if something happened to her? What if Maksim hurt her before I got there?
Or killed her?
I didn’t trust the asshole. His words meant nothing. And he loved inflicting pain. He loved calling the shots. Maksim was the kind of man who believed he could play God.
I was going to show him what it was like to bleed.
The place where he’d taken her was a short distance away from my cabin. Across the valley and up on the other side, nestled away in a thicket of trees. It had been a house once, but it had been abandoned for years. I’d looked to hide out on that side of the mountain at first, but because of the structure already being there, I’d decided to move further away from where humans had been. Just to be safe.
I knew exactly how to access the place, though. I remembered the layout. When you were in the business I’d been, you trained yourself to notice the important things. And you didn’t fucking forget. It could mean life or death.
And now, it did.
When I found the place, I moved up against the hillside a bit and squatted next to a tree, scoping out the building. It was dead quiet in the middle of the night, with little movement. But there was life at the old building now. Lights were on here and there, and the roar of a generator from the back room explained how they’d managed it.
Inside, there was movement. The building had two large rooms and a few storage rooms around the side. The windows – mostly broken now – were large and supposed to offer a beautiful view. I doubted anyone was enjoying the view now.
Movement caught my eye. Dark shadows walked slowly in a pattern. Guards, patrolling.
I counted five of them around the building. No doubt a handful more would be sleeping in order to take over the next shift. I’d counted more than ten chips being tracked on my radar. But he could have hired local muscle to help, and there wouldn’t have been a tracking light for those.
It was safe to guess at least twenty people, aside from Maksim and his inner circle. He always moved with at least two people at his side. I used to be one of them.
I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. I was as quiet as the dead. The guys down there had no idea I was here.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and my pulse was fast. But my breathing was slow and steady. I was calm.
One of the guards lit a cigarette. The flame made a bright flash for a moment, and then the red cherry glowed as he inhaled. He said something in a low voice to the other, something I didn’t quite catch. He took a few steps away from the rest of guards toward me.
I held my breath as he came closer. Any closer, and I would have to break his neck.
He unzipped his pants and pissed against the tree. He was so close, his urine splashed on my boots. I gritted my teeth and remained still. I wanted to break the fucker. But if I did it now, it would give away my location before I was ready to act.
Finally, he zipped up and walked back to the building. He sucked on the cigarette one more time, threw down the butt, and stubbed it out with his toe.
Silently, I crept after him. I was a shadow in the night. I stayed hidden in the dark until I was close enough that none of them would see me coming.
The first guard blinked sleepily. He wouldn’t have seen me coming even if it was daytime, he was so far off dreaming. I snapped his neck and slowly lowered him to the ground.
The next guard was more alert and saw me coming. I slapped him against his ear. He reeled, searching for his balance. He pulled a gun on me. I turned the gun around and pushed it into his chest. It had a silencer on the muzzle, and the bullet left the chamber with nothing more than a quiet thump. I lowered the second body to the ground.
“Yuri,” someone said, speaking Russian. “I’m so fucking tired. Cover for me, and I’ll get your back in an hour.” When there was no answer, the guard hesitated. “Yuri?”
Seriously? If this was what Maksim was working with, he had bigger problems on his hands than just me.
The guard noticed the body