Don’t worry about it. I’m sure he’ll be busy with other things by then.”
It was an odd thing to say, but I was so relieved not to have to go to dinner, I didn’t question it.
The rest of the day passed as usual, though I thought about Tania and those accounts, wondering what it all meant. Parker came back from lunch and we didn’t talk much. Usually, after a big day like that, we’d celebrate. But not today.
I was in a bad mood when I went home and halfway there I realized I’d never called Ryker back. Pulling out my cell, I dialed as I stepped off the bus. It rang several times, then went to voice mail.
“I’m sorry about this morning,” I said, “but I guess I’m safe now. Parker…did the deal. The shares were sold and the money transferred to ZNT in Moscow. Three hundred million. I’m sorry I couldn’t help you get these guys…”
I was approaching my building now and someone stood near the entrance. I squinted, trying to see who it was, but couldn’t tell. Some man. Maybe it was a neighbor who’d forgotten their key.
“Anyway, when you get this, give me a call—”
The man turned toward me and I froze in my tracks.
It was the guy from New York, the one Ryker had said was an assassin. And he was coming straight for me.
Chapter Eighteen
I didn’t do anything for a few precious seconds; then I did the only thing I could think of. I turned and ran.
“Oh my God, he’s here!” I said into my phone.
The silver sandals weren’t made for running and I stopped to toe them off, glancing behind me to see that the guy was crossing the street at a jog, dodging traffic. I started running again, frantically looking for someplace safe, but where was there to go? Apartment buildings had codes and locks—I couldn’t just walk in one.
I looked behind me again and saw he was gaining.
My heart was beating so hard, it felt as though it would leap from my chest. Ice-cold adrenaline made my limbs feel weird and unsteady. I looked in the street, searching for cars. Surely someone would stop for me if I ran into the street, right? But this was Chicago. I didn’t know if anyone would stop to help a stranger.
But what choice did I have?
Running several feet into the avenue, I waved frantically at cars.
“Stop! Please stop! Help me!”
But my shouts went unheeded, one car swerving around me and another angrily honking their horn.
I looked around. The assassin was closing in, now only yards away.
Desperation made me turn back to the cars just to see one screech to a halt in front of me. Relief turned to horror as the back door flew open and Viktor stepped out.
“Just the woman I was looking for,” he said.
I took a step back, but he grabbed my arm, pried the phone from my fingers, and shoved me into the backseat of the car.
Scrambling across the seat, my hand was on the latch of the opposite door when Viktor grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked me back.
I cried out in pain and heard the slam of the car door; then we were speeding down the street.
“Hold still,” he said, and I heard the rack of a slide on an automatic. A man in the front passenger seat was pointing a gun at me while another man drove. The gun was very steady in his grip, despite the speed of the car. I held still.
Viktor grabbed my arms and twisted them behind my back. He wrapped a plastic zip tie around my wrists, which he drew painfully tight. Then he leaned down and did the same thing to my ankles.
“I presume you have your boss on speed dial,” he mused, sitting back up and scrolling through my phone. He pushed the button, ending the call with Ryker’s voice mail, then hit another button and put the call on speaker.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Shut up.”
The cold distance in the way he said that made me even more terrified. I knew Viktor saw women as utterly disposable. Look what he’d done to Tania and he’d professed to “needing” her. Why he’d come after me was a complete mystery, not that I cared much at the moment. I just wanted to escape.
The phone rang twice; then I heard Parker say my name.
“Sage, are you all right?”
“She is at the moment but I can promise you that won’t be the