He snarled and growled, fighting to reach Leo. The bloodlust in his eyes sent fear into Leo. He planted a foot in Lars’s stomach and sent him crashing up against the far wall.
He abruptly knew only one of them was getting out of this room alive. The realization flashed through him. Feeling as though he was in an alternate, really fucked-up dimension, Leo pulled out the pocket knife he always carried and flipped up the five-inch blade.
Lars had barely hit the wall on the far side of the room before he bounded back to his feet. With a howl, he charged at Leo yet again.
Leo braced himself, knife raised to meet the rush. The distance between them evaporated. Leo waited until the last second before pivoting. He buried his knife in Lars’s ribcage.
The strike didn’t even slow him down. If anything, it just enraged him. Lars ran into the wall, spun around, and rushed Leo once again.
What the fuck?
The blast of a rifle cracked through the room. Two shots tore into Lars. The first shot hit him in the back. The second one pierced his heart.
Lars moaned and collapsed to the floor. Blood spilled out of his body. He didn’t move.
Nonna stood in the doorway, rifle gripped in her slim hands. “Rest in peace, poor boy.” Her eyes flicked to Leo. “You okay?”
Leo nodded, unable to find his voice. He’d seen his death painted in Lars’s crazed face. Blood pounded in his ears. “Thanks, Nonna.”
“No one hurts my grandson on my watch.” She turned on her heel and left the room.
Leo licked dry lips, taking a moment to steady himself. Then he stepped over Lars’s body and followed Nonna into the main room.
He found Bruce and Anton yelling at one another, both of them crouched over Adam’s body as they tried to staunch the blood gushing out of his neck.
“Get me another towel!” Anton cried.
“There are no more towels, man! You’re not pressing in the right spot.”
“Then find some gauze or paper towels or—or something!”
Adam was sprawled on his back in the middle of the floor. There was a thick trail of blood smeared all the way from the bunk room. The floor beneath Adam was drenched in more blood.
Leo took one look at Adam and knew the other boy was dead. Lars had torn open an artery.
Anton and Bruce had fallen silent. Bruce looked like someone had hit him over the head with a two-by-four. Anton scrubbed at his eyes, not quite able to look at his friend.
Jennifer hovered near the kitchen. She kept opening her mouth as though to speak, but no words came out. She looked stuck somewhere between shock and hysteria. Two years ago, he would have gathered her in his arms and comforted her.
No one spoke. The silence was oppressive. Somewhere outside, a crow cawed.
How had this happened? How had they lost two friends in a matter of minutes?
It could all be traced back to the Russians. This was their fault. Their poison had turned Lars into a homicidal maniac.
“They need to be buried.” Nonna was the first one to speak. “Antony, go get the shovels.”
Anton responded to Nonna’s voice only out of a lifetime of habit. He moved woodenly, thumping down the front steps to the toolshed underneath the cabin.
“Leonardo. Bruce.” Nonna gestured to them. “Get Lars.”
Leo’s stomach felt like lead. He headed back into the bunk room, pausing in the doorway to stare at Lars’s body.
The only dead body he’d ever seen was his mother’s. But that wasn’t the same thing. She’d been sick. Lars’s death was murder. Nonna might have put him down, but his death sentence had been issued by the Soviets.
Leo felt something inside him shift. What had he been thinking? He couldn’t just sit around in the cabin waiting to be rescued. These invaders were in his home. They were killing his friends. He had to do something about it.
“I’m going to get those assholes, Lars,” he said softly. “I promise.” He stepped all the way into the room and grabbed Lars by the wrists.
Bruce entered the bunk room, eyes glazed. He grabbed Lars by the ankles. Together, he and Leo carried the body outside.
Nonna found a small clearing fifty yards away from the cabin. It took the boys over an hour to dig a grave for Lars. Even Jennifer pitched in, digging for a while in her red stilettos.
By the time they finished, the shadows were long. And they still had to bury Adam.
They trekked in silence back to the cabin. Leo felt numb, his brain still trying to process the events that had led to them losing the two varsity football players
His feet clomped heavily on the wooden stairs as he led the way back into the cabin. As he reached the doorway, a long growl rippled through the room.
He blinked in alarm, raising his chin just in time to see Adam sit up.
Chapter 17Poker
DAL PULLED THE MUSTANG into a small lot behind a burger joint. He parked it next to a dumpster, hoping it would conceal the car from the street.
It was close to dusk. They were four blocks from the junior college.
Mr. Cecchino was sweating freely. In the twenty minutes it took them to evade Russians and find this parking spot, the dart wounds on his arm had worsened. The poison had begun to spread. A five-inch black vein now snaked up his arm.
“Mr. Cecchino?”
“I have poison in me, Dal. There’s nothing to do but let it run its course.”
“All the more reason to get you back to the cabin. Nonna can look after you.”
“Nonna can take care of me after we alert the authorities. Our mission is more important than my health.”
Not to Dal, it’s wasn’t. But Lena and Mr. Cecchino wore twin expressions of determination. Dal checked a sigh of resignation.
So much for his hopes to derail their plan. These two would insist on seeing it through even if the streets were packed wall to wall with
