Page 37 of No Reason to Trust

“Nothing, as far as I know,” Sergei said. He swallowed the lump of fear in his throat, but it didn’t go away. “There was a woman a couple of months ago. She met with some of our members in Brighton Beach. Apparently, they were supposed to kill her, but they failed. She outwitted the young man who was supposed to kill her and escaped. They are all horrified at being bested by a woman.”

“And now it’s your group’s turn to meet with someone and kill them,” Elena said, clearly grasping the problem.

“Yes. I made the mistake of asking why we were doing this. This man had never done anything to any of us. We were basically acting as assassins for a man buried deep in the FBI in Washington D.C.” He leaned closer to Elena. “Alexei let that slip a couple of weeks ago. He knew he’d made a mistake and he tried to hide it. But I saw him sweating. Nervous. No one besides me seemed to notice, but I think he wasn’t supposed to reveal that information.”

“Why?” Elena asked. “Why are you supposed to kill this man?”

“No one knows. The man Alexei deals with simply told us we had to kill him and dispose of his body.”

Elena frowned. “That’s not right, Sergei. If this man did something to bring dishonor on the FBI, that is one thing. But to kill him simply as a favor to the man Alexei deals with? That’s wrong.”

Sergei reached for his wife and wrapped her in his arms. “Yes, Elena. You are right. This is wrong. But the meeting is set for tomorrow.” He eased his wife away from his body. “The problem is, I spoke out in the meeting. Told them it was wrong to kill this man only because someone we’ve never met in person tells us to do it.” He sighed. “My father always tells me I’m too impulsive. That I speak without thinking. And this time, I got us both in trouble.”

“Because you don’t want to kill a man on someone’s orders?” She frowned. “Someone you’ve never met?”

“Yes.” He grabbed her hands. “Alexei wasn’t happy with me. I saw my death in his expression,” he whispered. “It might not be this week, or even next week. But he is going to kill me.”

“No!” Elena grabbed his shoulders. Pulled him against her. “I won’t let them kill you.”

Sergei wrapped his arms around his wife and held her tight, appreciating her loyalty. “There is a way out,” he said. “But I don’t think you’ll like it.”

“Tell me,” she demanded.

“After I left the meeting, a man and woman followed me away from the building. They must have been watching for me from the fast-food place across the street, because they were behind me by the end of the block.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “They said they could help me. Help us. They offered to move us away from here and into a safer neighborhood.”

“Where would that be?” Elena asked.

“I didn’t ask them that. I was overwhelmed at what they said. But the man and the woman told me I’d be dead if I didn’t get away. They seemed to know exactly what had happened in the meeting today.”

“I don’t understand,” Elena said. “How could they know that?”

Sergei blew out a breath. “My guess? They were taping the meeting. It’s the only explanation.”

Elena put her hand on her belly. “What are you thinking, Sergei?”

“I’m thinking we should discuss this. I’m afraid they were right. If we stay here, I will be killed. Then you’d be left alone with our baby and no one to support you.”

“My parents would take us in,” she said.

“Is that what you want?” Sergei asked. “To let them kill me, then move in with your parents?”

“Of course not,” Elena said. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. But we need to talk about this. Decide if we stay here and risk you being killed, or move away. Unless we can think of another alternative.”

Sergei shook his head slowly. “There is no other alternative,” he said. “Let’s sit down and talk this through. See what our options are.”

“We can do that,” Elena said. “But I think we only have two options. Stay, and hope that they don’t kill you. Or leave and protect ourselves.”

* * *

Livvy paced the hotel room, glancing at her phone every few minutes to check the time. The minutes crept by much too slowly.

“You’re making me dizzy,” Jake finally said. He stood up and grabbed Livvy’s hand. “Sit down and relax. Pacing isn’t going to make Sergei call any more quickly, or make him any more eager to accept our offer.”

“You’re right,” Livvy said, dropping onto the couch. “But the waiting is making me crazy.”

“Me, too,” Jake said. “Now we have two things to focus on -- my Bratva meeting tomorrow, and how to protect Sergei.” He leaned closer to Livvy. “I have some thoughts about tomorrow.”

“Yeah? You’re not going to walk into that office. Those men are just itching to kill you. If they don’t do it in the office, they’ll take you for a walk. Shoot you and dump you in the canal.”

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