by Amy Deason
Biting her lip, she turned her head and looked longingly toward the gate, wishing she were back outside, in the fresh air with the grass under her feet rather than this stinking muck. For the third time since she’d come in here, she prayed for Nikolas to hurry and come back. If he didn’t show up pretty soon, she was going to go right back out the way she came. Ten more minutes, she thought. I can do ten more minutes but then I’m out of here.
A noise from deeper in the tunnel made her jump. It was a strange sound. Stealthy and low like something scurrying along the wet floor.
Maybe it’s just a rat.
She felt her face twist in disgust. She loved most animals but rats were just so nasty. With their beady little eyes, squirmy sleek bodies, and pink, naked tails, they absolutely made her skin crawl.
She heard the noise again, only louder this time. And whatever it was sounded a lot bigger than a revolting sewer rat. Crazy possibilities flew through her mind, each one worse than the one before it. Inhuman killer clowns, giant alligators with a taste for people, genetically-altered cockroaches.
Man, I really have to stop watching those kinds of movies.
A lot of good it would do her now while she was in a dark and smelly sewer tunnel by herself. Her heart shot into hyper drive and though she tried to swallow, her mouth was dry as a bone and her tongue felt like sandpaper. Keeping her eyes glued to the dark angle in the tunnel, she took a tentative step toward the gate. One of her sneakers sank into a puddle and she could feel the scummy water soaking into her sock but she refused to take her eyes from the corner ahead.
She took another step when she heard it again, closer this time.
Oh God . . .
Resisting the urge to make a break for it, she glanced around looking for something, anything, to protect herself with. But there was nothing but slimy grass and twigs along the base of the tunnel.
She jerked her eyes up as the sound came again. Whatever it was, it was moving toward her. The urge to bolt was stronger than ever. She took a step backward when her foot collided with something. Daring to look, she saw a jagged piece of rock sticking up out of the water. About the size of a baseball, it wasn’t big enough to hurt anything but at this point, it was better than nothing.
Looking back toward the noise, she quickly bent down and picked it up, feeling somewhat braver now that she had a weapon. Wrapping her fingers around the hard, uneven surface, she arched her arm, ready to throw and waited for the sound to come again.
She didn’t have to wait long.
At the same moment she heard it, she saw the pale, dirt streaked face peek around the corner. Unprepared and scared out of her wits, she instinctively threw the rock, missing by a mile. It hit the wall with a dull thump and splashed into the stream of water below. The face, a child’s face, disappeared behind the corner with a soft cry.
“Oh my God,” Cadence gasped.
Was that a kid? What was a kid doing down here?
The fear left her as soon as it came and she took a step forward, not caring if her shoes got wet or that she was in a smelly tunnel in the middle of nowhere. There was a child in here. A little girl unless she was mistaken.
Walking slowly, she approached the turn.
“Hello?” she whispered, the word echoing along the walls.
At first, there was nothing and she thought maybe the child had run away, deeper into the tunnel. Who could blame her if she did? She would run too if a woman was throwing rocks at her. The poor thing was probably scared to death. Who wouldn’t be down here in this damp, place?
A faint whimper came from the other side of the wall. The girl hadn’t gone far.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.” Taking one step at a time, Cadence rounded the corner, holding her hands out in front of her.
Like the bottom half of the letter ‘S’, the tunnel wound to the right and there, huddled in the bend, was a little girl about four or five years old. In the murky glow of a light bulb, she sat with her back to the wall and her dress, a ragged gray cloth, barely covered the scabbed knees she held against her small chest. Enormous brown eyes peered through the long, tangled strands of dirty-blond hair.
Cadence’s heart nearly broke for the fear looming in those eyes. She wanted to go and scoop her up but held back. It was obvious the girl was terrified and she didn’t want her to run. Moving slowly, Cadence stepped closer. The girl let loose a wail and tried to scoot further into the curve of the wall.
Stopping in her tracks, Cadence dropped to one knee, ignoring the cold, thick sludge seeping into her pants, and held out her hands. “It’s all right. I’m not going to hurt you. I promise. Are you okay?”
She was rewarded with another screeching cry. Oh man, what was she going to do? She couldn’t leave her here. If she could just get the girl out of this tunnel, maybe she wouldn’t be so scared. She could find out how she got here and where she belonged.
Preparing for a struggle, Cadence reached out for the girl when a hand fell on her shoulder, jerking her backward.
Chapter 9
Cadence’s surprised scream echoed in the tunnel. Mixed with the cries coming from the little sewer rat, it was nearly deafening.
“What in the hell are you doing?” Nikolas roared. “I told you to wait by the gate.”
He knew he was being too rough but when he’d reached the sewer entrance and Cadence was nowhere in sight, he’d gotten angry fast.
Quit lying to yourself. You got scared.
Shutting his inner voice out, he glared at Cadence, wanting to shake her. It was stupid for her to come this far into the tunnel. There were snakes and rats. She could have got bitten or lost in this massive labyrinth. Anything could have happened to her down here.
Twisting out of his grip, she stood between him and the child, glaring right back at him. The knees of her pants were wet and slick with muck but she didn’t seem to notice.
“What’s wrong with you? You scared her half to death,” she scolded.
Turning her back on him, she reached for the kid again. “Come here, honey, it’s okay,” she said, her voice low and cajoling.
“Don’t touch her,” he replied, grabbing Cadence’s arm and pulling her back.
She jerked away from him. “What are you talking about? Can’t you see how scared she is? We’ve got to get her out of here.”
He stared at her. How stupid could this girl be? “Cadence, she lives down here.”
That got her attention. Cadence’s blue eyes widened in disbelief. “Lives down here?”
“Yes. There are hundreds of people living in the sewer. Men, women, children. Even their dogs.”
Cadence paused, confusion written all over her beautiful face. “But . . . why?”
“Not everyone is privileged enough to grow up in a mansion with servants and chauffeurs,” he retorted. That wasn’t fair and he knew it but he didn’t care. She’d scared the shit out of him by coming down this far. And instead of accepting the fear for what it was, he turned it into anger and then turned it on her.
“You son of a bitch,” she seethed. “How dare you?”
“Cadence . . .” He had no idea what he had been about to say but whatever it was, he didn’t get a chance to finish.
Her palm connected with his face hard enough to rock his head to the side. But he stood his ground and took it. After all, he’d had it coming. It wasn’t her fault she had been born into money no more than it was his fault that he hadn’t. Or that the people living down here hadn’t. It was just the way things were.
She stood before him, her blue eyes burning a hole into him and her mouth trembling in anger. He’d made her mad all right. Mad enough to hit him. But no matter how mad she was, she was still going to have to trust him. Which meant he would have to swallow his anger and fix things with her.<
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“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” The words felt foreign in his mouth.
Her eyes widened in surprise. “What? You’re apologizing?”
“It seems so.”
“Wow, if I had known that was all it took, I would have hit you a long time ago.”
“No doubt,” he replied dryly. “Now, come on. We have to go.”
“Not without her,” Cadence said, taking a step toward the sobbing girl.
Releasing a frustrated breath, Nikolas tried again. “We are not taking her. This is where she lives. Where she belongs.”
Cadence’s eyes were huge in her face and he could see a sheen of tears forming. She was shaking her head vehemently. “No one belongs here. Especially not a child.”
Damn it, why did Cadence have to be such a sap? And why does she have to affect me so much?
“What do you want to do, Cadence? Take her from her home, kidnap her? Then what?” He could not believe he was having this conversation right now. Or at all.
“I don’t know.” She shook her head at him. “Maybe we could take her to the police or something. We just can’t leave her here. It’s not right,” she said emphatically.
He felt the anger start to build and he opened his mouth to yell at her. But then stopped and looked at her. Really looked at her.
Dirty and wet, she was still beautiful but that’s not what made him pause. It was the fire in her eyes as she stared back at him. She was begging him to do the right thing. The human thing. Was he really going to turn his back on that?
“Der-mo,” he mumbled under his breath. “All right, we’ll take her with us but we aren’t taking her to the police. We’ll drop her off on a doorstep or something.”
Relief flooded her face and the smile she gave him pulled at his heart, warming it. He suddenly felt as if he’d given her the Hope Diamond instead of just rescuing some sewer urchin. The sensation made him pause again.
What the hell was she doing to him?
But before he could consider it further, Cadence had scooped the screaming child in her arms and was heading for the exit.
Nikolas followed her, watching her stroke the crying girl’s dirty hair. What was he thinking? Things were messy enough without bringing a kid into it. Jesus, if Charlie knew, she’d have him shot for sure. Still, it felt right trying to take care of someone else. It felt good. And it meant a lot to Cadence.
They almost made it to the gate without any problems. Almost.
Behind them, a loud shriek erupted. Spinning around, Nikolas drew his gun and aimed it at the figure of a man. He was running at them, splashing through the water and muck. Dressed in mud-colored pants and a gray plaid shirt, he was waving a wooden baseball bat as he charged.
“STOP! OSTANOVIS! ETO MOYA DOCH’!”
Cadence swirled around and stood right behind him, the sobbing child clasped tightly to her chest. He could feel her breath on his neck as she spoke. “What’s going on? What’s he saying?”
A few feet away, the man stopped, anger and fear plastering his dirt streaked face. He shifted from one foot to the other, his eyes flitting between the crying child in Cadence’s arms and the gun aimed at his head.
Keeping his eye on the guy, Nikolas spoke over his shoulder to Cadence. “He wants us to stop. That’s his daughter.”
“Pozhaluysta, pozhaluysta. Ne prinimayte yeye.” The man put the bat down and dropped to his knees, unmindful of the nasty water running through the tunnel. Tears leaked from his green eyes as he held his hands out toward them in a pleading motion.
“What’s he saying now?” Cadence asked, stepping up beside him.
“‘Please, please, don’t take her.’ Cadence,” Nikolas said, glancing at her, “we have to give her back.”
“Are you crazy? How do we know he’s her father? He may be a rapist or a psycho or something.” She held the girl tighter against her, eyeing the man suspiciously.
The little girl lifted her head and looked around. As soon as she saw the man kneeling in front of them, she began to scream, “Papa, papa!” Twisting and kicking, she fought against Cadence’s hold.
Nikolas looked at her. “Cadence, let her go. Can’t you see she wants her father?”
Clamping her lips together, Cadence nodded. “Okay, okay,” she whispered, her voice shaky. Stooping down, she released the girl who streaked to the man kneeling in the muck.
Opening his arms, he enveloped the blond-haired child and kissed her cheeks over and over, hugging her tight. After making sure his daughter was unhurt, the man stood, picked up his bat, and waved it at them as he walked backward into the tunnel.
Still holding his gun on him, Nikolas replied, “Prosti. My ne imeyu v vidu kakoy-libo vred.”
At the bend in the wall, the man cast one last angry glance at them before rounding the corner and disappearing deeper into the sewer with his daughter in his arms.
Nikolas holstered his gun and pushed Cadence behind him and toward the gate, keeping his eyes focused on the bend. He didn’t think the guy would come back but he wasn’t about to take the chance.
Pushing through the gate, he closed it behind him and started walking toward the highway. They had about seven hours until sunrise and he wanted to be as far from this place as possible before then.
“What did you say to him?” Cadence asked as they walked.
“I told him I was sorry and we didn’t mean any harm.”
“Do you think he believed us?”
“I doubt it. I mean, what would you think if you were him and saw two people taking off with your child?”
“I guess I would probably think the same thing.” They walked in silence for a moment before she spoke again.
“I just can’t believe people down here. I feel so sorry for them.”
“Yeah, well, feeling sorry for someone isn’t going to help them, is it?” He saw the shocked hurt on Cadence’s face and immediately felt a rush of remorse flood through him. He wanted to apologize but this time he didn’t. This wasn’t some game they were playing. This was real life and the sooner she realized it, the better.
Cadence bit her lip and looked away from him. He couldn’t see her face, couldn’t read her eyes. He didn’t like it.
Stopping, he reached out and grabbed her chin, making her face him. “Listen, it sucks for them to live down here but it’s either this or the streets. And trust me, they’re safer down here,” he finished, thinking of his past and how he had been forced to live. Yes, much safer down here.
He realized he’d said too much as Cadence’s gaze sharpened on his.
With a tilt of her head, Cadence was studying him, her blue eyes curious. “How do you know? It’s not like you lived on the streets.”
Grimacing, he kicked himself for opening his mouth as she looked at him harder, searching for something.
“Wait a minute. Did you live on the street?”
For a split second, he wanted to answer. He wanted to tell her all about himself, the way he grew up, the things he’d done, the life he’d lived. He wanted to tell her everything. But the moment of insanity passed and he realized how foolish the idea had been.
Ignoring her question, he grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”
“Why won’t you answer my question?”
“It doesn’t matter where I grew up. It’s in the past, done and over. Now move,” he said, yanking her toward the late-model sedan.
It was obvious she wanted to press the issue about his childhood but for once she was smart enough not to. For the first time, she looked toward the highway and noticed the car.
“What happened to your motorcycle?”
“I ditched it. We have a long drive ahead of us and I don’t want to ride a bike all the way there. Plus, it sticks out like a sore thu
mb.” Reaching the car, he opened the passenger-side door.
Cadence hesitated before climbing in. “What do you mean ‘a long drive?’ We can get to Valaam by boat from St. Petersburg.”
“You don’t get it do you?” He looked at her incredulously. After all of this, she still didn’t understand the gravity of the situation. “Dmitry has spies everywhere in Russia but St. Petersburg is his main hub of operation. His men will be watching every airport, road, and waterway here. We have to get out of this city.”
She stared at him for a moment, her eyes unreadable. “What happened to the man in the car? Did you kill him?”
Her change of pace threw him. “Does it matter?”
She lowered her eyes. “No, I guess not.” Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she climbed inside the car and sat with her hands in her lap, staring straight ahead.
Shutting the door, Nikolas walked to the other side. Damn woman. What was wrong with her? Better yet, what was wrong with him? He couldn’t seem to get her out of his mind. And not just because he was stuck with her. He was starting to think of her as a person. A woman. Not good, he thought. Not good at all.
~ ~ ~
In the passenger seat, Cadence sat in silence watching as the trees and bushes flew by. Nikolas assured her they would arrive in Priozersk within a couple of hours. A full one and a half hours ahead of schedule. Which, Cadence thought, is no great surprise considering the speeds they were traveling. She’d dared to look at the speedometer once and instantly regretted it. One hundred and twenty miles an hour! It was a wonder they weren’t dead yet. But Nikolas was handling the car like a dream, like he was born behind the wheel. And besides, she had a feeling he wouldn’t let any harm come to her. Not intentionally anyway. In the beginning, she’d had her doubts. Who wouldn’t, considering the circumstances? But now, after everything she’d been through with him, something had changed.
