Edge of Control: An Edge Security Novel (Edge Security Series Book 1) (20 page)

“Dani, we’ll talk later. Okay?” Jake said.

“Sure.” Dani walked to the elevator, knowing Jake watched her but refusing to look back. She couldn’t bear to see the pity in his eyes.

In the lounge, she dropped her pack to the floor and flopped into one of the easy chairs.

Merde
. She’d really screwed up this time. Chuck had told her from the beginning she should tell them the truth. And now it was too late. They would never trust her now.

Shame washed over her. Why couldn’t she have owned up to who she had once been? If she had, then maybe she wouldn’t be in this mess now. She’d been a stupid, lonely kid who’d fallen for the wrong guy. A guy who had turned out to be dangerous and psychotic. She shivered and hugged herself.

Her happiness this morning seemed so long ago. She sighed and grabbed her pack. Even if she was no longer welcome in IT, at least she could go over Dmitri’s files on her laptop. Perhaps she could find a clue to where Tassia might be.

Her cell rang and she dug it out of her pack. The number was unavailable and her heart started to beat faster. “Hello?” she said.

“
Bonjour
, Danika,” Vladimir purred into her ear. “We need to talk. Is there anyone else listening?”

She hesitated. “No.”

“Good. I want to make a deal with you,” he said. “I will let your friend go, if you come back to me.”

Dani froze. Go back? “To do what?”

“Doing what you do best,
Kotyonok
. We could use your help with our exports.”

“I won’t help you traffic innocent women.”

He chuckled. “I’d forgotten how soft you are. Don’t worry,
Kotyonok
. These women aren’t innocent. Most of them signed on willingly.”

Dani doubted that. “I still won’t work for you.”

Vladimir sighed heavily. “Then I’m sorry about your friend.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Kill her, of course.”

“Wait!” Dani shouted, afraid Vladimir would hang up the phone.

“Yes?” he said calmly.

She gritted her teeth. “Where should I meet you?”

She had five minutes, tops, before she had to be on the road. Vladimir had only given her twenty minutes to get to the drop site across town. She debated for less than a second about what her next move would be. She ran for the stairs to go to the sixth floor to find Jake.

The door wouldn’t open.

Merde!
It was locked and she’d given up her passkey.

Her insides twisted with the realization. She couldn’t get upstairs to the people who could help. She’d been locked out of the inner circles of E.D.G.E. She’d have time later to think about what that meant for her. Right now she had to help Tass.

She yanked out her cell and called Jake. It went straight to voicemail. She left him as many details as possible before taking the elevator to the parking garage. She jimmied the lock on Jake’s E.D.G.E. car and hotwired it.

She had fifteen minutes.

The morning sunshine promised a beautiful day as Dani pulled the sedan into the parking lot behind the three-story brick building on the north end of the island. It was close to midday, but the area looked deserted. One window at the back was boarded up, another clearly had had something thrown through it, and the brick wall had gang tags spraypainted all over it. A wooden chair propped open the back door.

She got out of the car, leaving it running, and strode to the door, her pack on her back. Inside, she came face to barrel with a Glock held by a thick man in jeans and a cheap leather jacket that creaked when he moved.

“Danika?” His Russian accent sharpened her name like a whetstone.

“
Da
. Take me to Vladimir.” She spoke Russian to emphasize she belonged.

He lowered his pistol. “Follow me.”

Vladimir stood in the open area of the building’s first floor, the front windows behind him, a welcoming smile on his face. Two of his men stood nearby. One held Tassia with an arm around her throat and a gun at her temple.

One eye was swollen shut and she clutched her arm against her chest as if it hurt. She wore no shoes or coat. Dani barely recognized Tassia’s favorite silk sheath dress, hanging filthy and torn on her shaking frame.

“Tassia?” Dani didn’t know what she was asking, but the state of her friend made her fear what she’d been through.

“You shouldn’t have come, Dani,” she said, her voice hoarse. “They’re monsters.”

The man holding Tassia jerked her back against him and whispered something in her ear. She paled further and her good hand scratched at his arm.

Dani pressed her lips together. She would see these men dead. “Leave her alone,” she barked in Russian.

Vladimir chuckled. “You do not give orders here,
Kotyonok
. But I’m glad for your friend’s sake that you were so prompt.”

“Let her go,” Dani said coldly.

Vladimir’s smile disappeared.

Dani stood her ground and hardened her voice. She would not waver before Vladimir, or he’d pounce on any weakness he found. “Let Tassia go and I’ll come with you, like we agreed.”

Vladimir’s beautiful face twisted. “Why don’t I keep her and use her as leverage against you?”

Dani sighed as if she were bored of the conversation, even though her heart raced and she had to keep her hands in her pockets so no one would see them tremble. “Vladimir, you don’t need her. The authorities are searching everywhere for her. I’m sure Dmitri doesn’t like the extra attention you’ve brought to the family business.”

He took a step toward her, his hands clenched into fists. “Do not threaten me with my father, or no matter our history, I will make you regret it.”

She smiled just a little. She almost had him. “I’m not threatening you, Vlad. I’m advising you. Just like I used to.”

Vladimir’s hands unclenched, but his eyes remained narrowed. He looked like a predatory angel. “Do not think that I trust you, Danika. But I keep my word.” He turned to his men. “Release her.”

The man holding Tassia gave her a push, so she ended up stumbling toward Dani. Dani caught her and held her against her side.

Vladimir spoke in English. “It was lovely to meet you, Tassia. You have two minutes before my men start hunting you.” He eyed his watch. “Time starts now.”

“Dani?” Tassia’s nails dug into her forearms.

“Black sedan outside,” Dani whispered to her. “It’s running.”

She stared at Dani, unmoving. Vladimir started to grin.

“Run,” Dani barked. And Tassia did.

She waited, muscles tight, while Vladimir glanced at his watch, before looking up and giving her a smug grin. “I’m bored,” he said to his men. “Kill the woman.”

His men took off running.

“That wasn’t two minutes,” Dani protested.

He shrugged. “I lied.”

Dani licked her lips. It was only her and Vladimir at the moment. She was strong and fast. He didn’t seem to be armed. Maybe she could outrun him.

He tutted and pouted those full lips. “Don’t think you can back out of our deal,
Kotyonok
. I have men stationed outside with orders to kill you if you appear without me.”

A gunshot sounded, then a car engine roared and tires squealed. Dani felt her shoulders loosen. Tassia had gotten away. At least something had gone right.

Vladimir scowled when his men returned empty-handed. “
Blyad
. Clear the place out.”

“
Da
. We’re on it, Mr. Rusakov.”

Dani arched a brow. “Mister?”

“Don’t irritate me, Danika,” Vladimir said. “I’m not the man you left five years ago.”

No, he was crazier and meaner than the man she’d run from. But she didn’t say that. Instead, she smiled at him. She needed to keep him off-balance, and make him remember their relationship. Maybe she could get him to trust her again, at least enough that she could escape.

And this time she would run far from Montreal and Vladimir and the Rusakov family. A small part of her acknowledged that she’d also be running far from E.D.G.E., and from Jake.

The trunk opened and she squinted against the light someone shone into her eyes. Her stomach grumbled and she scowled, hiding her fear behind anger. The gag in her mouth made her throat dry and her shoulders ached from having her hands tied behind her back. She’d been in the trunk of Vladimir’s car since about noon, when the Boulder Brothers had tied her up and chucked her in. Beyond the flashlight, darkness waited.

Of course, Ivan and Boris hadn’t taken all afternoon to drive her around. They’d parked the car at one point and left her tied in the trunk. From the jokes they made afterward, they’d gone for dinner while she’d tired herself out attempting to kick the trunk open.

The men now hauled her out by her aching arms and set her on her feet. The well-kept farmhouse in front of them looked as though it held a loving family, complete with a golden retriever. A large, lit barn stood about fifty meters away, with several outbuildings arranged around it. She couldn’t see any other farms or houses close by.

Vladimir stepped into view. He pulled the gag from her mouth. “Tomorrow you will start to work for us.”

The way his gaze slithered over her body made her insides shrivel.

“And tonight?” she asked, hating that her voice trembled.

He smiled, but his voice and eyes were cold. “Tonight, I punish you for running from me, and teach you what happens if you ever do it again.”

She exhaled hard, as if she’d been punched. His smile widened. He liked seeing her at his mercy and scared. She couldn’t show him any fear, or it would set him and his sadistic tendencies off. She made her face as cold as his and shrugged as much as she was able. “Whatever gives you your jollies.”

He slapped her hard and pain splintered along her jaw.

“You should be more respectful, you don’t have your boyfriend to protect you,” he said.

She pulled herself straight. “I don’t have a boyfriend, and I don’t need anyone’s protection.”

He laughed. “Have you looked around,
Kotyonok
? You need my protection. I run things here.” He looked at the Boulder Brothers. “Bring her.”

He strode to one of the outbuildings and the brothers grabbed her arms in bruising grips and hauled her along. She tried to shrug them off.

“Vladimir, is this really necessary? I kept my end of the deal. I came when you called and asked me to work with you.”

“Not with.
For
.” He didn’t turn or pause in his stride.

The outbuilding was about the size of a two-car garage and made of wood that might have been painted brown, but it was hard to tell in the dark. The door creaked open and Vladimir hit the lights.

She sucked in a breath. It was one large room, open and empty except for various rusting tools lining the walls and a wooden straight-backed chair sitting in the middle of the concrete floor, right beside a drain. A single uncovered bulb hanging from the ceiling provided harsh light and showcased the dark stains surrounding the drain.

She shuddered and started to struggle, stomping on Boris’s foot and kicking Ivan in the knee. She ran.

She hadn’t taken more than ten steps when strong arms swooped her up and off her feet. Vladimir grinned at her. “I love your fire,
Kotyonok
.”

She wanted to spit in his face, but that would only make her punishment longer and harder. Instead she grinned back, making herself relax in his arms.

“I know you do,” she said. Then she gave a little pout. “Are you really going to go through with this? You know you don’t really want to.”

“You know me too well, Danika.” He lowered her so he held her chest to his with her toes only barely touching the ground. With her hands still tied behind her back, her breasts pressed against his muscled chest. She suppressed a shudder of revulsion as he purposely rubbed against her.

She deserved an acting trophy after this night. That is, if she survived.

He held her gaze as his hand tangled in her braid and gripped it tight. He lowered his mouth to hers and she forced herself not to struggle. He ravaged her mouth and nausea rose as his tongue thrust inside and dueled with hers.

His eyes glittered and he panted when he finally lifted his head. “I’m not sure I’m ever going to untie you,” he said. Then he chuckled. “I like the fear I see in your eyes. It makes me hard.”

She swallowed and put another layer of ice around her heart. If she didn’t, she’d never survive. She had to return to the girl she used to be. There would be time later to mourn the loss of the person she’d been trying to become.

She tossed her head to loosen Vladimir’s hand and gave him a haughty look. “I am not easy, and I don’t take kindly to being forced. If you want me, then you’re going to have to work for it.”

His nostrils flared and for a moment she thought she’d pushed him too far, but then he flung his head back and laughed. She hoped no one saw her shudder.

“Ah,
Kotyonok
, you are funny.” He released her and turned to the Boulder Brothers. The one she’d kicked in the knee limped toward them and glared at her. “Tell Anya we have a guest, and see she is placed in the blue bedroom.” He turned back to Dani. “I have business, Danika. I hope to see you later.”

A chill ran through her at his words, but she only nodded her head.

With muted snarls, the Boulder Brothers led her into the farmhouse, which was decorated in a mix of sleek leather furniture and rough wooden tables. A deer’s head with a full rack of antlers hung from the living room wall above a river-rock fireplace. The other wall was floor-to-ceiling windows, and she was sure the view would be of something beautiful come morning. The whole place had the feel of an elegant mountain lodge.

An elegant, isolated mountain lodge.

An open staircase led to a loft balcony and Ivan prodded her up the stairs and down a hall. Boris opened a door to reveal blue walls and a king-sized bed covered in a creamy duvet. Her backpack already sat in the middle of the bed. The snick of a knife leaving a sheath made her stiffen, but Ivan only used it to slice through the zip ties around her wrists.

She couldn’t stop the groan that escaped when her arms swung forward to their normal position.