When they were ready to move, Ivan lifted her off the bed and onto her feet, steadying her first. “You okay?”
“Yes.” She had to be. Staying here wasn’t an option. Being caught leaving wasn’t an option. So, she was forced to find the willpower to walk out on her own. She’d done worse things.
He wrapped his hand in hers and squeezed. “Okay, let’s move.”
Taylor, dressed as usual like a random, non-descript anyone, casually led them down the hall to an elevator.
When they got there, Mikhail kissed Alena on the cheek. “I’m going the other way. I’ll talk to you later.”
She nodded and then watched him stroll down the hall in the other direction. All part of the plan.
The elevator pinged, and Taylor got in with them. When it closed, Alena leaned into Ivan’s side. She focused on breathing. And keeping her knees from buckling. He practically held her up, and he had to realize it.
Luckily the elevator opened directly into the parking garage. At least she wasn’t going to have to walk a mile.
They stepped out. Taylor looked both ways and then spoke. “Dark blue Tahoe. Third car on the left in the second row. I’ll call you in about an hour.” She turned and walked the opposite direction without another word.
Ivan led Alena to the car with a death grip on her fingers. She could tell he fought the urge to spin his head in every direction to make sure they weren’t being followed. When he reached the car, he opened the door behind the driver’s seat, surprising her.
And then she noticed a man in the driver’s seat. Oh.
She climbed into the back seat and scooted across to the other side so Ivan could get in beside her.
The man pulled out of the spot. It wasn’t until he twisted his head around to check over his shoulder that she saw who it was. Eshan Patel.
She exhaled in relief. The one man she totally trusted. Unless she counted Taylor.
She closed her eyes as they pulled out of the garage onto the city streets.
Ivan buckled her into the center seat and then himself to her left, and then he lifted his arm around her shoulders and hauled her into his side again.
She sighed. He smelled fantastic. Like Ivan. Like home. It didn’t matter where they were, she would be content as long as she could scent him nearby. The only place she wanted to be was home, but she could spend two days in that car if need be as long as Ivan was next to her.
She dozed, glad to be out of the hospital as they drove. It seemed like longer than it should have, but she didn’t open her eyes, figuring she had lost track of time.
Finally the car came to a stop. It was dark outside. Very dark.
Ivan nudged her awake. “We’re here.” He popped her seatbelt and then slid from the car. Seconds later he lifted her into his arms and held her against his chest.
The air smelled wonderful. Why was that? The usual scent of the city didn’t assault her nose.
She blinked her eyes open to find them walking toward a house.
A house? A detached home?
“Where are we?” she muttered, lifting her gaze to get a better view.
“Safe house.”
“What?” She grew rigid in his arms, angling her head to glance around at her surroundings. She held his neck tighter, fear sending chills down her spine. “No. Ivan, no.”
He frowned down at her. “What? Why? Are you crazy? You can’t go back to our apartment right now. It’s not safe. Too many people are after you.”
“No.” She squirmed in his arms. “Put me down. Ivan. Oh God. No. You can’t think I would possibly let you leave me here. No.” She shook her head, not caring that her voice was too loud and Eshan was right in front of them, leading the way to the front door, hearing every word.
“Leave you? Alena, I’m not leaving you anywhere. I’m staying here too.” He entered the house behind Eshan.
Alena tried to wrap her mind around his words. He wasn’t leaving her?
Eshan set a key on the small table by the door. “You know the drill. Don’t open the door to anyone unless you know we’re coming. Don’t leave the house. Don’t go anywhere at all. You need something, you contact Agent Brown.”
Ivan nodded. “Got it. Thank you.”
Eshan smiled at Alena and turned to leave.
The second Ivan shut and locked the door, Alena jerked her gaze to his. “You aren’t leaving me here…”
“Lord, of course not. Why would I do that?” He still held her against him and made his way to the couch to set her down. “The last two times I left you were a disaster,” he teased, kissing her forehead before standing and walking toward the attached kitchen.
She glanced around. It was a small house, but comfortable. Welcoming. The living room and kitchen were one great room. In the breakfast area was a table for four and glass sliding doors that led outside. She couldn’t see what might be out there yet.
She watched as Ivan leaned into the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. He brought it to her, twisting off the top. “The doctor said you needed to drink as much as possible. Flush the drug out of your system.”
“Why am I so tired? And why do I feel like it would take too much effort just to walk to the bathroom? I thought I would collapse on the way to the car.”
Ivan sat next to her and pulled her free hand to his cheek to caress the back against his day-old beard. “It will take you a few days to regain your strength. The drug is still affecting you. Besides, you were in shock.”
She took a sip of the water with a shaky hand.
Ivan took it from her and met her gaze, cupping the side of her face. “You want something to eat?”
She shook her head. “I just want to sleep.”
He smiled. And then he lifted her off the couch and carried her down the hall. He set her gently on the bed and took off her shoes and socks. When he turned around and opened a suitcase on the floor, she knew she had chosen the best man on earth. It was filled with her clothes. “Haley packed that?”
He nodded and then pulled out one of his T-shirts. “This okay?”
“Perfect.”
He tugged her shirt over her head, pulled the black T-shirt on to replace it, and then leaned her back to pull off her pants.
She rolled to the side to help him get the covers out from under her, and two minutes later she was snuggled under the blankets against a pillow that wasn’t hers but smelled clean and fresh.
“Sleep,” he soothed, sitting on the edge of the bed and stroking the side of her face. “I’ll be right here when you wake up.”
She wanted to stare at his face for a while, luxuriate in her good luck. But she was so tired. Too tired. In a few moments her eyes grew heavy, and she let them flutter closed.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Fedor waited for his boss to pick up.
It didn’t take long. “Please tell me something good, Markov.”
“Got blood samples from Alena Dudko.”
“How the hell did you pull that off? Steal them?”
“No. Sent a guy into the clinic to get them.”
“I’m not even going to ask how you managed that. What’s the news?”
“No change from last year. If Yenin has given her the experimental drug, it’s still not something we’re capable of detecting.”
“Fuck.”
“Yeah. Thought you’d say that.” Fedor flinched. He had no idea what his boss might ask of him next. He’d rather get on the next flight out of the US with Vadim and never look back, but that wasn’t likely to be on his boss’s agenda.
“I was hoping Alena would be the key. If not, you’ll have to get someone else.”
“Pardon?” Was he suggesting what Fedor feared?
“You heard me. Pick up one of the guys. Do whatever you need. Get two of them if you can. I want that blood work. I want to know what Yenin is on the cusp of before it’s released to the world.
“I do not want the damn FBI to get their hands on that drug. It was ours to begin with
, and the decision to use it or not use it to our benefit is not going to fall to the whim of the Americans. I want them cut out of the equation.”
“Let me point out that we’re already operating on borrowed time here. It’s only a matter of days before the FBI picks us up and puts an end to our involvement. I’m sure they’re working through their own red tape as we speak. They know we’re here.”
“I’m well aware of that, so act quickly, Markov. Surely you and Romanowski can handle this task. Now. Fast. Stop dicking around.”
Fedor fumed. Did his boss seriously think he and Vadim had been hanging around on vacation? He fisted his hand next to his hip, trying to control the urge to argue the point.
“I’m sending two more guys to you. They’re on the next flight out. I’ll email you the details. Get a game plan. Get me some answers. As soon as we know for sure what we’re working with, we need to pick up Yenin. But I don’t want him dead. And I don’t want him without the drug.”
“That’s going to be tricky. We haven’t seen Yenin. He’s deep under the radar. His work is all done by hired help. I doubt it would do any good to pick up one of them, either. There’s no chance Yenin is stupid enough to arm his help with any worthwhile info. They probably hardly know who they are working for, let alone where to find him.
“I’m telling you this guy’s deep.”
“No one is too hidden for the FSB to find. Do it. And do it quick.”
»»•««
Anton sat in the dark in his office. It was late. His staff was all gone for the day. Only the bare bones employees were left in the building.
It was quiet.
He hadn’t moved for hours. He still stared at the piece of paper in front of him—the one he’d read dozens of times earlier. He could no longer see the words, but it didn’t matter. He had it memorized.
It was happening.
He was in the early stages of ALS.
He’d known that for months, though he’d been unwilling to admit it out loud. When he’d finally told Jorge, the man had been sympathetic and silently performed several tests to prove what Anton already knew.
He had the signs. His feet were no longer cooperating properly. His hands were getting clumsy and cramping on occasion. Proof wasn’t necessary.
Anton jumped when he realized someone was standing in the doorway.
Jorge.
The man slipped into the room and took a chair across from Anton. He did so quietly and without turning on the lights. “You okay, boss?”
Anton didn’t respond.
“I can see why you have such urgency in completing this drug trial now. And I understand why you gave the drug to your father. But I need you to consider the possibility this drug will do nothing for you.”
Anton knew that. But he would do whatever was necessary to ensure the drug worked.
Jorge continued, “You don’t have the antibodies for Hep A yet, sir. You just got the vaccination Friday. It takes four weeks to be effective. And even then you might need a second dose in six months to be one hundred percent effective. Even if you wanted to inject yourself with the drug trial, you could not. It would kill you in days. We have no way of knowing if the drug will adhere to the antibodies from an immunization in the first place. And, even if it worked, you don’t have those antibodies yet.”
Anton nodded, still not responding. He knew all that too.
He also knew the FSB was breathing down his neck alongside the FBI. One of his men reported a commotion at the clinic Monday morning that involved an ambulance taking away an unresponsive Alena Dudko.
That had to be the work of the FSB because it sure wasn’t Anton.
Still not one word from Millings or Dayton.
Fuck.
No one had spotted them either, which undoubtedly meant they had been caught. Imbeciles. Fortunately, they wouldn’t have much to tell even if they were tortured. They didn’t know anything about Anton the FBI didn’t already know themselves. It was unfortunate Anton lost his inside contact, but not dire.
He no longer gave a fuck. He had bigger problems.
The FBI could try to track him for as long as they wanted to spin their tires. They had no way to find him.
He was growing increasingly curious about the actions of Taylor Brown, however. That woman was all over the place. She worked undercover, but fooled no one. At least not him. She’d been spotted everywhere. But lately she’d spent a great deal of time in one particular curious location.
That information could come in handy at some point. So he tucked it away.
As for the FSB? They could go fuck themselves. They had nothing. They could follow Anton’s fighters and their women to the ends of the earth. Anton would not be showing his face in public. Whatever their motives were, didn’t matter. If they hoped to catch Anton, good luck. If they hoped to retrieve the missing formula, good luck with that too.
“I’m worried about you, boss,” Jorge continued.
Anton finally pasted on a small smile he wasn’t sure Jorge could even see in the dark. “No need. I’m fine. Just get that formula perfected.”
Jorge nodded, stood, and left the room.
It didn’t matter what Jorge did with the formula. Anton was out of time. He would have to use the drug in its current state.
All he needed was enough antibodies from Hep A for it to adhere to. He would have Jorge test him every few days to see if the immunization was taking effect. He didn’t have four weeks. And he sure didn’t have six months.
Chapter Twenty-Three
A loud scream made Ivan leap off the couch and race down the hallway. His heart beat out of his chest, even though this was the third time Alena had woken up shrieking since they’d arrived Monday night. Forty-eight hours ago.
He had to grab the frame of the door to the master bedroom to keep from skidding past it.
Alena was sitting up in bed frantically looking around, her eyes vacant.
That wasn’t new, either. Every time she awoke, she did so confused about where she was and who she was with.
When she met his gaze, her shoulders relaxed, and she blew out a long breath.
Ivan made his way across the room in less than a second, sat on the edge of the bed, and hauled her into his embrace. He threaded his fingers into her hair and held her tight. “It’s okay. You’re okay now,” he muttered against the top of her head.
Was she? When would she stop having this nightmare?
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop saying that. It’s getting old. You have nothing to be sorry about.” He pulled her away from him far enough to meet her gaze in the dim light of the room. The sun was about to go down.
“Every time I go to sleep, I have the same dream. Men are chasing me. They catch me. They inject me with something. And then the world goes blank.”
“It’s a form of PTSD, Alena. It’s not surprising. You’ve been through almost the same horrific event twice. We’ll get through it.”
“What if it never ends? What if I do this every night for the rest of my life? I used to have this awful dream for months on end after the first time I was abducted and then again when I first came to the US. It took a long time. I’m not sure I’ll ever stop this time.” Her words spilled out rapidly, like waves rushing down a raging river.
It was difficult to keep up with her line of thinking. She spoke so fast.
“It’s only happened when I’m not in the room. You slept fine last night. For hours. Peacefully.”
She grinned slowly and cocked her head to one side. “Maybe you shouldn’t let me sleep alone, then.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t.” And he wouldn’t. Not usually. But she’d slept away a large part of the last two days while the drugs she was given wore off.
“I need to use the bathroom,” she stated, nudging him out of the way. “And a shower would be nice.”
“Let’s start with seeing if you can stand steady and then go from there.”
She hadn’t eaten much in the
last two days. Her appetite had been nonexistent.
Ivan stood and took her hand to help her swing around and plant her feet on the floor. When she got to standing, she squeezed his hands and then let go. “I think I’m good. Let me use the bathroom and evaluate.”
He nodded, hating the idea of her heading into the bathroom alone. But she’d made it clear yesterday that she drew the line at being assisted on the toilet. And he couldn’t blame her.
He paced a section of the bedroom while she was in the attached bath, and then she opened the door and smiled. “I think I’m alive. I’m going to shower. Then I should eat.”
“How about you eat first, and then we reevaluate the shower idea?”
She chewed on her lower lip a moment and then nodded.
Good. He didn’t want to argue with her, but he did want more time to make sure she was steady enough for the shower.
»»•««
A half an hour later, Alena glared at Ivan from the doorway to the bathroom. “I’m fed. I’ve proven I can stand and walk. I can shower.”
He held a permanently narrowed gaze. “I’ll compromise.”
She wasn’t sure she would like his idea of a compromise. It usually involved him bossing her around and her relenting. Usually because his bossiness was also hot.
And it wasn’t less heated this evening, either. But she needed a shower bad enough to hold her ground. She rolled her eyes. “What’s your idea?”
“I could use a shower too.” He beamed at her, pulling his shirt over his head and then unbuttoning his jeans while she watched.
For a second she was shocked, and then a slow smile spread across her face. Perfect. A naked Ivan was always good medicine. If she got her hands on his smooth, hard body, maybe she could convince him to take her to bed next.
He hadn’t consented to so much as touching her beyond a kiss in two days. She was out of her mind with the insanity of his reasons.
Yeah, she’d been drugged. So what? That was two days ago. If he really wanted her to move forward with her recovery, he needed to stop handling her with kid gloves and get back to making her body hum.
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