Page 66 of Gone Before Goodbye
She stops.
“How did he die?”
“What?”
“You said guns. You said machetes.”
“I don’t know,” Maggie says, her voice soft. “I hope a bullet, but…” She stops. There is no reason to say more about that.
Silence.
“The surgeon,” Nadia says, her eyes steady now. “The one who took out my kidney. He was a white man. They called him the Snake. I didn’t know why. Until I saw the tattoo.” Nadia looks away. “He was not kind.”
And then Nadia says it: “Trace.”
Maggie freezes. “What?”
“There was a man there. Someone called him Trace.”
“He was the surgeon?”
Nadia shakes her head. “No. He tried to stop it.”
The door bursts open then.
It’s Ivan Brovski with CinderBlock and a nurse. They look at the bed behind Maggie. Maggie follows their gaze and sees that Nadia has her eyes closed, feigning unconsciousness. The nurse crosses the room and checks Nadia’s pulse.
Brovski grabs Maggie’s arm.
“Let go of me,” Maggie says, pulling her arm free.
Between clenched teeth, Brovski says, “What are you doing in here?”
“I told you. I wanted to check on my patient. I was waiting for her to wake up.”
“Why did you lock the door?” Before she can come up with a lie, Brovski shakes it off. “Doesn’t matter. Nadia is in good hands. Let’s go.”
“Where’s Ragoravich?” she asks.
But Brovski is not having any of it. “Please get your stuff. It’s time to leave.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ivan Brovski escorts her back to her bedroom. CinderBlock follows a few paces behind. When Brovski opens the door to her room, she moves to the window and looks out. There are more suited men scouring the front lawn.
“What’s going on, Ivan?” she asks.
“Nothing that concerns you,” Brovski says. “Here.”
She turns to him. Brovski extends his hand.
Her phone is in it.
Maggie resists the temptation to snatch it away. Doesn’t want to look too eager. Her hand reaches out and closes around it. Ivan holds on for another second. Their eyes meet.
“Just so you know,” he says, “we deleted your sister’s app.”
He waits for her to react. Maggie gives him nothing.
