by Lexi Blake
She shook her head and then winced because that hurt like hell. “No, he was with me. He followed me.” There was more. There had been something that she’d found hard to believe. “He said he knew where the drive was and that he’d exchange it for cash.”
Alfi looked at her, his gaze incredulous. “Are we talking about the same bloke?”
He’d seemed different when he’d stood up to Fedor. Stronger. More sure of himself. “Yes. Tucker claims to know where it is and he wants cash for it.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Alfi replied. “How did it get from my Jeep in Africa all the way here and into Tucker’s hands? It makes no sense.”
Not a lot of what Tucker did made sense. Still, in this case, she couldn’t see another reason for him to have done what he did. It made far more sense for him to turn around and run back to get Brody. Or to have pretended nothing happened at all. He could have easily walked out and said nothing to Brody. It would have been the simplest thing to pretend like she’d stolen his key card and he hadn’t seen her at all.
Why follow her? Why put himself in danger? Unless he was telling the truth and he wanted to exchange the drive for cash.
“I don’t know how he would have gotten his hands on the drive, but somehow he did.” She forced herself to stand on wobbly legs. What time was it? When would de Vries call and set up the exchange?
Was Brody out there right now searching for her, or had he given up on her? It might be better for all of them if he took Nate back to England this minute and started their lives.
She missed her baby. It was an actual ache in her chest.
The door slammed open, jarring her.
Fedor strode into the room, the phone she’d brought with her in his hand. She could hear it ringing softly. “I believe you’re supposed to answer this. Explain to him where you are and then hand the phone back to me.”
Her hands shook as she opened the burner. “Hello?”
“Ah, Dr. Gibson,” de Vries said over the line. “I’m surprised they allowed you to answer. I suppose the entire team is listening in. I’ve been looking into Mr. Taggart. Formidable allies you have, but I have some pull of my own.”
“I’m not with the Taggarts anymore,” she admitted. “I’m with Anya’s brother. He wants to talk to you.”
There was a pause on the line. “I believe I said I would only deal with you.”
“He’s interested in getting his sister back. He’s got me under his control. I don’t even know where I am, so I’m afraid you’ll have to deal with him.” She pulled the phone away from her ear and handed it to Fedor. “I’ve done my part.”
He nodded. “You’ve done well, but until you hand yourself over to de Vries, it’s not over.” He held the phone to his ear. “Mr. de Vries, I believe I told you I would be coming here. Now I have everything you want and you have three hours to bring me my sister.”
He started walking out the door, but it didn’t close immediately. Steph watched as one of the other men hauled Tucker inside. His shirt was torn and they’d taken his shoes. He stumbled inside, dropping to his knees the instant his guard let go.
He was bleeding from a couple of places. His shirt was torn and Steph could see burn marks on his chest. Taser marks from where the darts had penetrated his skin.
He’d been tortured.
The guard shook his head, staring down at him. “He was right. He is professional when it comes to pain.”
“Told you, motherfucker,” Tucker managed.
Fedor looked back, the phone still in his hand. “We’ll do the exchange here in a few hours. Try to see that he lives. He wouldn’t tell us anything. I’m going to turn him over as well and let de Vries deal with him.”
She dropped back down to her knees and put a hand on Tucker. No matter what he’d done, he was a human being and she couldn’t leave him like this. “I need a first aid kit.”
“No, you don’t. He’ll live,” Fedor replied. “I wasn’t about to damage the merchandise. He’s fine. I didn’t even touch his face. I thought I would leave that to the next lucky man.” He frowned. “Despite what you might think of me, I don’t enjoy hurting others. I find it necessary. I had to try to get the drive, but turning him over will do. Be patient, Doctor. It will all be over in a while.”
The door closed and she heard the heavy thud of a lock sliding into place.
“Why didn’t you tell them where the drive was?” She looked over his chest. There were several places where they’d used Tasers on him.
“It’s hard to talk with all that electricity running through me.” Tucker’s eyes closed.
“Damn, what did they do to your feet?” Alfi moved for the first time, getting on his knees to loom over Tucker.
“The feet are actually quite sensitive,” Steph said, examining Tucker’s. More burn marks, though it appeared they’d also used blunt force on his feet.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Tucker managed. “They knew what they were doing. All the pain and not a lot of bloodshed. One of those assholes is extremely good at popping joints in and out of place. My shoulders ache like nothing else. Managed to get most of my toes and fingers, too. Damn, that’s painful.”
It would have been terrible pain. “Why didn’t you just tell them?”
“I know I’m curious about how you found the damn thing,” Alfi added.
Tucker smiled, a weak expression. “I didn’t. I have no idea where it is. Luckily, I knew enough to know what they were looking for. I had to come up with it quickly or they would have left me behind.”
“More than likely they would have killed you.” Steph looked back to Alfi. “I need your shirt. I need to immobilize his arm.”
Tucker groaned and shook his head. “No. Can’t, Doc. I need to be able to fight if I have to. I didn’t come all this way to be a burden when the time comes. It’s back in place. When all this is over, I want some really good pain meds.”
“I sincerely doubt de Vries is going to help you out,” she replied, feeling utterly helpless. She needed to get him sitting up. Ice and compression were called for, but she had absolutely nothing here to work with.
“Ye of little faith.” Tucker took a long breath, his eyes remaining closed. “Let’s make a bet, you and I. If I’m right and we get out of here, you have to go to whatever therapy is going to fix you.”
“Fix me?”
“I wasn’t born yesterday. It was more like a year ago or something, but even I know you’re crazy fucked up inside, Doc.”
“He’s right about that,” Alfi offered helpfully. “You have serious problems.”
She wasn’t sure this was the time or the place to talk about this. “You would have them, too, if you’d done what I did.”
“Nope,” Alfi replied, settling back in. “I’ve been in battles and I’ve killed many men. Don’t bother me at all.”
“I wasn’t a soldier.”
“No, you were a kid in a car and you made a mistake.” Tucker seemed to brace himself. “Again, even I can see that. If I’m right, you get to see a shrink. It’s not bad. I quite like mine, but then she’s pretty hot. Second, if I’m right, you can’t push Brody away anymore. You have to be with him and marry him and all that stuff. Maybe you should even ask him. And do it right. Men need to feel loved, too.”
“How hard did they hit your head?”
His lips curled up briefly and then he rolled over with a long groan. “My brain has been trashed in so many ways, it’s hard to imagine, Doc. But I’m right about this.”
She should probably play along. “All right. We live, I marry Brody, and live happily ever after.”
“And see a shrink.”
She sighed. “And see a shrink.” Like she’d never done that before. “And what do I get if we die?”
He groaned again as he managed to sit up. She had no idea how he was moving. The pain had to be incredible. “I don’t know. I’ll figure something out, but I promise, it won’t come to that. We’ll be home in a few hours. I
don’t think I like the Ukrainian mob. They’re very unpleasant.”
“I think all mobs are like that. Please let me immobilize that arm for you.” She hated seeing him in pain and worried he was in for a whole lot more of it. De Vries wouldn’t believe him. He would torture Tucker until he died.
“Why did you come with me?” She had to know.
“Might not know who I was, but I know who I want to be,” he whispered.
“How are you sure we’re getting out of this?” No one knew where they were and she’d taken their best bet with her when she’d fled. She’d taken the phone and now Brody had no way to even talk to de Vries.
“I know something you don’t know.” Tucker put his back to the wall. “But it’s best you don’t. Be surprised.”
Alfi was staring at him. “You’re not worried?”
“I’m worried about you,” Tucker admitted. “I’m worried I read you wrong and you’re a bad dude, but someone else will take care of that. I’ve been told I should sometimes let karma handle things. I think Brody will be your karma.”
“I didn’t mean for things to happen like this. I truly didn’t. I wanted to see if there was anything I could do with the thing. Man’s gotta jump on the opportunities the world gives him,” Alfi said stubbornly.
“Yep, Brody’s going to kick your ass.” Tucker’s eyes closed again.
Alfi looked her way. “When the time comes, you stay close to me. After Anya’s safe, I’ll do what I can to get you out. I promise. I’m not such a bad man that I wouldn’t try to help you, Steph. I like you quite a bit.”
She was fairly certain that by the time Anya was safe, there would be no way out. “Don’t risk your own life.”
“But you would,” Alfi said. “Do you know how brave you are? How much I admire you? I don’t care how or why you became the woman you are, I just know a whole lot of people who are grateful you did.”
“I tried to help.”
“You did more than help. You saved a lot of people. Let me try to save you. Let me try to do one good thing with my life.”
“So much drama and it’s all for nothing,” Tucker said under his breath. “We’re getting out of here soon and I’m telling Brody you were hitting on her.”
“He is not,” she shot back. Why couldn’t he be serious?
Alfi shrugged. “Kind of was. I mean, if we’re about to die, do you really want to go out in anger and fear? Or should we celebrate life one last time?”
Not a one of them could be serious.
The door crashed open and she was reminded that not all men joked around. Fedor strode in, followed by a couple of his cronies. They were all massive and armed to the teeth. One of them reached down and hauled Tucker up.
Tucker went pale and moaned, but managed to get to his feet.
“It’s time,” Fedor said.
Steph stood up and hoped and prayed that Tucker was right.
Chapter Fifteen
Steph stumbled out into the hallway, trying to keep up with her captor. It was the same man who had spoken to her the night before. The cousin. She didn’t know his name, only knew that he spoke for Fedor.
How many were there? Three had come for them the night before, and those three walked them down the hallway. Up ahead she could see a fourth man, smoking a cigarette as he leaned against the wall. He shouted out something in either Ukrainian or Russian.
Fedor nodded and replied.
She hated this, hated the fact that she was vulnerable. She couldn’t even understand what they were saying around her.
They turned a corner and she realized Alfi had been right. They were in a large warehouse. There were big boxes stacked all throughout, a veritable labyrinth of cardboard. Thick yellow and green and red lines on the floor seemed to point the direction to various parts of the warehouse floor, if one knew the code. Which, of course, she didn’t.
There were two more men in this large space, both smoking and looking vaguely bored with life.
“What is this place?” She couldn’t help but ask the question. She knew the answer. It was her Waterloo, but it would be nice to know a more literal name for where she was taking her last stand.
“It’s a shipping station for one of my many businesses. This one is completely legitimate,” Fedor explained. “I hate using it like this. I try to keep the legitimate and the not-so-legitimate in their own pretty boxes. I had to shut down operations this weekend. I’m sure there are some employees out there who are happy to have the time off.”
Well, at least something good had come of her eventual murder.
“I thought you were a full-time mobster,” she said under her breath.
“You thought wrong.” Fedor glanced down at his watch. “Where I come from, the syndicate is one of the only ways out of poverty. My father was strong man. He lifts us up, allows Anya to go to school. Allows me to learn how to be a legitimate businessman. In a few years, I’ll switch everything over and we’ll make our money in the proper ways. I’ll leave the syndicate to my cousin Petor.”
The man with the reptilian smile nodded her way. This was the man who’d told her how her world would shatter. “I have no desire to be legitimate.”
Yes, he would make a spectacular mob head.
“You planning on shipping us to de Vries?” If Alfi was bothered at all by the gun to his back, it didn’t show in the bland expression he wore. Alfi had an air about him, like this happened regularly, just another event in the life of a handsome rogue.
“They’ll be here in a few minutes. After that, you’re his problem. I’m certainly not helping him smuggle you out of the country.” Fedor moved to the center of the warehouse floor. The building had to be as large as an airplane hanger, the walls swooping up to what looked to be four floors. They were in the center of the building, the ceiling high above their heads. “Both of you on your knees.”
Steph started to drop, but Fedor held her up.
“I meant the men. I know you won’t run.” Fedor glanced around as though doing one final assessment. “You will not believe this, but I actually wish I didn’t have to give you away. I know how much Anya cares for you. She speaks of you often.”
“Anya will be a problem,” Petor said with a shake of his head. “You should let me put her out. I have plenty of drugs that would work. I fear what she’ll do when the time comes. It might be better to deal with her when we get back home.”
Anya could be vocal about her opinions. She was strong willed, but Steph knew that even the strongest of wills could be broken. God only knew what had happened to the lively blonde while she’d been in de Vries tender care. She hated the thought that Anya’s spirit might have been dimmed by these days spent in captivity.
“She’ll do what I tell her to do,” Fedor replied with the supreme confidence of a man who was used to getting his way. “This will have taught her that I was right all along. My father was overly indulgent with her. She will come home and marry a proper man and I won’t have to worry about her anymore. I’m done with this experiment. She should be settled down with children by now.”
“Good luck with that,” Tucker said. “Women don’t like it when you tell them what to do. That’s one of the first things I was taught after I woke up. Well, after I went to The Garden. Kayla gave us a list. Rule number one. Don’t be a douchebag.”
“Can you shut him up?” Fedor asked.
Maybe it was time she found a bit of Anya’s stubbornness. They’d left her on her feet. She needed to use all the advantages she had. She moved in front of Tucker’s kneeling form. If they wanted to hit someone, they could hit her. He’d taken enough. “He’s in pain. Let him be. If you need to torture someone, do it to me.”
Fedor chuckled, a humorless sound. He moved in, looming over her. “Do you think I cannot break you, girl?”
“I think I don’t care,” she replied. “You’ve already ensured that I won’t ever see my son again. I don’t care what you do to me now.”
Fedor frowned. “Yo
u make me sound like a monster. I am doing this for my family. You would do same. Your man would likely do the same if he was smart enough to catch me.”
She shook her head. “I wouldn’t. I would find another way.” Avery’s words floated back through her head, their meaning so much more precious in this moment. “Sometimes the universe deals us shitty cards and how we handle it is how we’ll be judged. I think this is exactly who you are, Mr. Shadrova. I think you enjoy killing. I don’t know why or how or what turned you, but since you and Anya came from the same place, I have to wonder who was the strong one. Actually, I don’t have to wonder at all. Whatever broke you, whatever transformed you into a man who could turn over three innocent people to someone who will torture and kill them, it didn’t break her. She would never do this. She wouldn’t stand for it.”
Fedor looked her over. “So the mouse has a backbone? Funny thing you should show it now.”
She was sick of that attitude. “You think because I don’t shoot people that I don’t have a backbone? That shows me how small-minded you are. The strongest woman I’ve ever known has never lifted a gun in her life. I’ve survived more than you can ever imagine.”
It struck her as the words rolled out of her mouth. She had. She’d survived. She might have made a lot of mistakes along the way, but she’d survived and come through the other side.
She’d become a woman who thought of others first, who put kindness above self-interest. Who sacrificed herself.
Who needed to let a man love her so all those good things she did didn’t mean she gave up a life of happiness.
“Perhaps you will survive this, too.” Fedor moved away, his hand on his cell phone. “They’re almost here. We will move quickly. And you’re wrong about one thing. You say I’m giving up three innocent people, but these two are guilty. You are guilty. You ran. Deep in our hearts, we’re all dark. You left my sister there.”
“You ever tried talking your sister out of something?” Alfi asked. “Who do you think came up with the bloody plan in the first place? It sure as hell wasn’t me. Anya made sure I got Steph out. Anyone’s at fault here, it’s me. I wanted to see if I could make a few bucks off that drive.”
