Page 66 of The Primary Pest
“That’s right, Chet. We’ll go to Ukraine. No extradition there. We can try out some nice Ukrainian girls for a change.”
Chet narrowed his eyes at Dmytro. “Just you and me, Skip?”
“Right, Chet. Go man the bridge and listen out for any chatter on the radio.”
“Okay, boss.”
Chet skipped up to the bridge and disappeared, leaving Dmytro to eye Peter with some distaste. “He has no idea he won’t survive this, does he?”
“What do you mean?” Peter’s eyes shone fever-bright, and for the first time, Dmytro wondered if he was on something. “We’re all going to Ukraine. You, me, and him. We’re gonna need a native speaker. We’ll be the three amigos.”
Which meant no. Or yes. It meant Peter was an inveterate liar, or he was making things up as he went along to confuse them.
If Dmytro was right, neither Chet nor he would ever see shore again. Not if Peter had anything to say about it. Was that even his plan? To make a ransom drop at sea? It was up to Dmytro to make sure he was the last man standing.
Oh, Ajax… Please don’t believe anything you heard me say just now.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Ajax
Ajax let his head hang,chin to his chest, while he concentrated on the difficult, nearly impossible task of breathing in and out with a broken heart.
His was shattered. Obliterated.
It hurt to take each breath in. To let each breath out was agony. Inside him, screams were building up to replace the soft sobs he had to let out through his nose. His gorge rose, and he didn’t even care that if he threw up, his life would end in a rush of hot vomit behind his duct-taped lips.
Hot tears dropped on his legs. His knit boxers were still damp beneath his shorts where he’d creamed them. He had to think part of the reason he was crying was because he didn’t want to go out like that. Not that he was going to die, but that he’d had so much promise, so much everything, and now he was just another lump of unambiguously anonymous flesh, on his way out with all the others. He’d feed the fishes.
As long as he kept that thought in mind—his death—he didn’t have to think about the last hour of his life where he’d gottendry-humped and then betrayed by someone he’d begun to think he was in love with.
No.Dmytro was a fuck. That’s all he’d been.
Ajax twisted his hands, testing his bonds. He worked his mouth against the tape. He put that hour of quiet happiness behind him.
He had to figure a way out of this mess.
Or maybe he just had to figure out what the mess was?
Peter was Iphicles, wasn’t he? Ajax had been told over and over, had taken it as gospel, that Iphicles’s men were the best of the best. Untouchable. Unbribable. Ultra-vetted and ultra-loyal.
But Ajax could see how even one of Iphicles’s own might be tempted by the millions his parents would be willing to pay to get him back. He saw, and he grieved.
His parents liked money a lot. But they didn’t do the work they did for money.
His mother enjoyed the prestige of being one of the few female CEOs at her level. His father worked as a research physician because he wanted to help children. When there was money in those things, they were thrilled, but he doubted that if someone turned the spigot off, they’d look elsewhere to make a living.
They loved their little family.They loved each other. Not money. Not prestige.
They lovedhim, and he’d resented how they’d shown it. He’d taken them for granted for years, taken advantage of their money. He’d used his privilege like a stupid fool, and now, when it mattered and he had his head on straight, it was all over for him.
He couldn’t bear the thought he’d never see his mom and dad again. His grandpa.
What should he do, what should he think, now that he knew he was living his final moments on earth?
Ajax closed his eyes and returned to something familiar and reassuring. Calculations… Math was his refuge. Math never failed him.
Seconds could drag out, though. His seconds certainly were. Fifteen minutes wasn’t very long. He pictured the distance the boat could travel in that time. Would it head toward the California coast, or circle around the Channel Islands, farther out to sea?
