Page 34 of Born into Darkness

It’s Niki who answers my brother. “I found someone who’s willing to help us.”

“Just like that?” Volodya asks, and we can all hear the doubt in his voice.

Despite his young age, Niki doesn’t back down from my brother. He just shrugs and says, “Yeah. We’re paying him two million and providing fake documents for him and his wife and kids. After we leave the country, he and his family will be flying to Hawaii to live out their lives in peace and safety, so, yeah, just like that.”

Valeri gives a soft laugh at Niki’s tone while Volodya huffs out a breath and says, “Fair enough, but what about the rest of the trip? Do any of you speak Spanish? Who’s providing the boats and the trucks?”

“He’s not the only person we’re paying off,” Niki says. “I found men we can trust, men who have families and who are desperate to get out of Colombia but also more than happy to help us get in.”

When my brother still looks unconvinced, Niki adds, “The Amaya Cartel isn’t exactly popular with the locals. They despise them, and I did my research. I found men who have a grudge against them, a personal one. The guy helping us at the airport lost his daughter to the cartel. They tried to kidnap her, and when she had the nerve to fight back, they shot her. The man who is helping us with the boats watched them execute his brother when he refused to pay the protection fee they demanded—a fee he never could’ve afforded, by the way.”

“We’re not saying it’s going to be easy,” Danil says, “but if we can avoid detection long enough, then we can make it work. We’re also bringing Tony with us. He’s the doctor for the Alessi family.”

“He’s not thrilled about it,” Dominic says with a soft laugh, “but he’s willing to do anything to help.”

“What aren’t you telling us?” I ask. “Have you heard anything new?”

The brothers in front of us exchange a look, confirming my instincts were right.

“Tell us,” Volodya demands.

Lev raises a pierced brow at my brother’s tone, but Roman ignores him and says, “They sent us a video yesterday.”

“My daughter,” I start to ask and then stop, unable to get the rest of the question out.

“She’s fine,” Danil quickly says. “It was a video of them hurting my son.”

“He’s a pianist,” Niki says, “so they dislocated every finger of his right hand.”

He looks a lot older than his seventeen years when he tells us what happened to his older brother, and I’m guessing even if we didn’t need him to come with us on the rescue mission, he’d still demand to join in. I can’t help but admire his loyalty. I’d do anything for my brothers, and I can tell Niki feels the same way.

I pull up the latest video Lorenzo sent me and set it on the table. Roman takes it and hits play while his family steps in closer to see it. I grit my teeth at the sound of my daughter’s scared voice filling the room and wait for the video to finish before saying, “She used sign language to spell out the Amaya name and then made the sign for basement.”

Vitaly looks impressed when he says, “Smart girl.”

Matvey grabs the phone and watches it again, but he’s kind enough to turn the volume down so I don’t have to suffer through it. When he’s done, he says, “I think they’re threatening Max to keep her in line.”

“Why do you say that?” Danil asks, reaching for the phone to try and see whatever his brother just saw.

Matvey points to the screen. “She looks away from the camera. I don’t know. It’s just a feeling, but I think they’re using them against each other.” He looks at Danil. “Max didn’t try to fight back when they busted his hand. You know how much music means to him, but he just knelt on the ground and took it. Why would he do that?”

The tone of his voice makes it clear he knows exactly why his nephew would do it, but it’s Danil who answers out loud and says, “He’d do it to protect her.”

“He’d allow that to happen to save a girl he barely knows?” I ask, hoping it’s true but also too jaded by life to immediately believe it.

“He would,” Val says. Absolute certainty ringing in his words. “They’ve gotten close, and I’m sure it’s just gotten stronger since I left. My cousin would rather die than have his hands injured. He would’ve fought back and they would’ve had to beat him to within an inch of his life to get him to willingly hold his hand out like that.”

I don’t know what to say to that, so I just say, “If that’s the case, then I’ll owe him a debt after all this is over.”

“First, let’s worry about getting them back,” Danil says, checking his watch to see what time it is. “We need to leave in two hours, so do whatever the hell you need to do before then.”

Vitaly is the one to break the tension with a soft laugh and a slight grin. “I mean, I can think of a few things that need doing.”

“Jesus, Dad,” I hear Val groan, but that doesn’t stop his son from leaving the room, too, no doubt thinking the same thing.

I’m not surprised when Volodya looks over at Niki and says, “Can you put that map up again?”

I need to check on Nina, but I lean in closer with my brothers, wanting to go over the details with them one more time. Everything hinges on this plan, and I’m sure as hell not going to be the one to fuck it up. I’m going to memorize every detail before our plane takes off.

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