"I could use to even out my tan," I said instead, giving him a smile that was at once flirtatious and shy.
Judging by the way his eyes got bright, he bought it.
I took a deep breath, and silently repeated a mantra in my head.
And maybe, just maybe, that mantra had something about Repo in it.
But I was just going to let that slide.
Eighteen
Repo
To say we didn't handle the empty and trashed room well would be a bit of an understatement. K managed to punch a hole in the wall and I had frantically looked through the mess to try to find something that might have some kind of clue as to what had happened, who had been there, where they had gone, if she was hurt.
While I was glad I found no blood, I also didn't find a God damn thing else either.
After ten minutes, we made our way back downstairs, K twirling Maze's knife absentmindedly around in his hand, completely unconcerned about the people who watched him like he was a lunatic. We rounded the front desk where we had talked to the spineless shit earlier, the guy who had been easy to bribe for us and, well, likely for whomever had Maze as well. He grabbed the kid by the throat and pushed him through the office door behind the desk, almost slamming the door in my face in the process.
Apparently when K got angry, he got angry.
"Now you're going to tell me every fucking thing you know about the comings and goings in room 28B or I am going to take this knife," he said, angling it so the point was digging into the man's Adam's apple, "and I am going to start slicing off parts you've become attached too. And I won't be starting with fingers..." he warned.
"There was another man," the guy immediately rushed to say through clenched teeth, careful to not let his throat move too much as he spoke lest the knife dug in.
"Details," K demanded, slamming him back against the wall hard enough for his head to make a sick cracking sound.
"Tall, wide. Dark hair. Jeans, t-shirt. Nothing too distinctive except..."
"Except?" I prompted.
"He had an accent."
"Russian?" I asked.
"I don't know. I suck at accents. Maybe?"
"Ruslan," K concluded, letting his hand with the knife drop down by his side. "Maisy said Viktor only ever wore suits. Rus was the jeans and tee guy."
"Did you see them leave?" I asked the guy who was watching K like a grenade without a pin, like he might explode at any second. I had to say, I barely knew the guy, but that seemed exactly what K was when he was worked up.
He held up his hands when K turned his attention back to him when he paused to swallow. "Willingly! Willingly. I might be an opportunist, but I'm not a monster. I'd have called the cops if I'd seen a woman getting dragged out of here. He went up there for I dunno... maybe half an hour. When he came back down, she was right behind him out of the elevator. She... she didn't even look freaked, I swear. When he opened the front door for her, he put his hand on her lower back. Like they were friendly."
I felt myself stiffening a little at his words, my guts twisted in a way that made me both want to puke and haul off and hit something despite my crusted-up bloody knuckles. K said Maze had a crush on Rus. Maybe if he slipped her the right words she'd have followed him blindly, willingly.
I didn't like that one fucking bit.
"Car?"
"Pick-up," Mr. Accommodating supplied immediately. "I saw it because he illegally parked it right outside the doors. Black. Had one of those mini backseat things."
"We're going to need a plate number," K said in a way that brooked no argument.
"Um, we have cameras up front..."
"And you're still standing there like a fucking idiot because..."
The guy rushed toward a computer, hitting keys frantically and having to retry three times before he could get his shaking fingers to cooperate. "Okay here," he said, turning the monitor.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and punched in Janie's number, rattling off the number before she could even finish saying 'what's up'. "They're paper plates. The truck is new. Find out where it's from. Try to get it on cameras heading out of the city."
"On it," she said, hanging up.
"You got anything else to tell us?"
"That's all I know, man. I swear. I have noth..."
"Shut it," K said, turning to me. "How long until they find something?"
"Ten, fifteen depending on where he bought the truck."
"Alright. Coffee then we'll get out to the highway until we get a direction."
Ten minutes later, inside his truck with coffees in the holders, my phone started screaming. "Tell me you got some good news, Janie."
"He bought the truck outright in New York. The plates will do nothing as they're temps. But, get this, the truck came with six months of On-Star."
"That's supposed to comfort me because..."
"Because On-Star has tracking," she declared like I was an idiot. I drove bikes and vintage cars. I was clueless to all the bells and whistles of late-models. "They have major security, but with me and Alex on this... we should be able to pinpoint a location."
"How long?"
"An hour? Can't say for sure. But Alex said they headed south out of Philly so it won't hurt to get on the road and head in that direction so they don't get too much of a lead."
Janie's voice drifted off and I heard Reign pick up. "Repo, got Duke, Renny, Cash, and Wolf out looking for Viktor. Called in Hailstorm, Breaker and his crew, and the Mallicks. Even put a call out to the Grassis to let me know if they see him. They're no fonder of the Russians than we are. Someone will find him and bring him to us. From there, well, I guess that's up to K and Maze to decide what to do about him."
"Right. Thanks, Reign. I really..."
"Fuck off. This is what we do," he brushed off my gratitude and hung up.
And, I realized, not for the first time, that he was right. In our little, albeit ever-widening circle, there didn't need to be questions and explanations. All one needed was a phone call and the others were on board. It never occurred to me before how thankful I should be for the whole fucking lot of them. When all was said and done, I owed everyone a couple rounds at Chaz's.
Hitting the lowest corner of Pennsylvania, the last sign we'd seen was for some bumfuck town called Stars Landing, we pulled off the highway and waited for a call from Janie before we got too far out of town.
Half an hour after parking, both of us knowing we should get some rest but neither of us willing to do so, the phone screamed in the quiet space, making both of us jump.
"Janie..."
"Yep, all us bitches are interchangeable," came a voice that was distinctly not Janie.
"Hey Alex, you got something for me?"
"Aside from very possible carpel tunnel?" she asked and actually laughed at the growling noise I made in response. "Touchy. Anyway, yes. That's why I'm calling." I switched the phone to speaker at K's impatient snap. "Janie is tracking them now. They're in Maryland." With that, the SUV turned over and peeled out of the lot we were parked in. "They're not slowing down so we can't really pinpoint anything helpful. Besides, you're behind them by a while. Best bet is for us to keep guiding you in general directions until they pull off and call it a day. But it's early and they haven't been on the road that long yet so I wouldn't count on them stopping until nightfall."
With that, we made our way to Maryland.
The phone rang again half an hour later, a number I didn't know, so I put it on speaker immediately. "Repo," I said as K's hands gripped the wheel.
"K, it's Shelly. Vermont called."
I looked over at K whose eyes were completely off the road, confirming what I had suspected. Vermont was Maze. "What did she say?"
"She said..." Shelly trailed off for a second, shuffling paper and then reading back what she had obviously written so she wouldn't forget anything. I didn't blame her. K seemed meticulous as fuck about details. "'This
is Vermont. I haven't been able to get in touch with K since I bugged out. I don't know if he's okay or if I should be calling Xander. But I don't have a lot of time. Ruslan Kozlov has me. We're in a black pick-up heading toward Miami. We're almost in Virginia now. I can't leave my phone on because I have no charger. I'll check for a message when I can or call back if I can get free or have an address where someone can come find me. Um... okay. I'm safe. He won't hurt me but, ah, he fucked over his brother so Vik is an issue. I gotta go.' She rushed that last part, her voice dropping and I heard someone calling her name."
"Thanks, Shelly. Keep us updated."
"Triple overtime since I have to sleep on the couch in the office," Shelly said and didn't even wait for an answer from her boss before hanging up.
"She thinks something happened to me," K said hollowly. "I'm such a fucking idiot."
"You were worried. You weren't thinking str..."
"It's my fucking job to think straight. Otherwise what the fuck good am I to these women?" he countered and, well, I really had no other words of comfort.
We all fucked up.
We all looked over shit we shouldn't have.
But I understood him being so hard on himself. Maze was one of his girls.
I felt the same kind of regret and anger at myself even though there was nothing I really could have done any differently.
The issue was, she was mine. She was mine and she was scared and alone and I hadn't protected her from that. That shit didn't sit right with me.
The phone rang again sometime around ten that night. "They stopped," Janie said, her voice with an unmistakable over-caffeinated edge to it. "Greenville, North Carolina. 334 East Road. At the Hampton. I'll see what I can do about trying to get the guest room registry so you guys can get a key when you get there."
"Thanks, Janie," I said, the words heavy and I knew she picked up on it.
Both of us visibly relaxed for the rest of the drive, finding ourselves about two hours behind them so either they were speeding or we'd needed to stop for fuel more or who knew what the fuck. All I knew was it was midnight before we pulled into the lot of the Hampton. K parked right beside the Russian's truck and we made out way in to the lobby, guns in our waistbands, not entirely sure what our plan was aside from going in and getting her out.
As promised, Janie or Alex or both of them came through. We had a key and a room number. I owed them fucking huge some day down the road.
We walked out of the elevator and down the hall in unison, nothing around us but the occasional low grumble of a television set behind closed doors.
K was fishing the key out of his pocket as we moved to stop outside the door.
When suddenly it pulled open and Maze came to a halt with a yelp, head jerking upward to look at us.
All of us were stunned silent for a long second before Maze's lips turned up in a strange little smile. "This is kind-of anti-climactic, don't you think?" she asked, dragging a strangled chuckle out of me as K reached out, grabbing her, and hauling her against his chest.
I stood there for a second, itching to get my hands on her as well, but it was only right that he got his real proof of life first. He had invested so much in her, got so much time with her, had even longer to fall for her. Of course, with him, in a strictly platonic sense.
"Where is he?" I heard K ask quietly, near her ear as he still crushed her to his chest.
"On the bed," she answered back as he released her finally and stormed inside, reaching for the gun. She turned to me a little hesitantly, like she wasn't sure where she stood with me.
"Maisy, huh?" I asked, head tilting to the side. "From Vermont?"
"Once upon a time, yeah," she agreed with an unsure little nod.
"I think Maze suits you better," I said but her shoulders didn't relax in the least. "You gonna give me a hug, honey, or what?" I asked, opening my arms. Her shoulders went down then she flew at me, knocking me back a foot as my arms went around her. "Hey, you're alright," I said when she made some sort of whimpering sound into my chest, her arms holding on like her life depended on it.
"I..." she started, but was cut off by K's smooth, rolling laugh.
"Do I want to know?" I asked, smiling into her hair.
Maze snorted, pulling back from me, her hand sliding down my arm until it found mine, curling around it. She squeezed once then turned to pull me into the room to where K was standing at the foot of the bed and Ruslan...
Yeah Ruslan was tied to the fucking thing with what looked like a belt on one wrist and an assortment of shoe strings and bedsheets on the other.
"Fucking seriously?" I laughed as the very-conscious Ruslan glared at me.
"He sleeps like the dead," she informed us and, if I wasn't mistaken, sent Ruslan an apologetic smile.
"I wasn't going to hurt you. I was going to save you, kotyonok," he said, his voice soft and with a conviction that even I didn't question and, well, the fucker stole my woman.
"I know that," she said and I knew I wasn't mistaken, she felt bad for tying the bastard up. Hell, I felt bad for him. That shit looked humiliating. "But I didn't want to be on the run from Vik for the rest of my life, Rus. I didn't want to leave the country. I didn't want to leave..." she stopped suddenly, looking over at me a little self-consciously.
"Go ahead and finish that sentence," I said, brow lifted.
"You. Okay? I didn't want to leave you. Is your ego stroked enough now?"
"As much as I'd like you two to get your touchy-feelies out," K broke in waving a hand toward the bed, "but what the fuck are we supposed to do about this?"
"You didn't have to sneak off when I was sleeping, Maisy," Ruslan broke in, shrugging his shoulders as much as the awkward position would allow. "If you had told me you didn't want me, that you didn't need my help, I would have let you go."
"Well... I didn't know that!" she said, rolling her eyes at him. "It didn't exactly feel like I had much of a choice."
"Because you needed someone to protect you, kotyonok. I didn't know you already had people doing that for you."
"I guess we should untie him," Maze said, looking between us.
"You sure that's smart?"
"I'm in the room," Ruslan interrupted. "It's fine to untie me. I won't try to take you on."
"Don't all move at once," Maze grumbled, going to the side of the bed and working on the complicated assortment of ties holding his right wrist to the headboard. K moved to his other wrist and I stood there, not sure what the fuck to do. "What are you planning to do now, Rus? Obviously you can't stay around here with Vik looking for you."
"I wouldn't count on Vik being a problem for long," I said and Ruslan's eyes snapped to mine. "Half of Navesink Bank is looking for him. My money is on them finding him. Then it's up to K and Maze what to do with him."
Ruslan nodded, looking over at a suddenly horrified-looking Maze. "He's too powerful," he said.
"You're saying he needs to be neutralized," K said, freeing his arm and moving back.
"If you want to keep Maisy safe, yes. Otherwise, he'll never stop."
"He's your brother," Maze objected, shaking her head and staying on the bed despite finishing her task.
"Kotyonok, he'd kill me soon as he'd wish me a good morning," Ruslan said, sitting up, his hand landing on Maze's thigh and squeezing.
And, well, that was about enough. I reached out, grabbing Maze at the waist and pulling her to stand and put back against my chest, one of my arms going around her waist. "Repo, what are..."
Ruslan's face twisted up in a smirk as he gave me a chin raise. "Loud and clear."
Maze looked over at K who gave her a shrug. "Ever see a dog piss on what belongs to him?" he asked with a white-toothed smile.
I couldn't see her face, but I'm pretty fucking certain she rolled her eyes.
"All seriousness though," K said, "Maze isn't in on whatever does end up being done. She doesn't need that on her back."
&
nbsp; "K, I'm a big girl. I can handle..."
"Not a word," I agreed immediately. She'd had enough to deal with, she didn't need to think there was blood on her hands.
"This might help," Ruslan said, moving off the bed, jerking his chin up at K who took a long second to move out of the man's way. He went over to the desk, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen. "Vik fucked up five years ago or so. He convinced an unhappy girl to come and marry in the States when he was visiting home. Turns out she wasn't just a poor girl with no prospects, she was the younger sister to one of Russia's biggest importers." It didn't take a genius to know he meant drugs. "The brother, he's looked for her. But Vik hid her well when he figured out what happened. This," he said, pointing something out to K on the paper, "is how to contact him. This," he pointed lower on the paper, "is where to find her. You all," he said, looking up at me, but focusing more on Maze, "you will have nothing on your conscience. This is righting an old wrong."
"And what about you, Rus?" Maze asked.
"Me? I'll be fine. I will hide out living large on this money until I get word that Viktor is no longer a... obstacle for me. Then I can go back to New York." Maze must have looked upset because his face softened as did his voice. "Kotyonok, no. Never. I will go back and run the real businesses the way they should have always been run."
"If I find out that is not the case, that you're selling girls again, I will personally drag my ass up there, tie you to another bed, cut off your cock, and shove it down your lying throat."
Damn if my girl didn't mean every word of that.
"I believe you," he said, moving toward us, running a hand down her nose, then heading toward the door. "On that paper is a way to contact me. Please do so if you have news for me. I will be in Miami as planned... evening out my tan," he said in a way that suggested it was some secret between them.
With that, he grabbed keys off the table and left.
"Seriously though," Maze said a tense minute or so later, pulling from my hold so she could look at both of us, "how much did that kill the 'save the girl' thing you guys were going for?" she asked, smiling.
Repo (The Henchmen MC Book 4) Page 20