Page 25 of Sin of Silence

“Please, allow me." He peeled the curtain back, exposing the bright red lipstick to everyone in the room.

The message was out in the open for everyone to read: I’ve been kidnapped by Jozef Koba. Contact the authorities.

Shaun squeezed her eyes shut as Leeza let out a gasp.

"What it this?" The clerk looked confused as he stretched the message out.

Shaun opened her eyes in time to see two of the guards bent over the message. Saskia was staring at her from the front desk, her gaze speculative. Two guards stood at the entrance of the store, their arms crossed, cold gazes fixed in front of them and the last guard was just outside the store window talking on his cell phone.

Shaun realized the guard who had been at the back door of the shop was no longer there. It was a long shot. A really, really long shot, but she didn't have a choice. She wasn't wearing shoes and her dress wasn't exactly meant for running, but now was her only chance. She had to go.

With a final glance at Saskia, who was closest to her, she bolted, running as fast as she could toward the back door of the shop. Maybe if she could fling it open and throw herself into the crowded market alley, she might be able to lose herself. Maybe duck into another shop. She was banking on the element of surprise.

She could hear the guards crashing around behind her and decided to knock over as many displays as she could on her way through the shop, hoping to slow them down. She leapt over a rack and knocked over a pile of sweaters. As the guards stumbled after her, she heard Saskia shouting instructions to them.

The blood was pumping through Shaun’s veins as she hurtled down the hallway, past the staff room, toward where she thought the back door might be. She rounded a corner, her arms outstretched to reach for the door when she caught sight of Leeza.

Leeza was standing in the middle of the hallway, her legs spread, and her arms stretched in front of her, a gun in her right hand while her left hand was holding it steady. Shaun stopped so abruptly that she ended up tripping over her own feet, slamming into a wall and collapsing to the floor on her hands and knees.

She looked up and found herself once again facing down the barrel of a gun. The fight drained out of her and she pushed herself back onto her ass, leaned against the wall and dropped her face into her hands. She gave into the urge to cry, allowing the tears to fall freely.

She figured she was entitled to a good cry.

Shaun had seen death rushing at her through the barrel of a gun too many times that week. She was over it. She was more than over it. If one more person pointed a gun at her, she was going to call their bluff.

Shaun felt the air move around her and glanced up to see Leeza crouched in front of her, her gun nowhere in sight. Shaun assumed she must've tucked it back into her purse or a holster somewhere on her body. Two of the guards were standing in the hallway, looking grim. One of them was on the phone with who she assumed must be Jozef.

"I'm in trouble,” Shaun whispered, swiping at the tears on her cheeks.

Leeza reached out and squeezed her knee. "Yeah, you are. But you're not dead and that’s something."

Chapter Seventeen

“Saty is here,” Krystoff said, flicking the ash from his cigar into an ashtray. Technically the club was non-smoking, but the rules didn’t apply to the club owners. “I truly despise that little weasel.”

Jozef followed Krystoff’s line of sight, his own gaze settling on a short, stocky man who was speaking to a muscular bouncer. Saty looked around, caught sight of Jozef, Krystoff, and Havel in the VIP section and began making his way to the back of the club.

Jozef stiffened as the man approached.

“Krystoff, my friend.” Saty greeted the men heartily. “Good to see you alive and well.”

There was a pregnant pause before Krystoff drawled, “Is there a reason you should not be seeing me alive and well?”

Saty looked uncomfortable and glanced around, likely taking stock of Krystoff’s manpower if it came down to a fight. Though there were few people on the floor of the club, as it was only early afternoon, Krystoff had men at every entrance. His usual precaution, which is why it was so concerning that Vasiliy had managed to get to him. Saty’s eyes lingered on Jozef, clearly assessing the younger Koba as the real threat.

“No, no, I just mean you look to be in good health.”

“Again,” Krystoff drawled coldly, deliberately picking up his whiskey with his mutilated hand, and taking a sip before continuing, “Is there a reason I should not be in good health?”

“Uh… heard a rumour… clearly not true.” Saty glanced over his shoulder once more as if he regretted approaching the Koba patriarch. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to say hello to a good friend.”

“Jozef will be in touch about payment for your last shipment,” Krystoff drawled.

Saty’s eyes landed on Jozef and he visibly shuddered. He owed the Kobas a significant amount of money. He liked to pretend he was playing the mafia game, but he was as ineffectual as he was weak. The Kobas were happy to take his money, but otherwise wanted nothing to do with him. Saty saw them as a way into higher society. He was wrong.

Jozef merely sat, watching the comings and goings of the club with a bored expression. It was a facade. Jozef was always alert when it came to business, especially in the club, which was a cauldron of people moving and mixing. The club was where they did most of their business. It was public, it belonged to the Koba family and it was considered neutral territory for all the local crime families, of which the Kobas were royalty.

Meeting in the club made their associates feel safe, though it was a false sense of security. Jozef could cut off a man’s head in the middle of the club on a Friday night without repercussions. They owned everything and everyone in the club as well as a good portion of the Prague police force.

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