The Witness

thrust. Under him, Julie made guttural groaning sounds.
    Ashamed of watching, Elizabeth backed up quietly and used the door off the kitchen to access the terrace.
    She’d sit in the dark, in the air, until they were finished. She wasn’t a prude. It was just sex, after all. But she wished, very strongly, they’d had that sex behind a closed bedroom door.
    Then she wished she had more water for her abused throat, and a blanket because she felt cold—cold and empty and very, very frail.
    Then she dozed off, huddled in the chair in a dark corner of the terrace.
    She didn’t know what woke her—voices, a clatter—but she came awake, stiff and chilled in the chair. She saw by her watch she’d slept for only about fifteen minutes, but she felt even worse than she had before.
    She needed to go home. Cautious, she crept over to the doors to see if Julie and Alex had finished.
    She didn’t see Julie at all, but Alex—wearing only black boxers—and two fully dressed men.
    Biting her lip, she crept a little closer. Maybe they’d come to tell Alex that Ilya had been delayed. Oh, God, she wished he’d come, take her home.
    Remembering what she looked like, she kept to the shadows as she eased toward the door Alex had left open.
    “For fuck’s sake, speak English. I was born in Chicago.” Obviously annoyed, Alex stalked over to the bar, poured vodka into a glass. “What do you want, Korotkii, that can’t wait till tomorrow?”
    “Why put off till tomorrow? Is that American enough for you?”
    The man who spoke had a compact, athletic body. The short sleeves of his black T-shirt strained against his biceps. Tattoos covered his arms. Like Alex, he was blond and handsome. A relation? Elizabeth wondered. The resemblance was subtle but there.
    The man with him was bigger, older and stood like a soldier.
    “Yeah, you’re a fucking Yankee-Doodle.” Alex tossed back the vodka. “Office hours are closed.”
    “And you work so hard.” Korotkii’s smooth voice glided over the words. But under the smooth, the intriguing accent, rough, jagged rock scraped. “It takes hard work, this stealing from your uncle.”
    Alex paused in the act of pouring white powder from a clear bag onto a small square mirror on the bar. “What’re you talking about? I don’t steal from Sergei.”
    “You steal from the clubs, from the restaurant; you take off the top from the Internet scams, from the whore profits. From all you can reach. You think this isn’t stealing from your uncle? You think he is a fool?”
    Sneering, Alexi picked up a thin metal tool and began to tap it against the powder.
    Cocaine, Elizabeth realized. Oh, God, what had she done coming here?
    “Sergei has my loyalty,” Alexi said as he cut the powder, “and I’ll speak to him about this
bullshit
tomorrow.”
    “You think he doesn’t know how you pay for the Rolex, the Armani, Versace, this house, all your other toys—and your drugs, Alexi? You think he doesn’t know you made a deal with the cops?”
    The little tool rattled when Alex dropped it. “I don’t deal with cops.”
    He’s lying, Elizabeth thought. She could see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice.
    “They picked you up two days ago, for possession.” Korotkii’s gesture toward the cocaine was pure disgust. “And you dealt with them,
mudak.
Betray your family for your freedom, for your fine life. Do you know what happens to thieves and traitors, Alexi?”
    “I’ll talk to Sergei. I’ll explain. I had to give them something, but it was bullshit. Just bullshit. I played them.”
    “No, Alexi, they played you. And you lost.”
    “I’ll talk to Sergei.” When he backed up, the second man moved—fast for his girth—trapped Alexi’s arms behind his back.
    Fear lived on his face, and in fear he spoke in Russian. “Don’t do this. Yakov, we’re cousins. Our mothers are sisters. We share blood.”
    “You’re a disgrace to your mother, to your blood. On your knees.”
    “No. Don’t.”
    The second man shoved Alexi to the ground.
    “Don’t. Please. We’re blood. Give me a chance.”
    “Yes, beg. Beg for your worthless life. I would let Yegor break you to pieces, but your uncle said to show mercy, for his sister’s sake.”
    “Please. Have mercy.”
    “This is your mercy.” Korotkii drew a gun from the small of his back, pressed the barrel to Alexi’s forehead and fired.
    Elizabeth’s legs gave way. She fell to her knees, her hand clamped over her mouth to trap the