An Uncommon Honeymoon by Susan Mann

Author:Susan Mann [Mann, Susan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2017-11-03T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Unlike the previous hour, the twenty-minute drive to the safe house in Olgino was blissfully uneventful. And at the beginning, they drove in complete silence. The kids were in shock, and understandably so. Their lives had been turned upside down. While it would ultimately be for the better, all the upheaval would take time to process. Quinn hoped the reigning quiet would act as a balm to soothe their confused and hurting souls.

They were crossing the Bolshaya Nevka, an arm of the Neva River, when Mila broke the silence. She gazed out the side window and asked in a subdued voice, “Where are you taking us?”

“To a safe house in Olgino.” Now out of range, Quinn removed her earpiece and stuck it in a pocket.

“What will happen to us?”

For the fiftieth time in the last five minutes, Quinn checked the rearview mirror. “When we know it’s safe, you all will go to a shelter set up especially to help kids like you.”

“For how long?”

“As long as it takes until you’re ready to return to your families.”

A derisive snort came from the back of Mila’s throat. “My brother and sister and I have no place to go. Our parents don’t care that we’re gone.”

“That’s not true,” Quinn said. “In fact, it’s the very opposite.”

Mila’s head snapped around.

“When you and your siblings disappeared, your parents went to Slavnoye and Tver looking for you. They also contacted authorities in the United States. Your case is still open at the State Department in Washington, D.C.”

Quinn looked at Mila, who was openly gaping at her. Returning her eyes to the road, Quinn added, “Until we found you in Turks and Caicos, no one knew if you and your sister and brother were even alive. I wasn’t there, but I was told when your parents learned you all are alive, they both broke down and wept with joy.”

Mila turned her face toward the side window again. The hurt in her voice cut through Quinn like a knife. “They won’t want anything to do with us when they find out what we were forced to do. They’ll be ashamed of us.”

“No, they won’t. They already know. They also understand it wasn’t your choice. They can’t wait to see you again. It was all we could do to keep them from coming here and joining the rescue team.”

A tiny smile flickered on Mila’s lips when she looked at Quinn again. “I can’t really picture my mom smashing Mother Olga in the head with a step stool.”

“You’d be surprised,” Quinn replied in all seriousness. “I bet she wouldn’t think twice about it.”

The interior of the van fell silent again.

Quinn steered off the dual carriageway and onto a smaller road that ran parallel to railroad tracks.

Mila’s tone was soft when she spoke again. “My cousin Yana and her boyfriend, Alexei, invited me and my sister and brother to spend the day with them in Tver. She was twenty. We thought she was so cool. We could hardly believe she asked us to do something with them.

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