Asher fell flat on his face, losing his hat, but Misha rolled with the shove, putting himself behind the equipment box at the junction of the tracks. Once she saw the logic of it, she yanked on Asher’s collar to drag him over.
Another bullet cracked off a metal bar ten feet from their hiding spot.
She listened as the kids in the yard screamed and ran. When the air settled, Misha’s radio came to life. It was still on from when he’d communicated with Robert.
“Hiya, friends,” Nerio laughed. “I guess I need some new tricks. Your gal pal saw me before I could open up that Russian brain of yours.”
Misha nodded grimly to Grace. “Spesseeba. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. Now you have to get us out of this.” She laughed nervously.
Nerio continued. “This is where it ends. You’re getting too close to the train depot at Green River. I know you’re going to the dig site with your native allies. I can’t allow that. This was supposed to be a fun diversion for me as I cleaned up messes for Petteri Tikkanen.”
Misha glanced between her and Asher. “Did you tell your friends to come back and help us if we called for them?”
She pulled out her phone, surprised she hadn’t thought of it immediately. When she turned it on, it immediately meowed at her; her voicemail system was telling her a message was waiting.
Misha gave her and her cat ringtone a sideways glance, which she ignored.
The call was from the same number as before. Assuming it was her dad, she swiped to covertly listen to it. “Hi, honey. I got your voice message. I won’t go into Denver. We’re on the river, though, heading west. I’ll try to get to where you said. TKM has been after us. They almost killed me.” He sounded shaken. “I have to go. I love you.” He hung up without clapping, which could only mean he was in a tough spot.
“Grace?” the Russian complained.
“I’m calling now!” she responded.
Shawn had given her his number, so it was in her phone ready to go. However, the call went directly to his voicemail, suggesting he was out of cellular range. She hung up, knowing there was no point in leaving a message asking for rescue.
“We’re on our own,” she advised.
Misha fidgeted with the TKM rifle they’d liberated from Denver. “This is cheap Chinese garbage. I need proper Kalishnikov.”
“Can you fire it?” she asked, halfway tempted to yank it out of his hands and shoot it herself.
“Of course. I simply wish for better.” He sat up on one knee, aimed toward the base of the tree, and fired a few rounds. The loud bangs forced Grace to protect her ears.
Misha ducked down as return shots came at them.
“They are both there,” the hitman said dryly. He picked up the radio. “Where is fancy helicopter? You are both on ground.”
Nerio laughed in a carefree manner. “Oh, this is rich. We don’t need a helicopter or a machine gun when we have you in the open. One move from your hiding spot and you’re dead. Alejandro and I can wait. Your people aren’t around. If you try to run, I’ll simply use my little tool to track your radio signals.” She paused. “Oops,” she added, obviously playing with Misha.
Misha set the radio on the rocks, then stepped on it.
“Wait!” Grace yelled as he cracked it to bits. “How are we going to talk to them?”
“Safely,” he replied. He yelled over the top of the switching equipment. “You two will have to come and get us!”
Nerio yelled back, not upset in the least. “Maybe some of these children could persuade you? I’d hate for something to happen to one of them. You never know when the next train is going to come by.”
The distant horn of a train caught Grace’s attention. Was it the one that had gone through, or was it another coming from the east?
“She wouldn’t,” Asher exclaimed.
“Dang it,” she replied. “I bet she would.” She hoped the kids ran inside and told their parents about the gunfire, but no one had come out to see what was going on. As odd as it was to think it, she believed the train yard was normally a loud and chaotic place. Maybe no one would even realize those loud noises were gunshots.
The train horn seemed to get louder.
“We have to take action,” she said, aware it wasn’t a plan.
Kansas City, MO
“Up against the wall!” Ezra shouted.
He, Butch, and Haley scooted up to the outer wall of the building. The glass was already busted out, so he didn’t worry about being hit by flying shards, but he assumed they’d be hit in the back by the incoming rock if they tried to go deeper into the building. As long as the rocks didn’t break through the concrete…
Butch and Haley held hands during the two or three seconds before the rocks arrived. They came through the windows and hit the outside of the building, rising and falling in intensity as the pieces rained down. Some of them shot through the open window, skipping across the empty floor toward the far side. A few ricocheted off the edges, deflecting in odd directions, including a few small chunks that splattered over them.
Mercifully, the debris storm ended as quickly as it started. A few smaller chunks fell from the air or from upper floors, but soon it was over.
Haley shook pieces out of her hair.
“Dare we look up?” Ezra asked rhetorically. They peeked over the edge of the windowsill. He wanted to see what had happened, but he was terrified of what he was going to find.
“Oh man,” Butch whispered.
The top half of the rock was almost completely shredded.
“They must have blown it up rather than
