Page 81 of Push & Pull
Whether the police were in her pocket or not, they backed down as Astrid led the way to her office. Petra was right behind her, sometimes steadying the shaking, yawning woman who looked like she would rather be holed up in a cabin for a year than deal with this mess.
“Forgive me for not looking my best.” Astrid showed Petra into a large home office that sported a vintage desk, two couches facing one another, and one of those green lamps that Petra thought only existed in movies and on TV. Astrid did not turn it on as she sat on one of the couches.I better make this quick before she falls asleep.Petra was too hopped up on adrenaline to think about sleep right now. “It’s been a long night.”
Petra peered through a crack in the doorway to ensure none of the police had followed them. She locked the door for good measure when she was ready to sit across from Astrid. “My name’s Petra. I don’t know what Simone told you about her life this past week, but I’ve been traveling with her. From Miami.” She hesitated, getting no reaction from that lined, worn-out face. “We’re girlfriends of a sort.”
“I see. How kind of you to be concerned for dear Simone. I don’t know what you can do to help, though. Or how you got into my house with so many officers around.”
“Honestly, the more security during something like this, the easier it is to lie your way in. Everyone is focused on something other than you.”
Astrid’s shoulders tensed. “You’re not endearing yourself to me, Ms. Petra.”
“I have that effect on people sometimes. Unlike Simone, who took to me right away. In fact, I inadvertently have something to do with her kidnapping. Mostly, I know who did it.”
“I’m assuming there’s a reason you’re telling me in private and not directly informing the officers. Fine.” Astrid’s defeat did not inspire Petra, who wanted information, not attitude. “If you’re somehow involved with them, you must have a message. Tell me what you were sent to relay, then be on your way. I’m upset enough as it is.”
“They didn’t send me anywhere but far away from here. They don’t want me talking. Quite frankly… I’d rather not talk. Avoiding trouble with the police is sort of what I do. Simone, though… I want to help her. It feels like my responsibility to help her. So, tell me what you know. Are you going to pay the ten million?”
Astrid did not immediately commit to an answer. “They’ve sent proof of life, but we also have a deadline of noon later today. Acquiring so much money in so little time is almost impossible. Even if I had it on hand…”
“I’m assuming they want you to wire it,” Petra interrupted, “but they’ll release her somewhere. Such a high-profile case won’t be let loose in an alley and asked to make it home on her own. They’ll professionally hand her over.” Petra would stake her father’s old-school ways of thinking on it. “Tell me what they told you.”
Astrid pulled a blanket over her lap and groaned. “After they asked for ten million in exchange for her safety, they made it damn clear what would happen to her if they didn’t get the money. I would rather not repeat it to you. Especially if you are, as you say, a girlfriend of a sort”
“They could have been bluffing, but I wouldn’t put that in writing.” Considering Michail’s attitudes toward his own daughter, whom hewasn’tthreatening to harm, Petra could only imagine what he would have his cronies do to Simone if the money wasn’t there by noon. “Tell me the drop-off. They would be keeping her somewhere nearby. If it’s the people I think it is…”
“If you know who they are,” Astrid snapped, “you should tell the police.”
Petra sighed. “It’s not that simple. I could be wrong, and if I am, I intend to be the only jackass in this scenario. If I’m right…”
“Let me guess: you’re related to these people. That’s why you don’t want to turn them in.”
“Related is a loose term, but if it is who I think, then I might be able to do something. Possibly stupid, but I owe it to Simone after how things ended between us yesterday. I mean, last night. Shit, I don’t know what day or time it is right now.”
“Yesterday? That certainly explains her spicy mood when she came here. I thought maybe someone had personally stabbed her in the ass.”
Petra showed herself to the door. “Dropoff point. Do you know it?”
Another groan crowned the air. “It’s hard for me to remember in this state… it was in town. The police are assuming she’s being held next to where she was kidnapped.”
“That would be smart on their part.” Besides wanting to get Simone into place before she came to, the boys wouldn’t want to cross state lines and get the FBI involved.I think I know where they might be.Michail had properties all over the eastern part of the country, and that included nearby. What was it? A warehouse? That was the perfect place to hold a hostage and release her back into familiar territory. Even better if Michail and his crew were familiar with the area, too. “I’ll handle this, to the best of my abilities.”
Astrid stopped her before Petra snuck out of the door. “Not that way,” she said. “Go out the window. It’s a bit off the ground, but there’s a trellis next to it if you’re feeling brave. If the police ask where you went, I’ll say I can hardly keep track of you. Sounds about right.”
Petra rushed past Astrid and analyzed the window in question.Dark as shit outside.They weren’t too far off the ground if Petra trusted her grip and ability to slither down a wall without attracting too much attention. “Thanks.”
“Whoever you are, Petra,” Astrid said as the window opened and frigid air entered the office, “this is the last favor I’ll pay you until Simone is safe. I’ll sell you out the moment she gets hurt or it turns out you misused my momentary trust. Regardless of what my stepdaughter may have ever said about me…” She waited until Petra straddled the windowsill, one leg in the winter night and the other in the safety of Evans Manor. “I care about her. Not only as a human being, but as my late husband’s daughter. He loved her deeply. That’s enough for me.”
“So did her mother, from the sounds of it.”
Astrid had no response to that. Not in time for Petra to hear it, anyway.I’m outta here.Down the trellis. Across the grounds. Back through the gate when she had the chance and to the Volvo down the road.
This was probably a stupid, dangerous venture, but few other people could help Simone now.
Chapter 29
Simonewasalltoofamiliar with the hangover she experienced when she finally woke up again.Reminds me of a week ago.Only this time, Simone knew for a fact she had been drugged. After all, most of her memories returned to her the moment her opaque eyes focused on the blank wall before her and the skittish man on the phone only a few feet away.
“Shit, she’s awake.” A ski mask pulled back down his face before he turned around. “What do you want me to do? Knock her back out?”
