Chapter 5 #2
If she had been lying out here for a while in this cold, there was no time to lose.
Yet, before I acted on a rash impulse, I strained to determine if this was who we were looking for.
It was impossible. Based on the bruises littering her face, it was clear she’d been attacked.
Beaten. Any number of injuries could’ve rendered her unconscious.
But I couldn’t be a hero for a random stranger.
Raisa had provided a description of what she recalled of her cousin. The girl she remembered. A forensic artist had made an example of what we could be looking for, but it was impossible for me to know if this fair-skinned woman was Kalina.
Too many black and blue marks masked her skin.
So many swollen bumps made her face lopsided to gauge her natural features.
I lifted the edge of the ratty hat that had been placed on her head. Golden-blonde hair was matted down from beneath the rough fabric.
It could be her.
Hope spread through me as I began to lift her. I’d have to carry her out of here and take the chance this was Kalina. Maybe I was wrong. There was a chance this could be someone else. But just in case, I had to bring this woman to safety and warm her up.
“Let’s get her out of here,” I told Niko.
“Do you think it’s her?” he asked, helping me to lift her stiff body.
“I don’t know. I can’t tell. Yet. But it could be.”
“You gotta hurry, man,” he said as we shuffled the blankets off her that were covering her like a cocoon.
I did, rushing to free her from the blankets. Startled by how lightweight she was, I grew frantic. She was so icy cold. Frigid. She didn’t move or react, barely breathing.
Her head dropped back as I raised her into my arms. Throughout the shuffle of hoisting her up, so I could carry her as fast as I could to the car, heavy, mismatched boots fell off her feet.
No coat. No shoes. No hat.
She was clearly not dressed for the weather or prepared to be outside.
But this wasn’t the time to question where she came from and how she’d ended up unconscious on a bench.
Maybe someone dropped her off here. It was obvious that the hat, boots, and blankets came from the older woman who had yet to leave us, still chanting more like a bird than a person.
“Help. Help. Help.” Now there was a positive lilt to her airy voice. Almost as if she were celebratory. Enthusiastic. Cheering us on.
Focusing on getting the woman out of here, I nodded at Niko and indicated the other woman. We couldn’t forget about her.
“Take a picture of her.” Just in case she was a good Samaritan who was giving us a verifiable link to Kalina, I wanted to be able to find her again and give her anything she needed.
A good deed should never go unnoticed. And it should never go without a reward.
Without another thought, and ignoring the worries that filled my head, I concentrated on running to get this woman to the car.
Niko ran with me, serving as a lookout and also just to be there to assist me.
I didn’t need to tell him to get in on the driver’s side.
He was too practiced and ready to jump into action to need instructions.
That was how we trained our men. And I was grateful for it now as I slid into the backseat with this frozen woman in my arms. He didn’t waste a second, leaping in, starting the engine, and cranking the heat on full blast.
“She’s so fucking cold,” I muttered, looking down at her and willing her to open her eyes.
“Is she still alive?” he asked as he pulled into traffic.
It was a morose question to ask, but warranted.
She looked dead. Too pale. Too beaten. Too still.
Sliding the collar of her shirt down, I frowned at the display of more bruises on her smooth skin. Some looked older. Ignoring them for now, I pressed two fingers to her pulse point and nodded.
“Alive,” I replied, “but barely.”
Niko did his best to speed back to the mansion. I did my best to clutch the beaten and ragged woman to me, giving her all the heat I could manage. As we swerved past clogged-up traffic, I called Luka.
No answer. He was probably helping Gabriella at the moment.
I tried Allan next. He orchestrated lots of things and would help.
“We need blankets. Maybe a warm bath prepared.” I rubbed my jaw, stressed. “A doctor, too.” It was a lot of effort for a woman who might not even be the one we were searching for.
“But don’t tell Ivan. Definitely not Raisa,” I added. “Not yet.”
“Understood.”
The last thing I wanted to do was give them false hope if this wasn’t Kalina.
“Sadie’s doctor is here checking on her,” Allan said.
I’d already forgotten that Sadie was expecting again. With Carina only several months old, it seemed too soon.
“Good. Ask her to stay and check over…” I hesitated. “The woman we’re bringing in.”
Done with the call, I stared at the sleeping woman. Curious. Concerned.
And helpless.
Seeing her so distressed and vulnerable like this tugged at my heart.
No woman should be left like this. Discarded.
Too many questions swirled in my mind, but if this was Kalina…
“Don’t worry,” I whispered. “You’ll be safe now.”