A Silent Reckoning: Sinner's Empire by Nikita Slater (ereader iphone .txt) 📗

Koba-Horáček, Adam Horáček, Saskia Koba, Vasiliy Stanovich, Phantom. Each person who might have had a vested interest in killing Shaun.

Over the next several hours the two men poured over the files, filling in the blanks and going over every possible scenario. Jozef gave Havel instructions on where to look for more information and who to bribe. So far, Jozef hadn’t been able to dig up much evidence on Shaun’s poisoning, but he refused to give up. He would find the person who harmed her and remove them. He would make Shaun’s existence with him as perfect as he could.

Chapter Ten

Shaun spent the day alone, growing progressively more frustrated. She paced, she went through the kitchen, helping herself to a lunch of glazed chicken over rice. It was delicious and she wondered again where it had come from. Did Jozef have a cook, or a housekeeper? There had been a ton of staff at the Koba mansion, but here, she hadn’t seen anyone in the building except security.

She explored the apartment and came to the conclusion it hadn’t been used yet. Except for the bed they slept in, most of the furniture and electronics were pristine. The TV remote control still had plastic over it. She peeled it off and turned the TV on, discovering a variety of streaming services and local channels.

Glancing over the pots and pans, she realized they were brand new as well. So, the food must have been brought in by some kind of catering service. A thorough search told her there was no house phone.

Instead, she found a walk-in closet full of women’s clothes, shoes and jackets in her size. A dresser produced underwear, socks and nightwear, including an incredible selection of lingerie. She fingered the delicate fabric and wondered whose job it had been to procure the items. She pictured Havel pawing through the racks at Victoria’s Secret and started laughing.

She took a long, hot shower, using the shampoo and conditioner provided. It was the same brand she used at home, which would allow her tight curls to relax into a looser hairstyle. The brand was expensive and had to be ordered from a company in the United States. She tried to decide if Jozef’s knowing about the kind of shampoo she used was an invasion of privacy. Yes, it was, she determined, but she was happy to have access to her preferred brands. She wouldn’t put too much thought into how Jozef’s people found out about her preferences.

When she finished, she changed into a pair of stretchy denim leggings, a loose button-up, collared white shirt and a pair of red ballet flats. She marveled at how well the shoes fit and how comfortable they were when she realized that they were the same brand as a pair of battered shoes she kept in her closet at home.

So, Jozef’s men had definitely been in her house at some point in the past year. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised, though it made Jozef’s desire to possess her that much more sinister. Was there a line he wasn’t willing to cross?

After several hours spent alone, her agitation peaked, and she opened the door to the apartment. Karl was standing in the exact same spot he’d been when Saskia visited earlier. Shaun stepped into the hallway and gave him a wide smile. He gave her a suspicious look in return.

“Let’s go for a walk, Karl.” She tried to sound decisive so he would be less likely to argue with her. “I feel like reacquainting myself with the river and some of the shops.”

He shook his head. “Not today, Dr. Patterson. Jozef has asked that you stay inside until he’s had time to settle you both in the apartment.”

Shaun glanced at the apartment with a frown. “There isn’t much to settle. There’s food and clothing. I figured out the TV, though I would love to get my hands on a phone. Can you help me out with that?”

Karl shook his head.

“Figured. Well, I’m bored. I don’t like being idle and I’m not one to watch much TV. I need stimulation, and if I can’t go out, then you’re it.”

Karl looked alarmed and glanced down the hallway as if hoping Jozef would arrive in the next few seconds to save him.

Shaun was amused by his discomfort. The man could probably manage himself in a gun battle, but when a woman asked him for something, he got all hot around the collar.

Shaun didn’t want to torture the guy, but she figured he was her only link to answers at the moment and she had a lot of questions.

“I want to talk to you,” she said bluntly. “Can you come inside so we can be comfortable?”

“Absolutely not, Dr. Patterson.”

“Shaun,” she reminded him, “and I didn’t think you would. So that leaves me with staying out here with you.”

She glanced down the stark hallway for a chair and, finding an empty hallway, shrugged and sank down to sit on the floor opposite Karl. The alarm on his face grew until Shaun was almost ready to take pity on the guy and leave him alone. His face was turning red and the fingers of his right hand, his gun hand she assumed, were twitching.

“Do you eat a lot of red meat, Karl?” she asked him. “When was the last time you got your cholesterol checked?”

He opened his mouth to respond, closed it, then choked a little. Finally, he said, “My cholesterol is fine. What would you like to discuss… Shaun?”

His accent had thickened.

“Tell me how you came to be here instead of working at the estate. Saskia told me it had something to do with my poisoning. Do you still work for the family, or do you work for Jozef now?”

He thought about her question for a moment, she supposed to determine if there was anything he shouldn’t be telling her.

Finally, he said, “Your poisoning was a breach in mansion security, which I was responsible for. After some investigation by Krystoff’s security