Page 16 of Corrupted Guilt

I think about Petya, the danger Yuri says is out there waiting for me – the reason for his and Tasha’s protection around me. But how would he even know where the hell I am right now? And once I get on that bus, nobody will know where the hell I am. Probably not even me. Anyway, Petya is the lesser of two evils right now. If Yuri was even telling me the truth about him, which is a BIGif.

Tasha has gone looking for me by now and is sounding the alarm of my escape to Yuri by now, so I need to be fast. Smart and fast.

Isee a guy who could be Petya, sitting on a bench at the bus stop. The sunglasses he’s wearing are aviators, covering much of his face, but the cruel mouth from the photo is there. His dead, almost inhuman eyes are hidden from me.

I don’t worry myself about him too much, bus stations are full of sketchy people and I’m not going to get freaked out by everybody I see. I sling my backpack over my shoulder and creep toward the bus station. Still, Yuri was right in that I have nothing to lose in believing him, even if he was lying. If it was the truth, then I could avoid something terrible by believing him. A sort of Pascal’s wager to believe in Yuri.

I decide to wait out sketchy sunglasses guy.

I count to 100 and the guy on bench doesn't move.

I can almost hear the anger in his every breath, every rustle of his newspaper, every time his eyes dart to me underneath those dark sunglasses.

I’m just imagining all this.

I hope it’s all in my head.

But if it’s not, I can probably slip through the front door before he catches up. If I run. Now.

But if I fail …

If he catches me …

Failure is not an option, I tell myself.

In any case, I can’t stay here and waste more time, Yuri is bound to catch up to me, too.

Only a few more steps until I’m past him, inside, and then in a crowd and soon safely on the bus.

I run like my feet are on fire.

I reach the other side of the street, and the guy on my left stumbles, knocking my shoulder, which swings my backpack, balanced on one shoulder, down, and I’m off balance, spinning, either hit the ground or trip over the curb as I circle. I’m falling. “Fuck!”

Hands grab my upper arms and haul me to my feet. I immediately started to step back to thank the helpful stranger but he doesn’t let me go.What the hell?

I jerk back harder. “Thanks. I got it.”

“Do you Katya?” He was smiling at me; his sunglasses were gone. He had laughing eyes that go with sudden cruelty.

I freeze. The face from Yuri’s picture, the one attached to all those terrible things. All those things were now immediately believable seeing his face, hearing his unsteady, high-pitched voice. It’s unsettling. He’s unsettling. His blue eyes twinkle at me, filled with dark amusement, like I’m his toy and he’ll play rough with me. No words come. I open my mouth, but a strangewheezing sound emerges. He shifts his grip to my wrists and starts pulling me down the block.

“Let go!”

“I’m just taking what I’m owed. Your father owes me alot, Katya.” A chill rushes up my spine, turning my whole-body cold.

Fuck, Iknewit.

I was payment for a debt.

Step by step, despite my best efforts, we started down the street in the opposite direction of the bus station.

“Petya?” I say, grabbing the backpack strap on my shoulder. “I don’t know about any debt, none of that is my problem. Work it out with Viktor. You’d better let me go before my bodyguards see you.”

“You gave her the slip at the coffee shop, remember? So we could be alone?”

He’s been drinking— or doing drugs, I’m not sure but something was off. His pupils were huge.

“No, I – “

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