Page 53 of Collin: Episodes 13-15
“I’m just showing Mr. Anderson around for Mr. Reevesworth, okay? Like I said, give me a sec. Sorry, last minute.”
Veronica pouted. “Hurry! This one is really good.”
Collin forced a nod and kept walking. At least she was still alive.
Alice was still alive. Dana was still alive. Veronica was still alive. Ash was still alive.
Inside the staircase, Mikhail ordered him to put his phone on the ground.
Collin complied.
Mikhail patted Collin down on the sides and front of his jacket. “Any other phones?”
“No.”
“Walk.”
The staircase was unheated. Collin shivered as he went down. This was what Ash ran up and down every day. The unfinished brick wall really showed the age of the place, unlike the refurbished and updated offices.
They saw no one else until they reached the bottom. A nondescript white van was parked in the underground loading dock. The driver gave Mikhail a nod and trained a gun on Collin.
“Put your hands together in front of you.” Mikhail slapped three sets of heavy-duty zip ties, linked together in figure eights, around Collin’s wrists. Collin scanned the space. He might try kneeing Mikhail in the groin, but the man was too smart to lean down. He lifted Collin’s wrists to work on them, and the driver had him covered.
Mikhail wrapped a black cloth around Collin’s eyes. A shove sent him forward. He found the bottom of the step into the van with the front of his thigh.
“In,” Mikhail ordered.
At least the interior of the van was warm. There were no seats. Mikhail dragged Collin to the opposite side and forced him to lie down. Some sort of straps were on the floor. Mikhail made short work of immobilizing him.
The driver snapped something in Russian. Mikhail answered, then they were lurching forward.
The only thing Collin could see was the saturation of light. They broke out into sunlight and drove on surface streets quickly. Which direction they were going, he could only guess. It felt like they were moving south, but he would have given even odds they were also heading west.
There was too much time and not enough. Collin waited for the fear to hit, or tears, or anything, but there was nothing. It was like he was floating above it, walling it all off. He’d practiced this moment in his mind so many times in those years right after he’d stolen the record. It was almost like he didn’t believe it was real. Just another nightmare rehearsal.
The van came to a stop. Doors opened, slammed, and opened again. Hands jerked on the straps and dragged him out of the van. They dropped him on his knees on a hard floor. It smelled like an old factory or warehouse, cold, half damp, with a hint of grease and bad weed. Around him, men spoke in a mixture of Russian and English in various accents.
A car drove up and turned off. More opening and closing of doors. Another body hitting the floor. Shit. Who did they have?
Mikhail pulled the cloth off Collin’s head. The light was bright after so long with his eyes sealed shut. He blinked and shook himself.
“Where’s my record?”
Collin blinked. “Ten-plus years, and that’s how you say hello?”
Mikhail backhanded him. It wasn’t bad, just jerked his head to the side and made his cheek sting.
Collin swallowed and looked back up. “We don’t want you back.”
“I’m not.” Mikhail spat on the ground. “Have family in Russia. You just cover family. Job.”
“Well, tell that to Grandma. She’s still wearing your ring.”
“Bitch get life insurance and not do my laundry. She fine.”
Collin shook his head. “What the fuck does this have to do with Dana Reevesworth, anyway?”
Mikhail narrowed his eyes. “Nothing.”
