Long Way Home

by Tom Crown

  “It’s all right,” Steve said. “They won’t know where you are.”

  Jenny nodded without looking up and then began to dial. “I’ll just do it.”

  Steve smiled to encourage her.

  Jenny pressed the call button and put the phone to her ear.

  Ryan could feel his heart beating faster. He looked at Katia again and saw her watching them all with anticipation. He signaled for her to stay low and then he began to move up the slope again.

  “Hello?” Jenny said behind him. Ryan turned to look, and saw her take a couple of steps away from Steve as she spoke. “It’s Jenny.”

  Steve motioned for him to continue his climb. He reached the top of the rise with another couple of crouching steps and immediately trained the camera on the barn again to search for any reactions.

  “Mats’s girlfriend, Jenny,” she continued into her phone somewhere behind him. “I have the money.”

  Ryan still didn’t see any reaction at the house.

  “The money he owed you,” Jenny explained. “Yes, I do. Right here.”

  Katia touched Ryan’s shoulder.

  “Look,” she whispered. “They’re coming out.”

  He peered into the camera and saw the barn door open. Alex stepped outside with the phone to his ear.

  “I do have it!” Jenny said, her voice agitated now. “I don’t care what you say! My boyfriend just died. I have the money! I thought that’d be all you’d care about!”

  Ryan watched Roman exit with two girls and look at Alex, who gestured to him to go back. Roman pulled the girls back inside and closed the barn door behind him. Alex put the phone to his ear again.

  “Are you there?” Jenny asked, calmer now. “I’m at the hospital. I really just want this to be over. That’s all I want. I want it to be over.” She stopped talking and listened. Ryan could see Alex talking, but he had no idea what the man was saying. He could see his reactions, however, and he appeared to be taking the bait. Jenny was doing a good job. She had a talent for deception. An appetite for it, even, and that was useful now. Still, he made a point of remembering that she’d already used her ability against them once earlier.

  “Okay. Okay,” Jenny said, very much in character now. “I’ll be there.”

  Ryan watched Alex put away his phone. Then Roman appeared again, alone this time, and Alex waved for him to hurry along. Ryan considered grabbing the rifle from Steve and simply shooting the two men right there and then. That would be plain murder, but at the same time also the course of action that would probably best keep everyone else safe. Still it seemed unlikely that he would be able to hit them from such a distance, and the field made it impossible to get nearer without being spotted. He’d have to stay with their plan. He took a deep breath and kept watching as the men climbed into the van and sped away.

  “It’s time,” he finally said, lowering the camera.

  Jenny’s phone rang again.

  Ryan turned and began to hustle down the slope, watching as Jenny stared at Steve in alarm. This wasn’t according to plan and they all knew it.

  “Put it on speaker,” Ryan said.

  The phone rang again.

  Steve grabbed the phone from Jenny’s hand and looked at the display. He pushed the on-screen buttons and gestured for Jenny to go ahead. She hesitated, but finally found her composure and nodded.

  “Hello?” she said.

  “Jenny,” Alex said on the other end. His voice was even, almost friendly.

  “Yes?”

  “You understand what we’ll be forced to do if you don’t deliver like you said you would? You understand what we’ll be forced to do to you?”

  Jenny’s hands began to tremble so much that she almost dropped the phone. She looked at Ryan with fear and seemed ready to back down. She should have looked at Steve instead, Ryan thought, if it was reassurance she wanted.

  “You do understand, don’t you?” Alex asked again.

  “I do,” Jenny said. “Yes, I do.”

  “Good.” He hung up.

  Jenny stared at the phone, looking like she was about to throw up.

  “That wasn’t very smart of them,” Ryan said, hoping to comfort her.

  “What?”

  “They gave away a lot and for no particular reason. We could hear them moving. We know where they’re going. What if we’d been with the police? He made some pretty obvious threats there.”

  “Ryan’s right,” Steve said.

  “They did all that,” Ryan continued, “but they gained very little for themselves. A sense of control, probably, but nothing else.”

  “Not very intelligent,” Steve said.

  Jenny smiled uncertainly.

  “Don’t ever underestimate them,” Katia said, looking down from the top of the slope. “They’re not stupid, or desperate, or scared. They’re none of those things you hope they are. They’re smart. They’re well organized. They have connections all over the world.”

  Ryan swallowed hard and nodded. She was right, of course. These people were right up there with global terrorist organizations in terms of their reach and ability, and they were a lot better at staying under the radar. They also didn’t pretend to be anything but thoroughly bad.

  He reached for the rifle. Steve handed it to him with a serious nod and then pulled a gun from his holster.

  “All right,” Ryan said and chambered a round. “Time’s up.”

  The sound sent adrenaline rushing into his blood. He looked from face to face. Everyone nodded their agreement.

  “Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  RYAN SPRINTED ACROSS the field with his head down, eyes on the ground ahead, and the rifle in a firm grip. It felt better in his hands than a blooded shard of splintered wood. That time, breaking out, his weapon had been fragile, and he’d had to aim for the softest tissue of the belly. It had been a primitive fight, man to man, yet surgical in its precision. He had felt the wood sway before it pierced the skin, and then warm blood spilling over his hand. Then they had slipped together as the fluid hit the floor.

  The green pastures they were running through now felt so much better than that desert of stone. His heart had been beating so hard then, hammering in his chest, drumming out of rhythm with his heaving lungs. He had been so aware of his own vulnerability, the softness of muscle and skin, of anything organic, in a world of shattered stone and sharpened steel.

  This time, the world around him was lush and warm, and Ryan himself was the object that was cold, hard, and in control. Like last time, he felt just like the weapon in his hand.

  He looked to his right to make sure that Katia was still by his side. She was moving fast, her quick steps light and agile. This was her mission even more than it was his, and she wasn’t falling behind.

  “Up there,” she said, and pointed the way ahead. They were headed for a tractor on the edge of the field, parked with one set of wheels on the gravel yard and the other set in the mud. A farmer wouldn’t have left it like that, Ryan noted. Maybe the present caretakers had driven it to amuse themselves and ended the ride there, not with a crash, but with a careless parking and no thought about it afterward.

  The tractor was less than twenty feet away. Ryan had expected it to be a Volvo, the brand had been ridiculously abundant on the Swedish roads, represented in all shapes and sizes, but he could see now that this was a John Deere. He glanced at Katia just as their feet landed in the shadow cast by the machine. He stopped and steadied himself with a hand against the tractor, breathing hard. It was hot to the touch, but because of the sunlight, not that the engine had been running.

  Katia crouched and leaned against the towering rear wheel. She was a good runner and didn’t have much weight to move, but still needed to catch her breath now. No doubt because she had spent a lot of time locked up. He certainly knew what that felt like, and how out of shape you could be when the opportunity to escape finally presented itself. He had done push-ups and sit-ups on the basement floor, man
ically the first few weeks, dutifully later on, but there had been no way to truly challenge his heart or lungs. When he finally had to fight for his life, and run for his life, he had been in the worst shape he had ever been. Probably the same was true for Katia now, although her youth would surely make up for a great deal.

  He looked up and saw Steve and Jenny crossing a ditch further back toward the forest. It would be a few seconds before they would catch up. Fifteen, twenty seconds. He turned to Katia again.

  “You okay?” he asked and sat down next to her with his back against the rear wheel.

  She nodded. Her breathing was deep and deliberate. Ryan decided to give her another moment. She would need all the energy she could find. They all would.

  On his knees in the dirt he aimed the rifle over the wheel in the direction of the barn, resting the steel against the hard rubber, peering intently along the barrel. The barn looked to be in better condition than he had thought observing it from a distance. The paint had been neglected, and the yard was littered with abandoned equipment and trash, but the construction itself seemed solid. Every building seemed to be like that in Lapland, probably because of the winter cold. This was north of the Arctic circle, north of just about everything in this world, and a building had to be able to keep out sub-zero cold if it was going to be of any value here.

  The walls on the ground floor looked like concrete, while the top floor was built of wood. He took a moment to study the main door and saw a panel on the wall next to it. A code lock, possibly an alarm. It was unexpectedly high-tech, but the equipment inside a modern dairy farm was probably seriously expensive. He remembered reading an article somewhere about entire farms that were completely automated, populated by networking milking robots and feeding machines and a myriad of other computerized inventions. This didn’t look like it had ever been that advanced, but at least it had survived into the twenty-first century.

  “Looks like a code,” he said and glanced at Katia. “Probably an alarm too.” He pulled the rifle back and sat down again, just as Steve and Jenny caught up and crouched next to them. He directed the rifle away, off toward the empty road.

  “Everything all right?” Steve asked, panting heavily, still holding the gun in his hand.

  “Yeah.” Ryan glanced toward the barn again. “All quiet.”

  “Good. Very good.”

  “Come on.” Katia got to her feet and set off around the tractor.

  Ryan bolted after her. She ran across the yard, right up to the main door, and to his surprise began to punch the code on the lock. He stopped by her side and looked at her with what he hoped was a questioning frown and not something stronger.

  “You know the code?” he whispered when she didn’t explain. Steve and Jenny were still behind the tractor. The road was still empty. He aimed the rifle at the ground in front of his feet. Danger could come from inside the building, or from the road, and he wanted to be prepared for both.

  “Only for getting in,” she said. “Not for getting out.” She pushed the last button. The lock whirred opened.

  He still wanted to ask her more but this wasn’t the time. He pulled the rifle up and pushed the door open with his left hand. He stuck the barrel inside and stepped in after it.

  “Wait here,” he heard Katia whisper to Steve and Jenny behind him as they finally caught up. “Keep the door open.”

  He took another step forward, halfway across the floor now, sweeping the rifle left and right, when Katia sprinted past him. She raced across the floor and continued up a staircase deep in the shadows to his right. He lowered the rifle and ran after her. He did what he could to look for danger in the darkness, but he was moving too fast to really be able to see anything that mattered.

  He reached her at the top of the stairs. A dark corridor led to four different rooms, and what could be a bathroom at the far end.

  The four doors were locked with padlocks from the outside, and memories came rushing back. The jingling of keys. The waiting. For food. For visitors. For death.

  Katia had stopped moving, probably remembering much more recent events.

  He stepped forward, raised the butt of the rifle, and slammed the first padlock open.

  * * * *

  Katia had imagined this moment a thousand times, but in her imagination she had always been on the other side of the door, trembling with fear and anticipation, waiting for rescue, waiting for life. She had imagined the elation when it finally happened, the incredible, unbelievable relief, but she had never taken the dream beyond that moment. She had never been able to see happiness beyond that door cracking open. But the moment itself had been a beautiful dream.

  Now it was real, and somehow being on the other side of the door felt even better. She put her hand on the handle and swung it open.

  It was Valeria’s room. The girl was sitting on the bed, like she was supposed to, her long hair loose over her slumped shoulders.

  “You’re back,” Valeria said, with an uncertain smile that spoke mostly of sadness.

  “Yes,” Katia said, trying to sound strong. “I’m back. Back to take you with me.” It was a bold statement and Katia could see that Valeria didn’t know what to make of it.

  Ryan was moving behind her. He leaned in from the doorway and Valeria immediately pulled back. She shouldn’t have done that, Katia thought automatically. He might have been a customer.

  “It’s okay,” Katia said. “Come on.” She ushered the girl toward her with gentle movements, and Valeria got to her feet. The girls were all used to doing as they were told, and Katia had learned over time to speak with authority when she needed to.

  She led Valeria out into the corridor and watched as Ryan continued to the next door. He slammed its lock with the rifle repeatedly until it crashed to the floor. He swung the door open and moved on to the door on the opposite side.

  Two other girls appeared from the second room, Yelana and Anna, and Katia smiled when they recognized her.

  “Katia!” Anna said, rushing forward. “They told us you died. We thought they killed you!”

  “No, no. They just tried to scare you, that’s all.”

  They embraced, and Katia could feel Anna’s tears against her cheek. But the relief was premature, they still weren’t safe, and she used the moment to push Anna closer to the stairs.

  “Hurry,” she said and let her loose. “We’re here to get you out.”

  Anna looked at Ryan suspiciously as he continued to the next door.

  “Who is he? Police? He isn’t police, is he?”

  “No.” Katia shook her head. The story was too long to explain, but she knew she had to say something more. “He’s American.”

  Anna smiled brightly. Katia knew America could still be a powerful idea for an inexperienced girl, filled with energy and hope, like the distinct sound from the rifle when Ryan had chambered a round in the forest and set them all going.

  Ryan got the last two doors open. Two girls immediately stepped out from the first room and joined the others, looking around cautiously.

  Katia led them toward the stairs, but then saw Ryan entering the last room.

  She knew she had to stop him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  STEVE PUSHED THE heavy barn door fully open and then jammed a spade against it to keep it open. When the arrangement seemed steady enough he leaned inside, panning his gun left and right.

  Alex had always made sure to keep him away from this place and that made it difficult to know what to expect now, despite Katia’s detailed recollection. He felt his curiosity rise, and wondered where Yulia had slept before he got his hands on her, as well as where the other girls were now. But he was getting ahead of himself. He wasn’t even supposed to be here. His position was outside, with Jenny, making sure the road was clear.

  He looked over his shoulder and saw Jenny outside in the sunlight, her slender silhouette framed by the dark doorway and the surrounding walls. She sensed him looking and glanced his way, only for a moment, then
turned her attention to the road again, still holding on to her phone with trembling hands.

  A sound from deeper inside the building made him spin around. Katia and the girls were at the top of the loft to his right, just beginning to descend the wobbly stairs toward him. He could see all five of them, three on the top floor, Katia and the other two already halfway down, every single one of them looking as easy to kill as Yulia had been.

  Apart from Katia. Somehow being back here had already changed her. She was a leader now, purposeful and efficient, and the girls around her weak and vulnerable in comparison. He had never met any of them before, and he didn’t think there was any risk of them recognizing him, but he made a note to remember to keep an eye on Katia. She was changing, growing before his very eyes, and he didn’t like it.

  He forced an affable smile as they came closer, but saw that they were frightened. Then he realized he hadn’t remembered to holster his gun. He turned away and put it back on his ankle.

  Jenny’s phone rang outside and he saw her drop it to the ground. He hurried over as the phone kept ringing in the dust.

  “It’s them,” she said, looking at him with wide open eyes.

  “It’s all right,” he said. “It’s not a problem.” The plan had called for a single phone call, and now this was number three. In all likelihood, Alex had arrived at the hospital and not found Jenny where he expected her to be. If so, they had been quick about it.

  “Did you actually decide where to meet them?” he asked. “A specific place?”

  The phone kept ringing.

  Steve turned and saw Katia and the girls crossing the barn floor. He turned back to Jenny. “Just take it.”

  “Take it?”

  He nodded. She obviously didn’t want to speak to Alex again and he couldn’t hold it against her. She was the voice, the face, the name that would be blamed and targeted first when all this was over, and this call would only serve to make her role all the more obvious.