Page 19 of The Harbinger
A smirk lifted the corners of his lips.
I’m glad he found it amusing when my tone was not remotely comical. How was I supposed to get backhomenow?
I didn’tbelonghere.
We drove through a security gate, following the convoy vehicle before us, when I glanced behind. Two identical SUVs followed close behind, the tint making it near impossible to see inside.
“Is it normal in Russia for people to drive with such heavy security?”
“When it’s people like me,da.”
“And who are people like you exactly?”Kidnappers, drug dealers?“A trafficker?”
Sacha adjusted his shirt sleeves. “If I were, do you think I would transport you personally? Do you think you’re so special you wouldn’t rot in a freight box like the rest? That’s how they are transported, are they not?”
My teeth pressed down on my cheek as I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never met someone who was.”
There wasn’t anything special about me. I knew that, but to have someone like him spit it out at me like I needed to be knocked down a peg stung.
“Take my word for it… they are.”
So he knew how people were trafficked from country to country, then?
I rubbed my scarred wrists and refrained from engaging in any more conversation. It seemed whenever I opened my mouth, I always heard something unimaginable.
After driving for what felt like hours in bitter silence, we turned onto a wide freeway with five lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic jamming up the oncoming vehicles.
Tall gray buildings lined the freeway, along with towering metal protective walls with windows in the center. A long blocky orange and yellow building hosted signs for fast food recognizable only by the logo and other stores listed in some foreign letters.
The sun peaked over the top of the tallest building, casting shadows down around us, and the lush green trees swayed as the vehicles passed by. “It’s beautiful here, even in the city. What are those letters on the signs? What do they mean?” I pointed to the building we went by.
“Cyrillic. The Russian alphabet.”
“Oh.”
He sighed, dug into his pocket, and retrieved his phone, then began a rapid conversation, leaving me to stare out the window in awe, my chest burning with repudiation. His rejection of holding a conversation with me ached down to my bones, turning my cheeks to fire. It made my gums ache, and a tremor light up in my hand.
We drove by people turning their heads with fascination, and at one point, a child pointed in our direction in reverence.Odd.
His low, rumbling voice vibrated through the vehicle as he finished up his conversation. “Otvezi menya v ofis.”
The driver nodded, and Dmitri exchanged conversation with him, their tones muffled by deep voices and foreign tongues.
“Is everything okay?”
“I need to work. You will go with Ivan and Vlad.”
My mouth dried, and my tongue sat like a lead brick. “Can…” My tongue stuck against my teeth as I fought to ask the question. “Can’t I stay with you?” I rubbed the scar along my wrist, chewing at my inner lip until copper zipped in my mouth. Bile pooled at the back of my throat with just the smallest thought of going alone with Ivan and Vlad, especially after I’d humiliated him. “I can wait in the car?”
“Nyet.”
“I don’t know what that means. I don’t speak your language, Sacha.”
“It’s not safe for you to wait in the car.”
“Then I’ll come inside with you.” I pressed my thumb harder into my wrist.
This man had a team of twenty well-armed men surrounding us as we drove and when we’d stepped off the plane. How was it not safe to wait with them, yet safe for me to travel with Ivan? “I don’t feel comfortable around them.”