Chapter 26 - Yefim

I carry the boxes of salted caramel popcorn back to the stand where Tia wanted to play for the green crocodile.

It's a bright yellow booth and hard to miss, but I'm confused when I get there and don't see her. I look around, trying to spot another yellow booth because I must have mixed them up. There's no reason she would have left without me.

I pace up and down for a minute, convinced I am in the right place, but also doubting myself. I turn to face the man behind the booth.

His yellow hat making me even more convinced that this is where she was.

"There was a girl here in a pink hoodie, she wanted to win the crocodile?"

"Yeah, she did really well. She won it." He laughs, pointing behind him at the empty space where the plush toy was hanging.

"Where did she go?" I ask, nervous tension creeping into my throat.

"Uh, she was talking to a girl, then she left in that direction." He waves his hand around in the air, gesturing.

"When—how long ago?"

"Ten minutes, maybe, more or less. I'm not too sure, sorry man. I was helping the next person."

"No, thanks, you've been helpful." I feel my brows knotting. Maybe she went to find me. Maybe she went to the ladies' room.

I shouldn't panic. I should just look for her.

I tuck one of the popcorn boxes under my arm, balancing it against my chest as I fish around in my pocket for my phone.

I dial her number, holding the device up against my ear as I listen to it ring…and ring…and ring….

I hang up and dial again.

Nothing. Just unanswered ringing.

What the hell.

I let out a frustrated breath as the tension grows deeper, pushing warnings against the inside of my skull.

She was talking to a girl.

What girl?

As I walk past a bin I dump both boxes of popcorn into it.

Now I'm jogging, pushing through the crowds, calling out her name loudly. People are looking at me as though I've lost my mind.

I will have lost my mind if I've lost her, but surely not. Surely, she's here somewhere and just didn't hear her phone in the noisy chaos of the carnival.

I run too far out and end up at the back of the tents. There's no one here, nothing happening. I need to go back.

But then I see it.

Lying on the ground.

A bright green stuffed crocodile.

Fluffy, but covered in mud from being stepped on. I pick it up, staring at the boot imprint on it.

What the fuck is going on?

Something bad happened to Tia.

The man said she won this. She left with this is in her hands, and somehow ended up behind the tents where nobody else is—and something happened to her.

I run further around the back of the carnival, but I can't find any other clues, so I head back in.

She was talking to a girl.

What girl?

Running through the crowd, I pull my phone out again and dial Oleg.

"It's me," I say, out of breath.

"What's going on? Why are you running?"

"I can't find Tia. Something's happened."

"Where are you?"

"The carnival, in the garden center in town."

"I know it. I'll be there in ten. I'll call the others. Sit tight."

I hang up. Help is on the way, but I don't feel any better.

I keep pushing through the crowds, my eyes darting everywhere, searching, hoping to see her, hoping this all a stupid mistake and that the dirty green crocodile in my hands isn't hers.

But when I see Clara and her uncle I know.

I know he's not here by accident.

Giorgio Vitali was following us, and he had a plan.

He was waiting, biding his time, patiently waiting for the moment that I left her alone. And, stupidly, I did.

Giorgio starts turning in my direction and I duck behind a booth.

If he's involved in all of this then she isn't here anymore.

He would have had her taken somewhere already.

I dial Oleg again.

"Oleg, it's me. Giorgio Vitali is here. It has to be him."

"Okay, change of plans. Get to my place. We have to figure out where he's taken her."

"His niece is with him—that girl Clara who's friends with Tia."

"Maybe she knows something?"

"She might. I'm going to wait till they separate and grab her."

"Alright. Be safe."

At a distance I start following Clara and her uncle around until Giorgio gets a phone call and steps a little away from Clara. She waits patiently.

I listen.

"Good. Yes. Keep her quiet. Did anyone see you?"

He glances at Clara, making sure she's not listening, perhaps.

"Good. Okay. I'm on my way there now."

He hangs up the call and walks over to his niece, smiling.

"Sweetheart, I have to go, business calls. It was lovely of you to join me here this morning."

"Okay, Uncle Giorgio. I'll see you at Dad's dinner on Tuesday night?"

"Yes, you've got your car here, right? Or must I send the driver for you?"

"I've got my car," she smiles, then gives him a quick hug before he walks away.

It's too risky for me to follow him on my own.

As soon as he turns away from her, I see the three guards who are with him turn to follow him.

But now Clara is alone, and she is my best chance at finding Tia.

She wanders around the carnival for another half hour before she starts making her way towards the car park. It's getting later in the day and the crowds are calming down a little. I suspect it gets busy again at night, but for now, there is an in-between quietness.

Clara presses the button to unlock her car, then pulls the door open, tossing a bright yellow fish and a pink balloon into the back seat. I move quickly because I can't be seen; I have to make sure no one hears her.

I grab her from behind, my hand clamped tightly over her mouth, and I drag her into her own car.

She kicks and panics and hits her head on the edge of the door, knocking herself unconscious.

Actually, it works to my advantage.

I grab her car keys and climb into the driver's side, driving her car to mine. Then I lift her out of the back seat and transfer her into my trunk.

I slam it shut and hurry to get inside, revving loudly as I pull away, heading to Oleg's place.

***

The guards open the gates for me as soon as they see my car, and I pull right up to the front door.

Climbing out, I find Oleg, Leon and Alexei are all waiting for me.

Clara is kicking and screaming in the trunk.

"I take it you got his niece?" Oleg says, scrunching his nose.

"Yeah, let's see if she knows where he took Tia."

I stand at the trunk and it pops open. As soon as it does, Clara turns to glare at me, but instead she's looking at the barrel of my gun. Tears are staining her cheeks and her makeup is smudged across her face.

"Please," she whimpers. "What do you want?"

"I want Tia," I say, cold and heartless, because no one is going to stand in my way.

"Tia?"

"Yes, Tia. Your uncle took her. Where is he keeping her?"

"Giorgio took Tia? Why?" she stammers, looking clueless. I'm not sure if it's an act or not, but I'm quickly losing patience and hope.

"Where the fuck did he take her?" I scream into Clara's face.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she screams back in pure panic.

"Fuck," I scream, walking away from the trunk of the car.

"She doesn't know," Oleg agrees.

"What the fuck do we do now?"

"I need to find her," I say, fear flooding me.

"We'll find her, I promise you. He can't have taken her far. She'll be in his territory."

"Did my uncle really take Tia?" Clara says, sitting up on the edge of the trunk, nervously, flinching and twitching, waiting for someone to come at her.

"Yes," I say with a heavy sigh. "He took her from the carnival."

"I thought it was strange when he invited me there." She sniffs, tears still running over her cheeks.

"Look, Clara, I'm sorry I took you. I thought—I thought you might know. You can go."

"Wait. Maybe I can help?" She climbs altogether out of the trunk and stands looking at me. "Let me help."

"Do you have any idea where he would have taken her? A safehouse? His own house?"

She thinks for a bit, then nods.

"He told me he was going to the river for the rest of the weekend. He has a house there. He usually goes there when he wants to get away from everyone."

"The river?"

"Yes, here, I'll give you the address."

I hand her my phone and she punches the address into my map app.

"You're sure he's here?"

"It makes the most sense. It's out of the way. The rest of the family doesn't really visit him there. And he doesn't go there often, so if he went there today, it was probably because of Tia."

Leon takes Clara's arm, pulling her aside.

"We have to go. My wife, Sasha, is in the house. She will call a cab for you and get you to wherever you need to go."

"No, I'm coming with you. I can still help. I can talk to my uncle, tell him to let her go."

Leon looks towards me. I shrug. "Any help we can get is great."

All of us climb into the big SUV Leon drives and head towards the river house.

My stomach is a knot of fear, wondering if we are too late, wondering if he has already hurt Tia.

Leon drives fast as the sun disappears behind the horizon and darkness creeps over the landscape. The river house is close.

We're almost there.

All of us pile out of the car and are surprised to find Giorgio with only a few guards present.

The four of us outnumber them, and with Clara as a pretend hostage, we walk past the guards without having to open fire.

Giorgio looks sour and pissed off. He keeps glaring at Clara as though she's done something wrong.

"Did you tell them where I was?" he snarls at her.

"Did you take Tia?" she snaps back at him.

"Yes, I took that little Dubrov bitch. Her husband needs to pay," he shouts angrily, his gun gripped in his hand.

"Pay for what?" Clara says, fighting tears, not used to seeing her uncle like this.

"Bring her out. Let her join the party." Giorgio waves towards one of his guards, who leaves the room, coming back with Tia in his grip. I want to bolt towards her, but I hold my ground. We have to be careful. One wrong move and he could hurt her.

"When you handed the business over to this fool"—he gestures at me—"I thought he would tank. I thought he would fail, and you and your Dubrov clan would lose millions. But instead, this fucking asshole grew the profits. He started making more money. Doing better than ever before. That wasn't supposed to happen," he tells Leon angrily.

Clara looks confused. "So what if he did well? Why does that mean you get to kidnap my friend?" She's angry.

"Because the worse he does, the stronger the Vitali clan is. They are our only real rivals, Clara. They are standing in the way of us having unlimited power. If they fall, and their business fails, we can dominate this territory completely. No one will be able to stop us."

I shake my head. This man sounds like a lunatic.

"So, I was doing well in business, and to get back at me you took my wife?" I ask in disbelief. "Have you lost your mind?"

"No," he laughs. "I was hoping that if your wife died, you'd be so traumatized, so lost in grief, that you would finally fail. I was hoping that without her, you'd lose your mind. "

My fingers wrap tighter around my Glock. I want to shoot him in the head. I want to see his brains splattered across the wall behind him. How dare he threaten Tia's life like that. How dare he threaten to take her away from me.

"I would lose my mind. But not in the way you imagine," I snarl. "I would lose my mind and I would hunt you down. I would tear you limb from limb and make you suffer unimaginable pain as a consequence of what you did. I wouldn't break apart and crumble like you think. I would become your worst nightmare."

I step closer to him, ready to tear him apart for just thinking about hurting her.

Tia is watching me closely.

She shakes her head—no.

I stare at her. Why not?

She shakes her head again. No.

I grind my teeth and clench my jaw, trying to control my anger.