Chapter 6 - THE PRICE OF THE WAITRESS
“No.”
Nikolai’s refusal shook the room more than shouting.
Sophie stood in the estate library while police studied the ransom note.
“They asked for me.”
“They will not receive you.”
“Then they kill Kolya.”
“They may kill him anyway.”
Sophie flinched.
Nikolai’s face tightened.
“I will not trade one innocent person for another.”
“They already destroyed my home.”
“I can rebuild it.”
“You cannot rebuild him.”
“No.”
The single word contained terror.
Lieutenant Grace Callahan entered carrying a map.
She was in her forties, sharp eyed, and visibly unimpressed by Nikolai’s reputation.
“The South River property includes six connected warehouses. Viktor’s phone last pinged near number four.”
“Can you enter unseen?” Nikolai asked.
“Not before dawn if he has watchers.”
Sophie looked toward the map.
Birchwood Diner received flour from a distributor near the South River warehouses. She knew the loading roads and abandoned rail access.
“There is a drainage channel behind number six.”
Callahan looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“My supplier complained about trucks getting stuck there.”
Nikolai turned.
“You are not going.”
Sophie ignored him.
“The channel reaches the river beneath the old tracks. Someone could approach from the west without using the main road.”
Callahan marked the map.
“That gives us another team.”
The ransom message demanded Sophie arrive carrying Talia’s phone.
Viktor believed the device held evidence.
They could use it to transmit location and audio.
Sophie volunteered to carry a replica.
Nikolai refused again.
Callahan said, “She may be the only person Viktor expects not to understand how dangerous he is.”
“She understands.”
“That is why she may follow instructions.”
Nikolai looked toward Sophie.
“Why are you willing to do this?”
She held the folded burgundy apron against her chest.
“Because Kolya came through my door and trusted me.”
“He trusts me too.”
“Then be the father waiting close enough to bring him home.”
For several seconds, Nikolai said nothing.
Then he walked toward the window.
“When my wife died, I promised no one would use him to reach me.”
“You cannot promise a child that nobody will ever hurt them.”
“What can I promise?”
“That when someone does, you believe them and come.”
He turned.
The answer wounded him because it was exactly what Kolya needed.
The plan was prepared.
Sophie wore a transmitter beneath her sweater.
Talia gave her the emergency watch.
“The battery has four hours.”
Sophie placed it inside Kolya’s dried paper bag beneath the nanny’s phone.
Callahan’s teams moved toward the drainage channel.
Nikolai waited inside an unmarked vehicle two blocks away.
At 4:37 a.m., Sophie walked alone toward warehouse four.
The storm had weakened to cold rain.
A single overhead light burned above the loading entrance.
Viktor stood inside.
He was broad shouldered, blond, and elegantly dressed despite the warehouse grime. His expression resembled Elena’s.
Beautiful and empty.
Kolya sat tied to a chair behind him.
His face was bruised.
He was awake.
“Sophie.”
His voice broke.
She stopped herself from running toward him.
Viktor smiled.
“The waitress arrives.”
“You asked for me.”
“And the phone?”
She lifted the paper bag.
“Let Kolya go.”
“You misunderstand your value.”
“I understand exactly. You need someone poor enough for people to blame.”
Viktor’s smile sharpened.
“Poverty makes excellent camouflage. Everyone assumes desperation before innocence.”
“Is that what you told Elena?”
He stepped closer.
“Elena was decorative. Dmitri is the architect.”
“Where is he?”
“Watching.”
Sophie looked toward the warehouse cameras.
The watch inside the bag recorded every word.
Viktor extended one hand.
“The phone.”
She approached slowly.
Kolya shook his head.
“Don’t.”
Viktor struck the back of his chair.
Sophie stopped.
“Touch him again and you get nothing.”
The authority in her voice surprised Viktor.
For a moment, he saw what Nikolai had seen inside the diner.
She was exhausted.
Poor.
Afraid.
And still unwilling to bend where a child was concerned.
Viktor took the bag.
He opened it.
The emergency watch vibrated.
His eyes dropped.
He understood.
Sophie lunged toward Kolya.
A gunshot struck the warehouse light.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Police entered from two sides.
Viktor seized Sophie by the hair and dragged her against him.
Kolya screamed.
Emergency lights flashed red.
Viktor pressed a weapon beneath Sophie’s jaw.
“Tell Nikolai to come inside alone.”
Through the darkness, Nikolai’s voice answered:
May you like
“I am already here.”
Continue to the next part: Nikolai enters without a weapon and offers Viktor control of the entire shipping empire, but Kolya notices the warehouse floor moving beneath his chair.
