Meanwhile, in his panic to get to safety, Fedor had shoved past Liliya and caused her to trip and lose her balance. She was falling toward the flames when Nikolai grabbed her and lifted her, then carried her to safety. Afterward, Liliya jumped out of his arms and ran to check on Fedor.
One of Matthews’ pant legs was on fire by the time he made it out of the burning fuel. He rolled atop the snow near the lake’s edge to put out the flames. One pant leg was ragged looking and singed up to the knee, but the flesh on his leg was only reddened, although it stung like hell.
Matthews looked about and saw that Tanner was gone, and without doubt had sped off to rendezvous with Blake and the girl in a place of safety.
A quick look around showed Matthews that they had suffered tremendous losses. Between his party and Nikolai’s, they had landed on the lake with two dozen armed men.
On the other hand, Tanner had only Sara Blake and appeared handicapped by having to protect a child.
Only minutes had passed, and they were a ragtag group of seven survivors with no way to fly back to the city. Their supplies were in the lake along with the planes and night was approaching, to bring with it a snowstorm.
The sound of the snowmobile could be heard, but it was fading as Tanner and Sara Blake made their escape.
Matthews looked over at Gleb. The idiot had tossed a live grenade without a thought to the damage it might do to anyone but Tanner. Not only did the man look simian, but he was about as smart as an ape too.
Matthews called to him in Russian.
“Gleb.”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t you say you had three grenades?”
“The other two were in the plane.”
“Too bad. I would love to shove one down Tanner’s throat.”
“I don’t like him,” Gleb said. “He’s mean.”
Matthews stood. His wet pants were turning to ice and one side of them made him look as if he were wearing tattered shorts.
If they didn’t find shelter or build a fire, and soon, they’d all freeze to death. He recalled the campsite they spotted from the air, it was on the opposite shore, where the lake curved and ended in a cove.
“Follow me everyone, it’s time to go lick our wounds.”
Fedor opened his mouth to protest Matthews acting like their leader, but then shrugged.
The others tagged along behind Matthews, as on the lake, several men moaned and writhed in agony from either burns, wounds, or a combination of both.
Liliya gazed back as she asked a question.
“Shouldn’t someone put them out of their misery?”
No one answered her and they walked on toward the campsite.
10
Hole Up
Tanner rejoined Sara and Polina when they were still a short distance from the campsite.
Polina let out a squeal of joy when she saw Tanner and leapt into his arms, then, she pecked him on the lips.
“You saved us by outsmarting that man, and he really does look like a monkey.”
“You did good too. You got down low when you needed to, but why did you stop here?”
“The snowmobile died,” Sara said. “I tried starting it, but I think the gas drained from it.”
“I was afraid that would happen. We need to hide it. If Matthews and the others find it, they’ll know that we’re nearby. I want them to think we got away.”
“How many are left?”
“I’m not certain, but it’s less than ten. If this rifle wasn’t so low on ammo and I had a spot to take cover, there wouldn’t be that many left alive.”
Polina pointed to the gun on his hip.
“Can you use the bullets from the gun inside the rifle?”
“They’re not compatible.”
“You mean they are different types?”
“Yes.”
“I did not know that all bullets were not the same, but it makes sense, because the rifle is bigger.”
Tanner stared at her and Polina grew nervous.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m impressed by you. Many girls your age would be freaking out right now.”
Polina grinned.
“Freaking out, that means scared?”
“Yes.”
“I am scared, but I know you will protect me.”
“I will, and so will Sara. Now, let’s hide this snowmobile and find shelter. It will be dark soon.”
“Speaking of shelter,” Sara said. “Where will we go?”
“I know the perfect spot.”
Polina hesitated as she stood at the lip of the pit, but Tanner assured her it would be all right.
“But… we will be trapped down there,” Polina said.
“The lid is rigged so that we can open it at any time and I removed the lock.”
“What if the men find us?”
“I placed tripwires in the area so we’ll know when someone’s close by.”
“I don’t like the pit, Tanner.”
“I know, but it will be warm thanks to the heated soapstone, and we’ll have food and light.”
“What about a bathroom? I may have to… tinkle.”
“You’ll have privacy, see, I placed the tent around the toilet.” Tanner leaned over and stared into Polina’s eyes. “I thought you trusted me?”
“I do.” Polina said. “But I’m still scared.”
“I understand, but we have to get inside now. I can hear Matthews and the others coming.”
Polina took a deep breath, released it, and climbed down the rope ladder. Tanner followed, pulled on a wire salvaged from the snowmobile, and the hatch that covered the pit closed.
There was light inside from the lantern, at least enough to see by. They opened another MRE, but only removed the crackers and cheese spread, since they had no way to heat the food.
The covering of the pit was thick and blocked most sounds from above, but Tanner guessed that Matthews and the others were up top and restarting the fire he’d put out earlier.
“Since we have nothing to do, tell me more about Genevieve,” Sara said.
“Do you really want to hear that?”
“Tanner, you said a rapist was stalking the girl but you never said what happened. I’m dying of curiosity.”
“Who is Genevieve?” Polina asked.
“She was a girl Tanner knew when he was about your age and on a hunting trip with his grandfather. But Genevieve was in trouble when he left off the story.”
Polina sat up straighter.
“I love stories, and I want to hear about boy Tanner.”
Sara grinned.
“Yes, tell us about boy Tanner.”
Tanner agreed. It would be a good way to keep Polina calm and help pass the time.
“Okay, like I said, Genevieve became friendly when she saw that I was a good shooter, but that changed after I bagged a deer, one of the large bucks.”
“She was frightened of all the blood?” Polina said.
“Something like that.”
Genevieve glanced back over her shoulder to make sure that no one was around before she unfastened her pants to pee.
She did not like hunting. If her mother had told her that she would have to pee out in the cold air with strangers around, she never would have agreed to come on the trip. After relieving herself, she used the toilet paper her mother had given her.
This is so gross. She thought, then wondered how the pioneers ever survived. As she was pulling her pants up, Genevieve heard a noise behind her.
She turned her head and saw no one, but there was a tree there that was wide enough for someone to hide behind, if they stood sideways.
She thought of the boy, Cody Parker, but when she left his side, Cody had been about to cut open a huge deer he’d killed with a single shot. The boy could shoot, that was for certain, and Genevieve was wondering if he were also a peeping Tom.
“Cody, is that you? It’d better not be. Hello, is anyone there?”
&
nbsp; Nothing, only the breeze flowing through the brush and the pines. With her business done, Genevieve headed back toward the spot she’d left her mother and the Parker’s, but then, she heard movement from behind, as a form rushed toward her.
Genevieve spun around so fast that she stumbled and fell backwards, to sit on a soft layer of snow. When the frightened deer flew by, it was a blur, but was so close that she could have touched it.
After placing her hand over her heart and laughing at her own fright, Genevieve picked up her toilet paper and continued on her way.
Back in the trees, a face poked out from behind a wide pine, and in his hand, he held a knife.
Genevieve had expected to see the deer cut open when she returned, but the sight that greeted her both sickened and amazed her.
Cody had sliced open the deer all right, and he was shoulder-deep inside the animal while his grandfather held the front legs of the poor creature. The boy was pulling at something for all he was worth. When it came free, the animal’s organs spewed out with it. Cody had been gripping the buck’s windpipe, and pulled it free like the stem on an apple.
“Ooh, that is so gross,” Genevieve said.
Cody stared at her, as he stood amid the deer’s innards.
“This is called field dressing, Genevieve. It has to be done to protect the meat from getting bacteria.”
“It’s sick! And… to do that, to just reach inside and… you’re a monster, Cody, and hunting sucks.”
Genevieve ran back toward base camp with her mother following.
“Genevieve!” Cody called, but it was useless.
Polina was making a face of disgust.
“Hunting sounds nasty.”
Sara laughed at Tanner’s story.
“I was grossed out the first time I saw someone field strip a deer too, but since then, I’ve seen autopsies performed.”
“Genevieve was not pleased with me,” Tanner said.
Polina stretched out on the mattress and laid her head atop Tanner’s lap.
“Finish the story tomorrow, Tanner,” Polina said. “Right now, I need to close my eyes.”
The girl was so tired that she fell asleep in seconds.
Sara smiled at her.
“If she were a little older I’d be jealous.”
“She is a beauty.”
“Speaking of teenage beauties, did Genevieve ever speak to you again? And what about the creep that was stalking her?”
Tanner was about to answer Sara when they heard raised voices drift down from above.
“It sounds like the neighbors aren’t getting along,” Tanner said.
“I hope they kill each other,” Sara said.
“I could slip up there in the dark and help them along.”
“Let’s deal with them when we don’t have to worry about protecting Polina. Our priority should be to get this child to safety.”
Tanner looked down at the girl.
“I agree, for now.”
The loud voice they heard belonged to Fedor, who had been shouting at Dan Matthews.
Matthews had told Fedor to gather fresh firewood and Fedor took offense at being told what to do. From there, the group had split into two factions. Matthews, Gleb, Aleksandr, and Nikolai made up one group, while the tall biker, who went by the name Boz, sided with Fedor and Liliya.
“The way I look at it, Smith, you owe me for the plane I lost, no, two planes, Nikolai’s plane is ruined too.”
Matthews laughed at Fedor.
“Sue me for it. You can tell a judge how things went wrong when we were hunting down a man to kill him.”
Fedor smirked.
“Tanner called you Matthews. That means you changed your name for a reason. I bet the law would be interested in knowing why.”
They went back and forth like that and no one noticed when Nikolai disappeared. However, they did react to the flare of light when the fire began, and looked over to see that Nikolai had started a blaze.
As they joined him around the fire, Nikolai spoke.
“We can’t fight each other. If we do, we only hurt ourselves. I say we get some sleep and then move out at dawn. I’ll take the first watch, and Smith, you take the second, Fedor, take the third. Tanner might still be around.”
“You don’t tell me what to do, Nikolai,” Fedor said. “I’ll take the first watch.”
“I don’t care, Fedor, I only care about finding Tanner and killing him.”
“Nikolai,” Liliya said. “Tanner is gone. Don’t you remember? He had a snowmobile.”
“I remember seeing that thing leaking some sort of fluid like a sieve after the grenade went off. Tanner didn’t get far, and I doubt he’s traveling in the dark with that little girl. Come first light, I’m going to look for him and I’m going to kill him.”
“That’s crazy,” Fedor said. “We have no supplies and a snowstorm is coming.”
“Do what you want, Fedor, but I’m going to kill Tanner.”
“Why Nikolai?” Liliya asked.
“Because he nearly killed you. He knew you were standing in fuel and he set it on fire. I’ll kill him for that.”
“We’ll both kill him,” Matthews said. “If I leave him alive, he’ll hunt me down someday. I might as well finish it now.”
Gleb pounded a fist atop his knee.
“We’ll all kill Tanner, and then we’ll be famous.”
Nikolai lay on the ground beside the fire.
“I don’t care about anything except killing Tanner, but I do need some sleep. Fedor, wake me in a few hours.”
Less than an hour later, they were all asleep.
11
What The Mind Hears, The Heart Ignores
Pavel entered a restaurant in the city of Barnaul and looked around for his dinner companion, his sister, Valentina.
He spotted her sitting at the bar and nursing a vodka martini. He had arrived on time, but spent the last fifteen minutes making sure that he wasn’t walking into a trap. The dinner meeting wasn’t part of the plan, and any deviation from the plan worried Pavel.
He trusted Valentina, and only Valentina, who, although just six years older than Pavel, had raised him when their parents died. Still, she might have been followed without knowing, and it paid to be cautious.
They were not born with the names Pavel and Valentina, but given them out of necessity.
When Valentina was fourteen and Pavel was eight, their parents sat them down at the kitchen table and told them that their lives were about to change forever.
Their parents admitted that they had been involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the Russian government. They told them that the authorities would discover that truth within hours and that they were not going to run or hide.
They had decided to kill themselves. Pavel and Valentina’s parents knew too much about many people, people who could keep the revolution alive until the time was right to change the world.
Were they to be taken alive and tortured, they would be forced to betray their friends. They would die by their own hands before they let that happen.
Those same friends would take care of Pavel and Valentina, would protect them, and guide them, so that someday they too could help the cause and hasten the revolution.
After their parents’ deaths, Valentina became a fervent revolutionary, although she kept her passion well-concealed from those in authority. Pavel was also dedicated to their cause, and had joined the Russian army, where he and others infiltrated the military.
More than twenty years had passed since their parents killed themselves, and Valentina was a leader in their organization. Although she tried to be patient, she found it difficult. Valentina developed a bold plan to grab power in a matter of weeks instead of years, and the kidnapping of Polina was a part of that plan.
Pavel approached his sister while studying her, to gauge her mood.
Valentina was good looking with her long dark hair and trim, shapely figure. But there was something in her manner that let y
ou know she didn’t want to talk, and no man approached her or offered to buy her a drink.
Valentina had always radiated aloofness, Pavel thought, even as a child. It was a byproduct of her intellect. One part of her mind was always working, always thinking ahead.
The kidnapping and assassinations that had taken place during the day would insure that the Russia of the future would be more to their liking, and that their own people would be sitting in seats of power.
Pavel thought of Polina again and felt regret.
The girl was an innocent, but the short time of fear she would live through, along with her death, would have meaning over the coming years.
Valentina, himself, and the others who served the cause did so out of love, not evil. The revolution they served was much like the labor experienced by a mother. The new being was only born after much pain.
Pavel greeted Valentina with a kiss on the cheek, then kept the conversation light until they were seated at a table. Once they were alone with their meals ordered, Pavel took several gulps from his beer before asking the question that was uppermost in his mind.
“Is there a problem?”
Valentina smiled.
“The two assassinations went off without incident and both shooters died bravely, while all evidence points toward Muslim extremists.”
Pavel drained the rest of his beer. When he looked for their waiter, he saw the man talking with one of the barmaids. Pavel gritted his teeth in irritation. He was a soldier in the revolution and he had dedicated his life to being the best at everything he did. However, most people, such as his waiter, were lackadaisical about their work and responsibilities.
It was Pavel’s belief that everyone should not only serve a tour in the military, where they would learn discipline, but should also practice martial arts. In the arena, if you were lax in your training, you paid for it. There was no latitude in combat. You performed well or you suffered.
His ability to commit, to dedicate himself to a purpose, was just one of the reasons that Pavel was deadly at hand-to-hand combat. He understood what it took to be a master of anything. Mastery demanded that you follow the rules, that you keep improving, and that you take things seriously. Pavel was a master of his chosen discipline, Combat Sambo. It had been years since he suffered defeat. He would match his technique and skills against anyone.
White Hell (A Tanner Novel Book 17) Page 6