Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“One of his assistants and a few men who were getting young men from him.”
“Fucking bastards.”
“They’re dead. Very dead. Brains splattered all around kind of dead.”
At least there was that. “Good. What about the rest of Ivanov’s men?”
“We captured some guards alive. We’ll be getting as much information as we can from them before they die. There’s no one else alive at Ivanov’s residence, and we don’t have to worry about retaliation from the Russians. The Koslovs see this as their opportunity. Essentially, we did them a favor.”
At least we were in a better position now. Dante was alive. But so was Ivanov. “We have to find Ivanov and Dimitri.”
“We won’t stop until we do. Is everything quiet there?” I could hear the determination in Remington’s voice.
“Yes,” I responded.
“Good. Keep watch. I don’t think Dimitri or Ivanov have any idea where you are, but we can’t be sure.”
“I will.”
Remington ended the call, and I pulled Nikolai to me. “Your mother was there at Ivanov’s.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t know. She was drugged but alive. She’s at the hospital now.”
“And my father?” Alina asked.
“On the run. He was gone before they arrived.”
“Fuck.”
“We’ll get him and anyone else who got out early with him.”
“What do we do now?” Niko asked.
“I need to do a security check. We should be safe here, but I’m not taking any chances.”
31
NIKOLAI
I’d been warned to stay away from the windows, but I went and peeked out anyway. Lorenzo had gone out to check on Landry because he had been unable to get him on the phone. Lorenzo was well armed. He’d said he’d be fine, but something was wrong. I could feel it in my gut.
“Any sign of him?” Alina asked.
I shook my head. “Not that I can really see anything. It’s pitch-black out there.”
“I don’t like this,” she said.
“Me neither. Landry should have answered, and Lorenzo had plenty of time to check on him and come back. What if he… What could be out there?”
“Other than alligators, there could be—”
“I didn’t really want an answer to that.”
“Get the gun Lorenzo left you,” Alina said. “We need to be ready.”
“An alligator or a mountain lion or a tiger or bear or whatever is not going to come in here.”
She shook her head. “No, but a man would.”
“Fuck, you don’t think… Surely they couldn’t find us out here.”
“Nothing is impossible.”
I grabbed the gun, and she double-checked the locks on the door. “Come on, let’s make a plan.”
I sat beside her on the couch, holding the gun awkwardly. “I told Lorenzo I don’t know how to use this, but he insisted I have it anyway. I guess I know basically how to shoot, but my aim is no good.”
“Mine is. Give it to me.” I was happy to hand it over.
“All right, there are plenty of knives in the kitchen. You can get one of those.”
I did as she said, though the thought of stabbing someone made me queasy. I could do it if I had to though. I would do anything to defend Lorenzo. Please don’t let him be dead.
Alina was checking out the gun, verifying that it was loaded. I started to sit back down, but she said, “Go check the window again.”
I looked out, trying to make out anything in the darkness. “I don’t see any—oh my God.”
“What is it?”
“A man. It’s not Lorenzo. He’s too short.”
“Then it’s not Landry either. He’s taller than Lorenzo.”
Panic had my hands shaking. “What are we going to do?”
“We’re going to defend ourselves. Our bodyguards aren’t answering. They’re out there. We’re in here. We don’t have any choice.”
She was right. “We need to get to them. To Landry and Lorenzo. We need to see if they’re okay.”
“To do that, we’re going to have to go through this man.”
I glanced out again. “How do we know he’s alone?”
“We don’t.”
A knock on the door made us both jump.
“Open up,” a man yelled.
Alina motioned for me to stay quiet. Like I would dare respond.
More banging. “I said open up!”
Seconds later, a gunshot sent me and Alina running. It was followed by a click and then something being thrown against the door.
“He’s out of ammo,” Alina said as I pushed her into her room and slammed her door.
Another loud bang had me reaching for her hand. “That was the door swinging open,” she said. “He must have shot the lock.”
“You might as well come on out,” the man yelled. “I’m going to kill you both, and there’s nowhere to hide.”
Without the door to muffle the sound, I knew that voice. It was my father. This had gone on too long. I had spent too many years afraid of him.
“Are you ready to shoot him?” I whispered to Alina.
She nodded. “This ends now.”
I yanked open the door of her room. My father stood there. He looked like he had aged ten years. His hair was wild, standing up at all angles. The clothes he wore were torn and bloody. If I had been told he was a zombie, I would have believed it.