Without another word, she slides out of the booth, grabbing the bottle of Kolya’s expensive vodka. I watch as she makes her way over to the bar, then behind it. She reaches up with the bottle, standing on her tiptoes to place it on the shelf and?—
It drops.
The bottle smashes onto the bar, shattering into a thousand pieces.
“Oh no!” she shouts.
The guards come to life, rushing over to her.
“What the hell happened?” one of them asks.
“I just slipped!” Sylvie puts a ditzy spin on her words, doing her best to sound hapless.
“That’s Kolya’s favorite!” the other guard snarls. “Do you have any idea how much this costs, girl?”
“A lot?”
“More than you’re worth!”
The guards are preoccupied.
This is my chance.
I slip out of the booth quietly, hurrying on bare feet toward the DJ booth. Once there, I spot the door. I press up against the bar and push. It opens.
The commotion of Sylvie and the guards is silenced as the door gently shuts.
Time to get the hell out of here.
CHAPTER 45
GABRIEL
One hour earlier…
“She’s been here forty minutes,” Alexei says quietly. “Interview room two. They’ve been gentle with her. So far.”
“Of course they have.”
“She’s been crying.”
“Of course she has.”
I’ve been in police stations before. Many times, in fact. I know how they work—the deliberate discomfort of the plastic chairs, the fluorescent lighting designed to put you ill at ease, the freezing cold temperature.
Alexei cancelled his flight back to Moscow after he heard about Thea’s kidnapping. He’s offered his help, and I’m in no place to refuse it.
I’m standing in the area adjoining the interview room, watching Amanda through the two-way mirror.
Amanda Reed is many things. But stupid isn’t one of them, which is exactly what’s made the last few hours interesting.
Alexei turns to me with worry in his eyes, his brow knitted.
“You ready for this?” he asks.
“More than ready.”
The door opens, and Sgt. Sharrock steps in. He’s one of many CPD officers who takes a little on the side from me for certain favors. He wears a weary expression.