God bless that rage ofhers. Her voice carried down the dark corridors to him. He followedthe sound.
He paused at another cornerand peeked quickly down the hall. Two men stood in front of awindowless door. He heard them arguing. Then one turned and bangedon it, “Shut the fuck up already.” Same heavy accent.
Ryan flipped around thecorner quickly and shot them both before they could take anotherbreath.
He then opened thedoor.
Katya was standing in asmall room like his but at least it had a bed and a crude sink andtoilet, but with no privacy. Apparently Anna was intent on keepingher for a bit again. His attention went to her. She’d beencrying.
“Oh my God! You’re alive!”she rushed forward and threw herself at him, sobbing. He gruntedwhen she slammed against him. She backed off. “You’re hurt.” Herhands moved over his body. Oh God, what happened? I thought youwere killed in the car crash. No one would tell meanything.”
“It looks worse than itis,” he whispered. There could still be some of Anna’s men withinhearing distance. As for it being worse than it was, he was surethat rollover cracked a rib, but he wasn’t going to tell her, orlet it slow him down. He cupped her head in his hands. “Are youhurt?” his eyes searched hers and the concern in his voice wasevident.
She lowered her own voiceto match his figuring out that they weren’t alone. “No. I’m okay.Just scared.” Her voice sounded shaky and she wastrembling.
“Did that bastard touch youagain?”
“No. I never saw him. Theyjust threw me in here and left. No one even spoke to me thistime.”
Good. Obviously they weretoo busy with him. “We’ve got to get out of here. Fast.”
“I’m not arguing.” Shemoved in front of him to go first and he stopped her by grabbingher arm.
“No, stay behind me.” Hehanded her the spare gun. “If it moves, shoot it.”
“What?” She stared at theweapon in shock.
“I mean it Katya, don’thesitate. Remember who these people are. Remember what they did toyou.” He stared at her. By the shocked expression on her face, shewas having some trouble absorbing what he said. “It’s them or you.Nod if you understand.”
Slowly she nodded. Shedidn’t know if she could, but she wasn’t going to second guess it.These were the people that tortured her, and most likely killed hersister, and obviously were going to kill Ryan. She took a deepbreath. You can do this,Kat.
Ryan quickly peaked out ofthe door before he looked back at her and nodded. Then he steppedout.
She followed him out thedoor and gasped at the two dead bodies lying floor. “Oh my God. Didyou—”
He turned and held a fingerto his lips cutting her off. She snapped her jaw shut and nodded.There was a low wattage incandescent lightbulb hanging from theceiling that lit the way. The floor was still cement, and no othervisible light in the hall. No windows or anything this time. Theentire walls were made of cement. Much like the cells they were in.Well, there had to be an end to this hall somewhere. He listenedfor a moment. There was no other sound. “Don’t look Katya. Come,”he whispered over his shoulder as he led the way down the long darkhall.
She hesitated, stilllooking down at the two bodies, despite what he’d said. Then shestepped over them quickly and followed closely behind Ryan. Hereached back twice and touched her, to reassure her, but never saida word. He moved with the stealth of a panther; silent and deadly.She just couldn’t figure out how a man of his size could move soquietly. All she could hear was the shuffling of her ownfeet.
The house seemed fairlydeserted. Just as he thought that, he’d heard something. He pausedat the noise. It was above them, footsteps. There were still morepeople there. Yet, he’d not met another person where they were. Hecontinued to move forward cautiously. Finally there was a door atthe end of the hall. He tried the knob and it wasn’t locked. Well,Anna probably didn’t expect him to live long enough to escape. Heopened it slowly. Daylight streamed in. They were in an aboveground basement. It was bright and both of them had to take amoment to let their eyes adjust to the light.
It was then Katya noticedhe had no shoes, or socks besides his shirt. Yet he moved like noneof it bothered him. You’d never even know he was injured if itwasn’t for all the blood.
He put his finger to hislips and stepped out scanning the area quickly. He then came backand took her hand leading her to the outside grounds. It wasdeserted and it looked like they were somewhere deep in the middleof who-the-hell-knows-where. Anna’s crew seemed a little scarce.That let him know that she wasn’t here anymore. There was a blackSUV parked around the side of the house. He put his hands on theback of it. No alarm. “Get in.”
“But how are we goingto—”
“Get in Kat, I’ll wire thebloody thing.” He didn’t have to. The keys were in the ignition.Obviously they were in the middle of nowhere.
Kat got in the passengerside and quietly shut the door as he started the vehicle andslammed it in reverse just as several men came running out of thehouse. “Get down!” When she didn’t move, he grabbed the back of herhead and roughly pushed her forward putting her head between herknees. Then he spun the big SUV around in a spray of dirt and dust,flooring it. It lurched forward fishtailing as he raced out ofthere.
Glass shattered and bulletswhizzed all around her. She covered her ears and screamed. Sheheard him grunt, but the vehicle kept a breakneck speed bouncing onthe uneven gravel of the road.
Soon they were out of rangeand he told her to sit up. Ryan’s shoulder was bleeding.
“You’ve been shot!” Shequickly tore a piece off her shirt and put pressure onit.
“I’ve had
