

I squirmed in my seat.

“Valerie Vasili doesn’t know who’s pulling the strings here, and it’s imperative we keep it that way,” he continued, turning back to me. “So you’re going to do some damage control.”

Valerie Vasili? Nik Vasili’s wife? The one Hayden said they had in custody?

“I don’t know her,” I said. Hopelessness threatened to choke off my air. “I’m just a waitress. I can’t do damage control.”

“You don’t have to know anything. You just have to keep being a shitty waitress.”

I flinched, remembering how unhappy I’d been at the club even before I saw the murder.

It’s simple,” he explained. “You are going to call that detective and tell him you lied. You were trying to get even for Tommy firing you. You crawled back, begging for your job, and because Tommy is a stand-up guy, he gave you another chance.”

I looked at Callie, and she looked at me. “You’re not going to kill us?” My voice sounded surprisingly calm considering we were discussing our deaths, but I was out of ideas, empty of emotions.

He let out a sharp, ugly laugh. “Kill you? I wish. I was kind of looking forward to that.” His fingers slipped into a side pocket of his suit and produced a mean-looking switchblade. A tiny click sounded as he popped it open.

Fear flooded in as I watched the light flicker on the blade, making my stomach churn. Guess I wasn’t so calm about dying after all.

“But killing you would give your story credibility. We need you alive.” He snapped the knife closed and returned it to his pocket. “For now.”

“So we’re just gonna work at the club?” Callie demanded. “Like nothing happened?”

Like the murder didn’t happen. Like the time I’d spent with Daddy never happened. A tear leaked out of my eye.

“Exactly,” he agreed. “Under very close supervision, of course.” He scratched the sharp edge of his jutting chin.

The awfulness of the plan was seeping into me. We would be prisoners.

“Cheer up girls.” Brad leaned over to rub Callie’s bruised cheek. “As long as you behave, you’ll be fine.” She jerked away and glared at him.

“That’s right,” the moon-faced man agreed. “As long as your little lie goes away.” He smiled, like a great white shark pulling back its lips. “But if Valerie hears a whisper, or if Daddy comes looking for you …” He patted the pocket where the ugly knife lurked. “You’re all dead.”

* * *

ETHAN

The meeting dragged on, and my mind wandered to my sweet girl, tucked away in our cabin, working on her dolls. She was sweet, innocent, brave and loyal. My fierce little kitten. I’d just found her, but already I couldn’t imagine life without her. It was crazy, way too soon, but I was thinking about what kind of ring she might like.

My phone buzzed. Hayden. I sent it to voicemail, thinking I’d call when the meeting was over. The phone buzzed a second time. Hayden again. I frowned, a tiny cold feeling in the base of my gut taking shape.

“Excuse me,” I interrupted and stepped outside of the conference room.

“Hayden? Everything okay?”

“What the fuck is going on?” he grumbled.

“What are you talking about?” Dread prickled the hairs on the back of my neck.

“With Sophia?” He paused. “She left me a message saying she lied about seeing Roscoe kill Vasili.”

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