Page 71 of Cashmere Cruelty
Grisha turns. So does Yuri.
“Both of you,” I call from my position, “go pick it up.”
Yuri moves first. He rushes to the center of the room and kneels. Soon enough, Grisha catches up with leisurely steps, crouching down slightly.
Bingo.“Stop.”
They freeze. I walk around them—one first, then the other. I settle behind Yuri.
Then I pull out my gun and touch it to his back.
“Motya…?” Yuri calls, distraught.
“Trust me,” I say. “The game’s almost over.”
Through the barrel of my gun, I can feel Yuri swallow.
“Now, look up,” I order. “Both of you.”
They obey.
Above us, the skylight illuminates the warehouse in six wide squares, their reflection on the ground broken only by a line of beams.
I can see the moment realization dawns on them. “The roof.”
“Thirty feet exactly,” I confirm. “Now, Yuri. What would it look like if I shot you right now?”
Yuri’s transfixed, staring at me with eyes wide in admiration. And, understandably, a primal fear. “A forty-five degree angle.”
I grin. “Precisely.”
I put my gun away. Yuri breathes a sigh of relief, the picture finally clear. “They came from above. From the skylights.”
“That’s why the footprints went from the cell doors to the back door,” Grisha adds. “One-way. Nothing near the entrance.”
I nod, pleased with the results of this little experiment. “The coin was a distraction. Tossed from above, it caught the attention of our men. But they didn’t see it drop—they only heard it. So they turned, walked up to it to examine it…”
“And crouched,” Yuri completes for me, in awe.
“And crouched.”
“Then the intruders went to kill our guests,” Grisha continues. “They fished out the bullets from the bodies. They left through the emergency door in the back. It’s the perfect locked-room mystery.”
“Not perfect,” I point out, tossing the coin back to Grisha. “And they didn’t getallthe bullets.”
I pull a small plastic bag from my pocket. Yuri’s eyes widen to the size of melons, while Grisha walks up with a curious glint in his. “Where did you find this?”
“Room B,” I tell him. “Last night.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Yuri asks, a trace of hurt in his voice.
I pat him on the shoulder. “We still don’t know the Russian’s identity. Until we do, we keep the clues to ourselves. Our men are on a need-to-know basis. Got it?”
They both nod.Good.I can’t afford anything less than complete obedience on this. I’m about to hand the bullet to Yuri for testing when, unexpectedly, April pops back into my thoughts.
April. Her fierce determination the day of the wedding, handcuffed and still showing up in front of me, demanding my protection. Her fire today, ready to raze cities to the ground.
Perhaps a nice bouquet to smooth things over?