Steam from our mouths billowed into the air, and we plastered ourselves against the wall to wait.
Luckily, my side didn’t hurt at all, and I didn’t know if it was because of the drugs they gave me still lingering or the adrenaline, but I just wanted to get in there. Rika’s fucking ideas were thrashing around my head, and every second Winter spent inside that house…
I squeezed my fists, trying to calm down.
A deep creak filled the air, iron bars clanked together, and the gate opened, a black Chevy Tahoe pulling through, its lights flashing on the forest ahead. They pulled to a stop, dust kicking up from the road underneath, and opened the doors, one guy from each side stepping out.
I waited for them to move around the front of their car, out of our line of sight, to talk to our guys, but before I could shoot off, Rika grabbed me.
I jerked my head, glaring at her.
No time to lose. What the fuck?
But she just shook her head, grinning. “I know this trick.”
And she rushed forward, crouching down and running for the back of the SUV.
What?
Will and I had no choice. We followed her, racing to the rear of their car as she pulled the back door open and climbed inside.
I shot a glance around us and inside the car to make sure it was empty. The dome lights were already on since the guys left the doors opened, so they didn’t notice when she opened the hatch.
Jesus. This was stupid.
“Looks good,” I heard one of the guys say in front. “Only she makes it right.”
Gingerly, Will and I climbed in after Rika, all of us sitting and slouched, staying down and out of sight.
“This is dumb!” I mouthed to Rika.
She rolled her eyes and pulled the door closed but not all the way.
“Try some,” someone said outside.
“Think I poisoned you?”
There was a pause as David or Lev probably taste-tested the food for my father’s men, and then I heard David speak up again.
“Where’s the vodka?” he asked.
The car rocked under us as someone dug in it for the bottle they were trading.
“Splendid,” David finally said.
“New employers too good for the black market?”
“At least I’m getting fed well,” David replied. “You?”
There was silence and then my father’s guy asked, “This time again next week?”
Come on, come on, come on…
The car jostled under us as the men climbed back in, and I watched Rika as she waited.
As soon as their doors slammed shut, she pulled ours closed, masking the sound, and the interior went dark
as the guys shifted into gear and shot off in reverse.