by Rachel Rust
“How did it happen?” Eddie asked. When Luke didn’t answer right away, Eddie faced him straight on. “Tell me how my father died.”
“Single nine millimeter to the back of the head.”
Eddie’s eyes closed as he cradled his head in his hands. Silence filled the room. There were no good words for someone who had just gotten that news.
I placed a hand on his shoulder, not knowing how else to comfort him. I anticipated soft vibrations of his grieving body to tremble under my fingers. But there was no weeping. Not even a sniffle of his nose. The rock-solid form of Eddie was processing his father’s unexpected reappearance and awful demise in its own way. Though I wondered how long he could hold it all in.
Luke stood and motioned for my mom to do that same.
“What are you doing? Where are you going?” I left Eddie’s side to stand by my mom. I curled my arms around one of hers, holding onto her like a child not wanting to give up a security blanket.
She smoothed down the side of my hair. “Natalie, sweetie, I have to go with him.”
I shook my head. “No, the FBI, they’ll…” Lock you up and throw away the key.
“It’s okay,” Luke said. “Thatcher wants to meet with her, and she’s open to the idea of immunity.”
“So, like, no jail or anything?”
“I can’t make any guarantees, but that’s a possibility, yes. Your mom is willing to tell her story to the FBI, to set the record straight on everything that’s going on. The good news—if there is any in all of this—is that her story could help clear Eddie’s name. Sergei messed with Eddie’s life only as payback to Ted. That can help prove that Eddie is Sergei’s adversary, not his employee.”
His words lit a spark of hope within me, but I hated that my mom would have to step in front of the FBI—people who could just as easily slap handcuffs on her than listen to her—in order to help Eddie. To help all of us.
My mom removed her arm from her grasp and cupped my face once again. “Don’t be scared, Natalie Marie. I’ve lived the past ten years in fear, and I don’t know how all of this will work out, but for the first time in a very long time, I’m not fearful. It’s time for me to step forward and speak, no matter what happens.”
“But when will I see you again?”
She kissed my forehead. “Just as soon as I can get back to you.”
I hugged her tight, whispering that I loved her. And then she disappeared again, walking out the door with Luke.
Just when I got her back, she was gone.
My body didn’t have control over itself like Eddie’s did. It shook violently with grief and fear as she slipped from my view. Sergei Romanov had stolen my mom away once, and now his actions—his evilness—were still reverberating, taking her away again.
The quiet cries within my core clawed their way up my throat, breaking into the world with a loud sob. My hands flew to my face as tears gushed their way down my cheeks. I stepped back to sit on the edge of bed, but my heel hit my other leg, sending my weight sideways. My body began to free fall, but I decided not to care. I wanted to crash into the floor with a thud—a perfect pairing to the hurt in my heart.
But arms wrapped around me, catching me before I met the carpet. Eddie pulled me to him as he sat on the floor. There we stayed, wrapped together, our individual griefs coalescing into one big aura of pain.
“Shhh,” Eddie whispered. “Just breathe. In. Out. In. Out.”
I breathed with his words, letting his voice sink in. He was here. Life wasn’t perfect—in fact, it was a downright nightmare—but we had each other. And hopefully that wasn’t going to change any time soon.
Oh, God, but what if it does? This thought sent another dart of pain into me.
What if things didn’t work out? What if Eddie never cleared his name? He’d be doomed to live a life in shadows, like his father had. How could I ever have a future with a fugitive, unless I became one myself? My head shook, knowing that wasn’t an option. My dad himself would hunt me down and drag me home.
Eddie held me tight, never shedding a tear himself, though I knew images and thoughts of his father were shredding his insides. He clung to me until my cries dissipated. Until we fell asleep side-by-side on the floor.
Chapter Twelve
Luke returned later that night, letting us know that my mother was now under the FBI’s careful watch. He sat at the table and rubbed his temples. “Once this is all over,” he said, “I’m taking a vacation. Hawaii. Or Fiji. Somewhere with warm water, shirtless guys, and lots of alcohol.”
I smiled. But Eddie just paced, no doubt waiting for Luke to speak about something other than his tropical plans. Eddie’s calmness of the past few days had worn off, as he was clearly in an impatient mode, ready more than ever to take out Sergei—the man who killed his father.
Luke dropped his hands into his lap. “The task force raided a small house outside of Denver this morning. Captured a few of Sergei’s guys.”
Eddie stopped pacing. “Anyone important?”
“No, just some low-level schlubs who look like they’ve been paid in beer.”
“What’ve they given up?” Eddie asked, leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.
“Not much yet,” Luke said. “The Bureau’s moving pretty slow. You know Thatcher, she won’t break protocol to question them any harder.”
“I would,” Eddie murmured.
“Me too,” Luke said. “But you don’t want Thatcher to bust their asses too hard.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because if these guys squeal and the FBI finds Sergei before I do, then Sergei will just repeat the lie that I’m one of his guys,” Eddie said. “And if they kill Sergei, then I don’t have anyone to verify that I’m not. I have to infiltrate Sergei’s operation before the FBI does.”
“Why not try to work with the FBI first?” I asked. “Convince them of your innocence. You said my mom’s testimony to the FBI will clear your name. So why can’t we just wait and see if that works out first?”
“We said her story might clear me. But there’s no guarantee. I still need to work on clearing my own name. Besides, even if your mom did clear me and I got my badge back, you and I would still have to worry about Sergei trying to kill both of us.”
“Either way,” Luke said. “We need to get to Sergei and stop him.”
“But Sergei’s nearly untouchable,” I said. “Exalted by his own people. How do you chop off the head of a thousand-foot-tall beast?”
Eddie exhaled sharply with a slight smile. “You cut off his legs first.”
My eyebrows scrunched.
“Get rid of the people around him,” Luke explained. “Destabilize him. He’ll come crashing to the ground and then…”
Eddie sliced a finger across his own neck. “Off with his head.”
The words rang loudly in my mind… Off with his head. I understood the severity of the situation we were in, but I wondered if Eddie was up to doing it—was he ready kill someone point blank? He could take guns apart, do endless push-ups, and probably a lot of other heavy-lifting, given the right gym equipment, but he wasn’t violent. He was well-trained, but he wasn’t a killer. Not in the villainous sense.
I pressed my fingers to my forehead as the lines between good and bad blurred in my mind. “Isn’t there another way?” I asked, knowing how naïve I sounded. “Do you really have to kill these people?”
Luke rubbed the back of his neck, looking away from me, effectively telling Eddie that this conversation was all his to deal with. Eddie ran a hand down his nose and mouth, stretching his jaw.
“You have to understand, Nat, these people are out to kill you. It’s either your life or theirs—and it’s not going to be yours.”
I nodded, understanding this, but my moral compass had needed to ask. I needed to confirm they weren’t overlooking another option. Something less murky and less … bloody.
I turned my attention to Luke. “Did you see any of Sergei’s men o
n campus? Were they there looking for me?”
“Yeah, I saw someone.” He looked at Eddie. “Gunnar.”
“Shit,” Eddie said.
“Who’s Gunnar?” I asked.
“A brute no one wants to deal with, us included,” Luke said.
Eddie stared at me for a moment before speaking again. “Gunnar was the big guy who took you from the hotel suite back in June.”
The muscular guy. My insides fell as unwanted memories of his rough handling, gross teeth, and nauseating breath flooded my mind. He hadn’t just kidnapped me from the hotel, he had also helped Brandon tie me up in the lumber warehouse in Wyoming. Like a cartoon bad guy, he had always been around, big and brutish and nasty.
“He was Brandon’s right-hand man,” I said. “But Brandon’s dead, and this Gunnar guy is still working for Sergei?”
“Yes.”
“And so is Toby,” Luke said. “Toby is a problem because as a former agent he knows how we operate. And we need to go through both Gunnar and Toby to get to Sergei.”
“And Sean,” Eddie added.
“Who’s Sean?”
Eddie held his hand out, shoulder height. “Short, nerdy asshole who does all of Sergei’s accounting. He’s the brains of the operation.”
“Skinny with curly hair and glasses?” I asked.
“Yep.”
“I saw him in Wyoming. He was the tech guy, talking to Brandon about the FBI’s wire transfer. He’s super little, you could snap him like a twig.”
“I know, but it’s getting to him that’s the problem. He’s always with Sergei, which means he’s always heavily guarded. He’s the keeper of all of Sergei’s important information, which is why he’s so important. If anyone has proof that I’m not on Sergei’s payroll, it’s him.”
“Is that it?” I asked. “Are those all the legs you need to chop off in order to bring Sergei crashing down?”
“Yep,” Luke said, flashing three fingers. “Toby, Gunnar, and Sean. Get them, you get to Sergei.”
“What about all the other security Sergei keeps around? Some of them are really big and they all have guns.”
Eddie smirked. “They’re no problem. Big, but dumb as hell.”
He and Luke exchanged a glance and chuckled, as though looking forward to making those dumb giants come tumbling down.
“So, who do we start with?” I asked. “Toby, Gunnar, or Sean?”
“Gunnar,” Luke said.
Eddie threw him a curious glance. “Toby,” he countered. “He’ll be the easiest because we know him. We know his thinking and his training.”
Luke shook his head. “We have to start with Gunnar, because he’s the biggest threat right now.” He leaned forward and stared at me. “Gunnar wasn’t sent here to New York to watch you or capture you.”
I swallowed hard, fearing his next words.
“He’s here to kill you, Natalie.”
Chapter Thirteen
It was official—I had a hit out on me. We had assumed Sergei wanted me dead, but now we knew for sure. Thoughts dove around my mind like pieces in a game of Tetris, everything trying to fit together in a cohesive way.
My face was probably up on a board somewhere at Sergei’s operation. Like one of those old timey Wanted posters. Josh and I had made one of those when we were little, at a photo booth in Keystone, a small touristy town near Mount Rushmore. The poster had stated that we were wanted for stealing cookies.
But what was I wanted by Sergei for? Being the daughter of a law-abiding attorney? Knocking a dangerous Russian woman unconscious? Helping Eddie take down The Barber? Escaping his human trafficking attempt? It seemed stealing someone’s cookies was actually worse than those offenses.
Luke looked at me. “Sergei’s new plan of putting a bullet through your head would serve two purposes. One, he’d be rid of you. Two, he knows Eddie would head straight to him, seeking revenge. And he wants Eddie in his sights more than anything.”
“What if you lead Gunnar to the Hyatt in Midtown?” I asked. “Clue him in to that fact that I’m supposedly there. And then the FBI can catch him when he shows up to kill me.”
Eddie and Luke shook their heads at the same time.
“The FBI can’t intercept him,” Eddie said. “We need to take him out. If he ends up in the hands of the FBI, he’ll lead them to Sergei who will once again lie and say that I’m one of his guys, screwing up any hope of clearing my name.”
“So, then how are we going to get Gunnar? Have Luke hang out on campus until he spots him again? That could take forever.”
Eddie opened his mouth to respond, but Luke cut him off.
“Club Elite.”
“What the hell’s that?” Eddie asked.
“A shitty club that Gunnar frequents. I’ve seen him go there the last couple of nights. One of the doormen said he’s there every night when he’s in town.”
“A strip club?” I asked, unable to hide the gross look on my face.
“No, just a dance club. There’s a VIP section in the back and that’s where Gunnar hangs out.” He clasped his hands, looking at Eddie. “It’s our best bet.”
“I agree,” Eddie said, rubbing his chin in thought.
“How are you going to get him in a crowded nightclub? You can’t go in with guns or you’ll end up on TV labeled as terrorists. Maybe we can poison his drink or something. Strychnine, so he gets that weird Joker smile.” I did my best impression.
Eddie chuckled. “Where are we supposed to find strychnine?”
I shrugged, knowing it was a dumb idea. “We could roofie him.”
“Slipping something into his drink means we’d have to get extremely close to him and that might not be possible,” Luke said.
“I can get close to him,” I said. “I’ll go undercover again. Give me a wig, contacts, the whole thing. Just like this summer.”
“No,” Eddie said with a sudden sharpness to his voice. He stared me down and there was going to be no changing that answer.
“Fine,” I said with a huff. “What if we just pull the fire alarm?”
“Too much chaos,” Luke said. “Besides a dump like Club Elite might not even have working alarms.”
“Does the VIP section have security?” Eddie asked Luke.
“Yep.”
They stared at one another as though mental plans were mixing in the air between them.
“There’s a back door?”
“Yes.”
“Is the back door near the VIP section?”
Luke nodded. “From what I can tell.”
“What’s the club security like?”
“Minimal, shouldn’t be a problem.
“How much personal security does Gunnar have on him?”
“He has enough,” Luke said. “And that’s the problem. We won’t be able to get at him while he’s in the VIP section. It’s small, and crowded with guns, so we can’t just waltz up to him. We’ll have to draw him out somehow.”
They thought for a while, discussing some possibilities, but finding fault in all of them. A distraction, such as a fist fight in the club, wouldn’t pique Gunnar’s curiosity enough to leave his cushy VIP nook. Bringing in some low-level patrol cops with a phony 911 call would only make Gunnar edgy and heighten security around him.
We needed something that would guarantee Gunnar’s interest. Something surprising and appealing enough to get him to leave the comforts of his highly secure VIP spot. Something he wouldn’t expect. Or someone he wouldn’t expect.
“I’ll do it. I can get his attention,” I said.
Luke and Eddie looked at me as though I had suddenly begun speaking another language.
“I’ll do it,” I repeated. “I’ll go to the club and draw out Gunnar.”
“No way,” Eddie said. “I’m not gonna let you get within a thousand feet of—”
“You’re not going to let me? You’re not my boss.” I stood up. “And think about it … who’s the last person Gunnar would expect to be at the club?
And who is the one person he’d definitely stick his neck out to find?”
Luke glanced at Eddie with a curious enough look on his face that I knew he was on my side.
“She’s right,” he said. “She could lure Gunnar out.”
The muscles in Eddie’s jaw tightened. “No.”
“Jesus, Eddie, don’t be so stubborn,” I said. “My own ass is on the line just as much as yours is. I’m doing this, whether you like it or not. Gunnar needs to be taken out—hell, I’ll kill him myself.”
“You’re speaking out of anger.”
“Damn right, I am!
“But you’re not thinking about what you’re saying.” Eddie stepped closer. “Taking someone’s life—no matter who they are, or what they’ve done—is never an easy thing to do.”
His words echoed in my head. The one part of the plan that hadn’t been openly discussed yet was what they were going to do to Gunnar. They didn’t want the FBI to question him for fear he’d repeat Sergei’s lies about Eddie, so there was clearly only one ending for Gunnar. One where he couldn’t lie to the FBI. One where he couldn’t get loose and tell Sergei where Eddie was. One where he was moved out of the way, a leg taken out to get Sergei to crash to the ground. A permanent ending. A bullet.
Who would do it, Eddie or Luke? Not that it really mattered, the end the result would be the same either way.
“I want to help,” I said. “I don’t even have to get close to Gunnar. I’ll just go into the club and when the VIP security stop me, I’ll ask them to give Gunnar a message … that Natalie Mancini is here to see him. He’ll definitely come out for that, right?”
Eddie turned away from me, staring at the window. The shade was pulled down. He wasn’t staring outside for inspiration or wisdom, he was staring at a dingy white screen because he didn’t want to face the fact that I was right. I was in too deep for him to simply hide me away and protect me from everything. This wasn’t some damn fairytale and I sure as hell wasn’t going to be kept in a tall tower, especially a dank one with dirty carpeting that overlooked a street full of closed-up store fronts and questionable sidewalk business dealings.
