Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 84544 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84544 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Vanko stormed in with three bodyguards right on his heels. A gun was clenched in his fist and held out in front of him. He kept marching forward until the muzzle nearly touched Kairo’s forehead, stopping Isidore’s heart. Vanko didn’t give him a reason for it to restart.
“Where is she?” Vanko roared in English.
“What?”
“Where is she? Where’s that bitch sister of yours?” Vanko demanded, spittle flying from his lips in his rage.
“Wh-what? What are you talking about?” Isidore stammered. His heart began to hammer against his rib cage again. He took a step forward, hitting Kairo, who only threw out an arm to keep him in place and possibly upright. “Where is she? What did you do to my sister?”
“What did I do?” Vanko’s voice rose in volume and pitch with each word. He moved the gun to point at Isidore rather than Kairo, but the mercenary only reached behind him and moved Isidore so he was still positioned between Isidore and the gun. “She’s disappeared from her room. Where did she go? Did you tell her how to escape?”
“What? No! I haven’t seen my sister. If you’ll recall, you haven’t allowed me to see my sister for more than two days now!” Isidore shouted back at him. What had happened to Athena? Where could she have gone? Did one of Vanko’s men do something to her and then hide her to cover up his crime? “Have you asked your men? Have they touched my sister?”
“Whoa! Hold on!” Kairo shouted above both of them. He thrust his arms out to his sides to keep Isidore from climbing around him to get at Vanko. Isidore didn’t give a damn about guns or that he was horribly outnumbered. He would kill anyone who laid a hand on his sister.
“He—” Isidore shouted, but Kairo cut him off.
“Listen!” Kairo turned his head to glare at Isidore over his shoulder. Those bright eyes held him still. With it, some of the panic receded so he could breathe again. “Vanko knows that it’s not in his best interest to hurt Athena. We also know that you haven’t spoken to your sister, so you didn’t tell her to escape.”
“No. No, I wouldn’t do that. It’s too dangerous out there for her alone. Vanko promised she wouldn’t be harmed so long as I cooperated, which I have,” he finished through clenched teeth while pinning Vanko with the darkest stare he could muster. Unfortunately, the evil bastard didn’t seem to be moved in the least.
Kairo turned his attention back to Vanko. “And I feel like it’s a safe bet that she wouldn’t leave here without her brother.”
Vanko watched Kairo for a couple of tense seconds before lowering the gun to his side. “True.”
“Then that means she’s pissed that you aren’t allowing her to see her brother and she’s probably found a damn good hiding spot somewhere in the house. Your men need to do a better job of searching the house. You can even start in here.”
Vanko’s twisted lip curled as he motioned for the men to search the room, but it took only a few seconds for them to peek into the tiny closet and to glance under the beds. There was nowhere else for an adult to hide in that room.
Once they were satisfied, Vanko grunted and ordered his men to search the house again. He barked some threats at them, but Isidore paid no attention. His mind was filled with thoughts of Athena. Where was his sister? What could have happened to her?
A pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and he blinked, somewhat surprised to find that he was staring down into Kairo’s worried expression as the man moved him back toward his bed. With a shove, Isidore sat on the thin mattress with a squeak of the springs. His nervous fingers instantly snatched up the blanket he’d been using and twisted the worn material.
“Where is she? Do you think Vanko hurt her? Or one of his men?”
Kairo didn’t answer right away. He picked up his jeans from where he’d draped them over the foot of the bed and pulled them on over the dark-red boxer briefs he’d worn to sleep in. Isidore knew he should get dressed as well, but he couldn’t get himself to move. It didn’t seem as important as his current problem.
When Kairo was dressed in the clothes he’d arrived in, he sat on the edge of the opposite bed. “Are there secret passages in this house?” he asked in a whisper. “Could she be hiding there?”
Isidore frowned. “No. Well, at least none that I’ve ever been aware of. The house doesn’t even have a dumbwaiter.”
“You said yesterday that she’s being kept on the second floor. Would it be possible for her to climb to the ground and escape?”
Images of Athena’s room flashed through his mind. She’d been given what had always served as her bedroom when she stayed at the winter vacation house. It had a lovely view of the surrounding forests and mountains. Could she have climbed from one of the windows in her room to the garden patio below and not broken her neck?