Page 65 of The Bratva’s Monster

“Not really. I’m safe, don’t worry. In hiding while Rikki is handling business.”

I send the message and I get no response for about a minute. Then the phone rings. It’s Yeva.

“You’re where?” she asks.

“I’m in a motel hiding out,” I tell her. “I’m fine, though.”

“Why the hell are you in hiding? What’s going on?”

I never told her any of this. Guess now’s as good a time as any. “It’s a long story and I don’t want to interrupt your date⁠—”

“Fuck my date. Who’s after you that you need to be in hiding?”

I sigh and say, “The Irkutsks. Maybe your brother. Somebody’s ratting out the Bratva and…” It’s almost too much to go into. I lean back on my pillow. “They think that I’m a rat. Because of Gedeon. But Rikki and I found some things that could exonerate him. He’s going to talk to Alex about it.”

She doesn’t say anything for a second, then, “Okay, Liz. You need to hang up right now and turn off your phone.”

“Turn off my⁠—”

“They can track the signal, Liz. Turn it off.”

My hands start to shake. “Are you joking?”

“No, I’m not joking. Look, I’m hanging up now. Call me after you’re somewhere safe, okay?”

With that she hangs up the phone. I stare at the screen for a few moments as an icy terror creeps through my chest.

They can track the signal, Liz. I hadn’t even considered…

I turn off my phone, but now I’m wondering if it’s too little, too late. My phone’s been on since we left my house last night. Shit.

I stand up, wondering if maybe I should throw the phone out entirely. I’m not standing long before a sound grabs my attention.

I turn toward the door just as the knob is wiggling up and down.

I grab the gun on the bed and cock it just as the door opens… and I freeze.

Standing in the doorway, gloves on his hands and a knife in one of them, is Josef. His eyes dart to the gun in my hands and widen.

I haven’t pointed it at him yet. I’m frozen. I’m too scared to move.

One corner of his mouth turns up into a snarl and he walks all the way into the room, closing the door behind him. “Who’s that for, little girl?” he asks. “You going to shoot me?”

I can’t talk. I feel like I’m sitting here behind glass, watching this moment play out before me. He’s here to kill me and there’s nothing I can do to stop him…

His eyes move back to the gun and his smile widens. “Nah, you’re not going to shoot me. You don’t have it in you. You’ve been running around all this time like a scared rabbit. You couldn’t kill a fly.”

He flips the knife around in his hand and takes a step toward me. “Say goodnight⁠—”

The world splits open around me in a loud bang and the smell of gunpowder as his shoulder explodes and he jerks back awkwardly. He stares at me in disbelief as he stumbles backward and looks down at his wound.

“You stupid bitch,” he said. “You shot me!”

And now I realize that I’m holding the gun. I can see it in my hands, the barrel smoking. “I don’t want to kill you,” I say through clenched teeth. “But if you make me, I’ll do it.”

He chuckles, then he takes another step toward me. I lower the gun, pointing at his knee as I pull the trigger again. It jerks and the bullet hits him in the thigh. He wails out in pain and falls to the floor.

“Fucking bitch!” He’s shouting. I get up and walk around the bed to see him writhing on the floor, holding his leg as blood comes pouring out. He’s dropped the knife, but it’s still well within his reach. I kick it across the room.