Page 16 of Kept in the Dark

Look, I’m not one to yuck someone’s yum, but I amnota willing participant in whatever kink this is.

I make it through the line of trees, and he’s waiting for me at the entrance of the maze, leaning into a bush and fanning himself with my bag. He cackles at the sight of me and spins away, disappearing behind greenery and darkness.

“Come on, Kyle, don’t do this. Please, just give it back.”

As he laughs again, I realize I’m not making this any better for myself. He wants my frustration, my reticence, my desperation. I’m playing right into whatever weird bullying fantasy he’s acting out right now.

The entrance to the hedge maze looms in front of me. I don’t know what kind of bush/tree/shrub things these are, but they must be 10 feet tall, and they’re so densely packed I can’t see through them. My Labyrinth-loving heart would be thrilled, if not for the ridiculous, annoying context. And I’d really prefer to be doing this with some light other than just the moon…

I open my mouth to call out for him again, but stop as I hear a commotion on my right. A group of guys is headed this way, laughing and chatting. One of them is the dude Kyle knew earlier, and I can feel his horrible eyes on me. They feel like mockery.

I hate this. I hate being out here with judgmental voyeurs, and I really,reallydon’t want to go in there.

A maze. At night. Alone. What happens when I catch up with him? Is he just going to give it back without some kind of altercation? Probably not. But otherwise, how am I going to get my phone?

Stepping just inside so I’m out of sight of Kyle’s friends, who appear to be about to start peeing in the bushes, I bend down and untie the careful knots Lev made. The grass is soft underfoot, and if I need to run after this complete asshole, there’s no way I’ll manage in four-inch heels that keep sinking into the soft earth. I hook the straps in the crook of my index finger and head into the maze after Kyle.

5

Dimitri

It is important to know that a man you have killed is truly dead.

“Fuck,” I curse, checking the last stall in the bathroom and finding it empty. “He must have slipped out the window.”

“You’re sure it was Felix?”James presses.

“I am sure. He was at the bar, speaking with a man—5’10”, brown hair slicked back, Caucasian. They parted ways before I could get close enough to hear anything or discover who the other man was.”

“I don’t like it,”James decides with a sigh.“He didn’t tell either of us he was going to be at the wedding, too, which feels pretty fuckin’ intentional.”

“I agree,”Wesley echoes.“We’ve got plenty of photos, and I’ve already started running them through my database for matches in the system—that’s enough to get started. It was well worth the cost of admission, I’d say.”

“Cut our losses?”James suggests.

“Perhaps that is for the best,” I muse.

As a general rule, it is best to err on the side of caution when faced with too many unknowns. Since I do not know why Felix is here, it would be unwise to follow through with the hit. We will take the information I gathered and assassinate Viktor Volkevich another time, when there is no one around to link me to the crime.

And in the meantime, I wish to know what Felix is up to.

“Keep watch for him in the security cameras, Wesley.”

“I will, but I haven’t spotted him so far. My guess is he knows where they are and he’s avoiding them.”

I move towards the frosted window in this bathroom, which appears to be painted shut. It lifts with very little force, and the screen is missing, so I know this is how Felix escaped. Did he see me and run?

I peer out, looking for signs of the man himself or any potential witnesses, and find only vacant darkness. Assessing the size of the window against my bulk, I shake my head. This will be tight.

The squeeze is uncomfortable, but I make it through the window and drop only a few feet, landing on a small stretch of grass out behind the kitchen, where the workers have littered the ground with cigarette butts. I can still smell smoke in the air, so I am very fortunate that the area is empty now.

As part of our prep work, we reviewed blueprints and took note of the position of the guards. I know that the best exit point is through that maze of greenery. There is a fence and a single isolated guard that separate the property from the wooded area beyond. My car is parked and waiting for me in the neighborhood that sits on the other side of the trees.

I start circling the house, heading back towards the gardens, but a voice nearly causes me to stumble.

“Sir?”

Fuck!