Page 258 of Enigma: The Complete Collection
“Lodka,” Enrique says as the guards continue dragging him toward the door.
Just before they exit, Enrique’s smiles. I eye him peculiarly, surprised he’s so calm while flanked by guarded officers.
“Don’t worry, Isabelle.Ya idu domoy.”
In a matter of seconds, he’s ushered to a waiting elevator at the end of the corridor. The last thing I see is his broad smile before its covered with a black hood roughly yanked over his head.
Isaac cradles my tear-stained cheeks with his large hands, so his thumbs can clear away my tears. Once they’re taken care of, his remorse-filled eyes stare into mine. “Did you understand what he said? Where the police officers are?”
Ryan’s eyes float up from the floor, but he remains quiet, happy to leave the interrogating to Isaac.
When I nod, more tears spill from my eyes. “I didn’t understandYakhte, but I know whatLodkameans.” I swallow to relieve my parched throat before murmuring, “They’re in your boat.”
Isaac’s curses under his breath before he strays his eyes to Ryan. “The police officers who assaulted Isabelle are in my yacht at the Vela De Keys Marina.”
Ryan’s lips set into a sardonic line as his nostrils flare.
“I already told you it wasn’t me,” Isaac snarls, clearly pissed. “Enrique advised Isabelle of their location.”
“And why would he do that? Why would he share information with a woman he kidnapped? Are you trying to say he suddenly got a case of the guilts?”
Isaac’s jaw muscles spasms as his fists clench into tight balls.
“Enrique is my brother.”
Isaac cranks his neck to me. “You don’t have to explain anything to him, Isabelle.”
“I know that, but I’m sick of all the secrets. My whole life has been one huge secret. It’s time to wipe the slate clean, so I can start afresh.”
Ryan’s brows lower. “The man who just left here is Enrique Popov,” he says like I must be mistaken on his identity. “As in son of Vladimir Popov.”
“I know.”
A heavy set of wrinkles indents his forehead. He looks utterly baffled.
Isaac tries to ease it. “Isabelle was raised by her uncle after being sold to him by Vladimir when she was six years old. Her Uncle Tobias isn’t really her uncle.”
Ryan is shocked, but he maintains his cool-cat composure. “Can you speak Russian?”
I grimace. “Not very well.”
“Did you understand what Enrique said in the corridor when he was leaving?”
I twist my lips. “I don’t remember what he said. I was too flustered over his arrest to pay proper attention.”
Air whizzes out of Ryan’s nostrils as he struggles to stifle a chuckle over my daftness. When I glare at him, he pulls a small black recording device from his pocket. After fiddling with the gadget, Enrique’s voice bellows out of the speakers.
“Don’t worry, Isabelle.Ya idu domoy.”
I cringe, hoping I don’t make a fool of myself. “I’m… going… ” I lift my gaze to Ryan. “Can you play it again?”
When he plays it for the second time, the fog clouding my brain scatters away, and his sentence becomes readily distinguishable. “He said ‘I’m going home.’”
Ryan stiffens, his pupils widening before he sprints into the corridor. Isaac and I quickly shadow him. The air is forcefully removed from my lungs when my eyes lock in on the elevator at the end of the hall. Four heavily guarded riot officers are lying unconscious on the elevator floor.
Enrique is nowhere in sight.
CHAPTER10
