Belly of the Beast by Blake Crouch, Douglas Walker Read Free Book Online Page B

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    Yuri faced Niki, but held his eyes on the cabbie. Any softness turned to stone. “How much did they pay you?”
    “I don’t know what you mean,” said Niki, “I’m just trying to find my mother. A man outside the consulate gave me your number.”
    “Fedor?”
    Niki nodded, then heard the cabbie start his engine. She almost called out for him to wait, but didn’t. Too many questions remained unanswered.
    Yuri watched the cab drive off, then turned back to Niki. “I can’t imagine what you said for Fedor to risk his—” Yuri stopped as if he had said too much.
    “I told him I needed to find my mother. He said you might help.”
    Yuri relaxed a little. Niki didn’t.
    Yuri surveyed the parking lot again, then kept his eyes on the fishermen. “What do you know about her?”
    “My mother? I called you to find out.”
    “What do you know of her life, what she was?”
    “She was a school teacher. She taught me Russian, French, and German, because I couldn’t go to a real school. She said my father was after us. She said he’d kill us, so we moved a lot.”
    Yuri turned to face Niki. “Do you know why she left Russia?”
    “To get away from my father I suppose. I didn’t know she was ever in Russia.”
    “She didn’t tell you about Russia?”
    “Look, I don’t really care if she’s in trouble or something. I just need to find her.”
    Yuri stepped back. “I can’t help you.”
    “Fedor said you could.”
    Yuri grabbed Niki’s arm. “Who really sent you?”
    Niki tried to break free, wishing she had called out to the cab driver.
    Yuri maintained his grip, “You didn’t bother to answer my letter. You don’t care if Lana lives or dies.”
    Niki shook her head. “I need her alive. My son is dying, and she could save his life. Please, I’ll do whatever you want, but take me to her.”
     “What did you say at the consulate?” demanded Yuri.
    “You’re hurting me. Let go. Who do you think you are, anyway?”
    Yuri eased his grip and Niki shook herself free, hesitated a second, then bolted down Marina Boulevard, the way she had arrived.
    “I need to know what you told them,” Yuri yelled after her.
    Niki didn’t look back. Ahead, there were no cars, no houses, no people. The fishermen were beyond Yuri.
    Yuri started his car.
    Sweat broke on Niki’s brow. She glanced back. The lights of Yuri’s car swung through the fog and headed toward her.
    Niki bolted up the steep bank to her right, scrambled through wet brush, and dropped face-down into a muddy ravine, just like she knew a deer would do.
    Yuri stopped on the road below, turned off his engine, stepped out, and closed the door.
    “I did not mean to scare you,” he called.
    Niki did not move.
    “I would not hurt you.”
    Niki held her breath.
    “The Consulate knows who I am, the car I drive, where I live, the number of the phone you called. But they do not know what I do. Insignificant as it may be, I cannot jeopardize that.”
    Rain started falling again.
    “I have to do what I do,” said Yuri. “They would destroy it. I don’t expect you to understand.”
    After a moment of silence, Yuri said, “I know you are there; I heard you breathe. It’s safe to come down.”
    Raindrops pelted Niki’s back.
    “I wouldn’t hurt you. I saved you once.”
    Niki shivered, thought about trying to run again, but stayed where she was. He couldn’t have heard me breathe.
    “Do you remember Hunter Creek?”
    The name caught Niki’s full attention.
    “Aspen, 1970, you were eight. A man tried to drown you.”
    Water trickled down the ravine. Niki shivered again, cried silently for herself, and wished she had gone back to the hospital.
    Yuri opened his car door. The dome light lit the road by his feet. “I respect your decision not to come out. I won’t come after you. I’ll tell your mother I saw you.”
    “Wait!” Niki was on her feet before she realized she had reacted.
    Yuri stood by his car and said nothing.
    “Don’t go away.