by Powers, Jade
Sven didn’t want to overplay it. He said, “Sorry. I thought once she was in the air, we could go back to normal.”
“Not hardly.” The grim set of the officer’s mouth told Sven that he didn’t like this game, and especially didn’t appreciate getting left in the dark.
For his part, the orderly said, “Thanks. I guess I’ll move on, then.”
When the orderly entered the elevator and the doors closed, Sven told the guard, “That was Minka’s attacker. Stay here. I’m going to get help.”
Sven ran to the nurses’ station. He said, “Call the police. Tell them that Minka’s attacker was here scoping her room and has just left the fifth floor. I am in pursuit.”
Sven could beat him to the first floor on the stairs, if that was his end-game. He sprinted to the stairs, taking them at a controlled run. He was at the ground floor when he heard a door above his head open.
Pushing open the door, he tore off the lab coat and rolled it into a tight wad. The first elevator light was on floor seven. The second elevator light was on floor two. He ducked forward and to the side, standing near one of the walls that would hide his presence from the lobby while providing a view of both the elevator and the stairs.
The door to the stairs opened with a quiet click and the man, missing his beard and glasses, slipped out. He carried one of those giant gift bags, large enough to fit an outfit and disguise. He quickly turned away from the lobby, moving with speed down away from the people waiting and down the hallway.
Sven followed at a distance. The Butcher wove through corridors of the hospital but didn’t check behind. Even if someone were following, the look back would just tip them off. By now, there was a fifty-fifty chance The Butcher caught a glimpse of Sven in one of the corner mirrors or a reflection.
The Butcher pushed through the door to the parking garage. Sven ran to catch the door. As he crossed the threshold he saw the shadow. Already light on his feet, he hoisted himself back and to the side as the Butcher sent a single knife thrust to his ribs. An uncareful man would have had a spliced heart just there. Sven grabbed the knife hand and kicked with all his might at the Butcher’s exposed knee.
With a crack the Butcher’s leg collapsed under his weight. A hard and dirty fighter himself, he didn’t let go of the knife, holding on even as he screamed through his teeth when his knee went.
Sven didn’t waste breath talking to him. The questions about who hired the man, why he stalked Minka...those were questions a professional hit man would use as a distraction to put Sven off balance. He focused on the weak points of a human body, the joints, the neck. He had six inches in height on the man he was fighting.
None of Sven’s jabs met with success. This was a man used to fighting.
The Butcher feigned a left elbow punch and pulled the knife out of Sven’s reach when he flinched. Sven lifted his feet and kicked with all his might, propelling the man off the stairs with such force that he landed on the concrete on his ass.
Sven realized he was bleeding. As the blood dripped onto the stairs, Sven finally felt the pain of the blow. Damn. Somehow while he fell, the Butcher had flicked the knife, aiming for an artery in the neck but hitting Sven’s arm instead. Most men would have leaped down the stairs only to get a poke through the gut. Sven climbed slowly down the stairs, carefully watching the Butcher and planning his next attack.
Sirens sounded in the distance, coming closer.
“You can’t beat me. I’m a fucking god. When I’m done with you, I’m going to rape Minka to death.” His speech was off.
Pupils like tiny jeweled onyx glared at Sven. The Butcher’s knife hand twitched. He had expected Sven to attack after the insult to Minka. More disturbing was the use of her name. Sven paused at the bottom of the stairs. A car bleep-bleeped in the garage. Someone had just remotely locked their door. Sven watched for any distraction in the Butcher, but he was focused on Sven.
A crying woman approached. Head down, she was completely oblivious to her surroundings. Sven yelled to her. “Don’t come near here. Call the police.”
Her eyes went round and she backed away, suddenly running for the outside exit. She could give them an updated location.
That was the opening the Butcher was looking for. He sprang from the ground with a yell. Sven dove out of the way, swinging his right foot around in a blow to the ribs. The Butcher fell but held onto the knife. Sven continued his movement away from the stairs and into the open space beyond.
Sirens exploded into the parking garage. The red and blue lights flashed against the concrete warning of the approaching police. Sven could see the decision to run flash across the Butcher’s face. Crouching, he ran at the Butcher as he turned to the stairs, ready to run back into the hospital. His knee must have been blown because the man limped noticeably.
Fully aware of the danger in his action, Sven ran at the Butcher, pulling back at the last minute with a sideways kick to the knee again. Sven’s only goal was to keep him busy enough until the police arrived. Which was right now. The cop car screeched to a halt and two officers ordered Sven and the Butcher to put their hands up. Sven complied immediately, his ribs nearly tickling him with that unprotected open feeling.
He should have known the Butcher couldn’t leave a target like that alone. Sven almost sensed the change in the air as the Butcher suddenly shifted and swung the knife at Sven’s unprotected belly. There were times in his life that Sven was certain someone was looking out for him. This was one of those times. He twisted as he tried to escape and half-tripped while he tried to get away.
In the meantime, the officers fired at the Butcher, the shots so loud that Sven’s ears hurt from the concussion. He couldn’t hear anything for several minutes and the parking garage smelled like blood and gunpowder. When it was over, the Butcher was dead, suicide by cop. Sven was put in handcuffs until the police could verify his story.
For the first time since Minka was attacked, Sven relaxed. Not completely. He was too keyed up for that, but the Butcher was dead. Minka was safe.
Chapter 21
MINKA FELT LIKE SOMEONE had poured sand in her mouth. She was just that parched. The corners of her eyes were filled with grit. Her body hurt. She remembered a weird dream of Sven that left her with a keen sense of loss.
“Honey? How are you feeling?” Her mom asked. She leaned over Minka’s bed and for a second, Minka thought it was Gram.
“Worse than when I put my elbow through the glass,” Minka said. She still had a thin scar where the doctors had stitched her up.
“Good to see you awake. Do you need anything?”
“Water,” Minka said.
“No food or drink yet. The nurses said you might wake up thirsty. You can have ice chips. There’s also this lemon stuff.” It was better than nothing, but not the water Minka longed for.
“Would you like me to read to you for a while?”
“Yes,” Minka said. She wondered how pathetic it would be to ask for Sven. He probably didn’t even know she was in the hospital. He might not even care.
Her mom opened a Mary Higgins Clark mystery. Minka couldn’t see the title, but caught the word ‘Clark’ as her mother lifted the book to settle in. Before Estella could start reading, Minka said, “Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Did my Spokane neighbor visit me here? I can’t tell if it was a dream or a memory. His name is Sven.”
“Sven. He’s a nice boy. Yes. He stayed here for hours with you. I wasn’t here when you woke up the first time, but he said you made it clear you didn’t want him near you. You pulled your hand away or something. He’s been guarding you for days. He was here a bit ago, but the officer watching your room said he chased after an orderly. Guess he didn’t like the fellow’s looks. He genuinely cares for you.”
Minka remembered the female voice on the phone. “He cared enough to have another woman in his hotel. I called him while he was in Miami, and a woman answered the phone.”
“He should have the chance
to explain. Minka, I don’t want to scare you, but I would feel better if there were someone else I trusted here to watch. I don’t know all of the nurses and doctors, and sometimes strangers come in...and I just don’t know who to trust.”
“Mom, Sven and I were only together a few months. He can’t like me enough to hang around the hospital for a week.” Minka just didn’t believe in happy-ever-after, not after the hell she’d been through in the past few years.
“Honey, I’ve been talking to that boy for the past week waiting for you to get better and he’s a damn sight better than Joe ever pretended to be. Talk to him again. Give him a chance.”
Minka felt a loneliness in the center of her being that Joe had never activated. With her ex, she had felt relief when he left on trips. This was the first time in years she had actively missed anyone. She wanted so bad for Sven to explain away the woman’s voice. Maybe too bad. She said, “I’ll see him, but we’re still just friends.”
“Do you like him?” Ever shrewd, her mother cut to the heart of the matter with a scalpel’s clarity.
Minka stared at the ceiling thinking about the question. She said, “I miss him. I think so. I’m trying not to like him.” The truth was, she was head-over-heels. How could she love someone after just a few months? But she did. She wanted him with her.
“He flew in all the way from Miami when he found out you were hurt.”
Minka felt tears rise to the corners of her eyes. He came to visit her and without remembering she had pushed him away. She said, “I’d like to see him. I’m just afraid I’ll fall worse than I already have.”
“Honey, I think he loves you. You love him, so it will work. Rest for now, and we’ll get it sorted. I’ll call and bring him over. For now, get some rest.”
Minka closed her eyes, “Thanks, Mom.”
Something stirred in Minka’s memory, something sinister. Her eyes flew open, “Mom, they put something in my arm. I’m wearing a tracking device. Make the doctors take it out. Please? I don’t care if you tell Sven about it. Do whatever you have to, but make them take it out. I don’t want to be tagged like a freaking cow.”
“What? Honey, you’re not making any sense,” Estella took Minka’s hand, hoping to calm her down.
“Mom, tell Sven they used a needle to put something into my right arm. It’s a tracking device. Please, just tell him. I want it out.”
“Okay, I will. Everything will be fine. You’re safe.”
THE POLICE FINALLY released Sven. He returned to his hotel room. Estella would hear soon enough, and the blood that crusted on his shirt looked nasty. Only seven stitches though. Not bad, considering. Sven had three messages from Drake.
He groaned and made the call.
“What’s up?”
“We haven’t found Tom, but I have the location of the two women they kidnapped. I need you.” Drake wasn’t the kind of person to leave someone in danger, even if he didn’t know them personally. Neither was Sven for that matter, but he had another woman in danger, one he couldn’t leave.
Sven knew he should book a flight to Miami, now that the Butcher was caught. He needed to talk to Minka again, plead his case if he had to. He said, “Drake, I just had a run-in with the Butcher from Baltimore. I need to talk to Minka and her mom. I can’t just leave things like this.”
The phone was silent for longer than Sven liked. Drake said, “When will Minka be released?”
His loyalties were torn. At this moment, Minka was lying in a hospital room, needing nothing from him, wanting nothing he had to give. Meanwhile, his best friend did need him, and he couldn’t bring himself to leave Seattle. He said, “I don’t know. Can you give me the day? I’ll talk to Estella and the police guarding her, tell them that they need to stay alert, then I’ll book a flight.”
Sven hated being in love. Recognizing it for what it was, Sven hung up the phone. He loved Minka. She was his future.
Just minutes after he hung up with Drake, the phone rang again. It was Estella. “Sven, Minka is awake, and she would like to see you. Also, she’s going on about some tracking device. She said to talk to you about it. ”
Sven wondered if such a thing as fate existed. He said, “I’ll be right there.”
Sometimes it’s the quiet moments that reveal love. When Sven stepped once again into Minka’s room, he knew that returning to her was the right decision. Her eyes lit up. She said, “Sven? You’re here!”
He grabbed a chair and pulled it closer to the bed and sat down, taking her hand. He said, “I’ve been worried about you. Are you okay?.”
Before Minka could answer, Estella broke in, “I have one question, and then I’ll leave you two alone. Who was the woman who answered the phone in your hotel room in Miami?”
For a moment Sven looked confused. He shook his head, and said, “Woman?” and then realized what had happened. He grinned and said, “You returned my call. I thought you had decided to leave and decided it would be easier not to call back. The number went to our base of operations. You probably spoke with our admin, Kendra. To think I might have lost you over a misunderstanding like that. I take it you didn’t leave a message?”
“I hung up when I heard her voice,” Minka admitted.
Estella wasn’t so easily side-tracked. She said, “Base of operations. What do you do? What are you?”
“My best friend and boss is Drake Ward. He owns the company, Advanced Innovative Technologies. We are a private research company and primarily sell technology to the military. We compete with other companies. You were caught in the middle. I’m sorry.”
Estella said, “What about the future? Is my daughter in danger hanging around with you?”
Sven thought back to his mission. He would be reassigned now that the branch’s spies were revealed. He said, “It’s not safe to date me. I’m supposed to retire to a small town next year but I have enemies. Minka, I can’t stop thinking about you, and I don’t want you to do something that will put you in danger, but if you’ll have me, I want you. I’ll do my best to protect you, but I can’t guarantee your safety, any more than I can guarantee my own.”
“I have some issues,” Minka admitted. The circles under her eyes made her seem fragile. Sven didn’t want her to unload her fears at the moment, but he realized that this was important for her. He held her hand and waited. She said, “I have a hard time trusting people. When you said you left town, I thought you were just trying to get away from me. But then that weird military group kidnapped me and they knew you by name. I need to know that you’re one of the good guys. I know asking is a stupid way of verifying, and I’m obviously not the greatest judge of character. I still need to hear it. Tell me you’re one of the good guys.”
Sven listened to the bustling sounds of the hospital while he collected his thoughts. He realized that this single question that meant so much to her was one that he had never examined too closely lest he discover that his life had been lived serving darkness or at least not light. He feared the question.
“Your question deserves an honest response.” Sven paused and took a deep breath. This wasn’t at all easy. Finally he shook his head and said, “I don’t know. When we started, we thought we were the good guys, do you know what I mean? I can’t tell you if the person who stabbed you was part of our corporate war or something else, but he’s dead now. I’ve never killed outside of war, and I pay for those actions with nightmares and guilt. I try to protect the innocent. I protect the people I love. I try to do right.”
“But?”
Minka was smart. She certainly could read between the lines. Sven squeezed her hand, “The technology I flew to Miami for...it’s not something a free nation should experiment with. I can’t go into details, but I can tell you that it’s the kind of thing you’d expect from a dictator. We developed it, so that says something about us, but it was stolen, and the people who stole it are ruthless. They kidnapped a college student. Drake wants me to return to Miami...but I didn’t want to leave you.”
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nbsp; “I would like to work through our issues together, if you are willing,” Minka said. She looked beautiful, even exhausted and in a hospital bed. She added, “And I’d love for you to rescue that college student if you come right back here and help explain to the doctors the tracking device so those bastards can’t find me again.”
“I’m willing to work through your issues, and I will come back as soon as I can,” Sven smiled, and with his curly black hair and well-chiseled physique, he looked like an archangel, at least the ones in statues. “I know a doctor who can help with that device. I’ll call him before I leave.”
Minka looked small in that hospital bed when she asked, “When are you leaving?”
“I’m going to stay here for a few hours so that Estella can get some rest. I’ll catch the red-eye to Miami. Will you be okay while I’m gone?”
“I’ll be fine.” Minka said. She sounded so hesitant, so afraid of being hurt again that Sven wanted to wrap her in his arms and hold her forever.
He wanted her close. It was time to tell Drake that he was done with corporate life. “Minka, I have a home in Montana where I’m planning to retire. Would you like to stay there while you recover? It will be safer. Move in with me. I’ll join you as soon and as often as I can in the next year, and then after that, we’ll be together.”
“Are you sure? That’s a pretty big thing.”
“It’s a next step. We can decide if it’s a big thing or not once you’re feeling better.”
“Then yes,” Minka said.
For the next several hours, Sven took the position of Minka’s guardian angel, standing guard while Minka slept. Sven called in a favor, and his doctor friend removed the tracking device from her arm. Sven asked the doc, “May I take that? I have an idea.”
He didn’t want to leave her side, but Drake needed him. At least if he had to travel to Miami, he could take the tracker with him. It might create a decoy for Minka. Minka needed him, but so did Drake.