She wasn’t out of the woods yet, but at least she was a damn sight closer. First things first, she needed to find a way out of the building.
Natalia checked the gun’s chamber and magazine on her way to the door. The chamber was loaded, and the magazine was filled to the brim with brand new, shiny nine-millimeter rounds.
She pulled in a long, deep breath before releasing it back out into the air in a slow, steady stream. Her pulse raced, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t felt before.
Actually, that wasn’t true. Nataliadidfeel different. Because this time she had so much more to lose.
Closing her eyes, she gave herself precious seconds she didn’t have to regroup and get her head into the game. Focus was the key to survival. And she damn well intended to live.
With the pistol up and at the ready, she approached the open door with caution. A glance to both her right and left revealed the short, unlit hallway adjacent to the room that was empty.
To her right was a dead end. The room she was currently standing in was the last one on this end of the hall. Looking left, Natalia found two additional doors before an opening at that end that led to who knows where.
To freedom. That’s where it leads. Freedom…and Jagger.
With no other choice, she exited the room and headed that way. Her cautious and efficient movements allowed her to clear the next two rooms with ease. Natalia left the hallway and found herself in a room twice the size of the one she’d been in.
The walls were made of the same stonework as the others, but this room had a high ceiling with several exposed, wooden beams.
What the hell is this place?
It looked like it could have been some sort of historical site at one time. But from the thick layer of dust and filth, along with the lack of furniture or any other semblance of amenity,it was obvious this place—whatever it used to be—had been left abandoned for quite some time.
There was also nothing to indicate anyone else was there, aside from her and the dead guy in the room where she’d been held. Natalia turned and spotted an old, wooden door several feet to her left.
The door that would lead to her freedom.
She ran across the room and yanked it open, ready to run and fast as she could. A wall of frigid air threatened to steal her breath, but she ignored it and scanned her immediate area before devising a plan.
Thanks to one of those tall safety lights common with many rural properties, Natalia had a fairly good view of the few acres surrounding her. It was immediately clear that she was somewhere in the middle of the countryside, and there wasn’t anyone living close by.
Small lights flickered in the distance through a thick patch of trees across a connecting field. They were the only signs of life that she could see, and they were easily miles away.
The keys.
That man had brought her here, which meant there had to be a vehicle around here somewhere. She just needed to find it.
Natalia kept her body close to the stone building as she slid along its perimeter around to its front. The gun in her hand was steady as she looked left and then right. With no threats in sight, she took of running toward a car she’d spotted out front that was parked several yards away.
It sat parallel along the two-lane road that ran along the front of property. When she reached the vehicle, Natalia immediately rounded its front bumper and went to the driver’s side door.
She tried to open it, but found it locked. With the gun in her right hand, she began fumbling with the keys in her left. Therewas no fob, so she searched through several keys for one with the same brand on it as the car.
Her heart filled with hope when she found it, and Natalia rushed to slide it into the door’s lock. She turned her wrist. Pulled open the door. And then?—
A bullet slammed into the upper part of her back, just below her left shoulder.
Natalia’s entire upper body jerked from the impact as the keys fell to the ground by her feet. The driver’s side window shattered as the bullet exited from the front of her chest, and Natalia fell forward against the side of the car.
A rush of white-hot, fiery pain began to spread. The bullet’s damage had rendered her left arm and hand all but useless.
In her state of shock, she looked down at the epicenter of her pain. Thanks to the bright light mounted high above, she could easily see the frayed fabric of her hoodie.
The bullet had gone straight through her body before shattering the window’s glass. She’d been shot. But…by who?
Natalia spun around, using her good hand to hold the gun out in front of her. Her heart raced with fear and the will to survive as her strained gaze scanned the small field across the road.
It was dark, but she could make out a line of trees lining the back of the flat, grassy patch. Trees and grass, but no signs of a shooter. He was out there, though. And he was waiting for the next opportunity to strike.
