Page 82 of Cruel Russian Monster
“So, did Vera tell you that she loves me?”
Katya chuckled. “I'm neither denying nor confirming that.”
“I just want to make sure that when I talk to my wife, I’ll have an idea of which way the tables will turn.”
“Oh, you'll have a very favorable outcome.”
I grinned. “Have I told you that you're my favorite sister-in-law?”
Katya laughed softly. “I'll only hold you to that when the others have been married.”
Just then, my phone buzzed, and the panic that had subsided rose again.
“She's not at any of the places you gave us,” Lev said on the other end. “Has she returned home?”
“Shit. She's not here.”
“Call Yegor and Zahkar. We'll keep checking. Keep me posted.”
“Will do.”
When I got off the phone, I called Yegor at the number he had called me from the last time. I prayed that it was his personal number, or at least a direct line.
I began to pace, Katya's eyes following.
“Jaroslav. What's up?” Yegor answered.
“Have you seen Vera? Has she contacted you?”
“Today? She hasn't contacted me.”
My jaw clenched.
“Have you seen her?”
“Why are you asking if I've seen her? Shouldn't you know where your wife is?”
I pulled the phone from my ear and looked at it. I bit down the frustration.
“Yegor, have you seen Vera today? She left home to meet me at the office and never arrived. No one has heard from her. Her phone is going straight to voicemail.”
“Why would her phone go to voicemail?” Yegor asked. “You told me that you'd take care of her. And you lost her?”
Why wasn’t he answering my question about whether he'd seen Vera? Something was going on.
“Yegor, please. I need to know that she's okay and she's not lying in a ditch somewhere hurt.”
Then an image flashed across my mind of Vera in a ditch, hurt and not moving, and my chest tightened.
“She's safe.”
“So you know where she is?”
Katya stood up, hope in her eyes.
“Yes,” Yegor confirmed.
“Fuck, Yegor, tell me where she is!” I was barely able to hold on to the emotion that was building. From fear to panic to hope, and now rage.
