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

York on January fifteenth. My mother couldn’t have been in Russia.
    Niki heard the apartment door open, then close, the bolt clicking. She shut her eyes to whatever would happen.

CHAPTER EIGHT

     
    Niki woke to the smell of fresh coffee and hot bacon. Just outside her door she found her clothes, clean and pressed on a chair. Boxes were stacked beside it. Yuri was in the kitchen, immaculate in a pressed shirt, tie, and starched apron.
    He removed a cigarette from his lips and asked, “Sleep well?”
    Niki nodded. “Thank you for cleaning my clothes. I was exhausted. I didn’t hear you get up.”
    “I did laundry at my place. I had to pick up a few things anyway.”
    “This isn’t your place?”
    Yuri turned the bacon. “I don’t use it much anymore.”
    “You must be rich.”
    Yuri broke eggs into a copper bowl. “Having a safe haven is not a luxury.”
    Niki dismissed the thought. “Are we going to see my mother now?”
    “Soon.” Yuri chopped red peppers and yellow onions. “Didn’t you like your new things?”
    “New things?”
    Yuri snuffed out his smoke, then rinsed the ash tray. “I had a few things delivered; open the boxes.” He smiled. “We’ll go to your mother after breakfast.”
    Niki brought the packages to the kitchen and opened one. “Leather boots. I don’t understand.”
    “A gift.”
    Niki wondered exactly what was going on. “No,” she said. “I can’t accept these.”
    “You need warmer clothes,” Yuri replied with a smile.
    “I’ll be fine as long as I stay out of the rain. I’m going home tomorrow.”
    “I cannot return them.”
    “I don’t believe you. How did you shop in the middle of the night anyways?”
    “I know people. At least look at the other things.”
    While Yuri cooked an omelet, Niki peered inside the other boxes: a lined leather coat, wool sweater, two blouses, a pair of black slacks, and Calvin Klein jeans. “Thank you,” said Niki, “but I can’t accept these, and I can’t afford to pay you back.”
    Yuri turned the omelet. “They are not gifts. I told you I owed your mother a favor. She could never stay anywhere long enough to give you a decent life, so this is how I will repay her.”
    “It must have been some big favor. What did she do?”
    “It doesn’t matter. Try something on. Merry Christmas.”
    Niki pulled out the sweater and held it out. “It’s the right size. How did you know?”
    “I had your old clothes. You don’t like the sweater?”
    “Of course I do. Why?”
    “You didn’t put it on and the expression on your face.”
    “It’s just that I can’t wear it. I can’t stand to pull anything over my face.”
    “Hunter Creek?”
    “What?”
    “The parka hood.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    Yuri arranged the bacon, sprigs of fresh basil, and the omelet on the plates, then turned to Niki. “Victor Malenkov pulled your parka hood over your face as he tried to drown you. Don’t you remember? Please, sit.”
    Niki sat but made no move to eat. “You’ve got me confused with someone else. My mother told me to jump the creek, but I was scared. I fell in the water. I still have nightmares.”
    Yuri poured two cups of coffee, then sat. “I’m not a psychiatrist, but I do know that sometimes we block what we cannot face. You didn’t fall. Malenkov held you underwater. Sugar?” Yuri held out the sugar bowl.
    Niki shook her head. “Even if it’s true, how could you know?”
    “I was there.”
    Niki stood and backed away. “You were part of it? You tried to kill me?” Niki kicked the boots. “How dare you try to clear your conscience by buying me stuff.”
    Yuri calmly put down the sugar, then spoke slowly. “Malenkov was sent after your mother, but she was getting away again. Torturing you was his way to lure her back. It could have been me, but I failed my training. I didn’t believe the end always justified the means as did Malenkov. He would have killed you, so I shot him.”
    Niki swallowed hard.