Page 37 of Vicious Hearts
A crackle of a radio, and Hillard is already walking away, slapping open the door. The sunlight stings my eyes, and I shield them with my hand as I scurry after him.
“Goddammit,” he’s saying. “No, just keep him in a cell. I’ll be back soon.” He slips the radio back into his belt holster and throws open the driver’s door of his car.
“Get in,” he barks. “I know where your man is.”
Ben
“Okay, okay!” A voice cries. “I’ll letyouin, but I’m not lettinghimout until Hillard has spoken to him.”
A buzzer sounds, and the cell door opens. I’m face-to-face with my good friend Leo, who looks ready to break my jaw.
“You, get lost,” he says, shooing away the junior officer escorting him. “This isn’t Alcatraz. You wanna guard us, go down the other end of the corridor, and be scary there.” Leo turns to me. “I left you fuck knows how many messages for months, and you don’t respond. Then you call and leave a message telling me you’re in custody?”
I shrug. “I didn’t know who else to call.Izvini, tovarishch. And stop bitching. We’re not married. I’ve been here for hours, waiting for you to show your face.”
“Sorry is not gonna cut it. You wanna tell me what you’re playing at?”
“I broke the nose of some cunt called Graham Fisher, then when he locked me out of his house, I kicked the door down and dragged him out of the understairs cupboard, but the cops showed up before I could stomp the fucker into mush.”
Leo frowns. “Graham Fisher? The guy Roxy dated?”
I drop my head into my hands and groan.
It had to be him.
“If that piece of shit fucked my woman, I’ll go back and fuck him up some more.”
Leo throws his hands in the air. “Good work, Benedikt. You came back here to dowhat? Mess around with Ali’s best friendagainafter what you did in Hawaii?”
I glare at him. Roxy told Ali, and she told Leo, presumably. Did they set up a sewing circle, too?”
“I’m glad you’re here, Leo, but you don’t have the full story.”
Leo has the sense enough not to interrupt. I only take a few minutes to get him up to speed.
“So Roxy was abducted by a man who may or may not be The Dollmaker,” he says, tapping his finger on his palm as he makes each point. “The guy sent down for the murders may be innocent. Roxy has been suspended from work because someone complained about her, and in response to that, you made the sensible decision to go and beat up a guy. In broad daylight, at his fuckinghome.”
“You’re gonna give me shit for trying to protect a woman?”
Leo knows what I’m talking about. He went through something similar for Ali, and weallnearly got killed inthatincident.
I’ve been arrested before, but one phone call was all it took to get out. I’d call my Pakhan, he’d knock heads together, and the cops would turn me loose immediately, usually with a few apologies thrown in. But Pavel is gone, and I’m bang to rights. I figure I’ll be able to talk my way out of it, but if Graham Fisher is determined to press charges…
The things Graham said got to me, and I lost control. It was stupid and reckless. I should never have gone after him in the first place, but the man put his filthy hands on Roxy. I was already itching for a reason to throw down on him, and his shitty attitude in the meeting was all I needed.
I have to get out of here in case the incorrigible prick decides to take the matter up with Roxy. Graham is a bigger problem than the so-called Dollmaker at this point.
“I know this isn’t Bratva business,” I say, “but I need a bailout.”
“Actually, that ought to be easy.” Leo grins at me. “Did you think no one was keeping tabs on you? When you disappeared, I got in big fucking trouble for losing track of you.”
“Why would anyone give a shit that I got my ass arrested?” I ask.
“Two things.” Leo sits on the bunk beside me. “Firstly, the Bratva couldn’t get an angle on that guy Hillard. So when he needed a profiler, Freddie saw an opportunity to do the Bratva a solid. Sending you in as a Trojan horse gave us the leverage we needed, makingyouvaluable.”
Ah. Hillard totally ignored my fucking profile anyway. Farraday handed himself in, the evidence was there, and my valuable contribution was filed and forgotten.
“Hillard was fucking pissed when he found out,” Leo continues, “but it was too late by then. It’s in his interests to get you out of his hair as soon as possible.”