The Insider by Reece Hirsch

inside the elevator, and they rode down to the parking garage in silence. Yuri was carrying a small brown paper bag. A video screen in the elevator flashed CNN news. President Bush was speaking from the White House Rose Garden, squinting into the camera with a gaze that was intended to read as steely-eyed confidence but came off as something more tentative. Yuri and Nikolai watched the news without glancing at Will. They exchanged a couple of terse sentences in Russian about “Boosh.”
    â€œWhere are we going?” Will asked.
    No response from the Russians.
    â€œI’d rather talk in a public place,” Will said, feeling less in control of the situation by the moment.
    The elevator doors opened on an empty parking garage. The Russians walked on either side of Will, their steps echoing on the concrete floor. Will looked around for someone who might at least serve as a witness to his abduction, but he saw no one.
    They stopped in front of a black Lincoln Town Car, and Yuri entered the backseat. Nikolai motioned for Will to get in the front passenger seat. Will considered running, but Nikolai was standing too close. Will climbed in, and Nikolai slammed the door shut behind him. Nikolai walked around the car, opened the driver’s-side door, and got behind the wheel.
    Nikolai turned the key in the ignition and the pale green dashboard lights came on, but he did not start the engine.
    Yuri reached around beside Will’s seat. With an electrical whirr, Will’s seat slid forward until his knees were pressed against the dashboard. Zzzzzzzzz.
    â€œTell us about Jupiter,” Nikolai said. “We need to know that this is investment that we can recommend.”
    â€œAnything I do for my clients is privileged. I can’t talk to you about it. And besides, Katya misunderstood. There’s no deal.”
    â€œI am pretending that I am not hearing this shit,” Nikolai said, shaking his head in disappointment. He pushed a button, and the electric door locks clicked.
    â€œI don’t know what you think you know, but you’ve got it wrong.”
    Yuri reached around beside the seat again. Zzzzzzzzzz. Will’s seat tilted backward. For a moment, he had the sickening sensation that he was reclining in a dentist’s chair. He leaned forward uncomfortably so that he could remain upright.
    Yuri grabbed Will’s shoulders and jerked him back down into the seat.
    Yuri’s hands were on either side of the headrest, and he was speaking almost directly into Will’s ear. Will could smell onions on his breath. “We need to know that you are a team player, Will. You know what it means to be team player?”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œWhen you have shown us that you are a team player, then we can bring this opportunity to some friends of ours. Serious men. Men who are not to be fucked with. Once they become involved, any bullshit from you will reflect badly on us. And we will not allow that to happen.” Yuri’s measured statements reinforced Will’s feeling that he was in the middle of a dental examination, one that was not going well.
    â€œWe’ll need more information on the deal,” Yuri continued. “Who is the buyer, when it is scheduled to close, everything. Then we’re going to need regular reports from you on how it is going.”
    â€œI told you, I can’t do that. I could be disbarred. I could go to jail.”
    â€œThere are worse things, my friend,” Nikolai said.
    Yuri adjusted the seat again, and Will was now almost flat on his back, staring up at the sunroof. He incongruously wished that his own car had a sunroof.
    Nikolai and Yuri spoke to each other in Russian. From the tone, it sounded like they were bickering over something mundane. As their exchange became more heated, it slowly dawned on Will that they were working themselves up, stoking their aggression like football players slamming each other’s shoulder pads before a