Page 121 of The Wrong Monster

The room goes silent. I stare at him.

For one dangerous second, I consider putting him through the conference table.

Instead, I turn back toward the windows. Below us, the town glows softly against the dark.

“They wanted me to know they could reach her.”

Ariadna’s voice is quiet as she confirms: “Yes.”

“Then I want Yuri to know I can reach him.”

Arthur exhales sharply.

“We already made that happen, and it was reckless.”

“Good.”

Timur groans.

“Oh, Christ.”

I turn back to them.

“You’ve all made it clear where you think the problem is. That my mind isn’t on the business. You’re wrong. That’s why we’re here. We’re going to stay as long as we need to in order to straighten out the kinks, because as soon as this trial is over and Mikhail is released, we’re moving forward at full steam.”

The trio work hard not to look at one another. Slowly, Ariadna takes a seat in her usual place, ankles crossed. Her fingers toy with the gold necklace at her throat, her name in the Cyrillic alphabet.

Arthur doesn’t sit. He stands stiffly, chest rising and falling with barely contained angst. Good; I want him angry. I want him pushing. But I want his mind on what comes next, not the mess we’re in now.

You want to distract them. The way you’re distracted.

Ignoring the thought, I walk the length of the table slowly as Timur pulls a small notebook out of his shirt pocket. He starts to jot down notes as I talk through where Deep Waters is hung up.

“Our operations are barely moving,” I say. “Evidence disposal has slowed to a crawl. Two organizations canceled their usual pickups this week. We’ve got people sitting around because nobody wants to risk doing anything obvious while the government is watching us.”

Ariadna’s expression remains unreadable.

“And the new contract?”

I walk to the wall of file cabinets, open one, pull out a folder, and toss it onto the table.

“That too.”

Timur looks up with renewed interest. “The construction contract?” He played an important part in securing the client initially, so this one, he’s invested in. Good.

“The one I spent three days negotiating.” I shove the paperwork toward him. “They backed out yesterday. Paid the penalty, too, so you know it was bad.”

That is what makes my blood boil. Nobody backs out. Not from my contracts.

They might negotiate. They might delay. They might ask for revisions. But they do not walk away willingly, especially not when walking away costs them a substantial amount of money.

“They paid the cancellation fee without even trying to fight it?” Ariadna asks, her thin brows knit. “… twenty grand?”

“Exactly.” I start pacing again. “This entire fucking town is starting to act like Deep Waters is radioactive. That is our problem; not Yuri’s. Fuck Yuri.”

Arthur finally gives in, moves forward, and leans on the table.

“Maybe people are getting nervous.”