Page 79 of Push & Pull
“Don’t take any of this out on me when you see the news. I’m telling you all this so you can get out of town and away from him. Lawyer up.”
“What are youtalkingabout?”
“I’ve gotta go. The Gestapo here has made it known that my special moment with myonly daughteris over. Love you, sweetie.”
Nicolette hung up as if she hadn’t dropped a large bomb on Petra’s head.
“Fuck!” She tossed her phone onto the pillows and grabbed another cigarette. This one remained unlit, however, since she turned on the TV and was soon engrossed in the tale from the nearest local news station.
“There are currently no updates on the situation,” a reporter on the street of Simone’s hometown said. “After the ransom demands, there has been nothing but silence from the police.”
The camera switched back to the anchor sitting behind her desk. “Thank you, Joan. If you’re just joining us, this is a breaking news bulletin behind the violent kidnapping and ransom demand of Simone Evans, a local socialite who was last seen in her private parking garage before a masked man knocked her out and dragged her out of the garage.” Security camera footage of a woman who looked a lot like Simone appeared on the screen. As Petra dropped the unlit cigarette onto the hotel bed, she watched a lean man in all black rush up behind Simone and subdue her with chloroform.
Petra’s jaw dropped.
“Shortly after six this evening,” Sandra the anchor continued, as stills of the footage and a recent photo of Simone appeared on the screen, “Simone’s stepmother, Astrid Evans, was contacted by the kidnappers demanding a $10,000,000 ransom for Simone’s safe return. We currently do not have a statement from the family. As we mentioned earlier, Simone Evans is the daughter of the late Bernard and Elizabeth Evans, both of whom were local celebrities.”
Another anchor jumped in to promise viewers that they would update the audience as soon as there was more information. Meanwhile, if anyone had a hot tip, they were to contact the following number.
Simone was kidnapped? In her own garage?Petra grabbed her phone off the pillow and searched for a clip of the security footage on social media. It didn’t take her long to see a whole Twitter thread dissecting every part of it. While Petra stuck the cigarette back in her mouth, she blew up the video on her screen and stared at the back of the assailant’s head.
After multiple replays, she was fairly convinced that it was Georgio she saw before her. Petra wished she could say she simply recognized that man so well, but it was the combination of her mother’s foreboding phone call and the strange circumstances leading up to this moment that assured Petra she was right.
My uncle saying there was a big job. Someone trying to break into our hotel room. Someone else – or the same someone – locking Simone in the bar bathroom.Petra hadn’t thought much of those events because she was so used to the toxic world her family inhabited.Of course, people stalk you. Of course, there’s some next big job that even I don’t get to know about.Everything in the Kallis operation wasneed to know,and the only time Petra needed to know something was when she was a pivotal part of the operation.Like Clyde and Earl.Two names that were as stereotypical as her life as a foster kid.
Simone was in trouble, though, and Michail might have had something to do with it.
Petra turned off the TV, her heart racing as she searched the internet for any news and details about Simone’s capture. She knew better than to directly contact Michail, Georgio, or Samson. They would keep her in the dark or outright refuse to answer. Although…
Her uncle – no, her father – had been blowing up her phone that night. The man never left a message, but that wouldn’t stop Petra from calling him back now.
“Took you long enough to get back to me,” he greeted.
“Sorry. I was in the bath.” Petra’s attempts to keep her voice straight and nonchalant were not progressing well. “What do you need?”
“First things first. I’m assuming you’ve heard the news?”
No point in lying. “Are you talking about Simone being kidnapped? The woman I was traveling with this past week? Oh, I may have seen something about it.”
“Yes. I’ve been trying to tell you to lie low. Lower than you ever have before. The police will be looking into what she was up to the last few days and your name will inevitably come up. I don’t need your involvement. Leave the region as soon as you can, but stay away from Chicago, too. That’s where your legal address is. I hear Miami is nice this time of year.”
Petra’s thundering anxiety expected everything but that last bit. “What about Miami?”
“You’ve got friends there. They’ll look out for you.”
Hailey’s my only friend in…The spit in Petra’s throat almost choked her to death.Hailey!The one who had sent her that cryptic text before Petra’s mother called! Was she somehow involved in Simone’s kidnapping?Why?
“You’re not gonna hurt her, are you?” Petra’s voice now shook with her uncertainty. “Ten mil’s a lot of money. They might not even have that in cash, let alone liquid assets.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sure, he said that, but his calculated tone meant Michail was always prepared for someone listening in on his phone conversations. “I’m merely getting money that’s owed to me by a third party. It’s business. We do what we have to do.” Michail cut Petra off before she could say anything. “Stay out of the way. I’ll contact you when you’re needed again.”
He hung up. As soon as Petra remembered where she was, she furiously dialed Hailey’s number and didn’t relent, no matter how many times she was sent to voicemail that time of night.
Eventually, Hailey answered.
“What have you done?” Petra was on her feet, pacing back and forth before the hotel bed as she put Hailey on blast. “Simone’s been kidnapped, and you have something to do with it!”
“Me?” Hailey asked. “How aboutyou?”
