Page 36 of Cruel Redemption

“I’ll walk you to the stairs and wait outside.” He wasn’t going to go unarmed anywhere. I was surprised, however he felt I was safe enough anywhere without his eyes on me. He was unwilling to be disarmed.

I nodded. “I’ll be fine. I’m not the one behind bars,” I reminded him.

Ciro checked the cars next to us, surveying the front and backseats for lingering onlookers before escorting me to the back of the building and around the side. There was an entrance for high-profile citizens. He held the door open for me and I slipped inside.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had nerves like these. My fingers trembled as I handed the woman behind the counter my license. I didn’t smile. I didn’t want to acknowledge the people who had taken Luka in like a criminal.

“Through there,” she muttered, shoving my license into a folder and hanging it on the wall.

“Don’t I get that back?” I asked.

“No,” she snapped. “Only when you leave.”

I barged through the door that was labeled waiting room. There were a few green vinyl chairs scattered in an open space. I didn’t want to sit. I wanted to see him. See that he was okay.

Twenty minutes later an officer came for me. “Ms. Amato?”

“Yes.”

“This way.” He had a slow Louisiana drawl, that should have been comforting. Nothing in this place brought a sense of warmth. It was a hell hole.

He loped down the hall without the sense of urgency I had. He had a limp that kept him from going any faster. I wondered if this was his only job, toting people back and forth from the waiting room to talk to the arrested. The keys jangled on the side of his hip. I wanted to push him in the back. Propel him to move faster. Get me to Luka as if he realized I couldn’t breathe until I saw him.

He stopped to hike up his pants. I was surprised when he opened a door. “You can go in.”

My heart beat faster. I rushed in, but the room was empty. I spun around to question the guard, but he had already started to close the door and lock me inside.

I walked around the table. I noticed the cameras in the corners of the room. The mics, planted on the walls. The square one-way mirror, as obvious as any surveillance I’d ever seen. I was in the one place I should never be. So much could go wrong.

I turned quickly when I heard the keys again. The door opened and my heart moved to my throat. “Oh my God,” I whispered.

A guard, paraded Luka inside, wearing a gray jumpsuit. It was pale and washed out. He was shackled at the ankles and wrists. It was like watching something out of a horror movie. He was positioned at the other side of the table, and cuffed to metal hooks with no other purpose but to keep prisoners from having any range of motion. And yet, he was strong. His muscles stretched the jumpsuit to its limits. Even in handcuffs, he was imposing. Dangerous. Powerful.

“Ten minutes,” the guard snarled. “No touching,” he warned, before leaving the room.

I sat across from Luka. I had to blink back every damn tear that tried to surface. I wasn’t the one in cuffs. I wasn’t the one going through the nightmare he was.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He nodded. “I’m fine, kotyonok. I was so fucking worried about you. Are you okay?”

“Me? I’m fine.”

“But, the cabin,” he whispered. We both felt the presence through the mirrored glass. I had to assume our meeting was being recorded.

“I took matters in my own hands when you didn’t come back,” I explained. I didn’t want to waste the only ten minutes we had going over the details of how I hiked out of the bayou.

“The bail hearing is in the morning. I have new counsel.”

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Inherited,” he answered. “Apparently, Dmitry had a fixer I didn’t know about. I met him today. Viktor sent him.”

“And? Why are you still here?” I demanded answers. What kind of fixer left Luka in here like this? “There’s not enough to hold you here. You didn’t take Enzo.”

“I think he’s got a handle on it. I’m worried about you.”

“What can I do? I’ll bring Barbara in. Her firm has all the best.”

---