by Ruff, K. S.
A single tear slid down Shae’s cheek. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this, Kri. If I had known things were this bad here, I would have never asked you to take that job.”
I sighed as I rested my chin on my knees. “My life has been steeped in pain and violence, why should this be any different?”
Shae closed her eyes as she leaned her head against the wall. “If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?”
A lump formed in my throat. “I would change the miscarriage. I really wanted to have that baby. I wish I had gotten a chance to hold Genevieve… to see her smile and laugh… to see Michael hold her… to see her touch butterflies and play in that garden.” Tears fell unchecked as I pictured what my life would have been like if I hadn’t lost the baby.
“You would still be with Michael,” Shae observed softly.
I closed my eyes and relished the thought. “Yes. I would still be with Michael.” I swiped at my tears, then turned to face Shae. “What about you? What would you change?”
Shae buried her face in her knees. “I would change this.”
I inventoried a lifetime of memories while we quietly awaited our fate. I quickly tossed the bad ones aside so my mind could linger on the people I cherished most.
Eventually, footsteps echoed down the hall. “This is it,” I whispered as I wrapped my arm around Shae. “Let’s pretend to be brave.”
Two men approached our cell. “Stick your arms through the bars so we can handcuff you.”
As painful as it was, I pushed to my feet, walked to the bars, and turned around so they could handcuff me. I had no desire to fight. I didn’t have any fight left. Whatever it was they were planning, I wanted it over far more than they did.
Shae joined me at the bars. She turned her back to the two men so they could handcuff her.
We stood there silently while they unlocked the door. I winced when the man reached for my left arm, but I didn’t say a word. My knees nearly buckled when we walked by the interrogation room. I started breathing again once we passed it by.
Shae looked anxious when she glanced at me, but she didn’t say a word.
My eyes slammed shut the second they opened the door that led outside. It was too bright to force my eyes open, so I stumbled blindly as the man led me by the arm. I eased my eyes open when he finally stopped walking. We were standing in front of a black sedan.
The man didn’t say a word as he opened the back passenger door and shoved me inside. He nudged me toward the center of the seat, then sat next to me. Shae was shoved into the back seat from the other side.
I stared out the window at the abandoned industrial park and the warehouse that we had just walked away from. I jumped as the man next to me reached for my face. He slid a black pillowcase over my head. I began to shake, even as I refused to cry. I wasn’t about to beg for information about where they were taking us and what they were planning to do. I prayed Shae was thinking the same thing, because I was certain those were questions we didn’t want answers to.
Shae leaned her head on my shoulder as the car began to move.
Tears stung my eyes when she began to cry. I closed my eyes and began to pray.
Chapter 11 - Arms
We drove for some time before the car finally stopped. I could hear a humming sound and a number of car doors opening and closing. Muffled voices sounded outside the car. One of our car doors opened. I fell over as Shae suddenly vanished. I panicked. “Shae! Are you okay?”
I was pulled from the car before I could speak another word. My knees collapsed when I tried to catch my balance. I was yanked upright, then pressed against the car while the handcuffs were removed. I was pulled back abruptly, then shoved forward. I cried out in pain as I slammed against someone’s chest.
Maxim’s voice rolled over me. “It’s okay, Kristine. You’re safe now. You’re with me.” He caught me as my knees gave out again.
I clutched his shirt like it was the only remaining life raft in a stormy sea. I began sobbing as the pillowcase was tugged from my head.
Maxim’s eyes raked over my face. All of his hard edges were back in place. Fury, concern, regret, and sadness battled for his face. His eyes softened as he folded me into his arms. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry for everything that’s happened… for everything they did. I never should have left your side. I never should have let you come to Sevastopol without me.”
I became more aware of my surroundings as my tears subsided. My eyes widened at the number of men who stood around us. Every one of them was holding a gun. It looked like I had been dropped in the center of a warzone. My heart clenched when I saw Michael’s plane just a few yards away. Shae was already walking toward the plane. She stumbled as she turned back to look at me.
I breathed a long, shuddering sigh of relief.
Maxim took a step back. He steadied me as his eyes sought mine. “I’m releasing you from that promise, Kristine. I don’t want you ever coming back to Ukraine. You’re not meant to live in a place as cruel as this.” He choked on the last few words. His eyes suddenly revealed a lifetime of torment and pain.
I pressed my palm to his cheek. “You weren’t meant to live here either, Maxim. You’re too good for this life.”
His lips crashed against mine. I clung to his shirt as the kiss turned pleading. I couldn’t shake the feeling he was begging me to stay even though he was sending me away. Maxim’s face was streaked with tears when he finally released me. I couldn’t tell whether they were mine or his.
His voice grew firm as he nodded toward the plane. “We need to get you on that plane.” He wrapped his arm around me as he and six other men walked me toward the metal stairs that had been pushed up to the door of the plane.
My heart stalled when I realized it was Rafael who was standing at the base of the stairs. A huge semi-automatic weapon was hanging by his side. I stopped dead in my tracks. I looked at Maxim and tried to memorize his face.
He kissed me on the forehead. “Go,” he whispered.
I pressed my hand to his heart as I kissed his cheek. “Thank you,” I breathed. I glanced down at the ring, then looked into his eyes. “I’ll never forget you Maxim Markov.”
His eyes softened as he reached for my hand and kissed it one last time.
I slowly backed away from Maxim. Then I spun around and ran straight for Rafael. He let the gun fall to the ground as I plowed into his chest. I threw my arms around his neck. Pain shot through my arm, chest, and back, but I couldn’t have cared less. The only thing that mattered was being in his arms. I clung to him as I sobbed into his neck. “I thought they were going to kill me. I thought I’d never see you again.”
Rafael ran his hand over my hair soothingly. “Shhh. I’ve got you. Everything is going to be okay.” Rafael hiked my legs around his hips as he carried me up the stairs. He stepped inside the plane and slowly released me. He slid his sunglasses off, gathered my face in his hands, and gently kissed my lips.
I wrapped my arms around his back as I collapsed into his chest.
He glanced at me apologetically as he slowly pulled away. He slid his sunglasses back on and turned toward the door.
I grabbed his arm. “Rafael, no! Please stay in here. Please don’t go back out there.” I glanced frantically around the plane. I saw Shae. I froze when I spotted Ethan, Brady, and Kadyn. “Ethan and Brady are alive?”
Rafael nodded. “Yes. They were knocked out with tranquilizers, and their legs were broken, but they’re going to be okay.”
“Thank God,” I breathed. I reached for Rafael as he edged toward the door. My voice grew panicked. “No! We have to leave. Everyone’s here. Why aren’t we leaving?”
Rafael held me by the shoulders as I began trembling. “Kristine, you need to sit down. We’ll leave in just a minute. I promise.”
I began sobbing as I wrapped my arms around his back. I tightened my hold on him. “Please, Rafael. Don’t go back out there. I don’t want you to go back out the
re. God, please… I just want to go home.”
Kadyn gently untangled my arms from Rafael. “He has to make sure Michael is okay. We can’t leave until Michael is done transferring the money.”
I blinked back tears as I turned toward Kadyn. “Michael is here?” I turned back around to face Rafael. “I thought you were just using his plane.”
Rafael shook his head. “Michael insisted on coming.”
I glanced at Kadyn, thoroughly confused. “You’re here with Michael? He insisted on coming?”
Kadyn nodded as he walked me down the aisle. He nudged me into the seat next to Shae.
She dried her face with her hands and leaned over to hug me.
Kadyn squeezed my hand. “Stay here. I need to talk to Rafael for a minute. Then I’ll come back and explain everything.” Kadyn walked to the front of the plane and spoke with Rafael, who was now hovering in the doorway.
Rafael’s jaw clenched as he glanced at his phone. Tension was rolling off him in powerful waves.
I twisted in my seat as I looked around the plane. I was immediately overcome with memories of Michael taking me to Saint-Tropez. My heart clenched when I realized that the last time I had been on this plane was the day Michael had sent me away. I slammed my eyes shut in an effort to avoid the images. I wondered what he thought about the trouble I had gotten into. He had tried so hard to keep me safe, only to have me end up here. My heart beat anxiously at the thought of seeing him again.
I looked up as Kadyn walked back down the aisle. He folded himself into the seat across from me. I stared out over the tarmac as I leaned across the aisle and peered over his shoulder. There were at least sixty men scattered around his side of the plane and another forty or fifty on my side.
Shae chewed nervously on her bottom lip.
I reached for her hand. “Safe but not safe,” I breathed.
She slowly nodded. “I can’t tell the difference between the good guys and the bad. They all look alike.”
I looked through Kadyn’s window again. Every single person on the tarmac was wearing black. There were at least thirty heavily tinted black vehicles and more guns than I could possibly count.
Kadyn reached for my hand. “Michael is in one of those cars, transferring money with his laptop. The SVR demanded ten million dollars for your release. We can’t leave the country until they have that money.”
Shae gasped. “Ten million dollars?”
Kadyn nodded. “That’s not the only thing they demanded. The prime minister and the president of Ukraine were forced into signing some treaty that would extend Russia’s lease on the naval base here in Sevastopol. That treaty was signed just before you got here.”
My eyes met Kadyn’s. “Was it the SVR who arrested us?”
Kadyn studied my face. “The SVR took you into custody, but they didn’t officially arrest you. I don’t think they could without the cooperation of the Ukrainian government. The SBU refused to back them up on this one.”
I glanced at Shae. “I bet that’s why they were pushing us to admit we were spies.” I glanced back outside the plane as I turned toward Kadyn. “Who are all these people?”
Kadyn peered out his window. “The Russian mafia is guarding our plane. Maxim’s men volunteered to help ensure our security during your transfer, although Maxim did have to pay the mafia here in Sevastopol. They insisted on being involved since this is their territory.”
I shook my head. “And the others?”
“The people who are pointing guns at the plane are from the SVR. The rest of them… the ones with their backs to the plane are either from the mafia or the SBU, which is acting as some sort of intermediary.”
I fidgeted nervously in my seat. “What’s taking so long?”
Kadyn frowned. “Unfortunately, the Internet connection isn’t very good here. Michael has made multiple attempts to transfer the money, but he keeps getting dumped off the Internet… and, as you can see, everyone is starting to get edgy.”
The men around our plane spread out as the engines to our jet roared to life. My heart leapt against my chest as tears pooled in my eyes. I grasped Kadyn’s arm. “We’re still waiting for Michael, right?”
Kadyn glanced at Rafael, who was standing just inside the entrance to the plane. The gun was back in his hand, hanging loosely at his side.
Rafael nodded, once.
I leaned toward Kadyn. “I wish he would take those stupid sunglasses off. I can’t read his face through the mirrored lenses.”
A small smile tugged at Kadyn’s lips. “That’s why he’s wearing mirrored lenses.”
One of the car doors opened as I peered back out Kadyn’s window. “Michael,” I breathed. “Thank God.”
A lump formed in my throat as I watched him tuck a laptop into his briefcase. He stepped out of the car. He stopped to shake hands with a hulk of a man who had exited from the opposite side of the sedan. A third man stepped out of the car with his own laptop. He stood staring at the screen as he set the laptop on the roof of the car.
Rafael stood at the entrance to the plane with his gun trained on the men surrounding Michael. The men standing closest to our plane also stood with their guns raised as Michael approached the plane. The men to his back had their guns aimed at us.
“Oh, God,” I breathed. “Please get us all out of here in one piece.” I held my breath as Michael approached the steps to the plane.
Rafael ducked outside to meet him.
Michael’s chest bowed sharply forward as a single gunshot split the air. His knees hit the tarmac.
“Michael!” I screamed. I ripped myself from the seat, then ran for the door of the plane.
“Kri!” Kadyn shouted as he struggled to get out of his own seat. “Stop! Don’t you dare leave this plane!”
A blood curdling scream rent the air. I stumbled out the door only vaguely aware that it had come from me. I ran down the stairs. “Michael!” I screamed.
Gunshots sounded all around us as Rafael dragged Michael up the stairs. Blood stained both of their shirts. Sparks flew as a bullet ricocheted of the metal railing, just inches from my hand.
“Get back in the plane!” Rafael screamed as he met me on the stairs.
Kadyn’s arms wrapped around my stomach. He lifted me off my feet and yanked me back inside the plane.
“Michael,” I sobbed as I fought to remove Kadyn’s arms. “God, please, no.”
Rafael dropped Michael on the floor. He pulled the door shut as the plane began to move. No one returned to their seats.
I collapsed on the floor next to Michael. I was still sobbing as I pulled his head into my lap.
Kadyn ripped his shirt off and pressed it against Michael’s chest. There was so much blood… too much blood. Everything was stained red.
I choked on my tears when Michael’s eyes slowly opened. I grasped his face as I forced him to look at me. “You live, Michael! Damn it, you live. You can’t die. Don’t you dare die on me!”
Blood bubbled up from Michael’s mouth as his eyes found mine. “I never stopped loving you, Kristine.”
My fingers tangled in his hair as I bent my tear stained face toward his. I kissed him fully on the lips. His blood flooded my mouth. Still, I kissed him hard and deep. I sought his eyes as I broke away. “Then you fight to stay alive, Michael. You fight for me… for us. I love you, Michael. Do you hear me? I still love you!”
Michael’s eyes rolled back as his lashes fell to his cheeks. I pulled him further into my lap, shaking him until his eyes struggled to find mine. “Je t'aime, Kristine. Tu es mon cœur… mon amour… ma vie,” he mumbled softly as blood poured from his mouth.
“Michael,” I sobbed. “Please… please, don’t leave me.” I scattered desperate kisses across his face, then pressed my lips against his. “Please,” I breathed.
“He’s gone,” Kadyn whispered as he softly touched my arm.
I peered at Kadyn through a veil of tears. “No,” I choked. “I won’t let him go.” As my vision cleared,
I noticed Rafael sitting off to my left.
He was sprawled out against the cockpit door with his shirt off. Shae was tying it around his left arm, which was stained with blood. Rafael’s sunglasses were lying on the floor. I could finally see his eyes.
My breath caught as his pain collided with mine. I knew he was seeing his parents die, right alongside Michael.
“He’s dead?” he asked brokenly.
My entire body shook as tears flooded my face and neck. “I’m so sorry, Rafael. God, I’m so sorry.”
Rafael reached for me as tears streamed down his face.
I crawled between his legs, resting my back against his chest as Kadyn helped me pull Michael to my own chest. Rafael wrapped his arms around Michael and me as we wept.
Shae tucked her head against Rafael’s shoulder as she began to cry. She held his arm just beneath the tourniquet.
Kadyn sat next to Rafael on the other side. He grasped Rafael’s arm, which was cemented to mine.
The four of us stayed locked around Michael until the plane landed two hours later.
Chapter 12 – All I want
Three ambulances were waiting for us at the Berlin airport. I screamed and beat frantically at the paramedics as they attempted to pull Michael from my arms.
Rafael whispered soothingly as he peeled my arms from Michael’s chest and wrapped them around his neck. He held me until I calmed down. Then he eased me into the ambulance with Michael. Kadyn rode with Ethan, and Shae rode with Brady in the other two ambulances.
The hospital was complete chaos. Michael was taken to the morgue. They had to restrain me as they wheeled him away. Someone gave me an injection that made everything blurry. Once they gave me the injection I could no longer stand, sit upright, or speak coherently.
Ethan and Brady were whisked away for x-rays to ensure the bones in their legs had been properly set. Rafael had to explain the circumstances surrounding Michael’s death while the bullet wound in his arm was being cleaned and stitched.