BooksBarbecue
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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

“And maybe he’s the man to clean it up.”

“This happened on his watch, Davidov. Don’t listen to anything he says.”

“Look at it from my perspective, Fyodor. Igor got the decryption key from Agniya. He knew exactly what to make of the database. He contacted me and made overtures. He’s sending all the right signals.”

“Give me two more hours with her, sir. To hell with it. I’ll drop her from the ceiling if I have to.”

“Don’t let her die, Timokhin.”

“I won’t. But she’ll never fucking walk again, that’s for sure.”

“Just keep her alive, and get me something I can use against Roth. This shit show in Yekaterinburg is making me look bad.”

Davidov hung up. Timokhin’s heart was pounding in his chest.

“What are you looking at?” he spat at the driver.

He got out of the car and threw his cigarette on the ground. Reaching into his pockets he took out his leather gloves and put them on. This was about to get messy.

He crossed the muddy driveway to the building and used a key card to deactivate the time lock. A minute later, the door buzzed open. The building looked like a forestry barn from the outside. Forestry equipment was scattered around it.

He entered the barn and used a pin pad to lock the door behind him. Then, using a metal key, unlocked a trapdoor in the ground. He descended some concrete stairs and unlocked the final door, leading to the underground cell Laurel was being held in.

He entered and turned on the lights. It took a second for his eyes to adjust, and when they did, he saw something that simply was not possible.

Laurel was gone.

69

Laurel didn’t wait for her eyes to adjust. She knew where the door was and simply leapt. If she hit the ground, she would die.

But she didn’t hit the ground.

She landed on Timokhin, his massive hulk giving her plenty of margin for error.

She was naked.

She had no idea if her muscles would function.

But she had no other choice.

She wrapped her legs around Timokhin’s neck and clenched her thighs as tightly as she could.

Timokhin didn’t know what hit him and flailed wildly, knocking over the lights which smashed, leaving the room completely in darkness.

Laurel had been in darkness for so long it barely made a difference to her. She moved rapidly. If Timokhin got his bearings, he had the strength in his enormous body to fling her around the room like a rag doll.

She wrapped the rope around his neck once, then twice, then looped it back inside itself and reached for the wall. She searched for the buttons. She knew they were there, somewhere.