Page 74 of The Primary Pest
“I lied about that,” Peter said. “Your girls are safe from me.”
If Ajax expected to feel Dmytro’s body sag with relief, as his wanted to do, it didn’t happen. He simply turned away and watched as the little boat—a trawler if Ajax wasn’t mistaken—chugged nearer and nearer.
No hope for a last-minute rescue from Iphicles, then. None of the ex-military snobs who worked there would look at that tub, much less board it.
Dmytro still didn’t say a word, and he wouldn’t look at Ajax directly either. He kept his eyes on the horizon, on the boat as it neared. On Chet and Peter, who grabbed duffel bags from the bridge and waited until the vessel drew alongside.
Peter’s smile reminded Ajax he’d originally thought him charming in a hipster way. He put his hand on Dmytro’s shoulder.
“I hope you know, I’m truly sorry you and Bartosz got in the way of my plans. Anyone might have caught babysitting duty, only you and he drew the short straws.”
“I understand,” Dmytro said calmly.
Ajax had definitely gained a passionate hatred for beards and flannel and fucking gauges. He’d certainly never look at another man wearing them without wanting to kill them.
Not that he had much longer to live.
“Here’s where we leave you.” Peter threw his bag to the other boat. Chet followed suit and clambered over the railing, leaping onto the dirty thing without a backward glance.
“You’re gonna leave us alive?” Ajax asked, astounded. Maybe they’d get out of this after all.
He’d chew his way through that fucking tape if he had to.
“Aw.” Peter laughed. “He lives in hope, doesn’t he? Wraps himself in it like he wrapped himself in all that cash his family had.”
Ajax glanced to Dmytro for an explanation.
Dmytro shook his head.
Peter stood by the railing for a moment longer before he added, “I’m going to miss this barge.”
Then he leaped over the railing to join Chet on the smaller boat.
“What the hell just happened?” Ajax asked, but before Dmytro could answer, the trawler’s engines roared to life and it took off. “Dmytro, answer me.”
Dmytro watched it go, saying nothing.
“Is that it?” Ajax asked. “Seriously, if that’s it, then help me get out of this fucking tape.”
“Here.” Dmytro scooted along the railing far enough to hoist his foot toward Ajax’s hands. “There’s a knife in my boot.”
“Where?” Ajax couldn’t think clearly. Why had Peter left them alive? Why was the trawler turning again, its engines idling?
“Inside, along the ankle, there’s a slim blade. Feel it? Hurry!”
“You’ve had a knife all along? Couldn’t you have used this to save the day before now?”
“Against two men armed with guns? Not really.”
“All right. Got it.” Ajax twisted and turned until he could feel inside Dmytro’s boot. The blade was slim, more like a letter opener than a knife, but it was sharp enough to get through duct tape. He didn’t look forward to peeling off more of his skin, but that was the least of his worries.
He sliced through his own and then through Dmytro’s. “Don’t you think it’s weird that they didn’t see this coming?”
Was the trawler even moving now? It wasn’t. Maybe they were making sure they got away?
Or… Ajax turned to Dmytro. “Oh God. Are they coming back?”
“No.”
