Page 101 of The Games of Madmen

His soft chuckle offers little reprieve from the gloom and doom we've been living in for the past three days. He leads me down the hallway toward Viktor’s office, the soft humming of voices coming from inside. Rodion raps his knuckles against the door, and Viktor’s voice commands, “Come in.”

As we step inside, the atmosphere shifts back to solemn. Viktor sits behind his large desk, and he's not alone. Across from him, a man in ill-fitting slacks and a cheap, wrinkled shirt occupies a chair. Sweat stains spread from under his armpits and make my nose wrinkle. He gives us a hesitant nod, his eyebrows are wild and bushy, almost as if they are trying to escape his face.

“Rodion and Zahkar Vetrov, meet Police Chief Stanton,” Viktor introduces us.

“Fucking hell. How many more of you are there?” Stanton scoffs, his scrutinizing gaze traveling from the tips of our boots to our hairlines. “Good-looking bunch, aren’t ya?” He stands up and offers me his hand. His grip is clammy, and there’s a darkness in his eyes that I recognize all too well. I don’t like this man.

“Stanton has news about Adam Cunningham,” Viktor announces, a serious look crossing his face as he gestures toward a black leather sofa in the corner of the room.

Rodion settles onto the sofa, while I opt to lean against the armrest.

“Like I was telling your…” Stanton trails off, waving his hand toward Viktor, “brother? Cousin?”

“Friend,” Viktor corrects him, a hint of irritation in his voice as he leans back in his leather chair, placing his arms on the rests.

“Right, your friend. Well, as I was telling Tanner earlier, we’ve released Adam Cunningham from custody. We simply didn’t have enough evidence to justify holding him any longer.”

“How can that be possible? You pulled a body from the trunk of his car.” I cross my arms, dissecting this prick with narrowed eyes.

Shifting on his feet, he turns away from my glare. “He had an alibi for the alleged time of death and confirmed his brother confessed to the murder before then going on to kill himself.” He points a small, fat finger at me. If I didn’t think it would taste like salt and his ass crack, I may have bitten it off. “Dead men can’t argue their innocence.”

“It’s a clever angle. Makes sense,” Viktor says.

Stanton nods. “It’s the angle we’re happy with if we get to close the case. We have enough on our plates with the Doll Killer at large.”

“Doll Killer?” Rodion enquires, folding his ankle over his knee.

“A psychopath is dropping bodies. Dresses them up like dolls. Quite fascinating actually,” Viktor muses.

“Maybe Adam is this Doll Killer?” I offer.

“Different M.O. but we looked into it, trust me.” Stanton glances over at Viktor. “Jeremiah Cunningham killed the woman. We think she was probably a runaway. Case closed.”

We should have anticipated this scenario. Lucky for us, we thought he’d buy his way out of it and had already put a plan into action.

“How much did he pay you to help make this go away?” Rodion asks, giving zero fucks who this man is.

Tugging up the waist of his slacks, Stanton grumbles, “That’s highly illegal and an insulting accusation.”

“We would have paid you more to charge him,” I tell him, flexing my hands. I need to hit something.

“It’s done. If another body was to show up under similar circumstances, then who’s to say if he’ll be able to sweep that one under the rug, but for now, he’s a free man.” Saluting Viktor, headds, “Now, I came here as a courtesy but it’s my day off and I have a rabbit to chase.”

When the front door closes behind Stanton, I turn my attention to Viktor. “What’s his deal?”

“Trust me,” he says, getting to his feet and rounding his desk to close his office door. “You don’t want to know the answer to that question.”

“It can’t be any darker than the shit you’re into,” I tease. But his face remains stoic.

“Believe me, I’m a kitten compared to that man.” He retakes his position at his desk.

Intriguing. No one would ever call Viktor a kitten, his bloodlust is more shark like.

“So, we go to plan B with Adam,” Rodion announces, fiddling with his phone.

“Plan B?” Viktor enquires.

“Business. We show him that he may be Billy Big Balls in his small circle, but we’re titans and our reach far outstretches his.”