Page 26 of Ruinous Need
LISETTE
“LISETTE, OUT OF bed. We’ve got to go.”
Daria wakes me up while it’s still dark outside.
She throws a pile of random clothing from the wardrobe into a bag.
“Now. In your pajamas. Move it.”
What is going on?
The bright lights hurt my eyes and I’m still sore from the way Viktor destroyed me last night.
“What’s happening?” I ask, my voice croaky. “Where’s Viktor?”
“I’ll explain on the way.”
She hustles me out of the door, rubbing the back of her neck while she waits for me to get out of bed and into jeans and a t-shirt.
“No,” she barks. “Something warmer. Put those wooly socks on. And a coat. ”
The set of drawers bangs open with her rushed movements. She doesn’t even close it, dragging me out of the room with a hand around my wrist while I struggle to pull the socks on.
She brings Chekhov as well, hitching him onto the leash and shoving it into my hands. He looks precisely as confused as I feel, whining as we leave Viktor alone in the apartment and refusing to budge until I give him a treat.
We power-walk down to the parking garage. I have to take three steps for every one of Daria’s long powerful strides.
When we’re safely in the car, she seems to release a breath, pulling up her tablet and frowning at a map.
“Stay here,” she tells me, crossing the parking garage to take a call that I can’t hear.
From her body language, Daria looks panicked about something. She waves her hands as she talks on the phone and, at the end of the call, gives a helpless shrug. Then she frantically nods as though she’s made some kind of agreement.
When she gets back to start the car, she’s short of breath, but she doesn’t seem to be in such a rush anymore. We pull out of the garage onto the city streets and head for the highway.
“Viktor thinks you’re not safe in the city anymore. We’re heading into the mountains to his family’s holiday home. He’ll join us in a week’s time.”
A week.
Just when I thought I was getting somewhere with Viktor, when he was talking to me and getting used to my presence, he sends me away again.
“I don’t get why he couldn’t come with us.”
“He has things to do in the city.” A frustratingly vague response.
“What things?” She won’t tell me.
I have a million questions I need to ask him. Last night has left me feeling deeply uncertain. And now the unexpected road trip has me flashing back to the meeting with Semyon.
Daria has told me I need to duck down every time the car goes through a populated area, which has left me on edge.
I’ve tried to interrogate her about what’s changed that means we need to be on high alert right now, but she won’t tell me.
He didn’t even say goodbye to me.
That’s the thought that keeps me awake, staring at the scenery as Daria drives us up into the mountains and the landscape turns from my home to somewhere unfamiliar.
Daria stops for a break at one point, and she seems distracted, tapping away at her phone.
It’s unlike Daria. Normally when Viktor’s away, she’s one of the people that I can talk to about anything.
It feels like she’s checked out. She even lets me take Chekhov out so I can give him water, and I visit the gas station bathroom by myself. This would’ve been unheard of last week.
I guess everyone’s in such a panic that things are slipping through the cracks. It does make me a little apprehensive about being apart from Viktor.
When I get back, Chekhov and I wait patiently in the passenger seat. He puts his nose on my lap, and I pet his soft black fur.
“Where’s your daddy, Chekhov? Why didn’t he even say goodbye to us?”
I can’t keep my voice from cracking.
I still don’t get why he couldn’t come with us.
I didn’t think it would be beautiful.
The safe house is not what I expected.
It’s up in the Adirondack Mountains, so far north it’s practically in Canada.
It takes hours to drive there along winding mountain roads. Supposedly, it’s where Viktor’s family used to spend their summers when he was a kid.
I wander the hallways of the big lodge right next to a frozen lake. It’s surrounded by pine forest. And it seems peaceful, like there’s no one around for miles.
The house next door is abandoned and overgrown.
Daria sweeps the property for security threats and reports that there’s nothing.
I don’t know why I feel so nervous. I guess it’s because I’m apart from Viktor. We’ve been living together for almost two months now.
It’s strange how quickly you get used to having someone else in your face. Until they don’t feel like an annoyance any more but just a part of your life.
I persuade Daria to let me go for a walk around the property. To my surprise, she doesn’t object. Chekhov needs the exercise.
Compared to the city, where I was confined to the apartment, it feels incredible to get fresh air. Even if the snow is deep, the walk is hard, and I’m freezing half the time.
Hopefully, when Viktor gets here, we can go skiing. I’ve never been before, but I’m sure he could teach me.