Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
“What the…?” Callie said.
Seth was at her side in an instant, hustling her into the shadow of the house, weapon out. Fear turned her body to ice as he pressed her against the siding and held her there.
“Quiet,” Seth whispered.
“What’s happening? Please, Seth. Tell me.”
“Maybe nothing. Luna could have scented a rabbit or ’possum, or something.”
“Then why?—?”
“Shh.”
Luna started barking, snarling, and Callie’s heart dropped to her toes. “She’s in the barn.”
“Yes.”
“Callie!” It was Nikki’s voice, and Callie started for it, but Seth caught her arm and held her back. “Please, Callie! I need help!”
“Seth.” His name was half sob, half plea. She pulled against him, but he held her hard.
“I told you I’d take care of you. And I will. Let me do my job, Callie. Whatever it is, I’m going to get her out of there.”
She gulped in air, her brain buzzing with panic as she nodded. “I trust you.”
“Callie!” It was a male voice this time. Mikhail’s. Smirnov’s. Her insides turned to liquid. “You’d better fucking call this dog off and come talk to me, or I’m going to blow your sister’s brains out. Tell the muscle to stand down too, or so help me God, I won’t be responsible.”
“Call Luna,” Seth said.
“Luna! Come here, girl. Come to Mama!”
It took a few minutes, but Luna came trotting over, tail wagging. But the hair on her back was standing up like she wasn’t soothed yet.
Nikki walked out of the barn with Smirnov behind her. He had an arm around her, his head mostly hidden behind hers, and a gun to her jaw.
“Gonna need you to do some work,” he said in Russian. “In exchange for your sister’s life.”
Seth put his mouth to her ear. “Need you to distract him, babe. Talk to him. Don’t approach him. Take Luna and keep her by your side. He won’t get close to you, and he can’t afford to remove the gun from where it is or it gives me a shot.”
She sucked in a breath. “Okay. Do what you need to do. I’ve got this.”
He kissed her swiftly. “I know you do. Now go.”
There was nothing she wasn’t willing to do to save her sister. If she had to take Nikki’s place, she would. If she had to offer herself as a sacrifice, she would. Not that she was about to tell Seth that. If she did, she didn’t think he’d let her go. But there was something else she had to tell him before it was too late.
“I think I love you,” she blurted.
He hugged her hard. “I fucking think I love you, too. When this is over, I’m moving in. Or we’re getting another place. Whatever you want. You, me, Nikki, Luna, and Charlie. Oh, and Sylvester, too. Can’t forget him.”
She kissed him hard in answer and lurched away, into the open. Luna went with her. Callie kept her hand on the dog’s fur, reassuring her it was okay.
“I’m here, Mikhail. What do you want?”
“Where’s the muscle?”
“He had to pee. He’ll be along in a second.” It was ridiculous, but all she could think to say.
“Get him out here. Now. Where I can see him.”
“He’s coming. Hang on. Tell me what you want.”
Luna was growling, her fur standing higher on her back. She might be a love bug, but right now she looked like the guard dog she’d never been trained to be.
“I want that fucking code, and I want access to the system. Like you were supposed to give me in the first place.”
“Okay, I can do that.”
He snorted. “What, just like that? After you refused so prettily the last time?”
Nikki was being very quiet. Callie could hardly look at her sister’s face, but what she saw when she did stunned her. Nikki was angry. She was scared too, but anger seemed to have priority at the moment.
“You didn’t threaten my sister the last time.”
“I fucking should’ve, but I thought there was time to convince you. Then shit went sideways.”
She didn’t ask, but whatever it was had to involve taking the real Mikhail Volkov’s body out of cold storage, blowing half his head off, and dumping him in the Potomac. Her stomach roiled.
“Who broke into my house? Was it you?”
“It wasn’t me.”
“Did you text me for that meeting and then bail?”
“I was being followed. It wasn’t safe. Fucking tell that prick to get out here now or I’ll start shooting!”
Luna’s growls intensified. Nikki looked militant.
Callie didn’t know what to do. Her heart pounded, her temples throbbed, and everything felt out of control.
“I, um, I don’t feel so good…” Nikki said.
Everything happened at once. Nikki slumped against Smirnov’s arm, Luna leaped forward, and the sky exploded.