Fonduing Fathers (31 page)

My heart leapt into my throat. “He’s not going to answer,” I said.

Linka’s lips spread in an obnoxious impression of a smile, mocking me. He then directed blondie to text Gav with a message that begged him to meet me at this address because I needed help.

“Why?” I asked, still unable to comprehend. “Why?”

“Are you so dense? You and your Agent Gavin have gotten in too deep. I risk losing everything if you two continue
on this little quest of yours. I need to stop you now before you dig any further.” He regarded me coolly. “I suspect, however, you haven’t yet brought your suspicions to anyone else. That’s not part of
your
M.O., is it Olivia?”

I didn’t answer.

“We’ll wait for your knight in shining armor to pull up on his mighty steed.”

Gav wouldn’t get any text until very late tonight. I thanked heaven for that, but didn’t feel compelled to share the information. “You should let us go now while you have the chance,” I said. “He will take you down.”

Linka said, “Sit. I have more questions for you.”

I remained standing. “You have me. Let these two go. They don’t know anything about you. Nothing about…” I stopped myself. “…The past. Let them go.”

“Too late.” He waved a casual hand toward Roberta and Eugene. “Innocent bystanders. Happens all the time. Of course, once we leave here everyone will believe
you
were the innocent bystander. To the authorities this will be a break-in gone wrong. Another unsolved crime.
Tsk.
”

I forced myself to tune out Roberta’s whimpers.

Linka consulted his watch. “I estimate that your agent boyfriend will be here in less than an hour.”

“Then do yourself a favor and run while you can.”

“Sit down, Olivia, and tell me what you know about me. What you learned from Fitch.”

I knew nothing about Linka other than what he’d told us himself. But I wasn’t about to tell him that. I shook my head. “I refuse.”

“Fine. I have all day. We’ll wait. I suspect you’ll be more willing once your beloved is at risk.”

One of the giant men grabbed my shoulders, forcibly sitting me down. Another man pulled Roberta up from the floor and threw her onto the couch next to me. We were more than a foot apart, but I could feel her body trembling. In the
chair next to us, Eugene blinked a couple of times, glancing about the room, looking addled. “Who did you say you were again?” he asked Linka.

Linka, talking quietly to the blonde man, didn’t answer.

“Roberta,” Eugene tried again, speaking briskly, “why haven’t we offered our guests any sweet tea? Where are your manners, girl?”

Linka finally paid attention. “Is he out of his head?” he asked me.

Why he expected me to tell the truth, I didn’t know.

“He goes in and out,” I lied. “Stress isn’t good for him.”

“Roberta,” Eugene repeated, his voice rising. “Don’t just sit there, go get us all some tea.” He glanced down at the two glasses he and I had used, still on a low table. Feigning confusion, he pointed. “Whose are these?”

“Some professor,” the blonde guy said. “What did he teach, anyway?”

I didn’t answer.

Not knowing what to do and with her hands shaking, Roberta got to her feet. Linka snapped, “Do
not
make a move.”

The guy behind her pushed her back down.

I had no idea what to do. Gav wasn’t coming to save me. He was in training, blissfully unaware of the drama taking place and Linka’s expectations of his arrival. I’d have to save myself—all of us. But how?

I looked around the room, into the dead eyes of the angry men. They didn’t budge, didn’t waver. Knives in fat fists were ready to slash the life out of us without a moment’s hesitation.

It wasn’t my nature to give up, but I felt smaller and more helpless than I ever had in my life. I didn’t know what to do.

As though reading my mind, Linka rolled his wheelchair forward. To my frustration, he remained just out of reach.
The blonde man remained by his side, ready to beat me back if I clawed at him the way I wanted to.

With his unhurried manner, his commanding presence among these automatons, and his ease of control, Linka had clearly been a man in power for a very long time.

In control of what, though?

My father had found out, but the secret had died with him.

I turned to Eugene. The elfin eyes sparkled with intelligence. Perhaps the secret hadn’t died. Not yet at least.

“Why isn’t Roberta getting us all tea?” Eugene asked innocently.

“Listen,” I said to Linka, trying again, “let my old teacher go and I’ll tell you everything. He’s not going to be able to identify you. There’s got to be some kindness in you. I mean, you have a dog. You must have some compassion.”

He laughed.

Laughed.

Undaunted, I pointed to Roberta. “She doesn’t have any idea who you are or why you’re here. Take me away and leave them here. They’ll have no idea where we went.”

Linka folded his hands across his stomach, the picture of patience. “I don’t leave loose ends,” he said. “Now, back to you. Was it Michael Fitch you intended to meet at the coffee shop? What happened when he didn’t show up?”

I was dumbfounded by his repeated queries about Fitch and knew instinctively not to tell him that the sorrowful little man had pointed a finger at Pluto, not at Linka. “How long have you been following me?” I asked.

Linka disregarded the question. “Is that why you met with his wife? What was in the package she gave you?”

I craved, desperately, to come up with a lie that made sense, but I was at a deep disadvantage. Eugene’s warning about a field littered with land mines echoed in my brain. I knew enough to get us killed, but not enough to save us.

“I refuse to cooperate,” I said, “until these two others are released.”

“Impossible.”

I sat up a little straighter. “Then kill me now and cut the drama.”

Roberta’s eyes went wide with terror. “No!”

Linka leaned forward in his wheelchair. “I am a patient man. Why? Because being patient ensures I always get what I want. Too bad you never learned that lesson.” Resettling himself in his chair, he checked his watch. “Your young man will show up soon enough. Once he’s here, I guarantee you’ll find yourself in a cooperative state of mind.”

I glanced at the clock on Eugene’s mantel. Although it seemed silly to even think about anything but survival at this time, knowing that I wouldn’t make my meeting with Josh made me breathtakingly sad about letting him down.

The men made small talk among themselves and with their boss. I pretended not to care, but strained to hear every word, hoping for some clue as to why Linka had been threatened by my inquiries into Pluto and why he needed to know what Fitch had told me. No matter how I turned it, I came up empty. If Pluto was indeed selling tainted supplies to other countries, how could Linka, and not the Bensons, be blamed?

Unless the Bensons were behind today’s coup, which seemed less likely with every passing moment, I couldn’t see how Fitch’s assertions affected Linka in the least.

“Where is he?” Linka asked me, not for the first time.

“Who?”

“Don’t get smart with me, child. You won’t like it when I retaliate.”

I waited.

“Where is he?”

“I told you: He’s too smart to fall for this. He’ll figure it out and bring the cavalry with him.” My words were brave, my insides panicked. I knew Gav wasn’t coming. By the
time he discovered what happened, it would be too late. For all of us.

Roberta had curled up on one end of the couch, looking as though she were trying to make herself small. Eugene sat in his chair, straight-backed as ever, occasionally coming up with random comments or queries that no one answered.

At one point, Eugene attempted to stand. Three men jumped into action, as though the frail elderly man posed any actual threat. “Get away from me,” he said, thrusting his hands at them. “I need to use the washroom, let me through.”

The men looked to Linka for direction and my heart sparked with excitement.

“Go with him,” Linka said. “Scour the room for anything that could be used as a weapon. Check for phones. And do not leave him unsupervised. Not for a moment.”

My elation fell, but rose again, slightly, when two men followed Eugene down a corridor. That left only one thug, the blonde guy, and Linka. If Roberta and I could…

It was now or never. I had to make my move.

I leapt to my feet, hoping to close the distance between us, hoping to tear at Linka’s face. Anything to cause trouble.

I hadn’t gotten three steps when my head was whacked from behind. The world went kaleidoscope bright, breaking into a dizzying, spectacular display of fireworks. Then, my lights went out.

I CAME TO, VAGUELY AWARE OF BEING TUGGED by the arm.

“She’s awake,” I heard. Then, “Come on, get up.”

I ached, but had a hard time localizing the pain. My vision was clear enough to know it was Roberta pulling at me, and to recognize that the lighting in the room had changed since I’d last been conscious. That meant time had elapsed. Linka watched with furious intent, as though I’d passed out on purpose. I raised a hand to the back of my head, where a lump formed. Touching it made me wince. “What…?” I began.

“I’m tired of your antics,” Linka said as I pulled myself into a sitting position on the floor. “Why isn’t he here yet?”

Eugene was back in his seat, eyeing me critically. I looked up at Roberta, blinking my surprise. “How long have I been out?”

She started to answer, but Linka shut her up. “Why isn’t he here yet?” he asked again.

Rage, despair, and pain built into a crescendo of fury. I refused to play his games any longer. Struggling to my feet, I shouted, “He’s not coming, you idiot. When are you going to understand that?”

I managed to lower myself onto the couch without assistance. I wasn’t woozy, but for a fleeting moment, I wished I were. Maybe then my head wouldn’t pound. Sounds in the room faded in and out, crashing a rhythmic beat inside my brain. My pulse, I realized. I was hearing my pulse, magnified about a thousand times.

Linka grew more agitated by the moment. I wondered what I’d missed. “We can’t wait any longer,” Linka said to his men. “Let’s get out of here. Get rid of these two, take the chef with us.”

One of the big guys who had been silent until now, said, “That wasn’t the plan.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Linka snapped. “We need her boyfriend. If we don’t get him, we’re no better off than we are now. Take care of the other two. Make it quick.”

Roberta screamed, pulling herself into a ball on the couch. “No,” she cried, “please, please. I won’t tell anyone, I swear. I swear.”

Linka was unmoved by her pleas. He rolled across the room, nearer to the front door. “Do it,” he called over his shoulder.

The man behind Roberta pulled his knife up and started to make a move.

That’s when the doorbell rang.

Everyone froze. Everyone except Roberta, who rocked back and forth on the sofa, eyes clenched, arms wrapped around her knees, low moans coming from deep within.

“It’s him,” Linka said with certainty. “Men, get out of the room. Make it look non-threatening.”

“It’s not him,” I said. “It can’t be.”

The blonde man started for the door. “Not you,” Linka said. “He’s seen you. Go hide.” He cast a disgusted glance at Roberta, then gestured to another of his men. “Get the door. Get him in here.”

Although the pounding in my head remained a dull ache, I stood.

When the front door opened and Gav rushed in, I nearly wept, crying out, “No! Run.” I shouted, pointing to the door. “Run!”

He took another step forward, but his stance had shifted. He whipped around, taking down the guy who’d opened the door with a punch to the man’s gut. In the breathless seconds that followed, I saw him reach for his gun.

Too late. One guy grabbed Gav from behind, capturing him in a choke hold. Instinctively, I started to run to him, but the giant behind me had me in his grip. I shouted in a futile attempt to control events that were spiraling out of control. Another brute raced up and began bashing Gav in the face and stomach, grabbing his weapon and forcing him into a corner. I could hear heavy breathing, grunts of exertion, and I saw Gav’s arms, straining for purchase.

Gav managed to wrest himself out of their grasp. He turned, pummeling one man in the face, landing blows right and left, while the other man sank to the floor, catching his breath. The fevered look in Gav’s eyes was one I’d never seen before. It spoke of rage, fury, and the willingness to kill, right here, right now. His dark side.

He was winning the battle until the blonde guy jumped in. He and the first guy pulled Gav off of their cohort, hitting him with meaty fists that made chunking sounds. Gav doubled over in pain. When the blonde guy pulled a knife, a deep, wailing scream exploded from the depths of my soul. “No!”

Gav hit the ground with the thud of bone meeting hardwood. The blonde guy yanked his knife back and I crumbled
to the floor when I saw the blood. Gav’s blood. “No, no, no.” My entire being ached with sorrow. Why was Gav here? He shouldn’t have come.