Chapter 90
Both children were shrieking and Beth was almost hysterical. They were shooting at her babies! These monsters were prepared to slaughter children. They just had to make it to the trees...
Maria was a few paces ahead. Beth saw her daughter glance back.
“I’m with you, baby,” she assured her.
Maria stopped suddenly.
“Don’t give up. Keep going!” Beth shouted. But Maria stayed where she was and pointed at something behind them. Danny had run on ahead, but he looked back and suddenly stopped as well.
Beth turned to see what they were staring at. Instead of the gunman she expected to see pursuing them, she saw something she couldn’t believe. Tears flooded her eyes. They streamed down her face. They fell into the thick snow.
“Daddy,” Maria said softly.
Beth shook with relief as she saw Josh running toward them with a rifle slung over his back.
Maria broke free and ran past the two dead gunman. She sprinted through the snow and leaped into her father’s arms. He wept with joy as he showered her with kisses. Danny went next and raced to his father. Josh scooped him up and carried his children to Beth.
He set them down and looked at his wife with all the love in the world.
She threw her arms around him and they kissed until she collapsed against him, exhausted by the ordeal, unable to quite believe it was over.
“I love you,” Josh whispered.
“I love you too,” Beth just about managed through the choking flood of emotion.
“Come on,” Josh said, wiping his eyes. “Let’s get out of here.”
He held the children’s hands and led them away.
Beth took one last look at the place that had nearly broken her and robbed her of her children, before following her family into the trees.
Chapter 91
The Toyota’s engine roared and the suspension clattered and clunked as I followed Andreyev along the rutted forest track. His car had more grunt than mine, but we were both pushing our vehicles to the limit. Plumes of smoke belched from the twin exhaust of the Porsche SUV. The Toyota’s cabin filled with the stench of overheated metal and I opened the window for a blast of fresh air. Andreyev’s Cayenne was churning mud and snow, flinging it everywhere. With the window open I could hear the growl of the engines and every bang and thud as our chassis bounced around violently.
We sped along, winding between the trees. I fought for control of the Toyota at every bend while the snow and ice threatened to send me spinning. Both cars fishtailed wildly, wheels churning, and exhausts burning.
As we came out of a bend, I accelerated and nudged his bumper. He pushed his car faster and opened some distance. I could see the forest thinning ahead, and then clear sky. The track spat us onto a single-lane highway. Andreyev bounced through a bank of slush onto asphalt and skidded round to head south. I narrowly avoided colliding with a mail truck heading north. Ignoring the prolonged sound of the truck’s horn, I swung south to chase the Russian.
The forest sped by in a blur on both sides as we shot along the country road. Andreyev overtook a VW Golf on a blind bend and I followed, narrowly missing an oncoming eighteen-wheeler. My heart thundered at the sound of an angry blast from its loud horn. I swung in behind Andreyev and squared up just in the nick of time.
I forced the Toyota down two gears and hit the gas. The car jumped forward and I drew alongside the Porsche. Another truck was heading directly for me. Fast. I must have been touching eighty when I swung the wheel hard and crashed into Andreyev’s car. He fought for control, but I held firm and forced him off the road. I swung into the lane as the truck passed by with a roar.
Next to me, Andreyev’s car hit a patch of ice, skidded and came to a crashing stop against a tree. I pulled off the road up ahead of him and jumped out as he emerged from the car. He was dazed but he had a pistol in his hand.
I ran at him. He fired wildly. He tried to adjust but was bleeding into one eye, struggling to focus. I reached him before he corrected his aim, and drove my shoulder into his gut. We both crashed against the back door of the Porsche. He brought the gun down on my neck but I stood firm, instinctively fighting the blank pull of unconsciousness. I swung a punch that connected with his chin.
Another gunshot, this one close to my ear. The world screamed, but I ignored the pain and drove a left cross into his nose. He crumpled and I followed up with a combination of jabs and a hook that sent him to the ground.
He dropped the gun and tried to crawl away through the snow, whining like a wounded animal. I picked up his pistol and held it against his head.
“It’s over, Victor,” I said. “It’s over.”
He rolled onto his back and looked at me with hate-filled eyes.
I kept the gun trained on him as I walked over to the Porsche. I leaned through the open driver’s door, reached past the burst airbags, and picked up the Bull from the driver’s footwell.
“You traded it all for nothing,” I said, walking back toward him. “Your people should never have picked such a common object to store your data. This is a replica I bought on Wall Street first thing this morning.”
I tossed the Bull into the snow. Andreyev’s face twisted in despair.
“The original is on its way to people who will know how to decode it. People in the US Government.”
His head dropped. He looked utterly defeated. I leaned against the Porsche and kept the gun on him as I listened to the sound of approaching sirens.
Chapter 92
The sound of the tray crashing to the floor set Beth’s heart racing. She hadn’t been the same since the abduction, but she was getting better. She looked at Josh, who smiled and reached across the table to take her hand. They were in Al’s BBQ Shack, a family restaurant in Shrub Oak that was popular with parents because there was an indoor play area and ball pit. It wasn’t Beth’s idea of a great restaurant, but the kids loved it and were off playing with some friends they’d bumped into.
Loud chatter filled the air, along with the clatter of cutlery and the sounds of people eating. Beneath it all, a bedrock of music that never stopped. It was a brash, loud place and all Beth wanted was peace and quiet, but right now she thought the kids deserved every treat they could get.
“My head is ringing,” Josh said with a smile.
“Tell me about it,” Beth agreed.
“I love you,” he said.
Suddenly none of the crashing noise or hustle and bustle seemed quite so bad. The thought of never seeing him again, the memory of what had happened to them, that was true horror. Every day since then had been bliss.
“I love you too.”
The kids came running over and pointed out an approaching waiter.
“Is that our food?” Danny asked.
“Looks like it,” Josh replied. “Shuffle in.”
Maria slid into the booth next to Josh and Danny sat beside Beth. She beamed at her family, feeling the warmth of contentment precisely because she knew how close they’d come to losing everything that mattered.
“Looks good,” Josh said, as the waiter served their meals.
“Two burgers, a hickory chicken and two large ribs.”
“Ribs, here,” Floyd said. “Beth’s having the chicken, and the kids have got the burgers.”
“And the last ribs?” the waiter asked.
“Those are mine,” Ted Eisner said, sidling up behind him. “Don’t you just love it when that happens? You come back from the bathroom and the food is right there. Shift up, youngster.”
He nudged Danny along the bench and the waiter set the platter in front of him.
“You’ve got sauces and wipes, so you should be all set.”