A Silent Reckoning: Sinner's Empire Nikita Slater (smart books to read .txt) 📖

“You didn’t tell me you had one of these,” Fatima said accusingly to her daughter.

“I didn’t know,” Shaun said faintly, following him in.

Karl’s phone rang and he answered it quickly. “Alex.” He listened intently, then said, “They’re in the panic room now. Saskia’s here; she can watch over them. I’ll cover the door.”

Karl hung up and turned to the women. “Weapons,” he pointed at a locker in the back of the small room, then swung his hand to point at Saskia. “You’re in charge. There’re lights, communications and a door release; code 9037. Food and water in the locker if you’re in here for a while.” His eyes pierced the three women. “Don’t leave this room for any reason.”

“Wait,” Fatima lurched forward. “Where are you going?”

“To do my job.” His gaze softened. “You’ll be safe.”

“I’m not worried about us,” she snapped.

He closed the door, and the room was plunged into darkness. They could hear a lock electronically sliding into place and engaging with a click.

“It would’ve been handy if he let us turn the lights on before sealing us in,” Saskia said, annoyance in her voice.

The women stumbled around the room until they found a light switch, turning it on.

“Must be on a backup electrical system,” Shaun murmured.

Fatima set the cat on the ground and he immediately set about licking himself, disgruntlement at his forcible removal from the couch ruffling his composure.

Saskia strode to the locker and started digging through it. She pulled a gun out, checked the chamber then reached for a box of bullets. She loaded the gun with quick precise movements, then tucked it into her waistband. She looked at Shaun with a raised eyebrow holding up another gun. Shaun shook her head. She might be learning about the mafia, but she was nowhere close to wanting to use a weapon.

“Suit yourself,” Saskia said tucking it away.

She dug through the bottom of the locker and came up with a handful of snacks. Sinking onto the floor she leaned against the wall and began digging through her stash, opening wrappers and eating as she went.

“You’ve done this before, haven’t you?” Shaun asked, some awe in her voice at how casual Saskia was about having to hunker down in a panic room.

“Yup,” she said around a mouthful of chocolate. “After my aunt and uncle were killed, our parents installed panic rooms in every apartment. Mine looks like a cardboard box compared to this luxury. I used to hide things in there before my mom found out and forbid me from using it as a playroom. Otherwise, I only ever legitimately used it once.”

“What happened?” Fatima sat next to Saskia.

Saskia handed her a chocolate bar which Fatima accepted. “It was last year when Shaun was attacked at the party. We didn’t know who’d done it or where they’d gone so dad rushed me, Leeza, little Kris and mom into the panic room and shut down the mansion until he could be sure another attack wasn’t coming.”

Shaun had been so out of it she hadn’t considered what was happening to the Koba family in the immediate aftermath of the poisoning.

“How long were you in there for?”

Saskia shrugged, but her body language was stiff. “Two days.”

“Two days!” Shaun repeated incredulously. “The four of you lived in a tiny room together for two days?”

“It’s a miracle we survived,” Saskia said with a grim smile. “And I don’t mean your attacker. Leeza can be a grade A bitch when she’s feeling claustrophobic.”

Fatima laughed and shook her head. “How did you go to the bathroom?”

Saskia pushed herself off the floor and hunted around the room until she found a nearly invisible seam in the wall. She pushed hard on the section of wall and it swung out. A basic toilet and sink were in a tiny cubicle that would only fit one person at a time.

“It’s not pleasant to do your business on the other side of a very thin wall, but it’s functional.”

Fatima and Shaun looked at each other. It felt strange to be learning all the ins and outs of the mafia but to still be shocked by something like a panic room with a built-in washroom. Saskia took these things in stride, but she’d grown up surrounded by the accoutrements of the mafia.

Saskia settled on the floor next to Fatima and pulled a dried fruit leather from her pile of goodies.

“Don’t you think we should ration the food?” Shaun asked, humour in her voice. “In case we’re in here for a while.”

Saskia shrugged. “I’ll fight you for it.”

The three women laughed.

Fatima sobered first. “Saskia, you mentioned your Aunt and Uncle were killed. Was it… was it mafia related?”

“I think so. It happened before I was born so I never knew them. No one knows exactly what happened, or if they do, no one’s talking. It was Christmas, thirty years ago. They were preparing to come over to the house for a family meal when they were attacked. Dad thinks it had something to do with a rival.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, how awful,” Fatima exclaimed.

“Jozef’s parents,” Shaun murmured.

Saskia nodded her head while Fatima looked shocked.

“It’s how his throat was cut,” Saskia supplied. “The attackers went after him too, but they didn’t count on a five-year-old boy being just as vicious as the rest of them.” The way she spoke indicated Saskia enjoyed this part of the story. Shaun was beginning to suspect Saskia hero-worshipped her older cousin. “He pulled the knife they’d used on him out of his own throat and stabbed one of the guys through the eye.”

Fatima gasped, her eyes wide with worry. “Oh, that poor boy. To lose his parents and his voice all on the same night.”

Shaun felt the urge to laugh but swallowed it. She didn’t think it would be any less traumatic to lose his parents and his voice on different nights.

“Did they ever find out who did it?”

“No,” Saskia said around a mouthful of dried fruit. “The body left behind was