let me near it, but he doesn’t seem to have a problem with Nikolas sitting on the couch in the office with a book or a toy. Niko is my only shot.
“Okay,” he says quietly.
“But here’s the catch,” I add. I feel guilty about this—using a five-year-old as a pawn—but I’m doing this for him. For both of us, really. To get us out of this jail and back to the lives where we belong. “You can’t tell anyone about this, okay? Do you think you can do that for me?”
Nikolas pauses, regards me curiously. For a moment, I wonder if I’ve made a terrible mistake. He’s only five, for crying out loud—can he be trusted not to tell Matvei what I’m scheming? What if he just lets it slip? What would Matvei do?
I think back to that cold switchblade resting against my bare thigh and a terrifying chill surges through me.
But I don’t have any better ideas. The longer I stay here helpless, the worse my odds look. So I swallow back my guilt. I don’t have a choice.
It’s the best idea I have, and more importantly, it’s the only idea. I just have to pray it works.
All night long, I try to keep my nerves in check and not back out of this. There’s a part of me that screams that this is wrong, that I should find another way to pull this off. Maybe one day I can just pick the lock and get into his office. Maybe I can convince the woman that cleans the house to grab it for me. It just doesn’t feel right involving Nikolas.
But then I remember the way he sobbed himself to sleep in my arms and the threats that Matvei made to me in the library. I don’t doubt that, if he needs to, he’ll kill us all and wipe his hands of the mess. He might even relish seeing us all suffer before he does it. The only way to fight back against him is to get this computer and turn it into the police.
That night, when Matvei walks into his office, Nikolas trails behind him, giving me a doleful look before he disappears from my sight. I take a deep breath at the bottom of the stairs and calm my nerves. If Matvei senses that something’s up, he’ll probably watch me more carefully. I have to keep acting as if everything is fine.
I sit in the library the whole time, jumping at the slightest noises. I try to read my textbooks to distract myself, but I end up going over the same sentence twenty times in a row before I give up on that. Jane Austen goes the same way. So I end up mostly just staring at the clock hands, imagining horrible scenarios unfolding above me. Niko blabbing, Matvei getting furious, him reaching into his desk drawer to retrieve the switchblade and bring it down here…
At six o’clock, I hear them rustling around upstairs. That usually means Matvei is about to leave for the night. I hurry upstairs and wait in the hallway, hiding behind a bookshelf. I watch as Matvei leaves. He stands outside, clearly irritated with the boy.
“C’mon, Niko,” he says, his voice low. A few more moments pass before he gives up. “I don’t have time for this. The door will lock behind you. Just hurry up, boy.”
He heads down the stairs and a moment later, the door slams shut.
Nikolas pokes his head into the hallway, looks both ways, and then slips out with the laptop in his hands. My heart practically leaps out of my chest. When he sees me from behind the bookshelf, he runs towards me, handing the computer over.
I sweep him up in the tightest hug. “You did so good!” I say, giving him a hug before I take the laptop from him. “Big winner.” It’s a struggle to keep the cheesy smile plastered on my face, but I do it for him. I wish he’d smile back, return my high five. For the billionth time, my heart breaks when I see just how serious he looks.
He’s getting the same chill in his eyes that Matvei has, actually.
I shudder and turn that thought aside. “Go to your room for a little bit, buddy,” I say to him. I ruffle his hair. He stares back at me for a moment longer before nodding and scurrying down the hall. I hold my breath until he’s gone.