Page 34 of Vow of Silence

He held up his hands. “You and I are enemies. I hate you Russian bastards, and I hate your father even more.”

I shrugged. “Get in line. You know who I am, but I don’t have a clue who you are.”

Dropping his hands, he tore his shirt and wrapped it around his thigh. “I saw you and took you because I have a proposition for you. We have a common enemy.”

“I don’t care.”

His lips thinned. “Cun Pocoli raped and murdered my wife Mahira because she rejected his advances. He knew that we were married but he didn’t care.”

Ignore that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach. You can barely save yourself and you want to avenge your wife’s sacrificed life. “What does all this have to do with me.”

My ears tingled as I heard Irma’s voice in the distance.

“If you help me. I’ll help you get your revenge on Dabizir. You want to kill him because he raped you. Don’t tell me that you believed Qemal was the one who raped you.”

A door opened from the stairwell above.

“Anya.”

Irma’s voice died as she entered through another door several floors above. She was diligently searching for me, and I needed to get back.

“My name is Mirvjen Nuhiji. Meet me at my place in an hour. I’ll prove to you that Qemal didn’t rape you.” He tossed a piece of paper at me and limped through the door. It was his address written down with directions.

What should I do? I’ve got to go. He has the information and I need to see it.

There was no way that Qemal was innocent, but I would look at the information he had. If he knew a way for me to get to Dabizir, that alone would be worth the risk. Another door opened above. I rushed to the window. I couldn’t let Cian find out about this meeting.

I slipped outside.

Ignoring the night air, I ran across the street and walked around the corner. As soon as a car came driving down the road, I stuck my thumbs up. The car kept going. I continued walking. The next car stopped.

The man had beady eyes, a buzz haircut, and a strong jaw. He resembled the poster of a serial killer. Good. I wouldn’t have any reason to feel guilty for what I was about to do to him. He unlocked the car door and I slid inside.

“Thanks, I’ll go wherever you’re going.” Closing the door, I suppressed a flinch when he immediately locked me inside.

The car was junky, and I saw a yellow plastic tape measure on the floor. He took off driving faster than he had been before. It wasn’t super late, yet there were no other cars on the two-lane highway. He picked up his cellphone and made a call.

“I’ve picked up a tourist. Get the warehouse ready. I’m going to have fun with her before I kill her.”

I picked up the tape measure and wrapped the ends of it around my hands. Jumping into the backseat I wrapped it around his throat choking him. The car swerved as he tried to free himself. I continued to tighten my grip on his neck. A dirty glass cup rolled around on the floor while we struggled. He pulled a gun, and I knocked it out of his hand. My eyes widened as the car veered off the road heading toward a streetlight. I braced myself for impact while I kept the tension on his neck.

Wham.

Pain shot through me as we hit the light post. Glass shattered and flew everywhere as I crouched behind the driver’s seat. Picking up a large shard, I slid it across his neck. After rummaging through his clothes, I grabbed his Glock, money, and a stick of gum. I wiped the blood from my face, got out of the car, and ran down the road. I approached a gas station. I saw a woman get out of her car and rush inside. She left her car running. I jumped in the car, slammed the car door, and peeled out of the gas station parking lot.

After putting the address in the GPS system, I felt relieved when it said that I was thirty minutes away.

I will be late.

If he weren’t there, I would see what I could find before I went back to the hotel. When I arrived in the neighborhood, I managed to slip into the last parking spot.

I snuck around the side of the house and opened the first window I saw. I crawled inside and took out my Glock. It was a small cramped one bedroom that smelled like Cheetos, sex, and dirty socks. I held my breath. I walked to the door. Before opening it, I placed my ear to the surface, but I couldn't hear anything. Bending down I looked underneath the door. It was impossible to see anything. I stood and opened the door. After waiting a few moments, I crept into the hallway. There was loud techno music playing throughout the house. It was hard to hear anything besides the bass and upbeat tempo. I continued to walk towards the living room when I saw a man with a beer and white tee-shirt walking to the kitchen. This wasn’t Mirvjen, so this might be his friend. It didn’t matter, he was armed with a gun holstered at his waist.

Who else is here? Is this a setup?

I paused before going into the living room and ducked low, waiting to see if I could hear anyone else. The music was loud making it impossible to determine the situation into which I was walking. The man came around the corner brandishing his gun, and I fired two shots.

Bang. Bang.

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