The Mistaken (43 page)

I gasped at the insensitive way in which he revealed
the details of Hannah’s assault.

“You do know what that means, don’t you, Mr.
Karras?”

I couldn’t look at him, I was so disturbed and
angry. “Yes,” I answered under my breath.

“Do you?
” he asked again more urgently.

“Yes!” I screamed, lifting my head and staring him
in the eye.

He leaned forward and raised his brow. “Well then,
I’d say your services leave a lot to be desired. So tell me what
happened? How did she end up like that?”

I clenched my hands together to keep from lunging
across the table, but I think Sidorov was purposely baiting me, so
I leaned back in my seat and cooled my temper before I spoke.

“Since both Nick and I were all Dmitri really
wanted, I arranged for Hannah to fly back home. I arranged for her
car to be shipped back to her home, then bought her an airline
ticket, and hired transportation to the airport and an escort to
see her through to security. We said our goodbyes, and she left.
Afterwards, I took a taxi to Dmitri’s Tea House out on Geary, as we
had arranged, but it was evident pretty quickly that he wasn’t
interested in anything I had to say.”

Agent Sidorov stopped writing and looked at me above
his glasses. “How so?” he asked.

“Well, two of his men beat the shit out of me, threw
me and Nick into a van, drove us to that bloody warehouse, and
dumped us each in a cage. Then they made me watch as some fucking
thug beat my brother to death,” I said, glaring contemptuously at
him for asking. “Afterwards, I was… forced...to do
something…something I never thought I’d ever do to another human
being.” My eyes flitted from one man to the next as I gauged their
reaction.

All three men stared back, silent, waiting. I
remained stone quiet for several uncomfortable moments before I
pulled myself together and finished.

“I didn’t know that Dmitri had gotten to Hannah at
the hotel. I didn’t know until right before the fight began. They
paraded her out on the gallery for me to see. It was...distressing,
to say the least.” I shook my head, and my jaw flexed in silent
rage. “Hannah didn’t tell me what had happened, and I didn’t ask. I
could tell just by looking at her.” I paused again, trying to calm
the fire that burned inside me as I remembered Hannah standing on
the walkway above the arena.

“They brought her there for no other reason than to
get to me, Agent Sidorov.” I turned away, unable to look him in the
eye. “And it did,” I admitted with a nod. “It got to me.”

For a few moments, all I could hear was Sidorov
scratching notes on his pad. Then he placed his pen down and sighed
through his nose. “Did you kill all those men, Mr. Karras?” Sidorov
asked directly. He paused and waited for me to respond. “It would
be...understandable if you had, to save your own life, to save Ms.
Maguire.”

I couldn’t respond. I just sat there looking at my
hands resting on the table. I felt Sidorov staring at me. After a
few silent minutes, he began to pack up his things.

“All right, that’s all for now. An officer will be
in shortly to escort you to your cell. We’ll speak again sometime
tomorrow.” He glanced at his watch and huffed. “Or later
today.”

My shoulders sagged and I let out a long breath,
relieved that he wasn’t going to push me any further. I caught his
arm as he passed me on his way out.

“Agent Sidorov, if it’s at all possible, would you
find out how Hannah is doing and let me know...please?”

Sidorov hesitated then nodded before he left.

Chapter Forty
-
Six

Tyler

I spent a difficult night in jail. Violent tremors
wracked my body and didn’t even begin to ease until the following
noon hour. At that point, I might have been able to hold a spoon
and eat my lunch if it weren’t for the nausea that tightened my
belly, or the imaginary insects that continued to startle me as
they crawled out from my food. I think I was on my seventh straight
day without meaningful sleep, but I couldn’t be sure. The pounding
that had been hammering around in my head the previous four days
had ramped way up in the last few hours, but thankfully began to
mellow as the tremors faded to a slow simmer. The only thing that
made the morning bearable was the news I received from Sidorov:
Hannah was resting comfortably and would be all right.

I was allowed to shower, and I shaved for the first
time in nearly three weeks. My grey beard—which aged me
considerably—was replaced by the cuts and bruises beneath. I hardly
recognized my reflection in the mirror. As I looked myself in the
eye, I no longer saw the man I used to be. He was gone. I was
afraid I would never see him again. In his place was a shell, a
ghost. And I cried knowing I had thrown everything away.

I was escorted back to the same small interview room
late that afternoon. Only Agent Sidorov was in attendance when I
arrived. He stood and greeted me with a firm handshake, ignoring
the soft quaking of my hands and the beads of perspiration across
my forehead and lip. He took a seat and got right down to
business.

“Did you receive my message about Ms. Maguire’s
condition?” he asked.

“Yes, I did. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now, Mr. Karras, taking into
consideration all that you’ve been through and all that you’ve most
likely done yourself, the Bureau has decided to offer you a
deal.”

I snorted. “And what if I don’t like your deal?” I
asked, unsure if I should be grateful or not.

He pulled back in his seat. “Well then, the Bureau
would have no choice but to prosecute you on multiple charges of
murder and interfering in an investigation, as well as kidnapping
and conspiracy charges. All of which would be federal, of course,
each very serious with severe penalties. At best, you’re looking at
thirty years. Worst case? Well, let’s just say that kidnapping
across state lines with bodily harm is a capital offense.” With his
brow raised, he gave me a tight-lipped grin.

“Right,” I replied stiffly. I was no fool. Without
Hannah’s cooperation, I knew the kidnapping charges probably
wouldn’t stick, but the others had me worried. “What’s your offer
then?” I asked.

“You may not have heard yet but, Dmitri Chernov was
arrested early this morning. After two years, we feel we have a
significant case against him for illegal gambling, tax evasion,
extortion, human trafficking, and even federal murder. Given your
insight into his organization over the last few years, as well as
personally witnessing the events that took place last evening, we
would like you to provide testimony against him at both the
evidentiary hearing and at trial.”

I was about to interrupt when Sidorov raised a
finger, delaying me a moment while he finished.

“In exchange for your testimony, we will withdraw
all current charges against you and offer you the government’s
services within the witness protection program, including a new
identity, relocation, job training and placement, as well as
protection, of course. But I must warn you, you will have to cut
all ties from your current life, and you will not be allowed to
contact anyone from your past. Since your immediate family is
all…deceased, I imagine it will be easier for you than most.” He
paused, gauging me for a reaction. “So, what do you think, Mr.
Karras?” He smiled, like he was doing me some great favor.

I stared at him for a long time then sat back in my
seat. “I think I should consult with an attorney.”

“Well, that would be your prerogative, of course,
but I urge you toward haste. Mr. Chernov’s attorney is currently
working to get him released on bail,” Sidorov explained then paused
for effect, “from the same unit where you are being held. I’m not
sure which is more dangerous for you: Chernov here in jail or out
on bail. You
should
be safe in here, but I can’t guarantee
that. You know how it is. And I can’t guarantee that bail won’t be
granted either. As you know, Chernov is a man of great influence
and an even greater propensity toward violence. It seems he has
quite the vendetta against you. So the faster we make this deal,
the quicker we can get you out of here and make you safe.”

“What vendetta?” I asked. “He got what he wanted.
Nick’s dead. What more could he possibly want from me?”

“Oh, quite a bit more,” he said. Then he tilted his
head, looking a bit confused. “You don’t know? Your brother never
shared your father’s secret?”

“My father? What are you talking about? What does he
have to do with any of this?”

“Everything, apparently. Our sources have determined
a link between your father and Dmitri Chernov.”

“That’s insane. My father had never even stepped
foot in San Francisco before the day he arrived here, the same day
he was killed in a car accident. He didn’t know Chernov.”

“It seems he did, Mr. Karras. Chernov came to the
U.S. by way of London some eighteen years ago, two years after your
father unexpectedly moved your family to Melbourne.”

“So, what does one have to do with the other? I
don’t see a connection.”

“Three months before your family relocated to
Australia, your father testified in court against one Mikhail
Chernov on murder and racketeering charges. Chernov was convicted
and sentenced to twenty years in prison. Unfortunately, he didn’t
get the opportunity to serve that sentence. He was murdered by a
rival within the first month of confinement. Mikhail’s younger
brother, Dmitri, held your father responsible and put a contract
out on his life, but your father had already disappeared. Not long
afterwards, Dmitri and his younger half-brother, Alexi Batalov—with
whom he shared a mother—came to the U.S. and set up shop in San
Francisco’s Outer Richmond District. You can imagine their surprise
when, seventeen years later, your brother, Nick, fell right into
their lap.”

I shook my head. “No, there’s no way. I would have
known about this, about my father.”

“What do you remember about the months before you
left England?” Sidorov asked. “What was life like at home?”

“It was fine. I mean, there was nothing different.
Not really. My father was just stressed about his job, that’s all.
He was an accountant with a big firm in London. Then all of a
sudden, he took a promotion and we packed for the move. My mum was
upset, at first. She didn’t want to leave, but once we did, she
never looked back. In fact, she never…she never…” I stopped and
search my memory. “Oh God, she never did go back. Not once. Even to
visit her family. My father wouldn’t allow it. And when I finished
at university and told him I was returning, he forbid me. Said it
wasn’t safe. I never even thought to question him about it. Oh my
God, all those years. He never said a word.”

“And what about your brother?” Sidorov asked. “Nick
never said anything to you about Dmitri and Alexi knowing your
father?”

“No, never. Not once. He couldn’t possibly have
known. Nick would never have gone to work for them if he had.”

“Are you sure about that? He wasn’t forced to join
their ranks?”

“Yes, well…I mean, he had no choice. They forced him
in, but it was to pay off his debt from the robbery. At least,
that’s what he said, or what he intimated anyway. He said it was…
He said…” I paused again, rooting around my head for my brother’s
exact words. “Bloody hell. Nick said it was more complicated than I
knew. Oh my God, he knew. He knew, and he didn’t tell me.” I laid
my face in my hands. “Oh, Nick. My God. What did you do?”

“When Nick robbed that store, he brought them right
to your door. I have a feeling, once Nick knew who they were and
what they wanted, he tried to protect you—from them, from the
“sins” of your father, so to speak. An eye for an eye sort of
thing. Only it was first born son for first born son. And Nick
stepped in. Am I right, Mr. Karras? Did your brother sacrifice
himself in a last bid attempt to appease Dmitri Chernov and Alexi
Batalov for the death of their oldest brother?”

I thought about the possibility and wanted to toss
it out of hand, but there were too many things Nick had said that
clicked into place. When we spoke on the phone and I begged him to
let me help him.
“I’m so sorry, Tyler. Do you see now? This is
why I don’t want you to come after me. You were right all along. I
just get in the way. And that’s just the half of it,”
he’d
said.
“You don’t know, Ty. You just don’t know...”
And then
right before his last fight at the cages, he’d said,
“No
worries. I got this. I know what I have to do now. I’m going to
take care of things for once in my life. My last gift to you,
brother.”
I pleaded with him to fight, but he said,
“Someone
has to appease the gods.”

It was true. My God, Nick
had
sacrificed
himself for me. Tears flooded my eyes and poured over my
cheeks.

These last few years, I had been so hard on my
brother. I had shunned him for his weakness, for his addictions,
for choosing to serve Alexi and Dmitri in order to repay
his
debt, for offenses I thought
he’d
committed. But I’d been
wrong about so many things, like Nick’s culpability for the
accident that killed our parents and sister, for preventing him
from helping Jillian. And now this.

All this time, Nick had been protecting
me
,
and he’d done so in a way that would keep me far from the danger
that he subjected himself to every single day. I would never be
able to thank him, to acknowledge all that he had forfeited in
order to protect
me
, the older brother who believed he’d
done so much to take care of his younger, irresponsible
sibling.

The truth was too much to bear. The shame of it
crushed me.

Sidorov tapped his fingers on the table. “I’m sorry,
Mr. Karras. I thought you deserved to know. I realize it doesn’t
make it any easier, but perhaps it will help you make your
decision. Dmitri Chernov deserves to rot in prison for the rest of
his life. And you can help put him there. I can’t offer you
protection—in here or on the outside—unless you help us out.”