Page 36 of Kristoff

I don’t fight Danuta. She’s my big sister. She’ll have a reason for what she’s done.

She puts me in the front seat of her car, a large black SUV that has taken minimal damage from ramming the Volvo Carlos drove. Once the door is slammed shut, I lean back against the seat.

“He was helping me,” I tell her when she’s pulled the SUV away from the accident, leaving Carlos alone and bleeding all over the pavement.

“No, he wasn’t. That’s why I killed him,” she says so casually the words don’t compute at first.

“No, he was. How do you know?” I ask, shaking my head. “Danuta, why would you—”

She sighs in frustration. “You really are a fucking idiot, Maggie. I told you to stay away from here. Didn’t I?” she smacks her hand against the steering wheel and gives me a glare.

“You did.” I nod. “My side hurts. It’s cut bad,” I say, looking down at the blood staining the sweater.

She barely glances before turning down another road, picking up speed. “Carlos wasn’t helping you, he was taking you to another safe house where he’d keep you until it was time for you to be transported to Maksim.”

“What? No. Kristoff said he trusted him.” I rub my head. I’m getting so dizzy and she’s talking too fast.

“Of course, he did. That’s why Andrei paid Carlos a shit ton of money to take you and hide you from Kristoff until the sale was complete.” She turns down another road and I hit the door from the severity of the turn.

She can’t be telling the truth. Kristoff wouldn’t give me to someone that would double cross him.

“How do you know this?” I ask, holding onto the dashboard when she takes the next turn, so I don’t hit my side again.

“Because.” It’s the only answer I get.

“You said you weren’t looking into Andrei right now, you told me you were focusing on a larger ring in Russia.” I remember the last real conversation we had - months ago.

“Just relax. We’re almost there,” she says and flips her phone out of her back pocket and starts a call.

“I have her. No, she thinks I’m saving her. It’s fine. Yes, I’m about to enter the tunnel, I’ll be there in five minutes,” she speaks in Russian.

She doesn’t know I learned the language. I never told her. After I finished college, she was so busy with work we rarely had real conversations. I must not have told her - or she’s forgotten.

“Who was that?” I ask, letting her stick with her misconception.

“My partner. He’s going to meet us just through here.” She points at the tunnel coming up.

Too many scenarios run through my head. Who’s telling me the truth? Did Carlos work for Andrei or was he truly loyal to Kristoff? Why would Danuta pretend to help me? Isn’t she the good guy? She’s CIA for fuck’s sake.

The darkness of the tunnel clears and we’re pulling into an underground lot. Danuta parks the car and hops out of her side. I push open my door and gingerly start to move, but then she’s there, yanking me to my feet.

I cry out from the pain, but she doesn’t notice. Or she doesn’t care. She takes me into a building, and we bypass two men standing guard at the main door. I get a quick glance, but I recognize them. They are Andrei’s men.

I yank back on her hold, but she’s ready for it and pulls out her gun.

“It would be a shame to have to lug your dead body all the way down the hall,” she says with her teeth clenched together.

I’m pulled into a room, the same room I woke up in when Andrei had kidnapped me. The smell hasn’t changed. But the captive in the chair has.

“Andrei!” Danuta lets me go and runs to him. His eyes are both swollen shut, he can’t see her. His hands are bound behind him and his jaw is bruised.

Someone has beaten him and left him for her to find him.

“Who did this? Where are your men? Why haven’t they come in to help you?” Danuta rattles off her questions like a hysterical girlfriend.

Andrei mouths words, they come out jumbled and more like dolphin sounds. Getting frustrated with himself, he sticks out his tongue. The front half has been cut off.

My stomach rolls and I take a step back, holding my belly and taking deep breaths.

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