Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91149 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
It happens on a Sunday, in the morning, on the happenstance occasion that I cut my time in the gym short because my ankle is bothering me. Nonna always comes to lock up when her timer goes off, so I don’t bother to alert her. But when I leave the room, I bump into the guard as he’s racing toward the bathroom.
He looks like hell, and it’s apparent that he had no consideration for his duties this morning because he still reeks of alcohol from the night before. The bathroom door slams behind him and the sound of his retching follows me down the hall.
I’m content to continue on my merry way until I notice that he left his things behind on the sofa. Specifically, his cigarettes, some change, and a phone.
I glance back at the door down the hall. He could be in there for a while. This could be my only opportunity. Or it could backfire spectacularly. Either way, I know I have to try.
I scoop up his phone and dart into the closet, huddling into the corner among the coats, hoping I can be quiet enough. My fingers tremble as I dial Gianni, and it seems to ring for an eternity before he picks up.
“Hello?”
“It’s me,” I whisper. “I need your help. Can you get me out of here?”
He’s quiet for a beat, and I hear shuffling on the other line as he moves somewhere so he can talk. “Tanaka?”
“Yes. Please, Gianni, I don’t have long. I need your help.”
“I can’t come to his house. I’ve been trying to get to you another way, but you’ll need to get out on your own first.”
“How?” I hiss. “That’s not going to happen. I’ve already tried.”
“You have to, Tanaka,” he implores. “I can’t come there. It’s too risky. Too much surveillance. You need to get out first. Just get as far away from the house as you can, and I’ll come for you.”
I want to scream out my frustration, but down the hall, the toilet flushes. “When, Gianni?”
“Tomorrow,” he answers. “With Nikolai gone, I don’t trust that you have much longer.”
I’m not sure how he knows that Nikolai is gone, but he’s right. I don’t trust that I’m safe here any longer, and I know that this is the only way to save both of us.
“You have to be close by,” I tell him. “It’s the only way.”
“I’ll be close,” he assures me. “Just get out of the house, and I’ll come for you.”
Down the hall, the faucet turns off.
“I have to go,” I whisper. “Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” Gianni agrees.
I press the end button frantically and race to delete the call but it’s too late to return the phone. The bathroom door opens, and when he walks down the hall, his shadow passes over the crack in the closet door.
There’s some rustling and a low curse in Russian before he’s walking back down the hall to the bathroom. I bolt from the closet as quietly as I can manage and run toward the sofa, stuffing the phone into the crack between the cushions.
I won’t have time to make it back up the stairs, so I run back to the gym. I barely have time to swing my leg up onto the barre before the guard pauses at the door, peering in. His eyes are narrowed, full of suspicion, but he doesn’t voice it. I return his gaze, desperately hoping I’m not giving anything away. After two of the longest seconds in my life, he goes back to the sitting room. I wait for five breaths before peeking around the corner to watch him from the door.
After some digging, he retrieves his phone from the cushions and shakes his head, flopping onto the sofa. I collapse against the wall and gulp my next breath of air.
Tomorrow.
I just have to make it to tomorrow.
“Tashechka.”
The hand on my arm is persistent, and I’m confused when I wake to find it’s Nonna shaking me. I sit upright in bed, noting from the darkness outside that it’s not yet dawn.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Nikolai has asked for you.”
“He’s here?” I rub the sleep from my eyes and move the blanket aside.
Nonna doesn’t answer, but she guides me to the closet and instructs me to dress.
“Where is he?”
“He’s waiting for you, but you must hurry.”
I don’t understand what’s happening, but I dress in the clothes Nonna hands me and when I’m finished, she leads me down the stairs and nods to the guard.
“She’s ready.”
He opens the front door and gestures me outside, but I hesitate. I’m supposed to leave today. Gianni will be waiting for me, and I won’t be able to meet him because I don’t know where we’re going.
“Where is Nikolai?” I repeat.
The guard looks at Nonna, and she shrugs as if to give permission. When I look back, he’s moved closer. I try to step away from him, but he reaches out and grabs my arm.