BooksBarbecue
Back The Asset
Chapters (86)
  1. Foreword
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. 50
  52. 51
  53. 52
  54. 53
  55. 54
  56. 55
  57. 56
  58. 57
  59. 58
  60. 59
  61. 60
  62. 61
  63. 62
  64. 63
  65. 64
  66. 65
  67. 66
  68. 67
  69. 68
  70. 69
  71. 70
  72. 71
  73. 72
  74. 73
  75. 74
  76. 75
  77. 76
  78. 77
  79. 78
  80. 79
  81. 80
  82. 81
  83. 82
  84. 83
  85. 84
  86. Afterword

Somehow, she managed to put one hand over the other and pull herself up. She did it once, and she did it a second time, and before long she’d done it half a dozen times. She was about a foot higher than she’d been when she started, and the slack rope looped down in front of her as she climbed.

She was exhausted, every sinew of her body begged her to stop, but by some miracle, she managed to climb another foot, and another, until eventually, she was able to get her feet onto the rope and wrap it around them.

Instantly, she felt the relief as all the weight came off her arms. The struggle wasn’t over, but little by little, with the help of her legs, she was able to make it to the top of the rope. Once at the top, she swung her legs over the metal crossbeam and pulled herself onto it.

She lay back on the narrow beam and prayed she didn’t fall. When she felt stable enough, she untied the ropes from around her wrists. It had been so tight that the flesh was completely raw.

She’d memorized the layout of the ceiling while Timokhin had been giving her his history lesson and she knew the next challenge was to get herself directly underneath the ventilation cover.

Very carefully, with her back on the beam, she pushed herself along it until she was beneath where she thought the vent was. Then she reached up into the darkness and felt for it.

She held her breath, not certain what her fingers would find, and when they felt the wire mesh of the vent cover, about twelve inches from her face, she cried for joy.

The wire mesh was welded in place and she began to pull at it. It didn’t take long to realize it was securely fastened. She scrawled at it with her fingernails until they bled. She tried to squeeze her fingers into the wire mesh but it was too tight. She kept digging at the edge of the mesh, where it was attached to the shaft, and the sharp metal cut her fingers so badly that blood dripped onto her face.

But the mesh didn’t budge an inch.

There was no way she would be able to open it, not even with a crowbar. And when she realized that, the tears on her face stopped coming.

She couldn’t do it.

She couldn’t get out.

65

Lance, Sofia and Vasily ran down the stairs to the ground floor corridor. Lance ran ahead, and when he saw soldiers up ahead, he didn’t slow down but kept running, pistol outstretched in front of him.

With four shots he took down four men at the east loading bay, but not before they managed to return fire.

They missed, but Lance heard chatter on the radio about gunshots in the east corridor.