Deep Woods

But I hadn’t lost her yet.

I hadn’t failed her yet.

I retrieved Alik’s assault rifle and then walked back to him. With every step, I felt the anger spreading, charging my muscles and heating my blood. By the time I reached Alik, I was so mad I could barely speak.

“I’m only going to ask you this once,” I growled. “Where’s this fucking mansion?”

60

Ralavich

CAIRNS WAS WAITING for us at the door when we got back to the mansion. His face colored with rage when he saw his millionaire members nursing gunshot wounds but I just shrugged. None of the injuries were life-threatening and I knew he kept a discreet doctor on call to treat the girls, when one of the members got rough with them. If need be, they could be taken to a local hospital, and their injuries explained as hunting accidents.

Cairns looked at Bethany, asleep in my arms. “I take it you’re finally satisfied, Mr. Ralavich?” His voice was strained.

I nodded, laid Bethany down on a couch, and pulled out my phone. Within a few minutes, the money for all ten girls was transferred and Cairns was a lamb again, eager to plan future deals and asking if there was anything I needed.

I shook my head and hoisted the sleeping Bethany into my arms. “Just to be left alone,” I told him as I headed for the stairs. I’d get her on the bed, then give her a shot of something to wake her up. I wanted her looking into my eyes as I took her.

Just as we reached my bedroom, my phone rang. I tossed Bethany on the bed and stabbed the button to answer. “What?!”

It was Vladimir, who was handling transport. “There’s a storm blowing in,” he said apologetically. “If you want to leave today, you need to set off now.”

I cursed and let my eyes rove over Bethany’s sleeping body. Her shirt had ridden up to reveal a slice of pale stomach and those gorgeous breasts were rising and falling under the tight plaid. I could stay one more day and enjoy her now….

But I’d only ever intended to come to the US for one day and thanks to this little bitch, it has already been over two weeks. If the FBI realized I was in their country, they’d cage me like a dog and even with all my connections back home, I might not be able to get out. It didn’t do to push your luck. “Fine. Get ready to go,” I told Vladimir.

I summoned Cairns and told him to put Bethany with the others. I watched as she was carried downstairs, her long black hair trailing, a sleeping princess. It was a pity...but there’d be plenty of time to use her on the way back to Russia.

61

Cal

WE WERE RUNNING. Running like we’d never run before. My feet pounded the ground, my legs eating up the distance in long strides. Rufus streaked along beside me, leaping over fallen trees and skidding around bushes.

We’d kept up the punishing pace for hours and somewhere, on some level, we were tired. I could feel my heart hammering in my chest like it was trying to break free and the sweat soaking through my shirt. Most of all, I could feel the muscles in my legs screaming for relief, begging me to stagger to a stop, just for a minute, just for a second.

But none of it mattered. The only thing that mattered was getting there.

Alik had told us the location of the mansion and as soon as I’d freed the animals and shooed them well away from the fire, we’d set off, following a dead-straight line through the forest. We’d left Alik alive, tied to a tree.

We came to a gully and both of us jumped across without breaking our stride. We raced through a thicket, down into a valley, and then up the other side. It got steeper and steeper until it was close to vertical. My feet began to slip and even Rufus, with four leg drive, had to scramble and claw. By the time we reached the crest, I was gasping for air and my legs were shaking and begging for mercy.

But they had Bethany.

We ran on.

62

Bethany

I FOUGHT MY WAY upwards through layers of sleep, like tearing through black cobwebs. When I finally forced my eyelids open, I was lying on my stomach on a soft, squishy surface topped with red vinyl. My head throbbed and I cradled it in one hand as I looked around. I was in a long, thin room that reminded me of an indoor children’s play area: every surface, even the ceiling, was coated in thick, squishy red vinyl padding. Light came from a battery-powered LED lantern hanging from a hook on the ceiling.

I wasn’t alone. Nine other women, all about my age, were sitting slumped against the walls. All of them wore dresses or sexy, strappy tops and skirts. The other nine. The other nine women who Ralavich was taking back to Russia. And I was in here with them. I was going there too….