by Grady, D. R.
That raised more questions. Why not? Did he intend to leave soon? Was he weaning her off him?
Her heart wrenched at the very thought.
She shook her head. “I don’t know, Maria.”
Something in her voice must have alerted Maria, because that lady dropped her pen before she made quick tracks to stand in front of her. “Don’t you dare think that’s bad. Vlad isn’t exactly the most communicative of men.”
“I’ve mentioned that to him,” she said after she swallowed the lump lodged in her throat. It was painful, but not impossible.
“He’s always been like that. If he had a high fever, he never told me he didn’t feel well.”
“Never?” She stared wide-eyed at Maria. “Never?”
“Never.” Maria’s mouth turned down. “Even when he was really small. He hardly ever cried after his first year either. It was like the warrior was already such a part of him that he never complained.”
“That must have made your job as his mother harder.”
“Yes, it did. I had to watch him for signs of illness, because he certainly never told me. I soon got pretty good at it. So did Graham. Vlad simply suffered in silence.”
This information didn’t surprise her in the least. It also made her rather thankful that she and Maria had this talk. Because it gave her more insight into Vlad’s character. His friends also mentioned that he didn’t say much, even if he was hurt. Could a woman fall in love with a man who didn’t talk to her? Who she didn’t know?
Oh she knew the inside of his mouth and how his body felt pressed against hers, but she didn’t understand what made him tick, not yet anyway. She knew he considered her safety and protection paramount to all other things. Perhaps that’s all she needed to know…
Still, if he stayed or left also impacted her future so she’d dearly love to know his intentions.
Whether his future coincided with hers was of utmost importance to her.
Maria stroked a sweet hand up her arm, expressing sympathy and support without saying a word before she returned to her preparations.
That gave her far too much time to think, so she forced these unsettled thoughts into the back of her mind and instead carried on with the initial phase of her experiment. She still had to analyze the data.
Settling in at the computer, she entered all the numbers from the initial run and watched as charts and graphs appeared. Then she added parameters and other necessary info and soon she had mapped out the next day’s experiment. A clear plan of what she needed to do.
That’s how she lived her life. Planning the next step, knowing what her future held. But her relationship with Vlad left her unsettled because like his mother claimed, he didn’t put much credence in communication. At least not with her.
Perhaps he was different with his friends. Those capable men he worked with.
A spurt of jealousy made a jabbing thrust, but she rejected it. Those men trusted each other with their lives. She was only entrusting Vlad with her heart.
Broken hearts recovered. Dead lives did not.
She finished her data analysis and saved everything before printing out the sheets to add to her lab notebook. Then she set to work updating that. Once she was finished she tucked the book away and then turned to start preparing her kit to take water samples.
“Do you think we should test Tia and Jorge’s wells?” she asked.
Before Maria could respond the large storage room door burst open and was filled by a man with the largest gun she had ever seen. It looked like it should be mounted on a tank. The man was dressed in a military-like uniform and his eyes flickered with pools of crazy.
He smiled. It was the scariest smile she had ever seen.
“Come with me and no one will get hurt.”
Her heart plummeted at that blatant lie. They’d die if they went with him.
Staring at the strange stirring in his eyes, they might anyway.
Chapter 34
“Armed tango in the lab,” Shively shouted as he gaped at the screen in front of him. Except he wasn’t sitting there any longer. He hurtled across the command center to tug on his combat vest.
Vlad didn’t question him. Instead he headed for the door. Ben and Beaumont stopped him with a hard hand on either arm. “You can’t help them if you’re not prepared.” Ben shouldn’t have needed to admonish him in the first place. But his heart pounded in his ears while sweat broke out along his upper lip.
The SEAL commander didn’t waste time repeating himself but instead tossed his vest to him. He had never suited up faster. The only thought in his brain was that he needed to get to Helena and his mother. What those terrorists could do to his women in a minute added to the sweat droplets on his lip and sent icy chills up his spine.
It seemed like it took him hours to finish, but as soon as he was done, he headed for the door. “Sit rep,” he demanded as they sprinted for the tunnels.
When Shively explained that the tangos erupted through the tunnel entrance into the storage area, his heart sank. He made a point to check the tunnel after he left the lab this afternoon. It had been clear then. That was the lab’s only escape route. Now that escape was cut off. Acid churned in his stomach.
The two women might be able to flee into the hallway, but the entrance from the storage area, depending on where they were in the lab, might be closer. If his mother was at her bench, she could turn and run out the door, but Helena’s wasn’t as close. No one could outrun a gun, and when Shively mentioned the model of the weapon the terrorist pointed at them, his mouth dried.
It would be suicide for them to run. His heart boomed in his ears. More chills snaked up his arms and across his neck. Ben sent him a sharp glance.
“Wellington, you can’t help them if you allow your emotions to take over. I need your brain, one hundred percent.”
That quickly he buried his emotions deep and the warrior emerged, preparing for the ensuing battle.
When he shoved a tapestry aside, there was an entire army on the other side.
***
Helena stared at the new man who skirted around the one with the gun. This one was even scarier, because he fancied himself a gentleman. He was dressed similarly, in a military uniform that bore desert colors, but he was obviously the man in charge. There was no denying the air of command about him, or the lack of noticeable weapon. The bigger man wore his like an accessory.
There was what looked like a handgun attached to the leader’s belt and probably assorted knives and other weapons hidden on his person. At least that’s what she read soldiers did.
She didn’t doubt Vlad carried more weapons than she could identify.
Vlad. Just thinking about him quelled her intense need to whimper.
He was somewhere in the palace. He was trained for this type of situation. In fact, it was likely he and his warrior buddies had been training for this exact scenario. Vlad had shown them the very escape route that these fiends used to gain access to the lab.
Bile rose in her throat at the thought of these men pulling a weapon on Aleksi. Were they after him and just wanted to use her and Maria as hostages?
Again, a whimper nearly escaped.
Crazy-eyed man stroked the massive gun as though it were a pet. The bile rose higher, threatening to choke her. Fear left a nasty taste in her mouth as she watched more men pour into the lab.
There was no escape route. Maria was closer to the door, but that one weapon could wreak a lot of damage. They’d never make it. Her heart quivered and she started to shake as she stared terror in the eyes.
He was particularly scary. Still stroking his weapon, while his commander spoke to his troops. None of them looked sane, and that only increased the fear factor. She resolved to die rather than leave with these monsters. They were in a lab, there had to be something they could use as makeshift weapons.
Maria edged closer to her while she stared at the huge bottle of rubbing alcohol on the bench. With suddenly narrow eyes, she indicate
d it with her head. Maria was closer and she nodded almost imperceptibly before wrapping her hand around the bottle. It might not do much good like it was, but alcohol was flammable…
She glanced at Maria then carefully eased a bench drawer open. Maria pressed something into her palm before she could delve her hand inside.
A book of matches.
It was reassuring to be on the same page as one’s colleagues.
***
He eased the tapestry back into place then headed down the passage to Aleksi’s office, his team behind him. They met the prince barreling down the same passage.
“You’re under attack,” Ben announced.
“I watched them enter the lab. We’re headed to the war room.”
Before they could question him, Maks also appeared. Behind him was their father, Beau DuBois, and several men he didn’t recognize, but all of whom moved like they had military training.
“We’ll have your backs.” Aleksi raced into a huge room inside the passage. He flung open a trunk there, Maks working beside him at another old trunk. Maks started winging combat vests to the unarmed men. Aleksi opened his chest and dug to the bottom. He performed something and the entire wall behind the chest opened. There mounted in military precision was a vast array of weapons. All of them current, all of them well used, and all of them deadly.
Shively tipped his head respectively. “You’re a cool prince.”
Aleksi smiled. But his eyes were grim, his mouth firm. “No terrorists are touching any of my people.” His voice was hard, and determined.
Maks passed out helmets much like what they wore and soon all the men were prepared for combat. Not one of them fumbled with their weapons. Not one of them looked odd carrying them.
“Let’s go.” Aleksi chose a gun the size of an Uzi. He had also selected several other weapons, and the ease at which he pocketed them proved the man knew what he was about.
The other men, including his father and Maks, appeared every bit as confident. He knew DuBois. The others he didn’t know by name, but he identified some by their family characteristics. Their ease with the weapons and equipment reassured him.
“There are terrorists in the east wall passage.” He rattled off the sit rep.
“We’ll take care of them.” Aleksi indicated the group surrounding him. “You guys have better skills than we do.”
“Vlad, you got gas bombs for the passage?” Beaumont waited for him to confirm.
Maks paused in fastening his vest. He opened another trunk and started passing gas masks around.
“No Emerson?” Ben asked when he noticed the man was absent.
“He’s out of the country with his wife at the moment.” Maks attached his gas mask to his belt.
“He’s gonna be mad he missed this.”
At Shively’s statement, both Aleksi and Maks allowed small smiles. “And we’ll be hearing about it for weeks.” Aleksi’s smile didn’t last. He was all business.
Every single man here shared their prince’s focus. All of them had obviously kept their skills up. He was utterly grateful for that.
“I’m heading to the lab.” His dad’s voice cracked.
Ben stayed him with a hand on his arm. His eyes were hard. “Keep your emotions in check. An emotional outburst is the best way to get your wife and Helena killed.”
That quickly his dad transitioned from a man worried about his family to a man preparing for combat. He approved.
His dad nodded before he disappeared down the hall toward the east corridor. He moved with the grace and skill of a man a lot younger.
He turned back in time to see Aleksi and Maks follow him. The other men sank away to join the shadows.
We can trust them? He asked DuBois through signals.
Absolutely, he signaled back. “I’ll take the command center,” DuBois offered. It was probably hard for DuBois since Helena was in danger, but they needed someone there and his left side was going to slow him, and therefore all of them, down. It also meant DuBois trusted his fellow soldiers to take care of business.
“Thank you.” Ben saluted him before he and Shively disappeared.
Time to go free Helena and his mom.
And more than time to show a few terrorists what it meant to be an enemy of Rurikstan.
Chapter 35
He donned his gas mask then lit a gas bomb that he lobbed into the stone corridor. Within a few breaths, the entire army began to stagger. He moved swiftly down the passage, careful to knock as many men down as possible. Behind him, Beaumont was already securing them.
Aleksi and Maks soon showed up and took over for them, indicating to Beaumont to go with him. That was good.
He took time to go into a swift conference with Beaumont and then the SEAL disappeared through the ceiling. He would make his way from above.
He asked his dad via their communication devices to keep watch at the lab door. Ben and Tigger transmitted that they planned to meet him there. Tigger would join Beaumont in the ceiling as soon as they entered the main hall. He learned the other men who had shown up were busy helping security to clear civilians out of the palace. They were all known to the staff members and the personnel would leave willingly once prompted.
That was a relief. Ben and Shively had planned to do that, but this left them free to complete other tasks. DuBois’s calm voice transmitted through his headset. Communication was fully up and working.
As soon as that thought entered, another voice he recognized but couldn’t pinpoint filtered over the line. He was in place in Aleksi’s office. That was another good move. The tangos were sure to use his mother and Helena to gain entrance into that space. They had a female police officer, a sharp shooter, acting as Aleksi’s personal assistant. That way the tangos wouldn’t grow suspicious.
Right now they thought they were the ones hunting.
He smiled grimly.
***
The leader turned to another man. “Did you find Barstow?”
Helena, recognizing that name, started.
“She is in custody, as we heard.”
“Can we break her out? I still have plans for her, as do you.” The leader turned to the man still stroking his gun.
“Her training is not nearly finished,” Crazy Gun Stroker crooned. “She will object because her aunt did not survive.”
Her stomach heaved at what these brutes had done to Anna and her aunt, whoever she was. A tiny spurt of sympathy undulated through her at what the other woman must have endured at these fiends’ hands. She shivered.
“Perhaps our little Anna will fight, just as she always does, and then she will not live either.” The leader sounded pleased by that thought.
“It is best when they object.” Gun Stroker nodded. “That is part of her allure.”
“She has proven to be an excellent source of information.”
Crazy man shifted his gun. “A fine little traitor.”
Stomach roiling, she exchanged a terrified glance with Maria. There was no doubt in her mind what these men now intended for them. Without speaking, she and Maria worked out their plan. They both knew they had to douse the commander and the gun stroker with the alcohol. If they could set both of them on fire, it might create enough chaos to allow them to escape into the hall and hope help arrived.
There were no guarantees help would arrive, but both of them were willing to take their chances. Maria’s eyes narrowed as she lifted the wide mouthed container of rubbing alcohol. She hefted it and stepped closer to the men invading their lab. Once in range, Maria tossed the liquid.
In one sure sweep she managed to wet both with the entire contents of the jar. Hopefully it was enough. In sync with her, Helena struck the first match. She tossed it at the man closest to her, the one with the huge weapon he continued petting.
His clothing erupted in flames so fast that she stared open mouthed. The flames leapt from his clothing to the man beside him. Maria grabbed her and yanked her down behind the bench.
The men they set on fire screamed as the flames flared and ate through the cloth to lick at their skin. An acrid cloud of smoke drifted toward them. Bringing with it the scent of burning cloth.
Maria, ducking low, ran crouched around the next lab bench, hand tight around hers. The open doorway was close. But it was soon filled by a man in the same uniform who heard the shrieks of pain from the burning men. She snagged the syringe Maria had set ready for the next day. Next she grabbed a bottle of sulphuric acid. She ripped the packaging off the syringe and then paused long enough to fill the syringe.
Maria grabbed several sharp tipped pipets off the bench as they passed. They had to stop on the far end of the bench because of the foreign men crowding the lab. They spoke in loud, abrasive tones in a language she didn’t recognize. There was something that sounded like panic in the room as they rushed to the aid of the burning men.
One man broke from the pack though and circled around to box them in. He was grinning and it wasn’t friendly. She handed the bottle of acid to Maria who dropped the pipets in favor of this better weapon. With precision, she popped the air out of the syringe and aimed it at the man. Some of the syringe contents flew from the needle and landed on the advancing man’s clothes. It didn’t take long before the acid droplets ate through his clothing. This was pure stuff.
And very, very scary all in its own right.
Maria popped the stopper out of the bottle neck before wielding her new weapon. It was evident by the chemical symbols to any scientist what it was, although she doubted these men could read.
The man stopped advancing, and glanced at the label. Apparently he could read the contents. His hand hovered over his gun, but she pointed her syringe at him. Exactly as she had done yesterday when facing Frederic and the other jerks, her backbone stiffened as resolve spread through her.
No more. No more giving in to bullies, or in this case, these terrorists who planned to torture them before they killed them. She planned to go down fighting. At least until their weapons gave out.
