Chapter Four
They weren’t running through the woods, but they might as well have been. Ivo had run out of usable oxygen about a mile ago. He was panting heavily as he tried to keep up with Vitki’s swift pace.
What was he? A flipping gazelle? Ivo’s muscles screamed in protest, and Vitki, Miro, and Yuval didn’t look as if they were out of breath.
The whole darkness thing was disconcerting, too. It wasn’t pitch black out, but the trees were so thick that the sun had a hard time reaching them, and it was starting to set, making it darker by the minute. Add in the uphill climb and the boulders and fallen trees they kept dodging, and Ivo was pretty sure he was going to collapse at any moment.
He was in shape, had a nice, lean body, but Ivo hadn’t had this much exercise in…well, never. He’d run for the bus, ran around at work, and jogged up his apartment steps. That was the extent of his workouts.
Ivo didn’t understand why it was so damn important for them to reach the estate before the sun went down. He didn’t know why they didn’t stay back at the cars and just wait for help to arrive.
Surely, Vitki could have called for another ride. Why hadn’t he called for another ride? The bad men had been secured. The danger had passed, yet here they were, running uphill.
Ivo would run out of air before he made it. “How much farther?”
“We’re about halfway there,” Vitki called over his shoulder, although his tone was low as if he was afraid someone would overhear him.
They were in the middle of nowhere with nothing but forest animals scurrying away from them. Who in the hell would hear them, a skunk?
Worse yet, they were only halfway. This was insane. Ivo was positive they had been moving for hours. It certainly felt like hours.
The next fallen log Ivo came to, he dropped onto it, his body aching with exhaustion. He didn’t care if he was left behind. Ivo wasn’t moving another step until he could catch his breath, get some water, or take a long nap.
When Yuval and Miro stopped and looked at him, Ivo tried to wave the guys on. He could always catch up, somehow. Maybe in about a week.
When they shook their heads, Ivo rolled his eyes and climbed to his feet. He glanced farther up the hill where Vitki was. With a groan, Ivo started after the man. He didn’t mind being in the woods. Loved it, in fact. It was much nicer than concrete and skyscrapers.
It was the uphill climb and nonstop pace that would be the death of him.
“Vitki,” Miro called out. “We rest, da?”
Oh, thank god. Those words were music to Ivo’s ears.
When Vitki stopped and looked back, Ivo collapsed against the closest tree. He rested his hands on his knees and bent over, drawing in several deep breaths until he could breathe without feeling as if his lungs were going to cave in.
“I don’t know how you do these things,” Ivo said without lifting his head. “I didn’t think it would be this hard to walk through the woods.” He raised his head and looked at the two bodyguards. “But I bet I could beat your butt in the city.”
“Of course,” Yuval replied. “We expect nothing less from our kr—”
“Yuval!”
Yuval’s eyes snapped to Vitki.
“Scout ahead.”
“Yes, sir.” Yuval immediately took off, trudging up the hill.
When Yuval started to pass Vitki, the man grabbed Yuval’s arm. Ivo frowned when Vitki leaned closer and whispered something too low for him to hear. He knew it was about him. Yuval paled before glancing back at Ivo. The bodyguard gave a curt nod before taking off into the trees, disappearing from sight almost immediately.
“What was that all about?” Ivo asked.
“Is not known to me,” Miro replied.
Huh?
Ivo turned to look at the large man. “You don’t get out much, do you?”
“Is true.” There was a slight lifting of Miro’s eyebrow, as if he was curious about Ivo’s question. “Duty here. I here.”
