Page 57 of Chained Fate
In any case, I don’t know why I set up the alert.It was a whim.I wasn’t actually expecting anything to pop up after Valery’s crew cleaned up the scene.I think it was just a way for me to have a sense of closure, a certainty that the bodies were staying buried—literally, in this case.
Which is why the article from a small Geneva newspaper that pops up when I click on the alert is so disturbing.
The headline reads:
German Tourist Arrested in Missing Person Case
Heart pounding, I skim the article.Apparently, there’s been a breakthrough in the case of Linus Bocelli, who’s been listed as missing for four months.Some new evidence came to light that led the authorities to a suspect in his disappearance: a twenty-three-year-old German tourist by the name of… Birgit Schwann.
I do a double take.
No.
It can’t be.
They couldn’t possibly be talking about the same Birgit I know.
Frantically, I read on.
The young woman was staying at the hostel at the time of Bocelli’s disappearance…
Fuck.
It is her.
There must be some kind of error here.
Why would they arrest Birgit, of all people?
Also, shouldn’t she be in Thailand by now?
I’ve been meaning to get in touch with her, but I kept forgetting to ask Konstantin to find her number for me.
This is bad.I need to do something.Anything.
I leap to my feet just as Alexei enters the kitchen.
Whatever he reads on my face must alarm him because he closes the distance between us in three long strides.
“What’s wrong?”His voice is sharp as he grips my arm.“What happened?”
“It’s Birgit.Here.”I hand my phone to him.
He reads the article, his expression unchanging.
Did he already know about this?
“This is… unfortunate,” he says, looking up from the screen.He hands my phone back to me.“I’ll let Valery know, though I’m sure his people are already on top of it.”
“On top of it how?”My own tone sharpens.“Why was Birgit arrested for a crimeIcommitted?”
“We’ll find out,” Alexei says and pulls out his own phone.His fingers fly swiftly over the screen, presumably firing off a message.Putting the phone back into his pocket, he says, “Now let’s eat while we wait.”
Chapter29
Alexei
My Alinyonok is tense as I blend our morning smoothies.She’s worried about the German girl.I don’t care much about Birgit’s fate, but I don’t want Alina upset, so I will do whatever is necessary to fix this situation.
