Chapter 11
Maks was torn about involving Eden in his fight against the Saints.
On one hand, he believed that anyone who didn’t know who the Saints really were should be informed and pick a side.
On the other, the fight brewing between him and the Saints was one that could potentially be catastrophic to anyone associated with him.
He was prepared to give his life, but he couldn’t say the same for anyone else. Especially Eden. And his promise to protect her was one that he took seriously. No matter what, he would do everything in his power to ensure that the Saints didn’t touch her.
Maks knew from firsthand experience how ruthless and merciless the Saints could be when they went after someone they believed was a threat to them.
He was more than a threat. He was the very thing they had feared for years.
To compound matters, they had helped to create him and develop his skills.
And he was going to use every one of them on the Saints.
“Are you sure they didn’t release this bioweapon?” Eden asked.
Maks looked at his watch to check the time.
It took two and a half hours to reach Budapest from Vienna.
They still had a little over an hour before the train pulled into the station.
“I’m sure. The Loughmans helped to kill the scientist who engineered it.
On top of that, Orrin Loughman, the father, was responsible for stealing the only vial of it after a mission into Russia.
He was meant to be a scapegoat, but Orrin is smart and realized that something was up almost immediately.
He managed to escape his team that turned on him. ”
“I gather they were Saints.”
Maks nodded. “Orrin sent the vial to Mia for safekeeping, which was a good thing because he was taken prisoner by Yuri.”
“The general you worked for.”
To say Maks was impressed at how she was keeping up with names was an understatement.
“That’s right. I didn’t know then that the Loughmans were waging a war on the Saints, but as soon as I did, I helped out as I could.
The FSB had been worried about Yuri and whether he would come on board as a Saint.
The CIA wanted to know where Orrin was.”
Her brows shot up in her forehead. “I’m guessing you didn’t turn over any information to either agency?”
“I gave them enough to keep them happy. The CIA knew we were in the States, but I told them Yuri kept us moving. In fact, we stayed in one spot. As for the FSB, I told them Yuri was after Orrin, wanting to get retribution on an American who’d invaded his homeland. It worked because it was the truth.”
“Did you not know Yuri would join Orrin in the fight?”
“I had an idea that he might. Yuri didn’t trust anyone, not even those closest to him.
He kept his feelings and thoughts close to the vest. People like that usually have a plan, and Yuri seemed the type.
Besides, he had the opportunity to kill Orrin and he didn’t take it.
They had a feud that went back decades, each believing the other had betrayed him.
Turned out, they’d both been betrayed. When they figured that out, they joined forces. ”
Eden tucked a strand of her dark blond locks behind her ear. “If this virus was made once, it can be created again.”
“It can be, but it’ll take some time. I plan on dismantling the Saints before that happens.”
“That’s a lot for one man to do.”
He grinned at her. “I’m not alone. I’ve got the Loughmans, and then there’s a mob boss I helped out not too long ago. Lev is with us, and so is his woman. And she was undercover in the Saints for five years.”
“Sounds like you have a plan.”
“Not a plan so much as hope. Because the Saints are everywhere and embedded so deeply in communities, we need to make sure that the information gets out to the right people before anyone can stop it. But first, I need to ensure that what I have is enough. I’d hoped to get more, but my cover was blown the day before yesterday. ”
Eden frowned, her brows drawing together. “What happened?”
“I had a burner phone that no one knew about. At least, I didn’t think anyone knew. Somehow a high-ranking FSB official that I’d had limited contact with sent me a text on that burner phone minutes before he was killed.”
She blinked, startled. “What did the text say?”
“Watch yourself.”
“I don’t understand,” Eden replied, puzzlement filling her expression.
Maks glanced at the goon to make sure he was still knocked out. “My theory is that he found out something about the Saints. He was on a train out of St. Petersburg. I don’t know if he was leaving the country, but my guess is that he was. Whatever happened, he was spooked enough to contact me.”
“Which put the heat on you.”
He shrugged. “It did. I’ve been expecting something like this for a while, though, so I wasn’t taken completely off guard.”
“Where is the information you have?”
“In a safe place.”
She gave him a flat look. “Do you not trust me now?”
“If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have told you everything I already did. Part of this is to make sure that you have nothing to tell anyone if you’re captured.”
“Oh.” Eden swallowed and licked her lips. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”
He saw the goon begin to twitch as he regained consciousness. “I’ll guide you. Now, grab your things. We need to go.”
Without question, she got her backpack and slung it over a shoulder as she stood. Maks glanced behind them to make sure that no one was coming, then he stepped into the aisle and waited for the sliding door to open so they could go into the next car. Eden remained in step with him.
“Act calmly,” he whispered over his shoulder.
He heard a snort behind him, then she said, “That’s a tall order, but I’ll do my best.”
That made him smile. He walked to the middle of the car and found two seats facing each other. He motioned her into the one facing forward, then he took the one looking back the way they’d come.
The man next to her was in a heated conversation on his phone, which meant he wasn’t paying attention to them. Across the aisle were two lovers that were making out in such a heated fashion that Maks was surprised one of them wasn’t naked yet.
“What now?” Eden whispered.
Maks took a deep, steadying breath. “We make it to the station without being seen.”
Her hazel eyes widened. “You’ve got to be kidding. There are only so many places we can go while it’s moving. Forward or backward.”
“Backward is where two of the men are.”
“Forward it is,” she said.
He twisted his lips. “If we go too far, then we won’t leave ourselves room for escape. Besides, we don’t have first-class tickets. We’ve gone about as far as we can go.”
She pulled out her phone and looked at the time. “We still have forty minutes.”
“That’s right.”
“How can you be so calm?” she asked, her voice rising as hysteria took hold.
He met her gaze and held it. “I need you to breathe. All you have to do is trust me and do what I say. Everything will be all right.”
“You’re asking a lot.”
“I know, but if you want to live, you’ll do it.”
She flattened her lips. “Of course, I will. I’ll give you shit about it, but I’ll do it.”
Maks fought not to chuckle at her sarcasm.
He liked that she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind or give him an earful despite the situation.
She didn’t have to trust him, and he wasn’t sure she did, at least not completely.
He’d given her a lot to digest in a short period of time.
It wouldn’t be until she went through everything that he had that she’d truly understand the depth and scope of who the Saints where.
Maybe then she’d trust him without reservation.
He wasn’t offended that she kept a wall up.
It was the smart thing to do, and Eden was sharp.
If she had blindly trusted from the beginning, he’d have been wary and wondered if she was a Saint.
There was still a chance that she was with the organization.
He was putting everything he had on his instincts that said she could be trusted.
But he was going to make sure that Callie had a link to what he planned to show Eden. That way, if he was betrayed, at least the Loughmans would have the intel he’d worked so hard for over the years.
“Focus on your breathing,” he told her.
Little by little, her hands unclenched in her lap as she started to calm.
She closed her eyes as if meditating. He used that time to look around them, noting the emergency exits and how many people stood between them and each doorway.
With every minute that passed, neither of the goons he’d knocked out came at them, and they got closer to Budapest.
The outside was a blur as the bullet train sped down the railway. Maks looked at his watch. Thirty minutes had passed. They only had ten more before they reached the station. He was beginning to think they might actually make it when he saw movement through the doors to the car behind them.
Maks leaned forward and tapped Eden’s knee. Her eyes snapped open. “Do you have a hat or a scarf?”
“For my hair?” she asked.
He nodded, his gaze going to the door again.
She unzipped her pack and pulled out a scarf that she hastily draped over her hair just as the doors opened and the two goons walked in, their gazes scanning faces.
“Remain calm,” Maks said, keeping his head down and his focus on the men.
One of Eden’s hands clenched the ends of the scarf together to keep it from falling off.
The other hand gripped her backpack strap, ready to jump up at a moment’s notice.
As the men approached, the man beside Eden began to yell in German into his phone.
He jumped up and continued spewing profanities at the caller.
The goons barely glanced at Maks and Eden as they tried to get as far from the loud man as possible.
When they were gone, Eden smiled while the man next to her ended the phone conversation.
Maks really hated to burst her bubble, but he had no choice. “They’ll come back through when they don’t find you.”
“Oh,” she said, the smile disappearing.
Then Maks had an idea. “Go to the toilet.”
“What?” she asked in confusion.
He looked over his shoulder, knowing the men would be back soon. “Go to the toilet. Stay there until I come and get you.”
“Okay,” she said nervously. Then she rose and took her pack with her as she walked to the back of the car and the restroom there. It wasn’t long after the door closed behind her that the men returned. And just as Maks had suspected, they took their time looking at each individual.
The goon that stopped next to him was the one he’d knocked unconscious first. He hadn’t seen Maks’ face. “Excuse me. Wasn’t there a woman sitting here?”
Maks shrugged and answered with a German accent to his English. “I think she went to another car.”
“Danka, thank you.”
If things went his way, then the second goon wouldn’t stop.
But luck wasn’t on his side because the second guy halted beside Maks and asked in German, “Were you with the woman that was sitting here?”
Maks shook his head and looked out the window. He used the window like a mirror to see the goon studying him. The moment the man recognized who he was, Maks rose up and slammed his elbow into the man’s face. The sound of bone crunching was followed by a spray of blood from the man’s nose.
At the sound of the scuffle, the first goon spun around.
Maks shoved the Saint he was fighting backwards, right into his partner so that both went down.
Maks landed on top of them, punching the first so his head slammed back into the second.
All around him, people were screaming and trying to get away.
The moment Maks felt the train slowing as they neared the station, he threw two more quick jabs into the men and jumped over them, rushing toward the toilet area.
He reached it as the train came to a stop and said Eden’s name.
She opened the door, and he took her hand and waited for the crowd to come around them before they disembarked.
“Keep your head down,” he told her. “In five steps, we’re going to separate. Find a group of people and stick with them until you clear the north entrance. I’ll find you there. Don’t talk to anyone. Don’t stop for anything. Can you do that?”
“Yes,” she said.
He gave her a reassuring smile, and then they parted ways.
He wanted to glance back at her to see how she was doing, but he didn’t.
There were cameras everywhere, and he made sure to keep his cap low and his head down.
When he was able, he took off his coat and tossed it onto a chair as he passed.
That way, if anyone was looking for him by that, it would throw them off.
Not for long, but enough that it would give him and Eden more time.