Page 87 of Silent Heart

Cami nodded. “She was hanging out with that blond guy. You’ve seen him around?”

I nodded, a sickening feeling twisting my stomach.

“Ever since the first night on campus, he’s been all over Ava. The rest of us can’t stand him, which only drove Ava into his arms,” Cami stammered. “Becky thinks he’s a trafficker. All the signs were there. She got drunk a few nights ago and laid the whole scenario out.”

“The night you crashed on my floor because you needed to sleep,” I clarified.

“Yeah,” Cami breathed. “The cops don’t believe them. They won’t do anything until Ava’s been gone long enough to be considered a missing person. But by that point, it would be too late.”

Words failed me. This had to be the worst news anyone could receive. While it was entirely possible something else happened to the young woman, I knew in my gut that this was the most likely scenario. There were flyers all over campus about human trafficking. Most students laughed it off as an unlikely occurrence. But the statistics didn’t lie. It happened more often than society wanted to believe.

While I scrambled to think of something comforting to say, Vivian had her arm above her head, flagging down the guys. Luka jogged over, the dappled pony prancing to keep up with his long strides. Zoey screamed with glee at the faster pace. Not even that adorable picture could soothe the distress from the terrible news.

“We need to call your brother,” Vivian said matter-of-factly.

The air left my lungs. The world swayed. Kole.Kolya.They needed to call him? I reached for the camping chair, only to have it tip from the clumsy grasp. Cami Joe pressed her fingers into my arm, and Vivian shot me a side look.

But she kept speaking to her husband. “Something happened at Cami’s school, to her classmate.”

“I understand.” Luka tossed us the lead rope and took off sprinting to the house. He shouted in a foreign language to his cousin, and the mountain of a man rose, Laurel hurrying barefoot after him.

“They’ll handle it,” Vivian assured Cami. To me, she added, “This type of situation is Kolya’s forte.”

I gathered the pony, trying and failing to grasp the situation. Vivian took Cami’s phone and followed her husband into the house. As they left, I took pity on the younger girl and bit my tongue. I didn’t need to unload my uncertainties and myriad of questions on her.

But Cami began to explain, answering my unspoken thoughts. “My family has a lot of secrets. They can do things the police can’t. Cousin Kolya, especially.”

Kolya would be around. Could I handle that? What would I say to him? I clenched my jaw tight and looked to the sky. Before I could shake into a puddle, I steeled my resolve. “Look, if we’re going to be roommates, I can’t let anything interrupt my focus. Including your cousin.”

Cami quickly shook her head. “It won’t. They call Kolya the Wraith. He’ll come into town, deal with this, and you’ll never know he’s there if you don’t want to.”

“As easy as that?” I scoffed.

Cami Joe nodded. “Yes.”

My emotions were a rollercoaster. I could see the man I’d grown fond of or I could let him pass. The access was right there. The ball was in my court.

“I don’t want to see him,” I decided quickly. Because I knew from the way my heart clenched tight that if given enough time, I would cave.

“Done,” Cami said. “I’ll let them know.”

Chapter 34 – Kolya

There was a vast difference in temperature. The cold autumn air and the gust of Lake Michigan wind were a relief to skin dried by the Arizona desert. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. The skin on my arms prickled, but my jacket remained threaded through the handles of my duffel bag.

“You’re supposed to wear that,” Luka teased, exiting his truck.

I took another deep breath, grateful to be off the plane, before opening my eyes to look at my brother. “Any news on the girl?”

“Straight to business,” my brother muttered.

“Did you expect anything else?” Dimitri chuckled, coming up to slap me on the back. In a soft voice, he added an Old Russian greeting.

Which I returned.

“It’s good to see you, cousin,” Dimi murmured.

Guilt tickled the back of my mind. “I’m just here for Camilla.”

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