24
Aleksandra
Thirty minutes earlier…
A black SUV approaches the gas station, and the window rolls down on the passenger side. I step outside with the twins. They’re whining and restless. I can’t blame them for being tired.
“Get in,” Luka says.
“I thought Mikhail was coming to get us.” The sun begins to rise, casting light over the mountains and through the forest.
While I’ve always trusted Luka, I thought the same about Yuri.
“It would take Mikhail hours out of his busy day to come to get you. Let’s just say I was in the neighborhood. Get in,” he says.
I open the back door and let the twins into the vehicle. I make sure the child safety latch isn’t enabled and then shut the door, opening the passenger side to sit up front beside Luka.
"Why were you in the neighborhood?" I ask.
"Mikhail wanted me to have Yuri followed." He glances in the rearview mirror at the twins. “Where’d they get those bears?”
“Antonio,” I say and frown. “Why?”
He turns around and rips the toys from their hands.
“What are you doing?” I scold Luka. Does he know nothing about kids? He can’t just steal their toys and not expect an outburst.
Sophia’s bottom lip pouts, and she sniffles, hiding her tears.
Liam folds his arms across his chest, his nose twitching with a snarl. “That was mine!” he bellows out before the waterworks come at full force. “Give it back!”
Luka pulls out a pocketknife and rips along the teddy bear’s spine. “What the hell are you doing?” There’s no way the twins will settle down now that he’s destroyed their presents.
He digs into the stuffing and yanks out a red flashing beacon. “The gifts are trackers. Possibly also surveillance equipment.” Luka jogs into the gas station and tosses the teddy bears into the garbage.
He says something to the attendant on duty, but I can’t hear the exchange. Luka doesn’t appear the least bit calm or polite. He’s probably threatening the man. That wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.
He hurries back to the vehicle.
“How the hell did you know there was a tracker in the stuffed animals?” I ask.
Is that how Antonio had been able to locate us last night? Maybe I should be relieved, but anger resonates throughout my body. What else had he seen? Witnessed?
How long had he been running surveillance on my children and me?
“I’ve seen something similar that was a nanny camera. You look like you’ve been through hell,” he says, glancing me over.
He slams the door shut and jets off, whisking us out of the parking lot.
* * *
I try to remain awake on the drive back to the city, but I’m exhausted after staying up all night. Not to mention the adrenaline rush from the previous day.
It takes all of my strength to keep my eyes open.
It’s hard to trust Luka after what happened with Yuri. I want to ask Luka about it, but I’m much too tired and struggling just to keep my eyes open.
While I don’t know where we are, he’s using his phone’s GPS to take us back to the city, which offers me a tiny bit of comfort.