“You will answer me,” Morozov grits out. “How far along is your case? What do you have on us?”
Silence. Then?—
“You brought me all the way out here for questions?” she says, voice steady despite the situation. “You could have just called. Much more civilized.”
I almost let out a smile at that. This woman is incredible.
One of the men shifts, the one that knocked her out. He’s clearly irritated.
“She thinks this is a joke,” he mutters.
The lieutenant doesn’t react immediately. He studies her for a couple of seconds.
“She thinks,” the lieutenant replies calmly, “that we will not kill her.”
His eyes return to hers, and she tilts her head slightly, shrugs. “Actually, I am quite sure you’re going to kill me. I’m just not going to let you take any satisfaction in it.”
The men share a look, obviously thrown off by her reaction. A calm victim isn’t one they feel comfortable with. She’s making them uneasy.
I watch the lieutenant straighten slowly, the shift in his posture subtle but clear.
“You will tell me what you know,” he says.
“No. I won’t, but I can tell you that my father has my location at all times and my car has video surveillance, so it won’t be difficult to find any of you if anything happens to me.”
He spits, and I almost spring into action.
My grip tightens where I stand. My patience thins, and so does Morozov’s. The tension in the room changes.
“Well, then you die,” Morozov states, reaching for his gun.
He aims, and that’s when I move. Morozov goes down before he even understands what’s happening. A single shot. It’s clean and silent. It’s easy to haul myself through the open window I’d been watching the interaction through.
I land on my feet stealthily. The one who approached her first by her car turns, but he’s too slow. I close the distancebefore he can react, my hand catching his wrist, twisting hard enough to hear the joint give before I drive the knife in. Once. Twice. My gun slides into my hand with ease and I shoot without hesitation. He falls to the ground as well, dead.
And now for the last one. His death, I’m going to enjoy. There’s terror and shock in his expression. He fires his gun and the bullet misses. It’s a good thing I never miss though.
My shot hits his arm, the gun falling from his grip as he stumbles back, shock flashing across his face. I’m on him before he recovers. He tries to speak but I don’t let him. My hand closes around his throat, forcing him down, my other hand bracing as I drive my knee into his chest.
Something cracks and he gasps. I lean in slightly.
“Look at her head,” I say quietly, turning him so he’s facing Lindsay. There’s a bruise forming on the side of her face from where the bastard hit her. Rage cracks beneath my skin at the sight. She’s still bound and is utterly still, her face frozen.
“You shouldn’t have touched her.” I growl.
Then I break his neck. The sound is final. I hear a small, strangled gasp. And then the room goes still. Utterly silent.
I straighten, turn. And look at her. Up close, the details are clearer. The bruise forming at her temple. The slight tension in her shoulders. Her posture still hasn’t collapsed. She’s staring at me with wide, horrified eyes.
Something in my chest tightens. I step closer, pulling the knife free to cut the restraints at her wrists. The rope falls away. She rubs her wrists once she’s free. Her eyes still haven’t left the dead men on the floor. She doesn’t look at me. She just sits there and she stares at the carnage I’ve caused.
“Lindsay,” I say her name carefully, softly.
She jerks at the sound, whirling around as her eyes find mine. My chest threatens to cave in at the sight. She gets to herfeet, and I have no idea what she’s thinking. I open my mouth to speak, to ask if she’s okay, but I don’t get the chance to.
She takes one look at me and then she’s bolting right out the door. I exhale a heavy breath. Before following, I look around the room. I take the time to grab her phone, which is lying beside the chair she was tied to.
It doesn’t take long to catch up to her. She doesn’t run far. I find her in the middle of a forked path, properly considering which one to take.
