Page 81 of A Silent Reckoning

She squeezed her eyes shut and let go of the window. When her feet hit the ground, her knees buckled and she fell. She didn’t stay on the ground though. She rolled over, leapt to her feet and took off running.

She dug her phone out of her cleavage and put it up to her ear.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Krystoff roared. “Why is your bodyguard texting that you aren’t with him.”

“You need to shut up and listen to me for once, because I’m about to ditch my phone and I really don’t know if we’ll see each other again.”

“Saskia, don’t you fucking dare,” he snarled. “You go back to your guards right fucking now.”

The fear in his voice overrode the anger, which slowed Saskia’s steps, but didn’t stop her. She’d been preparing for this day from the moment she realized who her family was.

“I won’t do that and I need you to stop wasting our time. You know as well as I do that you’ll have to get off the phone to coordinate your attack on Jozef. I really, really wish you wouldn’t, but I know you too well to think otherwise. You’ll hit him before he can organize himself enough to hit back.”

There was a pause, then her father said sarcastically, “You think you’re smarter than the rest of us, don’t you?”

She laughed. “I really am. That’s not even a question.”

“If you’re bound and determined to go your stubborn way then so be it. I wash my hands of you. Just remember, when your cousin is holding a gun to your head, I tried to protect you. You chose the wrong side.”

“That’s the thing, dad,” she said impatiently. “I’m not choosing sides, but if I was, yours would be the wrong one. You know how I know that?”

“How?” he snarled, his rage vibrating down the line.

“Because you want me to choose,” she told him. “Jozef cares about me without asking me to choose.”

“He will kill you!” Krystoff shouted. “Stupid child.”

“Tell mom I love her,” Saskia said, slamming the heel of her hand into the gas flap of an older model car. It opened and she fished out the keys. She’d hidden the car and the keys at the beginning of the school year, giving her an out if she needed one while she was at school. “Please try to…”

Saskia choked on the tears rising up and had to stop and breath. She jerked the car door open and slid into the driver’s seat. Placing her head on the steering wheel she took several deep breaths until she was able to speak again.

“Please stay safe,” she finally said. “I would ask you not to go after Jozef, to remind you that he was a son to you and mom, a brother to me and Leeza, but I know you won’t listen.”

“Is this why you’re leaving?” Krystoff asked. “Don’t do this, Saskia. We can figure something out. I need to know you’re safe.”

She smiled through her tears. “I’m doing this so I will be safe. Tell mom I love her. I love you both.”

Saskia hung up and fitted the keys in the engine, relieved when it started. It was an older car and had been sitting for months.

She lifted her phone and hit Nikolay’s number. He picked up immediately. “Saskia.”

“Niko, are you alone?”

“Uh, wait a minute.” She heard rustling, then a door open and close. “Okay, I’m alone.”

“You don’t have to hide her from me.” Saskia rolled her eyes as she put the car in reverse and pulled out of her parking spot. “I’ve always known you were fucking around. I’m not stupid.”

He fell silent and for one tragic moment she thought he’d deny his trysts. Instead, he said, “If you know, then why are you calling? Why didn’t you break up with me?”

“It’s cute that you ever thought we were going to be a thing.” Pain blossomed in her chest as she lied. There had been a time, not long ago, that she’d believed Nikolay would be her one and only. That they might get married and live happily ever after. After he’d given her the burner phone to give to Shaun, she’d been forced to question whether he ever cared about her, or if he’d been using her. “I was using you for sex, Niko, which was pretty bad by the way, and to get info on Jozef and the team, see what you guys were up to.”

He snarled something that she didn’t catch. She didn’t care.

“You can eat your outrage, asshole,” she said calmly. “I know you were only using me to get close to my dad and when Jozef split, I stopped being useful. That’s around the time the sex started getting really bad.”

“Again, why are you calling me?” he snapped.

“I want you to give Jozef a message. Tell him I’m taking off. I won’t be a problem and he doesn’t need to come after me.”

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