“Don’t just leave me here. Maybe I can help you.” Armina’s words were brave, but her voice was a frightened whisper.
“I don’t think so. I don’t have time to explain, but I am in a dangerous line of work, and I believe there are some people here who are just as dangerous, if not more so, than the oborot.”
“What people are you talking about? Where are they? We didn’t see anyone out there, except…”
“What?” Queen’s pulse raced. If Armina could give her a clue to the whereabouts of Manifold, that would put her one step closer to success. “Did you see something?”
“I was just thinking about the moment before the oborot came after Oleg.” She shivered and her face fell. “Alexei was not attacked. He just disappeared, as if someone grabbed him. Could it have been those people?”
“I don’t know,” Queen admitted. “Let’s have another look at your video. Back up to the part where Alexei was taken.” Armina complied, and they watched as the boy was there one moment and gone the next. “Back up and play it again,” Queen said. “Can you slow it down?” Armina nodded, and the scene unfolded again in slow-motion. “Freeze it there!” Armina paused the video. “Good! Now zoom in on Alexei.”
Armina complied. As the image expanded on the screen, her eyes widened and she tapped the image. A gloved hand was wrapped around Alexei’s wrist. “I was right! Someone did take Alexei.”
“Definitely. I don’t know for sure how it fits together, but it’s worth investigating. I see this was over near the amusement park.” Queen froze. Something strange about the video had just registered with her. It was so obvious that she had to laugh. So intent was her focus, first on Oleg and the oborot, and then on Alexei, that she had ignored the other oddity.
“What’s wrong?” Armina looked all around, as if Queen had spotted some danger.
“Nothing. Hit play for me.” This time, her eyes were not on the boys, but on the Ferris wheel in the background. It was turning. “When you were out there, did you see the Ferris wheel turning?”
“Yes, we did. You missed that part when I forwarded it to the attack, but we noticed it right away. We were going for a closer look when all the rest happened.” Armina winced as if the very words pained her. “I have heard that Pripyat is haunted and I never believed it. But abandoned rides that start up on their own, and oborots roaming the streets? It must be true.”
“I don’t think Pripyat is haunted.” Queen grimaced. If her instincts were correct, Manifold had set up operations somewhere in the vicinity of the old amusement park, and as an added security measure, they had run a line to the old Ferris wheel and put it in working order again. Turn it on when the occasional stranger sneaked into the park, and the person would hopefully run away in fright, telling everyone the place was haunted. Get enough people spreading the ridiculous tale of a haunted amusement park, and you’ve got a surrounding community of skeptics ready to dismiss the story of an oborot, should one ever get out. And she had no doubt that this oborot, werewolf or not, was a product of one of Manifold’s twisted experiments. She gave the girl’s shoulder a squeeze. “Now, let’s figure out where to hide you, and I’ll be off.”
“No!” Armina didn’t sound frightened, but determined. “I will be safer with you. You have a gun. Besides, I can take you right to the amusement park. It will be faster for you.”
“But what will I do with you when we get there?” Queen couldn’t believe she was even considering this. It was ridiculous. She couldn’t have the kid slowing her down. Then again, if the girl could quickly guide her to the amusement park, that would be a great help.
Armina screwed up her face in concentration. “There are some old soft drink machines nearby. They’re empty. Close me up in one of those until you can come for me.” She saw the hesitation in Queen’s eyes. “If you don’t take me, I’ll just follow along behind you.”
“Try that, little girl, and I’ll truss you up and hang you from the ceiling like a wind chime. You got me?”
“I’ll scream.” Tears welled in her eyes, but the resolve there was evident. “Or I’ll make whatever noise I can and the oborot will get me anyway. Just let me go with you. I don’t want to be here alone anymore.”