Xander tossed his empty shotgun to the floor of the boat and looked up at Kyle.
“Yahtzee?”
Kyle knew Xander was going to have a smart-ass remark. Even in this intense moment. It’s just who he was.
Kyle laughed. “You’re alive, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Yes I am. But I’m still telling Sam.”
“Asshole . . . Is Natalie okay?”
Xander stepped back onto the dinner boat. “She’s alive. I’m not sure she’ll ever be okay.”
Kyle nodded.
“You okay?” Xander asked.
“I’m alive.”
Suddenly they heard another boat approaching, and it was coming fast. Both Kyle and Xander looked in the direction of the boat, then back to each other. Xander held up his hands and Kyle tossed him the MP5.
“Just stay put. I’ll come get you when it’s over,” Xander said.
Kyle looked up and out over the dark river. The boat had already rounded the bend. But before he could be filled with concern, the light on the front of the boat began to flash. He looked down at Xander, who had noticed it too. Xander still stood at the ready, gun pointed in the boat’s direction.
Kyle asked him, “What do you think it means?”
Before Xander could answer, a sound carried over the water to them as the boat approached. A sound they both knew all too well.
“WHOOP WHOOP!”
Sam.
Xander immediately lowered his weapon, and Kyle could see his shoulders relax. Then he looked up at Kyle.
“Sam’s gonna want to see you as soon as she boards. Can Karol help you down? I’m gonna get Natalie.”
Kyle felt himself relax as well.
It was over.
“I can make it. See you in a second.”
Xander scooped Natalie up into his arms. She wasn’t unconscious, but she was exhausted. Her face was still wet with tears, and he gave her forehead a soft kiss. Natalie opened her eyes, and her bottom lip quivered when she saw it was Xander.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m getting you out of here.”
Natalie could only manage a whisper. “Are they all dead?”
Xander nodded. “They’re all gone. Don’t worry anymore, I’m not letting you out of my sight ever again.”
As Xander said it, he meant it with all his heart. His only hope was that she would let him keep that promise. Natalie didn’t respond; she just let out a long exhale and closed her eyes. Xander heard the boat’s motor shut off at the back of the dinner boat.
“Xander? Xander, are you all right?” Sam called to him.
“I’m fine! We’re in here!”
Xander turned toward the back of the dining room just as Sam appeared in the doorway. Sam practically ran to him. She threw her arms around him and gave him a solid squeeze.
Sam looked down at Natalie. “Is she all right?”
Xander gave a half smile. “She’s going to be.”
Sam put her forehead to Xander’s for a moment, but when she pulled away, he could see the worried question hanging in her mind. He knew she wanted to know about Kyle. Right on cue, Kyle appeared in the doorway over Sam’s shoulder. Karol was holding him up as best she could.
“You miss me?” Kyle said to the room.
Sam’s eyes lit up, and she turned to him. Xander couldn’t help but laugh, because Sam was clearly trying to hide her true feelings, as she normally did.
Sam looked at Kyle, then at Karol. “Mr. Hamilton, no matter the circumstance, you’ve always got time for a younger woman, don’t you?”
Kyle let his head slump. “I love you too, Sam.”
Xander lifted his foot and gave Sam a nudge on her bottom in Kyle’s direction.
“Oh, all right,” she said. Then she went to him, and when she hugged him, Kyle held on for as long as he could.
Xander carried Natalie over past the two of them hugging and out the door into the cool Paris night. And he just couldn’t help himself. “Would you two get a room already?”
Sam backed away almost fast enough for Kyle to drop straight to the floor. Jack and Viktor shared a laugh with Xander as they watched Sam stiffen. But Xander’s smile quickly faltered when Sarah stepped out from behind Viktor. He could see the hurt in her eyes as she watched him carry Natalie in his arms. He wanted to comfort her, but he couldn’t. And she didn’t let him see her hurt for long.
“Thank God you made it to her in time, Xander.”
Xander started, “Sarah, I—”
“Don’t,” Sarah interrupted. “You don’t have to say anything. I’m just happy everyone is okay.”
She had made it easy on him, no surprise there. But he knew he needed to talk to her soon. He had no idea what he would say, but after everything they had been through, Sarah deserved a full and completely honest download from Xander. Whatever that ended up being, good or bad. Even if it was him telling her that his heart belonged to Natalie.
Xander turned back to Sam. “Where’s Zhanna and Adeline?”
Karol perked up and walked around to make sure she could hear the news about her friend.
Sam tugged at her pocket for the SAT phone. “Oh bugger, Marv was calling me as I pulled up, but I couldn’t answer until I knew you lot were all right. I’m sure it was about Zhanna.”
Xander looked concerned. “You mean you don’t know where she is? Where the President’s daughter is?”
“We got separated when I went after Melanie. Zhanna pulled her out of the fray into the elevator at the warehouse. I just assumed she went straight to the police.” Sam dialed a number on her phone.
Xander had a terrible feeling that something had gone horribly wrong.
Sometimes It’s Safe to Smoke
Zhanna knew she heard the gun go off. She was positive of that. She could still think and she didn’t feel any pain, but the weight of Sebastian on top of her was different. Was this what it was like to be dead? She was afraid to open her eyes to find out. As her hearing returned to normal and the buzz of the gunshot subsided, she heard . . . sirens?
“Zhanna?”
That didn’t sound like God. Was it an angel?
“Zhanna, are you okay?”
The voice was closer, a female voice. Then she felt someone touching her shoulders, and the sirens sounded as if they were right beside her.
“Zhanna, wake up!” This time the voice sounded more urgent.
Zhanna opened her left eye only, as if that would somehow soften what she was about to see. To her relief, Adeline Williams’s young and beautifully concerned face was staring back at her as she continued to try to wake her up.
“Adeline? What—what happened?”
Adeline picked something up off the ground beside Zhanna. “When you dropped your gun, it slid out into the middle of the alley. I didn’t really know what to do, but I have seen a lot of movies, and I just did what I always saw people do on there, and I aimed the gun at the bad guy on top of you and squeezed the little thingy like they do on NYPD Blue, you know, and I wasn’t sure if I hit him, but then he fell over and I ran over here to see if you were okay! Are you okay?” Adeline’s nerves were shot.
Zhanna took a breath for Adeline, then smiled. “I am. You saved my life.”
“You saved mine.” Adeline smiled back.
The sound of the police siren sounded to Zhanna like they were right around the corner, and she jumped quickly to her feet.
Adeline stepped back. “What’s wrong? It’s just the police, right?”
“Yes. But we don’t know if we can trust them. They may be on payroll. Follow me!”
Zhanna grabbed Adeline by the hand. Adeline’s face showed that she couldn’t handle much more. Zhanna understood completely. Before Zhanna started her new life with what used to be the KGB in Russia, she had to bear witness to far too many things like this herself as a girl. When your father is the most notorious gangster in the world, you see a lot of things you shouldn’t as a child. Being moved quickly from a home or an office to d
odge imminent danger was as regular an occasion for her as it was for most kids to go and get an ice cream cone. It hardened Zhanna. It also made her a fantastic agent. But it left her personal relationships in a less than desirable situation. It was what she admired most about Xander in the short time she had known him––his ability to maintain a warm heart when being perpetually surrounded by the coldness of the world. She knew how difficult that was to do. But he did it with grace, and Zhanna wanted to be more like that. Getting Adeline to safety without being a complete bitch would be a good start.
“Come on, you can do it, Adeline. I will get you to safety!” Zhanna told her as they rounded their way out of the dead-end alley and onto the street. Was that a comforting thing to say? She had been told before that her Russian accent made her seem all the more cold. Nothing she could do about that.
The two of them sprinted down the road. Zhanna looked back over her shoulder, and a couple of blocks back, two police cars swerved out onto the street behind them. They would see whichever direction Zhanna chose to take in an attempt to get away. She remembered grabbing the smoke grenade that Sarah dropped when Sebastian tackled her back at the warehouse. She snatched it from her waistband and pulled the pin.
“This is going to create a lot of smoke when I drop it!” Zhanna shouted to Adeline. “When I say, we are going to move to a street on our left. Just stay with me and we will be fine!”
Zhanna and Adeline nodded to each other. Zhanna dropped the smoke grenade, and after a loud pop, white smoke contrasted against the dark night as it billowed into the air. Zhanna gave it a couple of seconds and two side streets before she shouted, “Now!” The two of them darted to the left down another side street. This one was not a dead end. To Zhanna’s surprise, Adeline was fast. She was staying with her, stride for stride. She was proud of Adeline’s bravery.
“To the right!” Zhanna shouted, and they moved down another street, passing a group of teenagers drinking on the corner. But then Zhanna was forced to stop dead in her tracks as a black SUV skidded sideways in the street in front of her. Just as Zhanna was about to pull Adeline into another side street, a voice shouted for Adeline from the window of the vehicle.
“Adeline! Wait!”
Zhanna could tell by the look on Adeline’s face that it was a voice she knew. The door opened and Zhanna put herself between the SUV and Adeline.
“Addie! It’s okay, it’s me, Jeremy!”
The man shut the SUV’s door behind him. In the casted light of a streetlamp, Zhanna could see that he was wearing a black suit.
Zhanna held Adeline protectively behind her as she spoke. “Adeline, do you know this man?”
“Yes! Yes! It’s my Secret Service agent! Jeremy!”
Adeline wiggled out from behind Zhanna and ran to Jeremy. Zhanna let out a long breath of relief as Adeline jumped into his arms. Two police cars squealed to a stop behind her, and two more swerved in behind the SUV. The doors opened, and the policemen drew their guns, pointing them at Zhanna. They shouted something in French. Zhanna assumed it was something to the effect of “Get down on the ground!” She reached her hands above her head, but she did not go to the ground. Not until two police officers put her there. And the force by which they did it was far too much for Zhanna to take. She rolled to her back, and as she started to fight them, another man stepped out of the SUV.
“Hey, wait! Let her go! Laissez-la partier!”
The two police officers stopped fighting Zhanna, and the three of them looked up at the man walking toward them. Zhanna thought she recognized the voice, but the short, salt-and-pepper-haired, glasses-wearing skinny guy in front of her wasn’t anyone she had ever seen before. He said a couple more things to the police officers in French and then showed them a badge. The only thing Zhanna understood in the exchange was when the man with the glasses said, “American CIA.” The two officers backed away, and the man reached down and helped Zhanna to her feet.
“Sorry about that. Are you all right?”
Zhanna smiled, but he must have noticed that she was confused.
He extended his hand and said, “Oh, sorry, Zhanna. It’s Marvin. Marvin Cameron.”
Zhanna took his hand, and the confusion on her face turned to elation. “Marv?”
“Yep, that’s me. Thank you so much for taking care of Adeline. You have no idea what it means, to me and my superiors.”
“How are the others? Did Xander reach Natalie in time?”
Marv pushed his glasses back up on his nose. “He sure did. But he couldn’t have done it without all of you.”
“And Sam?”
“Sam apparently beat the hell out of Melanie before the cops made her quit.”
Zhanna couldn’t help but laugh. She didn’t really understand why she was so happy about the outcome. She barely knew the group. But there was just something about the way they made her feel like they had known her forever. Like they were this exclusive club and they just brought her right in. She had always been a loner, so the feeling of being part of a group meant more to her than she could ever have imagined.
Marv continued, “I know Xander is going to be so grateful for all you’ve done.”
“It’s the least I could do for what he did for me in Moscow.”
Marv nodded. Then his phone began to ring.
“Oh God, I forgot to call Director Hartsfield back! Do you mind?”
“Sounds important,” Zhanna said.
As he answered the phone, he took her by the hand and led her back to the SUV. Zhanna listened in.
“Mrs. Hartsfield, yes. No, I know. I know you’ve called several times. I know. I’m sorry. I know, but you can tell the President his daughter is safe. Zhanna pulled her from the warehouse and kept her safe. We have Adeline in our truck now. It’s all over. They did it.”
Saving the World Is Hard, But Love Is Harder
Xander put away his phone, sat back in his chair, and closed his eyes. He was exhausted, but he couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t believe the nonstop coverage of Natalie’s kidnapping and her subsequent rescue. He knew she was famous, he knew she was widely loved, but every single media outlet on the planet was only reporting on one thing.
Natalie Rockwell.
Of course, they had no idea about Adeline. If they had discovered how the President’s daughter had gone missing, coverage certainly would have been more split. The President himself had called Xander a little over an hour ago. Xander was honored to speak with him, but it was a short conversation. He told President Williams that it was his team that had found and kept Adeline safe. He was proud to say so. Kyle showed unbelievable courage by putting Adeline’s safety ahead of his own. In Xander’s mind, that was the very definition of hero. Sam of course had been her normal self, as had Sarah, but Zhanna really showed what she was all about. Adeline herself said that she would be dead if not for Zhanna’s quick thinking and all-around badassery. Xander told the President that it was his team that deserved the praise, and he happily passed their information along so that the President could call them as well.
It would be a bit before Kyle would be able to take that important call. Xander left Natalie’s hospital bed only long enough to check on his friend. The battered and beaten Kyle was sound asleep. Completely exhausted. Xander tried to get Sam, Zhanna, and Sarah to go with Jack and Viktor to a hotel, but every last one of them insisted that they stay until Kyle came around. The doctor said it would take him a while to heal, but he would make a full recovery. Several broken bones and a nasty concussion were an odd way to get lucky, but Xander knew that his friend was just that. Lucky. He very well could have been dead.
As Xander looked over at Natalie sleeping peacefully in her hospital bed, his heart was heavy. It seemed to him like a broken record now, but he couldn’t believe the danger that he had thrown his friends into once again. And even more amazing was how they responded. Throwing themselves into the danger when most would run away from it. Giving everything they had to see to it that Natalie and Adeli
ne were safe. Xander knew it was a big deal that they stopped Akram Khatib from killing Natalie on the live feed, that they stopped the bombing at the nightclub, and that they saved the President’s daughter. But the biggest deal to him was the fact that they would do it all again tomorrow if something else came up. That was why he had to make certain that it didn’t. This life of violence was where Xander thrived. But it was also where his friends would die if he let it continue. He knew what he had to do; he would distance—
“Xander?” Natalie called to him softly from her bed.
Xander jumped up and ran to her side. He took her hand in his and brushed the hair away from her forehead.
She asked, “Is everyone okay? No one got hurt trying to help me, did they?”
Xander smiled. Even after all that she had been through, Natalie was more worried about everyone else than herself.
“Kyle got a little banged up, but he’s going to be okay. He’d do it all over again a hundred times to make sure you were all right.”
Natalie looked sad. She scooted over in her bed, then patted the empty space for him to lie beside her. He quickly obliged, and once he laid down, Natalie nestled her head on Xander’s chest as he held her in his arms.
“Why did they come after me? Just to hurt you?”
“Yes. Sam and I took down his brother’s terrorist faction, and he wanted revenge. I suppose he found coverage of us at the Kentucky Derby together. I’m sorry I brought you into my mess. I should have just steered clear of you that night in San Diego.”
Natalie looked up at him and smiled. “Like you even had a choice.”
Xander returned the smile and gave her a squeeze. He knew there was absolutely no disputing that fact. Then he felt Natalie shaking. When he looked back down at her, she was crying.
King's Ransom (The Xander King Series Book 3) Page 21