Her arms and hands were aching with fatigue, and her body was cramped in an uncomfortable position. She was using all the strength in her upper body to keep clawing her bind against the wire, hoping that it would make a difference. Twenty minutes in and still she hadn’t gotten very much further. The tear was now visible however, which meant there was the possibility of Kovic spotting it.
A sound in the distance alerted her to a human presence, and immediately she withdrew her hands from the wire and squeezed them under her head so that it looked like she was sleeping. She lay still and let her breath come in even bursts. A few seconds later, Kovic opened the door and got into the driver’s seat. He had some food with him, but he didn’t seem keen to share it with her.
Kristina didn’t care at this point. She had gone past hunger. The only hunger that remained in her was the hunger to survive. She wanted desperately to live, and now that she was on death’s doorstep, she knew she had to try everything in her power to get free. She noticed Kovic glancing at her from her barely opened left eye, but he didn’t pay her much attention. She breathed a sigh of relief, as he turned his attention back on the road and started to drive.
Kristina was sure that the next time they stopped would be the end of their journey. Kovic had promised her that Keith would be there, but a part of her hoped that he wouldn’t show up. It would hurt to think he hadn’t cared enough to come, but another part of her would just be glad that he was safe. They had been driving for ten minutes when Kristina extended her hands out and continued to try and tear at her binds with the wire at the bottom of Kovic’s seat.
She had to be silent as the night in order to avoid being found out. If she put too much pressure, there was always the possibility that Kovic would figure out what she was doing. She also had to keep her lower body still so that he didn’t suspect that her hands were hard at work. She took little breaks between the cuttings so that she could assess how long she could get away with it. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a larger tear ripped through the cloth. The sound was louder than Kristina had thought, and she froze in place.
Her mind whirred with panic, and instantly she pulled back her hands and hid them underneath her head a second before Kovic glanced back at her. Given that her face was directly behind his, he had a hard time seeing her, which Kristina was deeply grateful for.
“What was that sound?” he asked out loud.
Kristina pretended to wake up. She yawned loudly and adjusted her position in the back seat, all the while making sure her hands were covered. “I was sleeping,” she moaned, trying to fill her tone with the necessary fog of sleep. “Where are we?”
“Never you mind,” Kovic replied. “All you need to know is that we’re close.”
Kristina realized suddenly that the light was fading. They were headed into another night, which meant they had been on the road for quite some time. She could see nothing but trees. On either side of her was a line of trees that seemed to be guarding the road they were on. It was clear they were in the middle of nowhere; she hadn’t heard another car pass them in a while.
“I have to admit,” Kovic said abruptly. “I’m getting excited.”
“The thought of killing someone makes you excited?” Kristina asked in disgust.
“You know… it really does,” Kovic replied.
“You’re sick,” Kristina said.
“That’s a matter of opinion,” Kovic said. “We all have certain instincts inside of us; it’s not my fault that the rest of the world has suppressed theirs.”
“You really think everyone is like you?” Kristina asked incredulously.
“Of course I do,” Kovic replied. “People just aren’t honest with themselves. Trust me, if people weren’t sacred of the consequences, then they’d be exactly like me.”
“And by consequences you mean…?”
“I mean the law,” Kovic answered. “They’re scared of jail and so they suppress all the desires that are normal for them to have. But me… I don’t have to worry about those things.”
“Why?”
“I have connections,” he replied smugly.
“You think you’re invincible, but you’re not,” Kristina replied heatedly. “These connections you think you have will abandon you the moment you lose value to them. They’re not your friends or your family, and they will turn on you the first chance they get. And you know what… just because you don’t experience consequences directly after the fact does not mean there aren’t any.”
“Are we talking about God now… because I’d really rather avoid that subject.”
Kristina realized that he was in a good mood. He thought he was going to get the revenge he had always wanted. He thought he was going to win the fight tonight…and that was making him confident and optimistic. She wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or a bad one.
“I don’t know about God,” Kristina replied. “But there is something greater than us out there, and I’d be scared if I were you.”
“Fear only slows you down,” Kovic said passionately. “Kill the fear inside you and you can do anything, you can be anything. That is how I got to be where I am now.”
Kristina stayed silent; there was no point talking to him. He was a lost cause, a savage with no fear and no remorse. He was going to kill her tonight if she didn’t get away first. Slowly, Kristina examined her bind. It was torn at the back of her hands, which meant if she pulled hard enough, they might actually come apart. Still, it was a risk, and she couldn’t afford to take it. She slipped back down and took advantage of Kovic’s distraction by continuing to tear apart the bind with the little bit of wire at the back of his seat.
She kept talking, hoping that his preoccupation in the conversation would keep his focus off what she was doing. “What does it feel like to kill?” Kristina asked, hoping that topic would keep him talking for long enough that she was able to make some progress.
“You’re really interested in knowing?” Kovic asked with some surprise.
“Well, I figure before the night is up I might have the chance to kill you… and I just want to be prepared for the feeling.”
Kovic laughed. “You’re a lot more fun than Natalie ever was,” he said. “She wasn’t quite so cocky, or as funny.”
“I’m not being funny,” Kristina replied heatedly. “I’m being serious.”
“That’s what makes you so funny,” Kovic said condescendingly.
“Are you going to answer me or not?” Kristina said, struggling to keep the strain from her voice as she moved her bound hands back and forth across the wire.
“It feels like… power,” Kovic replied. “There’s no power so satisfying as seeing someone die and knowing that you are the one who did it. You know that not everyone can take a life? People think it’s a matter of pointing the gun and pulling the trigger, but it’s not. It’s about possessing that special something.”
“You make it sound like a talent.”
“It is actually,” Kovic went on. “You need to love violence, you need to love murder, and you need to love power. Those are the things that will push you to greater heights.”
“You really do sound like a psychopath,” Kristina said in disgust.
“To someone like you, I’m sure I do,” Kovic replied, unconcerned.
Kristina was about to retort when she heard the screech of wheels and the bright flash of headlights. She closed her eyes instinctively and gasped as the car skidded slightly off the road. “What the hell was that?” she asked in shock.
“I think Keith has found us,” Kovic replied, his tone was devoid of the earlier confidence it had possessed, and Kristina realized that he had not expected to be caught on the road and unprepared. He had expected to be at the designated meeting spot, with his gun at the ready and his plan in perfect motion.
Kristina sat up fast and looked around. There was definitely a car on their tail, but she couldn’t tell if Keith was the one driving it. She had never seen the car before;
she had only ever seen Keith ride a bike. The lights were so blinding that she couldn’t make out much more.
“Keith,” she whispered to herself as though his name held a prayer.
Chapter Thirty Eight
Keith
Keith came to a stop outside of Miles’s house. It was slightly run down, but far better compared to what it had been like when Miles had first bought it. Keith hopped off his bike and walked straight for the front door. He knocked, and then he kept knocking until the door was thrown open.
“Erica,” Keith said the moment he saw her. “Is Miles here?”
“He’s putting the baby to sleep,” Erica replied. She looked at him questioningly, seeing the urgency on his face. “Is everything alright?”
“Not really,” Keith replied, he didn’t have the energy to lie. “Can I speak to him please; it’s urgent.”
“Of course,” Erica nodded. “Come in.”
“I’d rather stay here,” Keith replied.
Erica looked at him curiously, and with a little worry. “Alright,” she nodded. “I’ll tell him to come to the door.”
She left him on the threshold and disappeared into a room on the right. Moments later, Miles came out wearing a worried expression. “Keith,” he said immediately. “What’s happened… have the police been able to find Kristina?”
“No,” Keith replied. “And they’re probably not going to. I have to do it.”
“Keith…”
“I don’t have time to argue,” Keith replied. “And I don’t have time to convince you. Kovic called me; he wants me to come alone.”
“Where?”
“I can’t say.”
“Keith, don’t be a fucking idiot.”
“I can’t risk it, Miles,” Keith replied abruptly. “Not this time. I’m going to save her, but I’m going to have to do it my way.”
“How are you going to manage that?”
“I… I don’t know yet,” Keith replied. “But I do know that I need your car to do it.”
“You’re here for my car?”
“Yes,” Keith nodded.
“Keith…”
“Don’t,” Keith interrupted him immediately. “I told you, I can’t do this now. I don’t have much time left.”
“I’ll come with you,” Miles said immediately.
“I appreciate that,” Keith said. “I really do. But you have Erica and the baby… all the guys have family, which is why I need to go alone.”
“You have family, too,” Miles pointed out. “Your mother… and us.”
“But this is my situation,” Keith reminded him. “I got Kristina into this, and I have to get her out, no matter what it takes.”
“Keith—?”
“Can I have your car or not?”
Miles sighed. He grabbed the keys on the table next to the door and passed them to Keith. “Be careful,” he said.
Keith nodded and headed straight for the car. He started driving, wishing that he could have taken his bike. It gave him a sense of confidence that he simply could not feel sitting behind the feel of Miles’s car. He tried to keep his mind focused and clear, but no matter how hard he tried, his thoughts kept flitting to images of Natalie and how she had looked as she had died in his arms.
The more he pictured the memory, the more it seemed to change. Suddenly he realized that Natalie’s face was changing slowly until it turned into Kristina’s. He could feel the ultimatum in the air; this was the night that he absolved himself of the guilt he carried around with him, or it was the night where he cemented his fate and killed the second woman he had ever dared to love.
The moment he thought the words, he froze in place, and he had to concentrate on keeping the car on the road. He repeated the words slowly in his head, and he wondered when that had happened. He wondered how he had ever allowed it to happen.
“I love her,” he whispered into the still silence of the car. “I love Kristina.”
It had never been a conscious thought until the realization had practically smacked him over the head. He had loved her internally, instinctively, in his gut and in his heart, but he had not admitted it to himself because admitting it meant that the pain would be so much worse if he failed this time. He remembered Natalie once more, wondering if his memory of her had changed in light of his newfound realization.
He realized that his love for Natalie still remained, but it had changed somehow. She was no longer the love of his life. She was now his lost love, who would always have a place in his heart, but now things were different. He was not sure if Kristina was the love of his life. All he knew was that he loved her and that failing to save her was impossible.
“I’m going to save her,” Keith said out loud, through gritted teeth. “I will save her.”
He followed the instructions that Kovic had given him. He knew he was early, but he had wanted to be. He turned into a lonely road; on each side of the road was a dense field of trees. There were no streetlights; the only light came from the car. He turned off the headlights and sped up, hoping to pass under the radar. He drove for a long time before he heard the sound of another engine not far in front of him. Slowly, he turned on his lights again and read the car’s number plate.
“Kovic,” Keith spat.
With rage coursing through his body, Keith turned his headlights on and sped up. He knew that Kristina would be in the car so he couldn’t crash into it as he had originally intended. He drove up close, the tires screeching with the speed and ferocity with which he was driving. Kovic sped up instantly realizing who was on his tail, but Keith was unconcerned. He revved the engine and stomped down hard on the accelerator so that he was driving right alongside of Kovic.
He turned his head and saw the monster in the driver’s seat. His eyes were wide with fury and anger. Keith tried to get a glimpse of Kristina, but she didn’t appear to be in the car. Panic gripped him as he wondered if Kovic had had a greater plan and he had again put Kristina in danger. Kovic smashed his car into the side of Keith’s and he had to work had to keep the car from veering into the thicket of trees.
He managed to stay on course and keep up with Kovic, but his thoughts were preoccupied with images of what might be happening to Kristina if Kovic had left her in the hands of his gang. His distraction allowed Kovic to race ahead. Keith ground his teeth together and hit down on the accelerator again, hoping that he hadn’t made another mistake. He was close on Kovic’s heels when suddenly, out of nowhere, Kovic’s car veered violently on the road before it smashed straight through the forest of trees, disappearing out of sight.
“What the fuck?” Keith gasped, as he watched the car disappear. “Shit,” he yelled as he realized he too was veering off the road. He slammed the brakes, and the car skidded to a halt after one violent spin. Breathing heavily, Keith got out of the car and looked in the direction that Kovic had taken. He was fairly certain that it had not been intentional. It looked like Kovic had lost control of the vehicle and crashed.
Quickly, Keith started moving towards the trees. The forest was dark and dense with shrubbery and undergrowth. He wished that he had a flashlight… something that would light his way. He remembered the phone in his pocket, and instantly he realized what he should be doing. He quickly dialed in Marie’s number and called her.
“Hello?” Marie answered on the first ring.
“Marie, it’s Keith,” he said talking fast. “I think I know where Kovic and Kristina are. Give this address to the police and tell them to hurry.”
“Ok,” Marie said immediately.
“Do you have a pen, you’ll need to take this down.”
Chapter Thirty Nine
Kristina
“Keith.”
She wanted to sit up, she wanted to yell for him, and yet, she wanted to protect him at the same time. He had come for her, and the moment that she knew he had, she wondered why she had ever doubted him. Of course he would come for her…whether he cared about her or not. That was the kind of man he was.
The car was going so fast that Kristina could hear the wind roaring against them. She braced herself, lying flat against the back seat and took advantage of Kovic’s distraction. Her binds were torn in different places, but they still held her hands together. Kristina knew if she didn’t rid herself of them now she would never have another opportunity.
She used every last bit of strength and energy she possessed and tried to pull her hands apart, making use of the tears she had already created in the cloth. The car teetered dangerously, and Kristina knew her time would be up soon.
“Motherfucker!” Kovic yelled as he sped up.
Savage: Iron Dragons MC Page 25