Page 5 of The Fixer
But she wasn’t in there; the mail piling up in her box was a sure sign Ophelia hadn’t been home in at least three days. The ringing in my ears died down some only to echo with her phone call less than 8 hours ago. Shehas to go, now…
That was a code phrase for ‘My parents did something terrible, and now something terrible is going to happen to me’. Frankly, it was much more concise. If her parents had done something extraordinarily awful, Ophelia wouldn’t come to her flat.
“Still, I had to try.” Closing my eyes tight, I drummed the wood with my fingertips as I let that phone call stream behind my mind’s eye. All I could do was think, and the helplessness I felt wasmaddening. Whatever her parents did had backlashed too fast for Ophelia to get ahead of it. Whoever her parents pissed off had let her make that phone call to me, though. If that person intended to kill them all, the phone call wouldn’t be necessary.
“I know that, though.” My brows furrowed at the rasp of my own mumble. Of course, it had been the first thing that popped into my head. Even after Ophelia had gotten off the phone, the call remained on the line.Thatwas where all the information was.
Chances were, I hadn’t met the person who spoke in the background, which meant it could be any handful of degenerates. Worse case scenario, it was a Makovich; those bastards were not known for dragging it out, though. Three days was a long time to spend on one family.
“Worst worse case… it’s Aleksander Makovich.” Goosebumps washed my skin under my button down, and I ground my teeth. I wasn’t blind; I’d seen the man on the news, even giving one of a number of guest seminars at University. The guy was a rockstar politician, essentially. He was just personable enough to captivate the masses so they didn’t see what was going on behind the scenes.
What happened on the other side of the curtain was the key. If this man was involved somehow, Ophelia and I would never get ahead. She worked for him, essentially ? she would be a familial lieutenant in an all consuming lifestyle. Despite keeping her distance from her family, she was very much involved in the shadow Aleksander cast.
Ophelia’s parents might be bigoted idiots, but she wasn’t.
“Oh— Oppie…” Crouching down to run my hands through my hair, my lip curled in an ugly frown. My ribs threatened to concave, crowding my heart as it beat in overdrive. There was never anything I could’ve done in this situation but knowing it and being crushed under it were not the same. “Shit.”
“It sucks, doesn’t it?”
My head snapped up, the world spinning until I managed to focus on the woman leaning casually against the wall.Ophelia’s nosy neighbor.
“She just up and flew out of here a few days ago, and hasn’t been back. I thought for sure you’d know where Ophelia went, but…”
“I don’t need you to fish for information to color your otherwise bland, boring life,Susan.” To be honest, I didn’t actually know her name, but ‘Susan’ was a proper fit if the internet was anything to go by.
She scowled lightly but didn’t move, only crossing her arms over her very unimpressive bust.
“What do you know?” I asked reluctantly.
“Just that about 20 minutes after Ophelia ran out, a couple guys came lookin’ for her. They said something happened to her parents… that they needed her because they weren’t expected to make it.”
Cursing hoarsely, I pushed myself up to storm past the woman and down the narrow steps. Ophelia’s apartment was in a nice part of Moscow, not far from the University. I knew the area like the back of my hand.
But I was about to enter unchartered territory because I’d never actually been to Ophelia’s parents’ house. They lived on the Moskva right at the end of the F6 subway line, with lots of privacy andlotsof woods. Glancing at my watch, I winced at the time and covered my mouth to hide my grimace.
Scuffing my heel against the cobblestone sidewalk, I fished my cell phone out of my pocket to redial the number Ophelia had used. This time, there was no raging debate—no care who was on the other end. For hours, I’d foregone using the only direct option of communication. My hand trembled as I held the speaker to my ear, the ringing overly loud as my heart nearly stopped in anticipation.
“I was wondering when you’d get around to calling back.”
The amused lilt and deep baritone sent a hard shiver down my spine. Clenching my jaw hard, I held my breath as fire engulfed my chest and crept up my neck.
“Are you wondering if Ophelia is still alive?”
“Aleksander Makovich.” My mouth dried up, my tongue sticking the roof as dread punched my gut. “Ophelia’s innocent of whatever her parents did. Let her go.”
“I’m very aware that she had nothing to do with the assassination attempt on the Patriarch, Sascha Matheson.”
A harsh bark of laughter, thick with disbelief, burst from my throat, and I slapped my clammy palm over my mouth.
“Ophelia is fine. If you’re at her apartment, she should be arriving soon. Let’s have a chat. Don’t forget, you can decline to answer, but I’d discourage you from hanging up.”
What kind of unparalleled stupidity did Ophelia’s parents have to have to mess with Aleksander Makovich?To try to kill someone and fail was bad enough in itself, but to try to kill Vyachaslav Makovich… it was insanity.
“… According to what I understand of her situation, Ophelia’s parents and elder brother were just dragging her down. I do not inflict unjustified punishments on people, and it’s obvious that Ophelia didn’t know about the plot to kill my father.”
My eyelids fluttered closed, and I squeezed my jaw from the tension zinging through me. Aleksander Makovich was not a man I ever wanted to meet in person.
He went on, “I took that into account. You know her well, don’t you? What are her feelings on promotions?”