The Guardian

by Donna Grant

  Eden shoved her hair out of her face. “I’m not sure I see how going there now is any different than going there when we first arrived. If any Saints are there, then we’ll have to fight them. Right?”

  “If we had chosen that as our base when we got here, then I would’ve had to clear out everyone so they didn’t discover us when you were on the internet.”

  “Good point. Except I’m going to be on the internet again.”

  He steered farther away from an oncoming vessel. “We don’t need a whole lot of time now. It’s just getting it out to the world.”

  “Which may take some time. Not as long as it took to gather all the intel, though.”

  “The bunker will allow me to hold the Saints off for several hours. Maybe even a day if we get to the right spot.”

  Eden looked up at the night sky. “That will work. I don’t see me needing anything longer than a handful of hours.”

  “You need to accept there will be opposition. The Saints will do everything they can to stop you.”

  “I’ve been thinking of that. Callie can help.”

  “And she’ll be more than happy to do it. What are you thinking?”

  Eden smiled as she turned her head to him. “I’m thinking that she hacks into all the news outlets around the world that she can, and we distribute what we have.”

  Maks jerked his head to her. “That’s a bold move. If it can be done, it’ll accomplish exactly what we want.”

  “A lot of it will be on Callie’s shoulders. Even if we can only get to a couple of countries, once it’s out there, it’s out there.”

  “The Saints will move quickly to have it removed.”

  Eden laughed softly. “Do you have any idea how many conspiracy theorists are out there?”

  “Obviously more than I realize.”

  “They look for shit like this. If they get a hold of it, and we’ll make sure they do, then they’ll help us spread it.”

  Maks nodded as he began to smile. “Get it out to as many as possible globally. The Saints will try to take it down, and they’ll succeed. But then the conspiracy theorists will keep it alive because it’ll look suspicious. That’s rather brilliant.”

  “I have my moments,” she said with a little shrug.

  “I wouldn’t have thought of that. I definitely tip my hat to you.”

  “We make a good team,” she said and reached over to touch his leg.

  He lowered his hand and let his fingers brush her hair. “We’re getting close.”

  They went silent then. He throttled down the motor until it was barely running. When they got as close as he dared, he turned the boat toward shore. Maks motioned for Eden to take the wheel while he went to the front of the boat and grabbed the line. When they got close enough, he readied himself and jumped onto land, pulling the boat with the rope as he did.

  Eden turned off the engine as Maks tied the vessel to a tall tree to keep it there just in case they needed a getaway vehicle. He held out his hands as Eden tossed him first his pack, then hers. Maks set them on the ground beside him and reached for her. Eden leapt from the boat, landing against him so he could steady her.

  “We’ll hike the rest of the way,” he said in a whisper as they put on their packs. “It’s about two klicks. Ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be,” she said with a wink.

  His smile died as he faced away from her. He had no idea what awaited them at the bunker. All he could do was hope that he hadn’t led them into a worse situation.

  35

  Washington, DC

  “Good evening, Mr. Sumners,” the beautiful flight attendant said as he climbed upon his private Learjet.

  He gave her a nod and made his way to his seat. Jeff sat down and looked out the window. He’d known a trip to Europe would be coming, but he hadn’t expected to be making it now. Especially with the virus working as well as it was. Flying to Europe was going to bring scrutiny upon him. Then again, he’d always been able to shrug off such things. He would again.

  The gorgeous brunette smiled at him as she brought his whisky. “We’re about ready to depart. Don’t forget to buckle your seat belt.”

  “Of course, not,” he replied as he took the drink and set it on the table in front of him.

  He’d already slept with her twice. Some men had a thing for blondes. For him, it was brunettes. The smarter they were, the more he wanted them. He couldn’t stand anyone who was dumb. And he rewarded his employees very well.

  He checked his watch to see the time before he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed. It was answered on the second ring. The tremor of fear he heard in Janice’s voice made him smile. “You failed.”

  “I need more time,” she hurried to say.

  “You’ve had plenty. I’m handling things on my own from here on out in regards to Maks.”

  There was a beat of silence. “And what does that mean for me?”

  In the background he heard the door of Janice’s home being busted down. He listened patiently as the phone dropped and there was a brief struggle. Then a moment later a deep voice said, “It’s done, sir.”

  “You’ve never let me down. Good work. Take a few days off.”

  The line went dead. Jeff set the phone on the table before him and looked out the window. The plane lurched forward as it began taxiing down the runway. His gaze landed on the woman. He really should try to remember her name, but names meant nothing to him. She got him hard and gave him release. To add a cherry on top, she was so pretty that he couldn’t stop looking at her.

  Unfortunately, there was a chance that she would contract the virus the Saints had unleashed upon the world. It was too bad, really. He liked her. However, there were a hundred women just like her waiting to take her place.

  And they were always eager to work for him—and spread their legs. They never hesitated to do whatever he requested because they got paid handsomely. That was everything in the world. It all came down to money. Who had it, who knew how to make it, and who knew how to use it to their advantage. There was so much money in his accounts now that he couldn’t spend it all if he tried.

  He mocked the stupid ones who gave away their fortunes to help the needy. Didn’t anyone understand that the poor and needy would always be like that unless they learned how to pull themselves out of the muck like he had? In his opinion, if they didn’t have the will or drive to make something of themselves, then they needed to remain just as they were.

  Jeff settled back with his drink as the plane soared through the air, headed toward Romania of all places. He’d never cared for the country, but then again, he wasn’t going there on holiday. He was headed there because that’s where Maks was.

  He swirled the amber liquid in his glass, thinking back to the years he’d known Maks and the Petrov family. From an early age, he’d seen something in Maks that alerted him to the potential waiting to be found. And had he found it.

  Maks didn’t know it, but he had been the one to push Maks to join the military. It was all done behind the scenes, so no one knew. The way Maks had blossomed in the Army had been more than what Jeff had expected. Much more.

  After that, it had taken nothing to get Maks to go down the roads he wanted. Jeff just had to open certain doors for him and wait, and Maks unknowingly complied. Things had gone exactly to plan. Right up until Maks met that stupid woman.

  Just when Jeff thought he’d have to kill her, he’d found another use for the bitch. She had fallen into the fold rather easily. It had been almost too simple to convince her that Maks needed the Saints as much as the Saints needed him. All would’ve worked out perfectly. It should’ve worked out like the rest of Jeff’s plans. But things had gone sideways.

  When Maks left Stacy, the woman was severely wounded, half his team was dead, and he was a changed man. Enough that Jeff became concerned that he wasn’t going to be able to recruit Maks. The rest of the Elders began to doubt his vision of Maks taking his place one day. Jeff was able to convince them
to give Maks another try.

  They spent weeks surveilling him, waiting to see if Maks would go to someone and begin looking into the Saints since they didn’t know everything Stacy had told him before Maks shot her. Jeff agreed with two other Elders that the woman might have told Maks everything in a last-ditch bid to get him to their side. Thankfully, Jeff worried for nothing.

  Once they were assured that Maks was walking down the path they wanted again, Jeff made sure that Maks was offered a position with the CIA. It was right up Maks’ alley. Sure enough, he took it. After proving himself there, Jeff made sure that Maks was moved to Russia to infiltrate the FSB.

  Maks kept performing just as expected. He had no idea he was taking out targets sent by the Elders. Jeff made sure that Maks had so many orders and missions coming from both the CIA and the FSB that he had no time to consider anything else. And Maks hadn’t.

  Until a week ago.

  Jeff drained the last of the whisky. He was getting old. Too old to be doing this shit. Maks should be with him, being groomed to take his place the moment Jeff died. Instead, Maks had fooled them all.

  He still couldn’t believe that Maks had betrayed them. Jeff had kept such a close eye on him. How could this have happened? Unless…

  “No,” Jeff whispered to himself.

  There was no way that Maks had been planning this since he believed his lover died. There’s no way someone could’ve walked away from their life, their family, to hunt down an organization the size and scope of the Saints. It would be suicide. And Maks was smarter than that. Yet there was a part of Jeff that knew Maks was smart enough and patient enough to do just that.

  Jeff briefly closed his eyes and sighed. “This wasn’t how this was supposed to go.”

  He didn’t want to kill Maks, but the man was giving Jeff no other option. Since no one seemed to be able to bring Maks in, it was now up to Jeff to stop all of this nonsense. The future of the Saints, the future of the world depended on it.

  36

  Creepy didn’t begin to describe the area. Eden felt as if a thousand eyes of the dead watched her. A shiver of apprehension ran down her spine. She knew the bunker would be a great place for them to hole up and fight against the Saints. At the same time, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this was the last place they should be.

  She gently tugged on Maks’ hand to get his attention. He stopped immediately and looked at her over his shoulder. The moon was bright enough that she could make out him raising his brows in question.

  “Is there somewhere else we can go?” she whispered.

  His brows drew together as he turned to her. “It’s the best place.”

  “I know. It’s just…” She trailed off and shrugged. She couldn’t put into words her feeling of foreboding.

  Maks tightened his fingers with hers. “It’s going to be dangerous anywhere we go. We’ve got to stay away from people because of the virus, but also get somewhere we can defend ourselves. This is the best place I know of around here. We can’t leave Romania, and traveling is—”

  She cut him off with a nod and her finger over his lips. “I know. I’m sorry. I just have a bad feeling.”

  “So do I,” he admitted.

  He gently pressed his lips to hers and gave her a smile. Eden forced herself to return it. This was a no-win situation. There weren’t any better options, no matter how much she wished there were.

  They walked over the snow-covered ground, meandering through bushes and trees weighed down with snow until she spotted the top of a bunker rising from the ground. It wasn’t at the top of a hill as some were. This one was hidden in plain sight. However, if she hadn’t been looking for it or known of its existence, Eden was certain she would’ve walked right past it.

  There was no movement around the bunker. Then again, all she could see was a small part of it. She followed Maks as he walked them around the back. The moon went behind the clouds, cutting off what little light there was. She was fumbling in the dark, but Maks knew exactly what he was doing.

  Within moments of moving aside some brush, he was ushering her inside. Eden glanced at the concrete door that was at least a foot thick. Shouldn’t the hinges have been rusty and creaked when opened? Probably, but Maks had said that he had scoped this place out before. Which meant that he had likely taken care of any squeaking.

  He closed and barred the door behind them. Then he flicked on the light of his phone and took her hand as he walked past her. Eden coughed at the damp, dank smell but kept pace with him. They passed several doorways and halls that jutted off in different directions. She hoped that she didn’t have to navigate the bunker by herself because there was no way she’d remember how to get out.

  The sound of voices halted them in their tracks. Maks lowered his phone to hide the majority of the light. Eden stood right behind him, her breathing loud to her ears. They stood like that for several minutes before the voices moved off, and they began walking again.

  To her shock, Maks took them to a stairway that led down. He zigzagged them through different corridors first one way and then the other, turning her around completely. Until finally, he stopped beside what looked like a solid wall.

  “Hold this,” he said in a whisper.

  Eden took his phone and held up the light to shine against him and the wall. She frowned at the old picture of Hitler staring back at her. The glass was intact, but the photo hadn’t withstood the elements. It was faded and yellow. And no matter how much she tried, there was no getting away from those beady, black eyes watching her.

  Maks, however, didn’t seem to care. He pushed the bottom corner of the picture upward so that the entire thing swiveled on the nail holding it. Eden’s lips parted in astonishment as she saw a number pad there. Maks quickly keyed in a code and the wall moved. Clearly this bunker wasn’t always out of commission. Someone had retrofitted at least parts of it since World War II. This must have been what Maks said he had upgraded.

  “Come on,” he told her as he put his hands on the slab and pushed.

  It swung open, and lights clicked on as he walked in. Eden leaned to the side and took in the room. It appeared to be a conference room of sorts. There was a long table, several chairs, lights swinging from the low ceiling and along the wall, as well as a table in the back that held radio equipment.

  Maks set his pack on the table and walked to the electronics. He flipped some switches and leaned down to look at something. Eden was slower to walk in. She was entering a place that had been used in WWII against the allies. Evil people had used this room. She wanted to turn and run, but she realized that this was now their place to use against evil people.

  Eden slowly walked inside. Maks turned and briefly looked her way. She let her gaze roam over the area, taking what must have been high tech equipment for the forties. Looking at it now, she wasn’t even sure how to work any of it.

  “You all right?” Maks asked as he walked to her.

  Eden snapped her head to him. “Yeah. It’s just…weird…to be in here. I’ve seen some of these on the television, but never in person. Maybe it’s just me, but the air feels heavy.”

  “It’s not you. A lot of people died around this bunker, on both sides of the war. You’re feeling the residual energy.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  He grinned. “I’d be worried if you did.”

  She cleared her throat. “Now what do we do?”

  “We’re going to lock ourselves in this room.”

  Eden watched dumbfounded as Maks walked to the door. “You can’t be serious.”

  “There’s a way out, I promise. I’ve used this a few times,” he told her as he touched a button near the door and it closed on its own.

  The moment it slid shut, Eden felt a chill run down her spine. “How do you know the Saints don’t know about this place?”

  “They haven’t gotten to this part of the bunker. They’re on the other side.”

  “We heard them on the way here.”

&nbs
p; Maks faced her. “They were on the other side of the wall. They might be concrete, but voices still carry. This side of the bunker is blocked off. It will prevent them from gaining access. I know about the blockage because I found it. I also found out how to clear it. I then made sure they couldn’t break through it easily, and added the extra security to the door in case they somehow did. And before you ask, they haven’t found the way in that we used. I know this because of the way I stacked the brush around the door. I’d have known if it had been moved.”

  There was no reason for Eden not to believe him. It was just the place that was getting under her nerves. “I trust you.”

  “You’ll get past this place soon enough. Now, the equipment here is old, but the Saints have been running new lines for wireless internet,” he said with a smile.

  Eden chuckled. “You want to use their internet to get the word out about them?”

  “Damn straight, I do. Rather ironic, isn’t it?”

  “I think it’s perfect.”

  He flashed her a smile. “Shall we get to work, then?”

  “We need to let Callie and the others know what we’re doing.”

  Maks reached into his pocket and pulled out the cell phone. “It’s secure. The only number in there is Callie’s. Call her and let them know what’s going on. Then start your research.”

  “And where will you be?” she asked, suddenly afraid that he was going to leave her alone.

  He walked around the table and took her hands in his. “No one but me knows how to get through that door. No one other than the two of us even knows that door is there. You’re going to be safe.”

  “The minute I start my search, they’re going to be alerted.”

  “Which is why I need to get the guns and ammo I have stashed. They aren’t far. I’ll be back by the time you get off the phone with Callie.”

  Eden wanted to hold him there, tell him that they didn’t need the guns, but she knew it for the lie it was. “You’re coming back to me.”