“So you switched the painting?” he asks icily.
“Yes, I switched it. I had no choice. I understood by the time we came back from London that I had been completely duped. I tried to give them the money back and refused to do the job, but when I told them they threatened to hurt Maddy and Mom if I did not complete the deal. I guessed the painting was most probably a listening device, so I devised a plan to do the job without actually doing it. I hung the picture up and I took it away the very next day by pretending to redecorate your office. I thought that I had solved the problem by putting it away in one of your spare rooms, but apparently, I hadn’t.”
Something flashes in his eyes, but it is gone as quickly as it had come. “Is it still in the spare room?”
“No, I didn’t even trust it to be there so I threw it away.”
“But it was too late. I made my travel arrangements known to them that morning before you got into decorate the room.”
I reach out a hand towards him. “I’m sorry, I’m so, so, so sorry, Konstantin.”
He takes a step back from me. “You betrayed me. You had so many chances to tell me and you didn’t.”
I just stand there staring at him, pleading with my eyes, but he doesn’t soften. He looks at me with disgust. He doesn’t understand. I had no choice. They were going to hurt innocent little Maddy. I did my best in the circumstances.
“I never want to see you again,” he says, his voice hard. It hits me like a bullet to my heart.
I actually sway with horror. “I never knew what was at stake. I didn’t know my actions would get a man murdered.”
For a split second I see something in his eyes. A torment. A terrible sadness. I see him swallow hard. “You didn’t get him murdered. He was a dead man walking. All you did was help them set the bear trap I walked into.”
“How?”
“They are trying to frame me for his murder.”
“But you didn’t do it. I will testify that you were with me the whole night.”
He shakes his head. “No, you won’t.”
“Yes, I will,” I cry desperately.
“You have no idea what you have got yourself into.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There will be no more money for Maddy’s treatment so you will sell yourself to the highest bidder again.”
I stare at him aghast. “You’re not going to pay for Maddy anymore?”
“Should I?”
I stare at him in disbelief. Everything, everything has been shattered into a million pieces.
He takes one last look at me, then he grits his teeth and walks away. I watch him, his long legs striding further and further away from me.
The dream is over.
The nightmare has begun. For Konstantin. For me. For Mom. And for poor, little Maddy.
Raine
Mom calls me to ask where I am. I’m too choked to talk about it so I tell her I’m running an errand and I’ll be back home soon. I walk to a bench and sit down. There is a little girl in a pair of brown dungarees. She pushes herself higher on the swing than any of the other children. I watch her mindlessly.
How happy and carefree she seems to be.
I can’t remember the last time I was like that. Maybe when we were still living on the farm. Her mother calls to her and she doesn’t wait for the swing to come to a stop before she flies off it. I watch as they walk away from the playground. Then I stand and start to walk home.
Maddy is in the bath and my mom is getting ready to go to work. I want to tell her that Maddy’s operation has been cancelled but I just can’t bring myself to do it. I sit at the kitchen table and try to think. I just need to think. There must be a way out of this.
When Mom comes into the kitchen I make some excuse to explain away why Konstantin didn’t come up.
“Ah, well. Never mind. We’ll get to meet him when he comes here for dinner.”
“Yes,” I say softly.
“Right. I better be off. Will you be spending the night here or at his place?”
“Er… here I guess.”
“All right then. See you later. Take the chicken out of the freezer in about three hours, won’t you?”
“Yes, Mom.”
As soon as she leaves, I rush to my room and lie on my bed. The last thing I want to do is talk to Maddy. I feel so guilty I can’t even look at her hope-filled face. She never looked like that until I told her that her treatment was all covered and going through. That she was going to be fine again. And now I’m about to pull the rug out from under her.