She wanted to scream and take off in a hard sprint when Kwan opened the door to his digs—a two-story cement-and-stone monstrosity nestled into some Chinese-style gardens with bright lights turning the place into a garish monument on display. Torches on either side of the door, worried by the breeze, gave off an eerie effect, as did the giant red Buddha that stared at her with glassy eyes as Kwan led the entourage into the house.
Kwan apparently hadn’t quite figured out which world he fit into. Asian culture was evident in sprays of orchids and a small fountain centered in the entryway that separated the main room from the dining room. European influence showed in the animal skins on the floor, the black-and-chrome furniture, and the flat-panel television above a gas fireplace. Beyond that, a steel stairway led to a second floor, one that overlooked the main room and hinted at numerous bedrooms.
It reminded her of the yacht, and she pressed her hand against her stomach, which might give way any second.
Kwan motioned them toward the main room, picked up the gas remote and lit the fireplace. Yanna stood at the edge of the sunken living room, frozen as Kwan sat down on the sofa, used another remote to turn on music—not opera—and put his arm around his girlfriend. Ari leaned back against Kwan, pulled her legs up on the sofa, kicking off her heels.
“Join us,” she said to Yanna.
“I need to use the bathroom,” Yanna said, very, very serious now about her lurching stomach. In fact, maybe she should run.
Kwan smiled at her—not a nice smile—and motioned down the hall. Near the kitchen.
The kitchen…maybe this just might work…
“Shei-shei,” she said and walked down the hall, locking herself into the bathroom, flicking on the light and staring at her sorry self in the mirror.
She looked scared. In the wide eyes, the platinum-blonde hair, the too-red lips. Flushed skin, all the way down to the edge of her dress, and her heartbeat on maximum wattage told her that Kwan must be in the next room laughing.
Laughing. At her fear. At her hopes of finding her sister.
At the fact he’d lured her back here, to his house, to do…who knew what?
Laughing.
Nyet. She took another look at herself, and everything inside her went very still. Kwan might think he had lured her here, but here she was, just as she’d planned. And she wasn’t leaving until she found out where he was hiding Elena.
Even if she had to get messy.
She took off her high heels.
Flicking off the light, she cracked open the bathroom door. The thump of the music hid the sound of her slipping out into the hall and closing the door behind her. She tiptoed into the kitchen. Stainless steel surfaces around a main island reflected wan moonlight from the windows flanking the garden. She moved quickly, easing out the drawers until she found a butcher knife.
Footsteps coming down the hall made her suck in her breath. She shifted toward the alcove that hid a closet or pantry.
Just as she’d hoped, Kwan appeared, filling up the door. He stood there for a moment, then made to turn on the light.
Yanna felt an arm snake around her waist, a hand clamp over her mouth. Then she was yanked into the closet.
“Don’t move,” a voice whispered into her ear.
She gasped, but the human gag over her mouth muffled the noise. Yet, she didn’t even dwell on the hows or whys because, well, of course David had followed her, snuck into Kwan’s house, and stopped her from doing what she came to do.
Because that was what David did.
“Let me go,” she tried to say, but it came out completely unintelligible.
Kwan flicked on the light. It didn’t matter because David had already closed the pantry door, sealing them inside.
“Don’t. Move.”
Yeah, not with his arm clamped around her like a vise. She still had the knife in her right hand, and for a long, probably too long, moment, she debated using it. As if reading her mind, David’s hand closed around her wrist.
She stayed there, pulled tight against him, smelling the rain and sweat on his skin, feeling the scrape of his whiskers against her cheek, his wide chest against her back. Feeling his heart thump against her spine. Knowing he’d probably saved her life.
Again.
He caught the knife before she dropped it.
“Shh,” he said, so softly only she would ever be able to hear it. But his lips brushed against her ear, and a ripple of pure electricity went through her.
Not fair. Didn’t her heart pay any attention to her brain?
Kwan turned the light off—Yanna saw it flick out from under the door. She relaxed, making to move out, but David held her tighter. “No. He may be waiting.”
“He didn’t see me come in,” she said, but David didn’t let her finish, clamping that big hand over her mouth again.
She pulled it away, but stayed quiet. In the pitch darkness, she heard only the swish of her heartbeat.
Then, after what seemed like forever, she turned in his arms, putting hers around his waist, whispering directly into his ear, trying to keep emotion from leaking from her voice. “Why did you stop me? I could have made him tell—”
“Stop.” His voice was so soft, so urgent, it made her heart skip. “Trust me, please.” She felt his lips move against her neck. He smelled like the night air, and dampness from his shirt seeped through her dress.
“He’s right out there,” she whispered. “We could go out there, jump him.”
“I’m not a superhero. There are three guys in there. Let’s be smart about this—”
“But he has my sister!” She bit her lip to keep her voice down, but he held her even tighter.
“I know that, Yanna. C’mon, I haven’t forgotten.” He pulled back and looked at her. Her eyes had adjusted in the light, and she saw his, earnest in hers. He ran his hand down her cheek and it was trembling. “Just trust me. I put a transmitter on his limo. According to the plan. He’s not going anywhere without us knowing it.”
Outside the room they heard voices shouting.
“Apparently they’ve figured out that Elvis has left the building.”
Huh? She frowned at him.
“They know you’re not here. We need to stick around until they’ve gone out looking. Then I’m getting you back to Taichung.”
“You’re not listening. I’m not leaving here until I know where Elena is.” She started to turn, but for a non-superhero, he had superhero arms that tightened around her.
“I know you want to find her, Yanna, but this is the best way. We can’t go charging in there with three armed men—and you didn’t see their weapons but I did some visual reconnaissance during the performance and those boys have enough hardware on them to defend against an attack from China. So we’re going to trust that God has our backs on this one and pull back to a safe distance.”
God had their backs? “David—”
“Yanna, I know you don’t think this, but I promise, God knows and cares, and I believe He’s going to get both us and Elena home safely. We have to believe that.”
Confidence, so bold, so unwavering thrummed in his voice. It found her bones, her cells, and filled them with hope.
She put her hands on his chest. “How’d you find me?”
He paused for a moment, as if thinking about just why he had to track her down. She made a little face. “Sorry, by the way.”
“Yanna, I’m tellin’ you, you’re going to give me a heart attack.”
She lowered her forehead onto his shoulder, her fingers angling into his jacket lapels.
“I followed the limo out of the parking lot. I lost you out on the road, but thankfully, I picked up the limo again right about the time the lights went on in the house. Then, I parked up the road a bit. I didn’t know you were going to sneak into the kitchen and try and serve him up for dinner, but I have to admit, I’m glad it’s you and not one of Kwan’s pals who came in to get a late-night sandwich.”
“Me too.”
&n
bsp; Her voice was so soft, she didn’t think she’d said it. But at her words, she felt him catch his breath, felt his arms tighten even more around her. “Don’t ever do that again. That took a lot of spine, I’ll give you that, but you…you really scared me.”
Oh, shoot, tears burned her eyes, and she blinked them away, angry. Did he even have an inkling what words like that did to her? The sooner she could get back to Russia and back at a safe chatting distance—like a couple hundred thousand miles, over the internet—the better. The man’s tenderness was like shrapnel on her heart.
All she wanted was for him to love her. Like she loved him.
She closed her eyes and for a moment just let herself be here, in the counterfeit embrace of his arms.
“Okay, I think it’s safe. Let’s get out of here.”
But she had to disagree. Safe wasn’t a word she would ever use with David again.
“This is your brilliant idea?” Mae said, as she began to pull the dresser away from the door. The fire alarm cut her voice out and she raised it over the screeching.
“We lose ourselves in the crowd,” Gracie said as she scrambled to help Mae after pulling the fire alarm in the room.
Ina held her arms over her ears and curled into a ball on the bed.
At least they’d had a couple hours to regroup, to figure out stage two of the Great Escape.
“Do you think they know we’re still here?” Ina went to the window, pulled open the curtain. “The police are coming.”
“I’m sure they do. They might be expecting us to stay in our room, but we’ll get out with the crowd and hope they can hide us.”
Ina turned, and Gracie grabbed her hand. “C’mon. Stay with me. I’ll keep you safe.”
She didn’t add that she didn’t have the faintest clue how she might accomplish that, mostly because everything inside her was already running at top speed away from this stupidity, screaming.
What had she been thinking, really? Maybe she fell harder down those stairs than she thought.
Mae unlocked the door. “The hall is full—let’s go!”
She slipped out and Gracie pulled Ina with her. “Keep your head down.” They followed a couple of Russians, probably fresh from the other side of the pond by their bulky sweaters, wool pants. For a second, she felt as if they might be staring at Vicktor’s father, an old cop who had saved her life—in a way—by taking a bullet for her as she…oh, yeah, climbed down from a third story balcony.
So maybe all this running from trouble, sneaking and clandestine spy game stuff wasn’t actually that new and different for her.
No wonder Vicktor was a little touchy about her ability to stay out of trouble.
Some time to see the light. Apparently, she owed him an apology—if she ever got through to him, if she ever—“Oh no!”
Mae glanced at her over her shoulder as she opened the door to the stairwell.
“I left my cell phone on the table!” Gracie glanced back at the room, but Mae grabbed her arm.
“Not on your life.”
O-kay. “Ow.”
They sped down the stairs with the other guests, which, if this were the entire allotment of guests, couldn’t possibly be good for business. Gracie reached out for Ina’s hand.
Which was cold. And limp.
They hit the landing, and followed the crowd out into the lobby.
And then, like a scene in a horror flick, or perhaps a bad action movie, there was Sokolov. Looking angry. And, right at them.
“Run!”
This, from Mae, but she didn’t have to say it twice.
Then she went—what? The other direction?
Gracie pulled Ina out to the street and down the block. Towards her car. Because, thinking like a spy, Gracie had also insisted they drive two cars.
Or maybe that had been Mae’s idea. Whatever. Gracie dug into her jeans pocket—thank the Lord she’d had time to change out of her pudgy housekeeping costume—and used the key fob to unlock the doors.
“Get in!”
And oops, she made the mistake of looking behind her. So much for Mae’s unspoken, “Hey, he’ll follow me,” great idea. Because Tall and Nasty was behind them, running full tilt.
Gracie jumped in. Ina slammed the door behind her. “Lock it, Lock it!”
Already on that. Gracie fumbled with the key as Sokolov slammed his hand on the window.
“He’s going to break the glass!” Ina screamed.
Gracie shoved the key into the ignition, turned it. Yes! She’d always been annoyed at movies when a perfectly good car didn’t turn over, because, hey, how often doesn’t the car start on the first try, but now, wow, the relief nearly made her dizzy. She rammed the car into drive and punched it.
She nearly took out the car in front of her, but conveniently she also nearly took out Sokolov. Sadly, he lived because as she drove away, and glanced into in the rear view mirror, she saw him already on the phone.
And as he looked up, and smiled at her, her stomach rushed up to join her heart, right there in her throat.
“What now?” Ina said softly, huddled in the seat. Gracie took another look in the rear view, then at Ina.
“Now, Plan B.”
David didn’t want to tell her how close he’d come to losing it, just breaking down, right there in the closet, overcome with relief.
Kwan hadn’t killed her. Because again, God had intervened and shown David a door he could easily jimmy open and given him the perfect hiding place to pull Yanna to safety.
And not a second too soon. Because David saw the scenario that would have played out. Lights on. Action. Yanna with the knife, then Kwan with a gun, or maybe just his bodyguards rushing to intercept her and—what had she been thinking?
Maybe she hadn’t been. Like David had done when he’d seen her on the boat and every moment since then, Yanna had simply reacted. Panic drove her actions and she’d risked everything she’d come to Taiwan to do.
Wow, it scared him sometimes how much he and Yanna thought alike. No, reacted alike.
But perhaps she had felt that knee-buckling relief, too, because she clung to him.
Yanna, oh, Yanna. He’d leaned his head into her hair and let his relief roll over him. Thank you, Lord.
The house seemed eerily quiet as they stepped out of the closet. Too quiet.
“Let’s go.” He pulled her toward the door going from the kitchen into the garden. He’d opened it for her to go through when he heard voices.
Kwan and another man. Arguing.
“Do you hear that?” she said, putting a hand on his chest, stopping him from shoving her out the door and to safety.
He stilled, nodded, but he had more important things on his mind, so he pitched his voice as low and razor-sharp as he could. “Get outside and stay down, beside that palm tree in the yard. I’m right behind you.”
He didn’t know why he expected her to obey him. Because, as usual, she didn’t. In fact, to make matters worse, she stepped toward the conversation. He clamped a grip on her arm, but she neither shook him away nor moved to his pressure. “Shh…I understand what they’re saying.”
No, he didn’t want to Shh. In fact, everything inside him wanted to throw her over his shoulder and run—
“They’re talking about me.”
Of course they were. He gritted his teeth and pulled her toward him, but she yanked her arm out of his grip. Perfect. “C’mon,” he hissed. “Listen.”
She put a hand on his mouth, not looking at him. “The other guy is mad at Kwan, that he brought me here. And…” She glanced at David, her eyes suddenly big. “They’re expecting you.”
Him? His hand closed around the knife handle. Maybe Yanna’d been correct in her impulse to take out Kwan, here, now… He leaned into the conversation, willing his heart to still.
“They don’t want you dead—” She stared at him, only not at him, but through him, as if trying to see what Kwan might value in him.
He could name a few things, the fr
amework of his undercover operation being at the top of that list.
“He says you know the other Serpent.”
The other Serpent? Perhaps he should be paying more attention. But just as he took a step closer, David winced as he heard a crack, skin against skin.
That. Was. Enough. David reached for her hand. “We’re outta here—”
Grabbing Yanna by the hand, he pulled her behind him out the door, keeping low and near the brush as he sprinted along the house. Thank the Lord for darkness—he should be keeping some sort of count of all the providential moments. Outside, he heard more voices, and then heavy thuds along the groomed lawn.
He pulled her through a sculpted garden and leaped a tiny decorative stream, searching for his scooter. There—hidden under a lush banyan tree. He yanked out the scooter and started it. Yanna was already on the back when he hit the gas.
They’d have to have a decent head start to outrun the limo.
Or, maybe— He turned north, away from the compound, away from town. “Hang on, Volley!”
She clamped her hands around his waist and dug her knees into his thighs. He motored up the mountain a mile or less, then cut the engine and pulled the scooter off the road, way, way off. Yanna got off and he hunkered down beside her.
“I have the tracking device on the limo. They’ll give up and leave. And we’ll be on their tail.”
Crouched beside him, she was breathing hard. “They knew you—knew you’d come after me. And they think you know something.”
“I have no idea what they’re after,” he said, his mind scrolling through all the megabytes of information he’d digested about this op. “And it didn’t sound like whoever was with him was too happy.”
“What did he mean by the other Serpent?”
“It’s the other leader, the other Twin Serpent—we don’t have a fix on who that might be.” And he was looking forward to the bonus round to this op, another Kwan for him to hunt down. And after that there’d be another, then another. The world teemed with Kwans and his type.
David’s adrenaline begin to dip, his breathing calming. Yanna’s hair had come down and now wisped about her face. “You know, that means that Kwan wasn’t duped a second by your little disguise.” Some disguise too. It was hard not to appreciate the way she could still look amazing after a sprint through the garden, the slightest glisten of perspiration at the base of her neck.
Run to You Page 20