Page 96 of Dark Truths

I snort. “When have I ever called you at midnight with anything good?”

“Fair point. Okay, so there’s six girls, one dead Russian, and one tied up?” he summarizes.

“Yeah. But you should know that one girl knows me from the club.”

“Knows you? Orknowsyou, knows you?”

“She knows me as Volkov.”

“That’s good then.” He groans, and it sounds like he’s climbing out of bed. “Alright, I’ll catch the first flight out, but in the meantime, I’ll send a team close by to take care of the girls and take the Russian into custody.”

“Jacob.” I sigh. “I can’t be here when you send the team in.”

My friend goes quiet. “Wait…why? We have what we need. We can pull you out now.”

“I just…I can’t, Jacob.”

“Dimitri? What are you not telling me?”

“I’ll explain it when you get here.” That’ll buy me some time to figure out how to tell my old friend the truth about Gabriella and how I want out.

“Dimitri.”

“I’ve got to go. Call the team in and I’ll be in touch.”

“Dim—”

I hang up and pocket my phone, ignoring the buzzing when he tries to call again.

“Ana.”

When she hears her name, she looks up from giving the girl’s some fresh water and crackers she found, courtesy of dumb fuck one and two.

“The police are coming.”

“But,” she frowns, “I don’t understand. Why did you call the police?”

“Because they can help get you girls to the hospital to be checked out.”

“But…isn’t this…”

She trails off, but I can figure the rest out.

“Like I told you, I didn’t know about this, and I don’t stand for it either. I’m going to talk with Sergei and sort this out. In the meantime, go to the hospital and be seen. Can you do that for me?”

“What about Alexei? Did he know about this?”

That’s a good question. But something about his behavior tonight tells me no. Because if he did, why would he have asked where she was? Unless it was all a trick. A trap. No. Not Alexei. But until I talk to him, I can't be certain.

“I’m not sure.” The sound of sirens hits my ears. “Listen, I have to go, but the police are here. Okay?”

“Dimitri, please!” She rushes after me and grabs for my hand. “Don’t leave us.”

Through the slits in the boards, I see flashing blue and red lights. They’re getting closer. I carefully remove her hand. “Ana, I’m trusting you to watch over and take care of the girls. I’ll check in soon, but I have to go. Do you understand?”

She's still sobbing but finally nods and turns back to the frightened girls.

I check quickly on dumb fuck one to make sure he’s still locked up and knocked out. Once satisfied, I slip out the backdoor and hurry to my parked bike. I slam the bike into gear and take off just as the police pull up outside the house.

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