Page 65 of Count Down

GINA

Backstage is crowded with dancers,their friends, and their families. It’s like anyone who knew anyone in the show has come back to say their congratulations. I hear someone yell my name through the crowd.

“GINA!”

I turn and see a woman with shiny black hair rushing toward me. It’s Klein. She’s breathing heavily, trying to catch her breath. She has a worried look on her face.

“Klein?” I say. “What are you doing here?” I wouldn’t be so surprised, but she looks as if something has gone terribly wrong.

“Your father gave me his tickets,” she says, panting. My heart sinks. My parents didn’t come after all. It was Klein who picked up the tickets. “Can we talk?” Klein continues. “In private?” She nods at the back door of the theater. The one that opens out into the alley.

I glance at Lexi. She looks concerned. She doesn’t know who Klein is. I nod to assure that it’s okay.

“Sure,” I say.

I lead them both out the back door, out of the busy backstage of the theater and into the quiet and dark alleyway. It’s dimly lit by a single lamp over the door. Lexi wedges a program in the door so we won’t get locked out.

“Your father’s in trouble,” Klein tells me as soon as Lexi has partially closed the door. Klein shoves a folded-up letter into my hands. She’s still trying to catch her breath. “This was under the seat. It was… obviously it was meant for him. There was some kind of… some kind of device attached under the seat. Right after your performance ended, this light started blinking and this envelope was attached to it.”

I unfold the letter as Klein explains how she found it. She goes quiet to let me read. Down the alley, I hear a car door and I glance in that direction, but I can’t see anything. Lexi keeps peering down the alley while I continue to read. Klein’s watching me intently to see how I react.

District Attorney Richard Nicoletti,

I was going to assassinate you tonight. But I am giving you one more chance to live. Step down as District Attorney and you will live. If you do not step down, I can’t give you any more chances and you will die.

I know that Luca sent this letter. He told me that my father was a target. But he never told me that he was the one that would have to kill him. He never told me, but I suspected it. Now I know for sure. I’m not angry with Luca for not telling me.

The fact that Luca was the one that was supposed to kill my father, only makes me realize how much he’s sacrificing by not doing it. He’s not only going out of his way to protect me. He’s going out of his way to try to keep my father alive. For my sake.

“We have to warn your father!” Klein says, seeing that I’m finished reading.

I nod and fold the note and put it back into her hand. “You have to warn him,” I say. “I’ve already tried. He won’t listen to me. But maybe if he hears it from you, he’ll take it seriously.”

Klein looks slightly confused. Perhaps she’s surprised that I’m already aware my father’s life is in danger.

“LOOK OUT!” Lexi screams. Lexi dives at me and pushes me back against the alley wall, just as a van comes screaming down the alley way.

I fall back on my ass, Lexi falling down on the ground next to me, just as the van pulls up next to us. The side door of the van opens. I hear a man yell in Russian, “Blondinka!”

Arms wrap around me and pull me toward the van. Lexi tries to scramble up, but I’m pulled away too quickly. I feel Klein grab at the arms around me, trying to pull them off. Then she’s struck in the face and collapses back against the alley wall.

My feet leave the ground and before I’m fully in the van, we’re already speeding down the alley away from Lexi and Klein, away from the theater. Away from Luca.

I scream, but it’s cut off when a hood is thrown over my head. I kick and flail my arms, striking someone until I feel at least two people pinning my arms and legs to the floor of the van. I hear the door slam shut and feel the shift of the van turning out of the alley.

47

LUCA

I waituntil most of the theater-goers have filed out of the theater and down the halls to the lobby. Then I slowly make my way out into the hall, and turn to go backstage. It’s the same hall that Gina took me through in our tour.

When I get through the stage door, I see it’s much busier than I’d expected. It’s become a kind of post-performance party. Friends and family are talking excitedly to dancers who are half made-up or still in full costume. The crowd is actually a bit of a relief. If Gina’s parents are back here, I can blend in and avoid them as long as necessary.

I plant myself in the corner, scanning the crowd. I don’t see Gina or her parents anywhere. Then I realize I don’t even see Lexi. I start to worry. I glance at the several dressing room doors. Are they in one of those? Gina didn’t have to change. Her dancers are still out here, but there’s no sign of her.

At the other end of the room, I see a door. I know from studying the theater that it exits to the alley. It’s not fully closed. It looks wedged open.

I rush toward the door, slowed slightly by the crowd of people in my way. I hear a scream, just beyond the door. It’s barely audible to the crowd behind me, but to me it’s like a fire alarm.

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