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“Or what?” I smirked at him. God, fear made me stupid. Why couldn’t I keep my mouth shut like a normal person?
“I’ll cut your fucking tongue out.” As if I needed a demonstration, he pulled a knife out of his pocket and flicked it open. “And make you eat it.”
“Be my guest.” My father’s dismissive words tumbled out of my mouth before I could help it.
The dickhead said something in his foreign tongue and pointed the knife at me. I’m sure it was a threat, or a promise, of what pain lay in my future. Spitting through the chainlink, he sniffed and stomped off.
Real smart, Roan. Real fucking smart. Antagonize the guy with a knife.
Shaking my head at my own stupidity, I took a cautious step forward and snagged the paper bag off the ground. Carrying it back to the blanket, I sat down and peered inside. It looked like a cheeseburger and some fries. It even included a handful of napkins and some ketchup packets. How considerate.
I unwrapped the burger and took two bites before my stomach twisted itself into knots. I wrapped it up again and tucked it away for later. The same went for the remainder of my water. Ever since Mr. Black dropped it off, I’d been rationing it. So after one measured sip, I secured the lid and set it down.
Aside from preserving what little I had, rationing also helped avoid the inevitable — the bucket. Peeing wouldn’t be so bad. But I didnotwant to have to shit in a bucket. Blame my spoiled upbringing or a stupid sense of pride, but I refused to be broken down like an animal.
Drawing my knees up to my chest, I wrapped my arms around my legs and buried my head against my forearms. Despite being summer, it was cold in here. The fact my nerves were fried didn’t help. It made everything that much worse, from the temperature to the dread twisting through my body.
At least now I knew why I was here. Silver linings and all that. It was the bank robbery and my big fucking mouth. But if they thought I was the solution to getting them whatever they were so desperate for, they were wrong. Dead wrong.
10
Sasha
Watchingthe kid prowl around his cell was like watching an animal in the zoo, pacing a well-worn trail back and forth. He didn’t even need to look up as he moved, like he’d memorized every inch of it. Then again, it wasn’t hard to do in such a small space. I did the same thing when I was in prison.
Sometimes he did push-ups or squats instead of pacing. Other times he sang while his hands mimicked the motion of playing his instruments or conducting. I’m sure he missed his violin, given how much he’d been playing in the days leading up to his abduction. He had a good voice — something he didn’t demonstrate during his performance at school, but did at home. Unlike the other instruments, the singing didn’t seem to correspond to a mood at all, so I didn’t know how to interpret it while he was here.
It had been two days already and Viktor hadn’t decided what to do with him yet. By now someone other than his father had to have realized he was missing, yet no police reports were filed. Gregor sent another demand but, for whatever reason, Phillip Sinclair didn’t answer. This wasn’t theworstkidnapping in history, but it was definitely one of the most confusing.
“Just kill him!” Yuri snarled. “If he can’t get us what we need, then he’s a liability. We need to cut our losses.”
“You’rea fucking liability,” Eduard snapped. “Can we killyou?”
“Don’t go near him until we hear from Viktor,” I said, pointing at Yuri.
The asshole wasn’t even supposed tobehere, but here he was. I didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. Ever since he showed up, I’d gone through a carton of cigarettes and a box of tea, standing guard in the shadows, making sure no one went near Roan unless it was to hand off food or water. The only time I dared to sleep was when Eduard was around.
“So you think you’re in charge now?” Yuri stared at me.
“After you fucked up the bank robbery, yeah. Don’t like it? Call your uncle.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and tossed it on the table in front of him. “Explain to him why you deserve a second chance. Or is this your third? Fourth? Fifth? I can’t keep track.”
“Who is going to watch the kid?” Eduard interrupted. “We have other business this week. I cannot be in two places at once.” The last part was meant for me. My vigilance hadn’t gone unnoticed by him, but at least it went without commentary.
I folded my arms over my chest and settled into my stance. “I’ll look after him myself.”
“Oh, is that so? The big, bad Aleksandr Vassiliev is a baby sitter now?” Yuri stepped forward, lifting his chin. “So much for the Wolf of Verkhoyansk.”
“Watch your fucking mouth, Yuri,” I snapped with a glare.
“What happened? Finally lose your teeth?” He leaned forward and chomped the air right in front of me.
I lowered my face closer to his, my voice along with it. “If you don’t get the fuck out of here, I’ll do to you what I did to that family in Tomsk. I don’t care who your uncle is.”
Yuri looked like he wanted to say something, but he snorted instead and stalked off. He made sure to slam his shoulder into mine on the way. I rocked with the motion, but kept my footing. I should have taken him down right then and there for such disrespect, but somehow I refrained. Probably because I was distracted by the memory of my own threat.
Tomsk.
I could still smell the blood and the shit, even after all this time. The first true slaughter to be associated with my name. I was merely following orders, but to everyone else I was a fucking animal. My hands would never be clean and I was fine with that. I was even fine with the stupid nickname — The Wolf of Verkhoyansk, the one who killed so savagely they couldn’t believe a man would do the things I did to another human.
