Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 122242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
"May 7th," I mumble to myself, flipping through Faith's notebook until I find the date in question. My eyes skim across the page, reading Faith's entry about cooking one night when she overheard a phone call between Tarasova and an unidentified subject. He was laughing with the man about a suka who would make him a king. That little bastardo Ivan Sedov came into the kitchen, demanding to know what was taking her so long to finish dinner. When he realized she could hear Tarasova, he shoved her into the stove, spilling oil across her stomach. She screamed as the hot oil burned her badly, but he just laughed, calling her a nosy bitch.
Tarasova came into the room when he heard her screaming. He seemed angry with Sedov when he saw the burn on her stomach. He barked at Sedov to clean up the oil and finish dinner, and then told Faith to go take care of the burn, warning her that he wouldn't take her to the hospital if it became infected.
"Sorry motherfucker," I growl, tossing the notebook down on my desk as hatred rolls through me. That burn was bad enough to scar. She needed medical treatment. Instead, they left her to deal with the injury and the pain on her own. The deeper into her notebook I delve, searching for clues as to why Tarasova wants her back so badly, the deeper my rage grows.
She's told me a lot over the last few days about what she endured, about the people they hurt to punish her for some perceived misdeed. One of the few people in Tarasova's world to show her any kindness was Ilya Lukanin. He convinced Tarasova to let her work with him, said he needed the help.
I think he did it to get her to the safety of his bar as often as possible. He didn't pay her, but he kept her as safe as he could for as long as he could, even telling Tarasova he needed her to work double shifts. The hours were long, and the work was hard, but at least when she was at the bar, Nikolai couldn't hurt her.
They did enough of that for far too goddamn long.
I climb to my feet, taking deep breaths, trying to calm myself when all I want to do is hunt down Tarasova, Sedov, and all the other motherfuckers who hurt her and tear them apart with my bare hands. It's less than they deserve.
Instead, I cross to the whiteboard and add the date of the phone conversation.
There's something about it that doesn't sit right.
Faith assumed Tarasova meant her mother, but even if he had gotten his hands on her, she wouldn't be worth much to him. Chances are that she and Palatov blew through the money they stole from him long ago.
I grab my cell off the desk and dial Roman's number.
"What's up?" he answers on the second ring.
"When did you first learn about Selena Ortega?" I ask.
"Early June. Why?"
"Any chance Tarasova knew about her before you did?"
"I don't see how. Finn passed the rumor on to me as soon as he heard it. Brady and I scooped her up in a matter of hours. Why? What's up, O?" he asks.
"Do you remember when she crossed the border into the US?" I ask instead of answering him.
"A couple weeks before. Late May, maybe. Why? What's going on?"
"Fuck, I'm not sure yet." I scrub a hand through my hair, staring with narrowed eyes at the whiteboard in front of me. Something isn't adding up. If he wasn't talking about Faith's mom and he didn't know about Selena Ortega until mid to late May…could he have been talking about Faith?
"I think I found something, but I need to look into some shit first. Are you home yet or is Luke still sitting with the girls?"
"I'm on my way there now. Why?"
"I need a favor."
"Name it," he says, not even hesitating.
"I need you to get ahold of Faith's medical records from when she was a kid. Before she went back to her mom. I need to check something."
"I'll see what I can do," he promises. "What are you thinking?"
I glance at the board and then back to the notebook and then back to the stack of news articles Franklin brought in last week about her dad. I exhale a sharp breath. "I think I know who Faith's father is, and if I'm right, I think Tarasova wants her back so badly because she's the heir to a fortune."
"How big are we talking?" he asks.
"Millions. Maybe more." I quickly fill him in on Teddy Jackson and why I think he's her father. "Before Jackson died, his company was worth millions. Since his death, that fortune has only grown. If he left her even a portion of that, she's easily worth fifty times what Tarasova is willing to pay to get her back."