Page 46 of Final Installment
“The last time you were here, Kristo was still in prison.”
“Besian is still salty about Kristo being left in prison in Abu Dhabi,” she said carefully.
“Technically, it wasn’t prison,” Luka pointed out, parroting one of Zec’s defenses.“It was more like a county jail.”
“I’ve been in an Albanian jail,” she reminded him.“They treated me well, and I got out quickly.But, Luka, all those hours I was in there, not speaking the language, confused, were traumatizing!When they moved me from one jail to another, I almost had a panic attack.I would have done anything to get out of there.That was one night!Kristo was there for almost two years!”
“He knew what he was risking when he decided to break the law there.”
“And what has he risked for you by breaking laws here?”
He cast a baleful glance her way.“You know I’m not going to answer that.”
She shrugged.“No harm in trying.”
“There could be if you ask the wrong question to the wrong person.”
She scoffed at his warning.“Scarier men than you have tried to warn me away from asking questions.”
He didn’t doubt that.He’d only met Spider, her stepfather, twice, and both times he’d come away certain he’d met a stone-cold killer.He suspected Spider had put more men in the ground than even Zec.
The puppy started to howl and bark at a bird in a tree.He frowned at the noisy little beast, but Marley smiled and hopped up to chase after him.She turned back after a few steps and said, “Luka, you’re the boss of this family.You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”
How he wished that was true.
Chapter Eleven
OfalltheplacesI never wanted to see again, Tirana sat right at the top of the list.
Yet, here I was, stuck in this cramped airplane seat, feeling the pressure in my ears build.
I should have stayed in Shanghai and faked a canceled flight.I should have “accidentally” missed my connection in Athens on this puddle jumper.
Glad I had chosen an aisle seat, I didn’t have the temptation of looking through the window to watch the origin of my family’s destruction loom larger and larger.However, I regretted not having a splash of whisky in my Coke during the beverage service.
The little boy and girl across the aisle made silly sounds playing with the Duffy Bear and Peach Pooh plushes I’d given them just after take-off.They’d been antsy and whining, and their harried mother looked like she was at the end of her rope.As much as I’d wanted to add the stuffed animals to my collection back home, I’d wanted a quiet flight more.
Besides, there would be other chances to visit Shanghai Disney and buy merch.After my meeting with Mr.Ma and the subsequent discussion with my stepdad, it looked like I would be spending more time in China.But even if I did go back to Disney, the chance that I’d have the same companion was almost nil.
Even now, I couldn’t quite believe I had drunkenly agreed to spend a day at an amusement park with Luka’s cousin.The fact that I had actually chosen to extend my stay in Shanghai and traipse from one end of that resort to the other with Kristo was even more baffling.
But we’d had a hell of a time together.
He was funny and quick-witted, and it had been so easy to forget that he was just as responsible for my family’s downfall as Luka.I wasn’t quite sure how to make sense of that.As much fun as we’d had together, I couldn’t shake the feeling I had betrayed my family.
Was it also a betrayal to look at the file Kristo had given me?To try to help him fix his problem?Or was it also helping my sister who was only hours away from being married into that family?
I pulled the file from the seat back pocket where I had stowed it before takeoff.It wasn’t very thick, and as I thumbed through it, I noticed it wasn’t very impressive either.The information was scant.Was this what Kristo had been offering to prospective business partners?No wonder he hadn’t had any bites!
I placed the folder on the tray table and flipped through the pages until I found the warehouse specs.My gaze lingered on the satellite image of the site.There was something strangely familiar about the shape of the warehouses, the distance to the port, and the placement of utilities.
Where have I seen this before?
And then it hit me.
I retrieved my phone from under the folder and quickly navigated to the PDF Skender had sent more than a week ago.I used my fingertips to enhance the image and then compared it to the image in Kristo’s file.It was the same site.The same warehouses.The same piece of property.
What the hell is going on?
