Page 45 of Escaping the Bratva

I walk into the house with the officer following behind me. I’m glad I hid my guns under the floorboards because if I hadn’t, I might have been led off in cuffs. The front door is still wide open, and as I walk inside, I notice the back door is open too. Did two men take her? One came in through the front and one through the back? When I look to my left, I see a small pool of blood, and for the second time today, my heart stops.

The officer clears his throat. “That’s where we found your dog.”

My heart starts again. I’m relieved that that isn’t Sasha’s blood, but I still feel bad for Teddy. He protected her as much as he could. I continue through the house pretending like I’m looking for anything missing even though I know Brighton already took what he wanted.

“We noticed some female clothes in the bedroom. Was someone here?” the cop asks.

I shake my head. “No…that was from the other night.”

Carson looks at me out the corner of his eye but doesn’t say anything. I make up a few things to tell the cops that are missing: a Rolex and some cash. They take down my statement before ensuring me that they’ll find whoever broke into my house. Once they leave, Carson isn’t as nice as the Seattle PD.

“Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“No.”

“Don’t bullshit me. If you tell me now, maybe I can keep your ass out of prison.”

He’s trying to play the good guy, but we both know he would love nothing else than to put my ass back behind bars. I don’t reply.

His eyebrows furrow together. “Be at my office tomorrow morning.”

With that, he turns and leaves with the rest of the cops. I close the front and back door and run a hand over my face. My hand fists and I bury it into the drywall. Son of a bitch. My phone rings and I almost ignore it. I’ve had enough bad phone calls for one day, but for some reason, I still grab it and look at the screen. Unknown number. I know who it is, but I’m still not prepared for this conversation. I slide down the wall and sit on the floor before answering. I wait until he speaks.

“She really is beautiful. I see why you’re so fascinated with her,” Brighton says.

“Don’t fucking touch her.”

He chuckles. “Or else what? What are you going to do? You have no idea where I am, and if you did, my army would kill you before you stepped a foot on the property.”

The truth in his words hits me right in the gut.

“What the fuck do you want?” I say through clenched teeth.

“I already told you. I want my fucking money! I’m not an idiot. The FBI didn’t seize that money, Vladimir. You hid it for when you got out.”

If I knew that taking that money would put Sasha at risk, I would have never fucking touched it.

“When you have the money, you know where you can reach me. Until then, I think your girl and I will have a good time together.” The phone goes dead and I launch it across the room. It hits the wall and clatters to the floor.

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