Page 43 of Brutal Secrets

“Stumbled across him, more like. I was out with Stevie at some club in Brooklyn and after ten years of searching, there he was. Suffice to say, he wasn’t pleased to see me.”

I laugh bitterly as I run through the last twenty-four hours. The burner phones. The instruction to go down to the deli and find the man with the spider tattoo. I skip the part where he pressed his lips to my forehead and I could taste how it had been between us.

Dex is wheezing with laughter now. “Seriously? He asked you to go to a deli and meet a man with a spider tattoo? That sounds like one of those movies where you’re shouting at the screen, ‘You idiots are too stupid to live!’” His voice levels off now, and he sounds more serious as he says, “I really shouldn’t need to tell you this. You do not leave to go to a second location with a man you don’t know.”

“Right, Dex.” I smile, imagining his face right now. “Nona has packed go-bags. but I honestly don’t know what I’m dealing with here. I don’t know who knows about our connection to this man, and I don’t know what kind of trouble he’s in or might bring to my door. What are my next steps?”

“For starters, don’t get in a car with a strange man. And don’t accept any candy from strangers either.” He chuckles again. “Sorry, this is serious. Do you have proper wheels and gas?”

“Yeah, I’ve got the SUV. Where should I go? I’m scared, Dex.” I hear my voice shake, but I swallow the tears down. I don’t add that I’m heartbroken too. Scared is bad enough.

“Head upstate to your place. Nadia will be far less freaked out. Change the code when you get in, and send me the number on the secure line. The house isn’t impenetrable, but if anything happens, you just head straight to the panic room in the basement and wait it out. Don’t mess around. Just hang there and one of us will break you out. I’ll get moving right now.”

“How far away are you?”

“If I drive all night, I’ll get to you by first light.”

“Okay. We’re going now. I’ll get the bags and tell Nadia. Love you, Dex. Thanks.”

“Roger that, kiddo. We’ve got your back.”

I place the phone back on its receiver. Honestly, I don’t know what I’ve been thinking for the last twenty-four hours. I was so emotional and shell-shocked that I was just nodding at a man who asked me to disappear.

Get in a car with a kid with a spider tattoo? With my ten-year-old daughter? Vadim must think I’m a moron as well as unlovable. One of those things might be true, but I didn’t get this far in the business without a good head on my shoulders.

I stride down the corridor. “Come on, kiddo. We’re heading out for the weekend.”

Nadia doesn’t look up from her screen.

“We’re going to the Gingerbread House. If there’s anything you need for the next few days, it needs to fit in your backpack. We might have to go on a road trip.”

“Mom!” It comes out as a high-pitched whine. “It’s free dress day on Tuesday. We can’t go on a road trip. Anyway, Sister Hayes says that children of celebrities shouldn’t get special treatment.”

Poor kid. I’ve tried hard to make her life normal, but it isn’t and there’s nothing I can do about it. I take her hands in mine and squat on my haunches so that she’s looking down at me.

“Sorry, baby. Sister Hayes is right, but remember Dex, mom’s friend who does the security for our tours? He thinks there might be a security issue for us.”

Nadia nods at me, her eyes going wide.

“So I need you to do what Mom and Nona say. Okay?”

Nadia nods again and throws herself into my arms. “Can I take Mr. Doggie?” she says, plucking her crumpled stuffed dog from the floor. Mr. Doggie is gray now, despite repeated washes. All the love has bleached him of color, but he’s still Nadia’s favorite.

“Sure you can, baby. Dex will be with us in the morning, and we’ll be fine, okay?”

I blindly stuff clothing into Nadia’s bag, unable to concentrate on packing because of the thoughts swirling around my mind. I’m still locked in my own head as we start for the SUV and venture into the night.

The dark feels cold and unwelcoming by the time we pull up at the gates of the countryside place we call the Gingerbread House. I push the code on my phone to open them.

Nadia is asleep on Nona’s lap in the back seat, and Nona’s drifted off too. I’m alone with my thoughts in the darkness when the burner phone beeps in my bag. I drive to the house and wait for the gates to close behind me before I pull it out.

The green screen lights up with a text from Vadim.

Please tell me you’re safe. Andrei said you didn’t come and there’s no answer at your place.

I don’t reply. I just stare out at the trees around the house that looks exactly like the little Hansel and Gretel cottage in the woods where we made Nadia. There are no tears left to cry at this point.

Your doorman wouldn’t tell Andrei anything.

---