Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Each one felt like a countdown to my demise.
And with each drop, my vision sharpened a little more until I could finally make out the two figures standing in front of me.
Mikhail Volkov’s guards.
They were just as intimidating as their boss. Possibly more so. One was bald and thick-necked with tattoos crawling down his scalp and disappearing beneath his shirt. The other had the same dark hair as Mikhail and bore an angry scar running from his cheek and through his eyebrow before it disappeared into his hairline.
The man with the scar stepped toward me first, landing a harsh blow to my stomach. Air whooshed out of me, and my body tried to fold forward, but the restraints kept me upright, pain radiating outward in waves. For a split second, black dots danced at the edges of my vision, but I swallowed down any hint of weakness, forcing oxygen back into my lungs in controlled, measured breaths.
When I lifted my head and met Scar’s eyes, I kept my expression flat.
Tattoo approached next, and I braced myself for another blow. Instead, he tossed the photos of Alexei’s murder onto the concrete floor in front of me.
“You are very talented with computers, da?” Tattoo asked, his accent thicker than Mikhail’s.
“I’d like to think so,” I responded evenly, though my abdomen throbbed with each word.
“And you’re able to recover corrupted files?” Scar added, cracking his knuckles as he glowered at me. “Can find digital records others claimed don’t exist?”
“Most criminals aren’t as smart as they think they are. There’s always a trail. You just need to know where to look.”
“And you just so happened to know where to look?”
“The news of Alexei Volkov’s death made headlines. It doesn’t take a genius to know to start with the security footage from the port where his body was found.”
“The security footage was corrupted with no chance of recovery.”
“Nothing digital is ever gone forever.”
“So you say,” Tattoo interjected. “Or maybe you’re the man who corrupted the files in the first place.”
I had a feeling this might happen. These men had no reason to believe me. I was a stranger asking them to doubt one of their own. The best thing I could do was keep an even head. Push down any nerves and not have them question my claims.
“If I’d corrupted them, why would I risk my life to come here with this information? I’m not fucking stupid.”
The punch to my jaw came so fast I didn’t have time to brace for it.
My head snapped sideways, and the metallic taste of blood flooded my mouth, my chair rocking slightly before settling again.
Pain tore through me from my jaw, to my cheek, and even to my neck. I ran my tongue over my teeth, relieved when nothing was loose.
Yet.
I slowly turned my head back to the front and spat blood onto the concrete, catching Mikhail’s interested stare as he watched from the shadows.
“You asked a question,” I told the two guards, my voice rougher now. “I answered.”
Tattoo stepped closer, looming over me. “You’re the only one who knew how to access those files. Not even our own computer expert managed to find these files. That means you were involved.”
“It could also mean your tech guy is horrible at his job.” I paused, then added, “Or he’s involved.”
This time, I had time to brace myself before his fist hit my jaw again. My ears rang, a dull roar pounding in my skull as my face absorbed the force of the impact. Warmth trickled from my mouth and droplets of blood landed at my feet.