Free Stolen Souls by Stuart Neville Page A

for.”
    Rasa threw her against the chest of drawers, sending makeup and lotions spilling. The mirror teetered on its stand before tipping and crashing to the floor, shards scattering.
    “Now look what you’ve done,” Rasa said, marching to the door. “Clean it up.”
    Galya got to her knees as the door slammed shut. Pieces of broken mirror lay around her. She wept as she gathered them up and dropped them in the small bin that sat by the chest.
    Maybe the kind man could save her. Maybe he couldn’t. It didn’t matter either way, not if she couldn’t get away from here, away from Rasa and the men she had sold Galya to. Soon another man would come, a man who wasn’t kind, and she would have to do things for him. Her stomach soured at the idea.
    Galya reached for the largest piece of glass, long like a blade, and saw the cross and chain lying curled upon it.
    * * *
    “I’ LL TAKE YOU to my house,” Billy Crawford said as he put the van in gear and moved off. “You’ll be safe there for now. Put your seatbelt on.”
    Galya did as she was told. He noticed the deep red on her clothing and her hands.
    “What happened to you?” he asked.
    She stared straight ahead. “I killed a man.”
    The seatbelt gripped her tight across her chest as he stood hard on the brake pedal. He unclasped his own belt and climbed out of the van. The headlights made his wide face glow white as he crossed in front of her and approached the passenger side. He yanked the door open.
    “Get out,” he said.
    Galya stared down at him.
    “Out,” he said.
    She undid the seatbelt and lowered herself to the ground.
    “I can’t help you,” he said. “You have to go.”
    “You said—”
    “I can’t. It’s too dangerous.”
    Galya’s breast tightened with alarm. “You said you would help me.”
    He paced, his gaze shooting in every direction. “If the police are looking for you, they’ll …”
    His words trailed away, and he bit his knuckle.
    Galya felt something crumble inside herself. This strange, kind man had given her hope. Would he now take it away, abandon her out here in this cold city? Her chest hitched as she fought tears.
    He stopped pacing, ran his hands over his face. “Tell me what happened.”
    “We have to go away from here,” Galya said.
    He gripped her arms in his coarse-skinned fingers. “Tell me what happened.”
    “A man came, a Lithuanian. He says he will break me, show me how to do it right. He holds me down on the bed. He hurts me. I push him off.”
    She mimed the actions with her hands, shaping the words into English as she spoke.
    “I have a broken glass from the mirror. When I broke it, I wrapped it in cloth from the bed so to make a knife. I told him let me go. He was angry. He was shouting. He tries to take the glass from me. I didn’t want to kill him. I just want to go home.”
    He released her arms and backed away. “It’s too much risk,” he said, more to himself than to Galya. “I can’t, not this time.”
    Galya tugged at his shirt. “Please, sir, you say you would help me if I go away from them.”
    He brushed her hand away. “Not like this. The police will come for you. I can’t—”
    A siren in the distance stopped him talking. His shoulders rose and fell, his breath misting in plumes between them.
    “Calm down,” he said.
    Galya knew he was not addressing her.
    He turned a circle, looking all around him, until his eyes settled on the number plates on his van. He looked back to Galya.
    She reached beneath the neckline of her bloodied sweatshirt and withdrew the pendant that clung to the chain around her neck.
    “You gave me this,” she said, showing him the cross. “You say Jesus will protect me. He did. He showed me how to go away from that place.”
    He closed his eyes, engaged in a silent communion with himself. His eyes opened, his breathing slowed, his decision made.
    “All right,” he said. “Come with me.”

16
    S USAN STEPPED BACK to allow Lennon to enter her