“They’re maybe a hundred meters down that trail, in another clearing. It’s up to you now.”
He slid from the saddle, gun in hand.
“WE HAVE A PROBLEM,” STEPHANIE SAID. “IS THERE ANOTHER WAY out of here?”
Ely motioned toward the kitchen.
She and Thorvaldsen rushed forward just as the cabin’s front door burst inward. The man barked orders in a language she did not understand. She found the kitchen door and opened it, cautioning Thorvaldsen for quiet. Ely was speaking to the man in the same language.
She slipped outside. Thorvaldsen followed.
Automatic gunfire exploded from inside the cabin and bullets ripped into the heavy timbers behind them.
They fell to the ground as a window exploded. Glass showered outward. Bullets found trees. She heard Ely yell something to their attacker and used that instant to spring to her feet and race around the cabin toward the car. Thorvaldsen remained on the ground, struggling to stand, and she could only hope Ely delayed the guard long enough.
She reached the car, opened the rear door, and gripped one of the automatics.
Thorvaldsen rounded the cabin.
She assumed a defensive position with the car as a buffer, aiming across the hood, and motioned with the gun for Henrik to go right onto the front porch. He veered out of her line of fire, just as the guard appeared, his rifle leveled waist high. He seemed to spot Thorvaldsen first and pivoted to adjust his aim.
She fired twice.
Both bullets found the man’s chest.
She fired twice more.
The guard collapsed to the ground.
Silence gripped her. She did not move until Ely appeared from behind the dead guardsman. Thorvaldsen stepped off the porch. Her gun was still aimed, both hands locked on the stock. Shaking. She’d killed a man.
Her first.
Thorvaldsen walked toward her. “You okay?”
“I’ve heard others talk about it. I told them it was their job. But now I understand. Killing someone is a big deal.”
“You had no choice.”
Ely walked over. “He wouldn’t listen. I told him you weren’t a threat.”
“But we are,” Thorvaldsen said. “I’m sure his orders were for no one to make contact with you. That would be the last thing Zovastina would want.”
Stephanie’s mind began to clear. “We need to leave.”
SEVENTY-THREE
MALONE ADVANCED INTO THE WOODS, BLACK AND SILENT AND seemingly filled with threats. He spied a clearing ahead where sunshine spread unaffected by the leafy canopy. He glanced back and did not see Viktor, but understood why the man had disappeared. He heard voices, so he increased his pace, stopping behind a thick trunk near the path’s end.
He saw Cassiopeia. Tied between two trees. Her arms stretched outward. Irina Zovastina standing beside her.
Viktor was right.
Big trouble.
ZOVASTINA WAS BOTH INTRIGUED AND IRRITATED WITH CASSIOPEIA Vitt. “You don’t seem to care that you’re about to die.”
“If I cared, I wouldn’t have come with you.”
She decided it was time to give the woman a reason to live. “You asked on the plane about Ely. Whether he was alive. I didn’t answer you. Don’t you want to know?”
“I wouldn’t believe a word you said.”
She shrugged. “That’s a fair statement. I wouldn’t, either.”
She found a phone in her pocket and pushed one of the buttons.
STEPHANIE HEARD A RINGING. HER GAZE SHOT TO THE DEAD MAN lying on the rocky ground.
Thorvaldsen heard it, too.
“It’s Zovastina,” Ely said. “She calls me on the phone he brings.”
She darted to the body, found the unit, and said to Ely, “Answer it.”
CASSIOPEIA LISTENED AS ZOVASTINA SAID, “THERE’S SOMEONE here who wants to talk to you.”
Zovastina placed the phone close to her ear. She had no intention of saying anything, but the voice that came from the other side of the call sent an electric shock down her spine.
“What is it, Minister?” A pause. “Minister?”
She could not help herself. The voice confirmed all her doubts.
“Ely. It’s Cassiopeia.”
Silence greeted her.
“Ely? Are you there?” Her eyes burned.
“I’m here. Just shocked. It’s good to hear your voice.”
“Yours, too.” Emotion surged through her. Everything had changed.
“What are you doing here?” Ely asked.
“Looking for you. I knew…I
“I’m fine, but I’m worried about you. Henrik’s here with a woman named Stephanie Nelle.”
That was news. Cassiopeia tried to shove her apprehension aside and focus. Apparently, Zovastina was unaware of what was happening wherever Ely was being held. “Tell the minister what you just told me.”
Zovastina listened into the phone.
STEPHANIE HEARD ELY REPEAT HIMSELF. SHE UNDERSTOOD THE shock Cassiopeia must be experiencing, but why did Cassiopeia want Ely to tell the Supreme Minister they were here?
ZOVASTINA SAID INTO THE PHONE, “WHEN DID YOUR FRIEND Thorvaldsen and this woman arrive?”
“A short while ago. Your guard tried to kill them, but he’s dead.”
“Minister,” a new voice said in her ear, one she instantly recognized.
Thorvaldsen.