Page 84 of Maxim
I move on to topics about the shelter and how it’s run. Lena and Beata have nothing but positive things to say about it. Once I wrap up my questions, I check the girls are happy to have their photos taken. They are so I leave James doing his thing and wander back inside.
None of the women in the kitchen pay me any attention so I sit at a bench and make some notes. The interviews are recorded on my phone but I like to make notes while things are fresh in my mind.
I hear giggles from outside just as Jenny appears, wiping her hands on a cloth. No doubt James is in full-on flirtation mode, but I trust him to keep it professional.
“I have a few minutes if you have some questions?” Jenny says. I was hoping for more than a few minutes, but OK. I nod and follow her into her office.
We’re just getting started when her phone rings. She frowns as she looks at the screen but from where I’m sitting, I can’t see who the caller is.
“Please excuse me a minute.” Without waiting for a reply, she walks out of the office, pulling the door closed in her wake.
Her voice is too low to hear much but I manage to catch a few words.
“Perfect…yes…will do…nothing…no…OK.” The door opens again and she sits back down. I manage to get a few questions in about how the place operates and then her phone rings a second time.
“Look, I’m really sorry,” she grimaces when she looks at the caller ID. I’m going to have to cut this short.” I nod as she answers the call, not bothering to step out this time. “Jenny, speaking, how can I help?”
The conversation evolves into something to do with funding and I take my leave. James is waiting for me in the dining area, looking a bit uncomfortable. Several of the women are throwing him suspicious glances.
“We done?” he asks, clearly ready to leave.
“Yeah.” I head toward the front door and a tall, hard-faced woman with closely cropped gray hair follows.
“Got to lock up behind you,” she explains.
I huff out a breath when we end up back on the street. It’s been a strange visit. Not at all what I was expecting.
“Did you get some decent shots?” James nods.
“Yeah, the girls were very photogenic.” He smirks, and I frown.
“I hope you didn’t try anything on with them?”
“Oh course not!” After throwing me an irritated look, he starts walking toward the car, which is parked on the opposite side of the street, outside an abandoned warehouse. “What the fuck do you take me for, eh?” he huffs crossly while I stop to check my messages.
One minute James’s car is there, and the next there’s a massive explosion.
A wave of intense heat hits me in the face and I’m blown backwards. My body slams into a wall and everything goes dark.
Chapter fifty-nine
Max
The guy strapped to the metal chair with duct tape wails like a baby when my fist slams into his cheek. Honestly, I’ve barely even touched him and he’s blubbing.
“Tell me who told you to shoot up the bar,” I ask him again. Blood trickles down my arm, staining the cuff of my white shirt. The damn cut on my palm has opened up again. Natalya was right, I should have got it stitched. Oh well. It will be another nice scar to add to my collection.
“Fuck you,” the asshole wheezes through his broken nose. “I’m not saying anything!”
Kolya laughs like a psycho. “Let’s see how long it takes before you change your mind.”
He’s really pissed. I get it. If he hadn’t been in the bar when this clown and his buddies strolled in with AK-47s - my fucking AK-47S! - the place would have been a fucking bloodbath.
It hasn’t escaped my notice that the police took a long fucking time to show up either. Way longer than normal. Someone must have paid them off to turn a blind eye.
It’s another niggling problem I have to deal with. If cops on my payroll are playing both sides, I need to know about it. Corrupt cops can’t be trusted not to bite the hand that feeds them. I know this. However, if they’re not loyal to me any longer, I have a problem.
It’s yet another item on my to-do list. Which is getting longer by the day.