by Sophia Gray
I knew she was lying; there was no other explanation.
Holstering my gun in my shoulder harness, I slipped into my car. It was time to find Logan and end him once and for all.
Chapter 23
Madeline
A loud sound startled me awake. At first, I couldn’t make out what it was, but after a moment I realized there was a stream of light peeking through the door and sliding across the hardwood floors of my apartment. I hadn’t bothered to close the curtain that separated my impromptu bedroom from the rest of the place, so I could see clearly now that the reason there was unexpected light was that my door was open.
Panic swept me.
After the last few days, I’d realized there were very bad people out there. People who killed for money and maybe for fun. People who didn’t care about wrecking lives, so long as they got what they wanted.
What if this was one of those people now? I shuddered at the thought and tried to come up with a plan as to what I should do as I lay there huddled up in bed beneath the covers. I didn’t want to move in case whoever was there was just looking for stuff to steal—they’d quickly realize that my apartment had nothing of value and leave, I figured, so I’d be safer just pretending to be asleep. But as a shadow crossed over that sudden light, moving towards me, I realized they were definitely not looking for something to steal. No, in fact, they were headed straight for me.
My stomach clenched with panic and indecision. What should I do? Jump up and try to make a run for it? I heard the clomping of footsteps as whoever it was came closer and closer. Should I grab my bedside lamp or the clock and try to fight him off? He was getting closer and now I could hear almost ragged breathing.
Finally, I had decided that I would wait for him to move around to the other side of the bed, still hoping he was trying to look for stuff to steal, and then I would make a run for it. The door was still open, so maybe I could get to it and run screaming down the halls. If I attracted enough attention from my neighbors, maybe one of them would open the door and let me in, or at the very least call the cops.
I waited, pretending to be asleep. I forced my breathing to be even, though my heart pounded like a jackhammer in my chest. My muscles tensed and tried to cramp as I forced them to lie still, even though all I wanted to do was run.
Finally, he was getting close. He’d reached the edge of the bed—I couldn’t see him, but his shadow was long and the footsteps were heavy. I waited with baited breath to see if he would round the corner towards the closet, but he didn’t. A second later I felt his shadow cross over me completely, could hear him breathing much too near, and knew he was standing, hovering right over me as I lay in my bed.
My plan was shot down. He was on the wrong side of the bed and if I tried to run, he’d surely grab me. I’d have to fight him. I steeled myself as I prepared to make a grab for the lamp and hit him over the head with it. But before I got the chance, I felt his hands wrap around my upper arms and shake me awake. At the same time, he said, “Madeline? Wake up. We need to go.”
My eyes jerked open in surprise as I recognized whose voice that was. “Shawn? Oh, my god! You scared me half to death! I thought you were a burglar or a rapist or something.”
I thought maybe he’d laugh or tell me I was paranoid, but his gaze remained serious, worried. I thought there was a hint of fear behind his brown eyes and it sent a shiver of panic down through me again.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, glancing over at the clock at my bedside table. It was nearly three in the morning; he shouldn’t be here.
“We’ve got to go,” he told me again, and for the first time I realized that he didn’t look quite right. I reached over for the bedside table, fumbling for the lamp switch, then flicked it on once I’d found it. I gasped at what I saw.
There were scattered bruises marking Shawn’s jaw and neck, as though someone had wrapped their hands around his throat and squeezed. Maybe even tried to strangle him to death! “Oh god! What happened?”
His eyes were definitely filled with fear, I decided, and he was agitated, fidgety. Like he couldn’t sit still for fear of something finding him if he stayed in one spot for too long. He glanced over his shoulder, suddenly sure someone was behind him. He seemed to search my bare, tiny apartment for a full minute before turning back to me. “Do you know what’s going on with your brother?” he asked me instead of answering my question.
I blinked at him in surprise. “How do you know?”
He looked away guiltily, scratching at the back of his head. “Logan, uh, well, he asked me for help.”
I frowned at him. Help? When had they talked? I’d only just found out about what was going on! But then, I was Logan’s sister, not his friend and while Shawn had always been my best friend, we’d all spent a lot of time together. And in high school, Logan had gotten Shawn to do a lot of reckless, crazy stuff. I shouldn’t have been so surprised that he would have confided in him before me.
Especially if he’s done something wrong, I thought before I could stop myself.
Shaking my head, I said, “Did he tell you everything?” I wondered if he’d mentioned Nikolai.
For a moment, Shawn’s face was strangely blank. It was almost as though he were trying to wipe it clean so I wouldn’t be able to read his face and know what was really going on. But that was ridiculous; this was Shawn. He told me everything. But then I reminded myself that he probably thought the same thing of me, but wasn’t I keeping things from him?
The moment passed and Shawn finally answered me. “He told me enough. Enough to know that there’s some maniac out to get him. That Nikolai guy.”
I bit my lip. Falling asleep had given me a reprieve from all this crazy stuff and I’d been so grateful for it. Now that I was awake again, it all came crashing back. How my brother had told me to go into hiding. How Nikolai had looked so angry. How I had a terrible feeling that my brother really had done something awful—maybe even what Nikolai had accused him of.
Sleep had given me some rest and a break from all of it, but it hadn’t given me answers.
Before I could start to panic about what I would do, however, Shawn continued. “He’s crazy, Madeline. Crazy!” He grabbed me by the shoulders harshly and shook. It scared me a little bit and I found myself recoiling. He seemed to get a hold of himself, though, and released my arms with a quick apology. “Sorry, I just need you to know how bad things are. That you’re in danger.”
I winced a little. Things were bad, but I wanted to tell him they were bad for Logan. Yes, I was his sister and whatever he’d done had clearly pissed off the wrong people, but I wanted to tell Shawn that Nikolai wasn’t after me. I didn’t have anything to do with it and, in all honesty, I was certain that Nikolai, while he didn’t want anything more to do with me now thanks to my lie, wouldn’t come after me. Not even to get to Logan.
“We’ve got to get out of here. I ran into Nikolai—look what he did to me!” He gestured towards his neck and my eyes widened in horror.
Nikolai had done that? A sudden chill ran through me and I hugged myself. Although I knew he was a hit man, some part of me had been convinced he was somehow…not violent. It was stupid and naïve, but I wanted to believe he was some sort of noble bringer of justice. Seeing those bruises on Shawn’s face brought the truth crashing down around me.
He was nothing more than a terrible, murdering, violent man.
“He demanded to know where your brother was, but, Madeline, I wouldn’t tell him. I swear I wouldn’t! He was so angry, but I held my ground!” Shawn was speaking quickly, his eyes alight, his face flushed. “He told me he’d be back, that I had one more chance and when he was back I’d better tell him where Logan was, or I’d be dead.” He hesitated, looked me over in a strange way, then finally said the rest of his story. “He told me I had a chance to walk away from this, but Logan’s fate was sealed—and so was yours.”
My eyes widened in shock. What?
“What…what are you talking about?” I
couldn’t make sense of what he was saying.
“I’m saying,” he said impatiently, sounding almost annoyed with me, “that once Nikolai kills your brother, he’s going to kill you, too.”
I couldn’t believe it. I sat there staring at him, shock making me still even as my mind raced. Would Nikolai do that? No, was my immediate answer. Of course he wouldn’t. In fact, he had said earlier that I was his—he wouldn’t kill someone he believed belonged to him, would he? I didn’t think so, but then, I had told him that the baby wasn’t his. Was that enough to push him over the edge and decide I was better off dead?
A shudder raced through me.
Shawn got up from the bed and began moving around my room quickly. His eyes were wild with fright as he grabbed my suitcase from under my bed. He didn’t even look over at me as he began to grab random things out of my closet—dresses, pants, t-shirts, it didn’t matter, they all went in the same—as he said, “We’ve got to get out of here before he comes back.” He moved to my dresser and began riffling through my panties. I would have been offended, outraged even, except he wasn’t even seeing what he was doing. He was moving automatically, flinching at every sound, glancing over his shoulder in paranoia over and over again, as though expecting Nikolai to appear out of nowhere like a ghost or a vampire.
I didn’t want to believe Nikolai would harm me. I didn’t believe it, but seeing Shawn so afraid…well, that didn’t come from nowhere. And the bruises…Worst of all, I already knew for certain that Shawn was right about at least one thing: Nikolai was trying to kill Logan. That fact and Shawn’s fear leant him some credibility, not to mention the fact that we’d been friends for ages.
So I got myself out of bed and helped him pack. I threw on some clothes—I closed the curtain and made Shawn wait on the other side of it—and then together we made for the door. Part of me felt the sense that I was doing something reckless, probably stupid, but I couldn’t say why. In that moment, it was the only option that still made sense.
What else could I do?
We got into his car and Shawn drove. He took the first ramp onto the highway and drove east. I didn’t know the area well enough to know exactly where we were going. Though I’d been in the city for a while, mostly I just went to the college, a few coffee shops, then back to my apartment.
Turning to Shawn, who was gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles, I asked, “Where are we going?”
He didn’t answer right away, just kept glancing in the rearview mirror as though Nikolai was right on our tail already. After a moment, he said, “A safe place. Somewhere that crazy Nikolai guy won’t come looking for us.”
I frowned and we both fell silent. I still wasn’t sure what to think. Some part of me just couldn’t believe Nikolai would want to kill me.
The rest of me remembered that he was a contract killer. Why wouldn’t he kill me?
Chapter 24
Nikolai
I arrived in Madison just over an hour later. I had to stop for gas, which was as good a time as any to pause for a plan and for an update from Sergei. If I were finally going to nail Logan, I would have to be clever about it. Hopefully, the money would be there in whatever hotel they were staying at—maybe even in the truck, though I wouldn’t count on it; surely even he wasn’t that stupid—but if it weren’t, I was going to have to keep Logan alive long enough to make him talk. Alternatively, if his friend were there with him, this would be easier as I could keep one of them alive while killing the other. People, I had found, were more interested in talking once they were presented with a less appealing option right in front of their faces. Like dying. Seeing someone die sobered people right up.
I pulled into a gas station, set the pump, and pulled out my cell phone. I dialed Sergei and waited only two rings before he picked up.
“Are you there yet?” he asked impatiently, his voice hushed. He wasn’t likely to get caught for giving people information that might kill a man, but you could never be too careful.
“Yes, I just got into town. Is he still moving?”
There was a pause, then, “No. He’s stopped now. I checked it out and got a solid location. It’s some cheap ass motel towards the shoddier side of town. I called over there and they confirmed that there’s a red truck parked outside.”
I nodded to myself. So, he was here. I was so close now. This job should have been simple, a quick game of catch and kill, but over the past couple of months Logan had managed to elude me. Despite being what I considered an idiot, he was just lucky enough—I refused to think he was truly clever enough—to slip my grasp every time.
Well, not this time. Finally, I had my opportunity. I would go to the motel, but lie low. Case the place first. Maybe see if his friend was there. Then I would separate the two. If I could get one of them alone, I could tie him up and kill the other. I doubted there was enough loyalty between the two to threaten one into giving up the money in exchange for a friend’s life. They didn’t seem like the sentimental, bleeding heart types. But if one saw me kill the other, he’d be much more forthcoming. I was sure of it.
“All right,” I finally said as the plan began to solidify in my head. I was a step ahead since they didn’t know I was coming, that I was here. Hell, they didn’t even know that I had a means of finding them. But if I were stupid about this, they’d get skittish and bolt. I had to be careful, clever about the whole thing. I had to be smarter than they were. “I’m going to head over there, see if I can get a good look of the place. Maybe disable the truck before they have a chance to make a break for it.”
Now that I’d thought of it, that sounded like an excellent plan. I was tired of the chase; now, I wanted them finished.
“Watch yourself, Nikolai,” Sergei said cheerfully, but the fact that he told me to be careful at all spoke volumes about how he felt about the whole thing. He was feeling a little apprehensive, which was odd.
“Is there something else?” I prompted. It was unlike Sergei to be nervous.
He hesitated, but then told me, “I can’t guarantee that the partner was in the truck, you know? Or that either of them’s in the truck, honestly. Could be a plant, a set up. I know you’ve been having trouble with these guys and, well, maybe they’re smarter than we give them credit for.”
I doubted it. Sincerely doubted it. Yes, this job had been somewhat difficult, but that was because these rats were good at hiding and had miraculously good luck on their side. It didn’t mean that they were smart, only that at some point along the way they’d earned some karma points.
Not enough to save them, I thought.
Even so, I respected Sergei and his opinion. If he felt something seemed off about what was going on, the situation, then I was willing to think it through. Pausing, I considered what could go wrong.
They could know I was coming. This was pretty unlikely given that it would mean someone loyal to Zackary would have to know about Sergei—which was admittedly possible—and then they’d have to betray Zackary by telling one of these idiots. That was so impossible that it might as well be a nonexistent possibility altogether.
They could be prepared for the possibility of me coming. This was a little bit more likely. Maybe they were finally using an ounce of their brain, deciding that since I’d clearly found them once, I had the capabilities to find them again. So, while they had no proof that I might be there, they knew that there was a chance I could be. That was how I would think about things, though I considered myself far smarter than this Logan guy. His sister—my sweet, pregnant, sexy Madeline—seemed to have inherited all the brains in her family. Still, even if they did know, I didn’t think it was a problem. So long as I was cautious, maybe waiting until dark? Parking around in the back? Maybe even parking in the woods somewhere and walking the rest of the way to the hotel. No matter which way I chose, I could be cautious enough to throw them.
Beyond that, I couldn’t come up with a reasonable scenario in which these men might put me in serious danger. I just couldn’t
see them getting the drop on me, so I told Sergei, “Don’t worry. I’ve got it covered.”
“All right. Well, if you don’t need anything else from me, I actually do have work to do.”
I rolled my eyes just as the gas finished pumping into my car. Vaguely, I found myself wishing I had a truck. That would make things simpler out here in a place that was far less cultivated than a city. “Yes, sure, you get back to stacking sticky notes and balancing paperclips at that desk job of yours.”
“Hey! Don’t knock the importance of balancing paperclips. It’s all about making sure the world keeps on turning.”