Where was Kilty now? Had he woken up a few years in the future, healed by time travel? Or had he been reborn as an infant, as she had, maybe hundreds of years in the future, ready to start life anew?
Maybe he went back in time. Maybe he was somewhere nearby, ten years older.
Or just ten years old.
Awkward.
She didn’t know what realities were possible.
A wave of regret rose until she could feel her chest tighten. Catriona closed her eyes, wiping them dry, trying to erect an emotional breakwater to stop the rising tide. She’d have the rest of her life to think about what might have been. Hopefully. Right now, she had to get herself out of the Russian’s grasp before he sold her to some human-trafficking kickboxing syndicate or whatever he was plotting during their last strange encounter.
Outside the door, she heard the padlock snap. She stood.
The door creaked open, the light from the living room appearing like a bright slice of pie on the ground.
Boy I’m hungry.
The silhouette of a man appeared in the doorway. It took Catriona’s eyes a moment to adjust, but as the figure’s features came into focus, she found they weren’t as half as interesting as his clothing choice.
Volkov wore a short, shiny red robe. The sort she’d only ever seen on boxers and television soap opera temptresses.
The Russian’s legs and feet were bare. Before she could react, something struck her chest like lightning. She braced herself to keep from falling back, and then dropped to her knees as pain radiated through her torso. Her limbs went numb.
Stun gun.
She’d felt the sensation before. Sean had tazed her once during a training session. She hadn’t liked it then either.
Catriona collapsed forward on all fours. At the sound of her striking the floorboards, Mo awakened with a surprised yelp, scrambling against the wall already at her back.
Volkov strode in and zip-tied Catriona’s feet and hands as if he were a cowboy and she a prized calf. He shoved a cloth into her mouth.
Limbs paralyzed, she couldn’t stop him.
He hefted her over his shoulder and pounded out of the room, leaving the door behind him open as he carried her through the living room and into a kitchen littered with dirty dishes.
Paunchy Pete keeps a poor house.
What a dumb thing to think.
I’m trying not to think about what’s happening to me.
Catriona felt the sensation in her limbs returning. She thrashed as he moved through the kitchen and into an enclosed porch off the back of the house. She could feel the cold of the desert evening seeping through the flimsy walls.
Twisting, she slipped from his shoulder. She believed she’d thrown him off balance as she fell, but soon realized he’d simply dropped her on purpose, like a bag of grain.
Spinning on his heel, Volkov returned to the living room. Catriona heard the door to her former prison close. No reason to lock the door if the room was empty.
Mo didn’t run.
Catriona rolled towards a door leading outside. She kicked at it and caught a quick glimpse of the back yard twice before Volkov returned. The door had been flimsy enough to bend but secured by a latch near the top. A peek of freedom would be all she saw.
Volkov grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the middle of the room. She felt a clump rip from her scalp and screamed, the sound muffled behind the rag in her mouth.
Releasing her, Volkov moved a wicker sofa away from the outer wall and opened a hatch in the floor where it had sat. He lifted Catriona by her armpits and, straddling the square hole in the floor, dangled her over it.
Straining to see through the darkness below her, Catriona struggled to keep her bound feet from threading through the hole beneath her. She saw no bottom. Her panic grew.
Volkov dropped her into the darkness.
Weightless and blind, Catriona’s mind blanked white with fear she’d continue to fall forever. She’d never been so happy to clip her shoulder on something.
A moment later she was on the ground. She’d landed awkwardly and fallen to her side on what felt like a padded mat. She could only think of one reason the floor would be padded.
He’s done this before. He’s dropped someone down this hole before.
It was a thing.
She heard the hatch close, and the already dim room plunged into total darkness. A second later the mat bounced beside her.
He’s in here.
Light flooded the room, so fast and harshly Catriona felt her pupils contract. She squinted, blinked hard, giving her eyes a second to adjust, but also trying to see everything she could.
The ladder she’d clipped on the way down appeared bolted to the rough, red stone walls. Blue wrestling mats covered the floor around her. Volkov stood to the left of the ladder next to an industrial-looking electrical box, hunched, unable to stand beneath the low ceiling. He looked down at her and smiled to find her watching him.
Without thinking, Catriona rolled in the direction she felt gravity tugging. It meant heading deeper into the underground bunker, but it also took her farther from Volkov. The urge to stay away from him conquered all others.
The floor slanted like a ramp, leading her into a larger and taller chamber. She flipped, three times, feeling like a fish on a hook.
Without the advantage of the ramp, progress stopped once Catriona entered the large chamber. Bunching and releasing like an inch worm, she dragged herself towards one of two archways on the opposite side of the room, hoping one of them contained another way
