Lost(39)

Alexi was as calm and cool as always. He took a sip of his beer, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and asked, “Are you about to go to Miami?”

“Yes. Yes, I am. And the people I’m delivering there should go a long way toward covering any debts I have with Mr. Rostoff.”

Alexi nodded and smiled. “I’m sure it will. But Mr. Rostoff is a little nervous that you’re leaving the country. We’re going to need some collateral before you depart.”

“Collateral? You already loaned me the money. The only way I can pay it back is to go on this trip. You should’ve asked for collateral when you offered me the loan.”

“But we didn’t, which is why we’re asking for it now.”

“What kind of collateral did you have in mind?”

“We were thinking about the diamonds that everyone knows you possess.”

Hanna gave him a flat stare and said, “No.”

That didn’t faze Alexi. He said, “Perhaps we could babysit your daughter. She would be safe and we would have the collateral we need.”

Hanna looked at the well-dressed, middle-aged man, trying to assess if he was joking. Finally, she said, “Are you insane? Why would I ever leave my daughter with you? I’m afraid the entire concept of collateral is not going to work out.”

“What about your brother, Albert?”

“You’re not listening to me. There will be no collateral. Besides, I heard some of your people are very angry at Albert.”

“He did kill one of our enforcers. It was most impressive. And we understand that our man was not without some culpability. But this is business. We would guarantee your brother’s safety until you returned and a payment was made.”

Hanna tried to appear as if she were considering the offer. That was probably her best option to get out of this pub safely. She said, “Let me speak to Albert. I’ll see what we can work out. I won’t be leaving for almost a week anyway.” That little lie should buy her some breathing room.

“We have contacts in Miami waiting to help you. Your success is our success. But there needs to be some trust between us.”

“In our business, trust is a rare commodity. Just like collateral, it’s difficult to come up with, and no one has much.”

Alexi flexed his fingers and said, “I’m the one who stood up for you when you needed money. I saw that you ran a reasonable operation and had the potential to supply us with a lot of people in the Miami area. We are always needing more people in the organization. At least, the kind that you supply. Please don’t mistake my faith in you for foolishness. I do not like to be jerked around.”

Hanna nodded as she stood up. “Nor do I. This load will go through. My debt to you will be paid and I don’t expect any trouble while I’m gone.” She had nothing more to say, so she simply turned on her heel and left.





CHAPTER 57





HANNA WAS COMPOSED as she walked away from the infuriatingly calm Alexi, but as soon as he was out of sight, she rushed back to her office. She was not about to risk the Russians deciding they were going to take collateral whether she offered it or not.

Janine, Tasi, and Lisbeth—the young women who worked for Hanna—could tell just by her stride what kind of pressure their boss was under. As soon as she burst through the door, all three of them jumped up to see how they could help.

Hanna took a moment and looked at the three young women. She might be tough on them occasionally, but she couldn’t put them at risk. There was no telling what the Russians would do while she was gone. She said, “We might be facing some challenges from the Russians. I understand if anyone wants to quit.” She looked from girl to girl. “Let me know now. I’ll even throw in a full month’s pay as severance.”

None of the girls spoke up.

“No one wants to jump ship?”

They all shook their heads with varying degrees of decisiveness.

“That may be a lack of judgment, but I’m proud of you all,” Hanna said, a catch in her voice. This was loyalty.

Janine spoke up. “What do you need us to do?”

Hanna thought about it. “What I really need you and Lisbeth to do is nothing. Just lay low for the couple of weeks I’ll be out of town. Don’t come here, no matter what. I’ll call you and let you know when it’s safe.”

Janine’s younger sister, Tasi, who didn’t have her sister’s organizational skills or street smarts but who was as pretty as any twenty-year-old in the city, said, “What about me? Am I okay to work here?”

Hanna looked at the poor, silly girl who didn’t have the common sense to know when her life was in danger. “No, Tasi, I’m going to need you to come with me.”

“To the United States?” It was clear the girl thought this might be a joke.

Hanna nodded.

The young woman smiled, revealing perfectly straight white teeth. “You need me to help you on your trip?” Tasi couldn’t hide her excitement.

Hanna said, “I’ve decided to take Josie with me. You’ll be an excellent nanny.”

It all seemed to make sense to the young woman at that point. She bounced up and down for a moment, clapping her hands. All Hanna could think was that Tasi was too naive to stay here alone. And she certainly didn’t believe Tasi was capable of keeping her daughter safe. That’s why she was going to bring Albert too.