Page 21 of Pageant

“She’s going to the gym in the mornings now.”

I turn away and clench my eyes shut. No, no, no. If I can’t see her, then what’s the point of being here? Being anywhere? I’ll die if I have to stand in this kitchen every day with nothing but her memory and the scent of her in the air.

Ivan comes downstairs and I follow him out to the car, my eyes running over the side of his neck, the outline of his ribs beneath his shirt. All excellent places to slip a knife in while I have my hand clamped over his mouth.

Midway through the morning, Ivan says from the back seat, “You’re quiet today. Did something happen?”

“I was stood up.”

He chuckles. “By a woman? Don’t let it get you down. I’ll take you to Odyssey tonight and you can get as many lap dances as it takes to get the bitch off your mind.”

Odyssey is a strip club. I won’t be able to stop myself from committing murder if I have to watch Ivan throwing money at strippers while his wife waits at home. “I am busy tonight.”

After lunch, we drive to Ivan’s office, and I turn down the street and head for my usual parking spot. There are more cars than usual along the road. Shiny cars. Unfamiliar cars. I put my foot on the brakes and stop in the middle of the street.

“Why have you stopped, Elyah?”

I don’t know. I grip the steering wheel, staring at the road ahead. All the hairs are standing up on the back of my neck. Something’s off. Something’s fucking wrong with this street.

I glance up at the buildings overlooking us, and a sniper pulls back out of sight.

I swear and slam the car into reverse. Ivan shouts from the back seat. There’s a squeal of rubber, and a white van shoots across the road behind us. The back door opens and a SWAT team in full gear pours out.

They’ve come for Ivan, but they’re going to take me, too. “Get out of the car. This side.”

I open the door and roll out between the parked cars. Ivan follows me and we crouch behind a vehicle, guns drawn.

A loud, American voice calls across the street, “Ivan Kalashnik. Surrender yourself immediately. Throw your gun into the road and come out with your hands where we can see them.”

I risk a glance around the car we’re hiding behind and see a sandy-haired man in a blue shirt and a camel coat. There’s a mole beneath his right eye. I don’t recognize him, but if I were to guess, I’d say he’s a federal agent.

I pull my head back and say to Ivan, “It is the feds. Keep your head down, there is—”

Ivan sits up and fires at the SWAT team. A split second later, his head explodes like a watermelon hit by a baseball bat.

“—sniper.”

I stare as his body topples to the ground.

Now they can’t take Ivan in. They can only take me. I dive beneath the parked car behind me and army crawl my way back down the street beneath the vehicles. The cops have lost sight of me for a moment. I reach a side street and someone is idling in their car and staring at the SWAT team. I yank the door open, drag the driver from the car and take off. His angry shout disappears behind me as I roar down the street. I don’t slow down until I nearly run over an old woman at a crosswalk.

I slam on the brakes and take a deep breath.

Drive like a normal fucking person, Elyah.

Get Lilia.

And get out of the city.

I take the back streets and head for the woods above Lilia and Ivan’s house, park among the trees, jog down and vault the fence. I can’t see anyone through the kitchen windows and hurry around to the back door.

Without thinking, I pull back and ram my shoulder into it. Over and over again, until the wood splinters and breaks free under my force. “Lilia!”

The house is silent. I take the stairs two at a time and burst into the master bedroom. Where the fuck is she? The house doesn’t just feel empty, it feels abandoned. All the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, and I don’t understand why until I see that the wardrobe door is ajar. Only Ivan’s clothes are hanging from the rail. I turn to her vanity and flip open the jewelry boxes. They’re empty, too.

My phone rings, and I see it’s Vasily and answer.

“Oh, thank fuck. You’re alive.” Vasily lets out a huge breath. “Where are you?”

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