Chapter 11
After being locked in an upstairs bedroom, Millie hardly slept, even though she was exhausted. The bedroom over looked the forest. She stood at the window while Ricard paced outside the room like a guard dog.
The luxury cabin felt more like a prison than the hunting lodge had.
Somewhere around midnight Millie spotted movement in the trees below her window.
At first she thought she imagined the sight, that she was so desperate to see Adam that she conjured him from her mind.
Then she saw it—a faint flashlight signal.
Three quick flashes. Pause. Three more. Sullivan Security’s code. Adam had found her.
Hope exploded in her chest so suddenly tears welled.
Downstairs she heard Ricard unraveling. He shouted, in Russian, at someone she assumed was on the phone. She listened as furniture crashed and glass shattered. She heard Viktor trying unsuccessfully to calm him.
Millie sat frozen on the edge of the bed, one hand protectively over her stomach. Suddenly, the house went silent. A few seconds later, she heard boots thundering up the stairs. Adam.
Her bedroom door flew open so hard it slammed into the wall, leaving a gouge where the door handle hit.
Ricard stood there his eyes pale and wild. “Get up,” he snapped. “We’re leaving. Now.”
“Why? We just got here?”
“Because I said so. Now, let’s go.”
Something has him scared. Does he know how close Adam is? It that why he’s trying to run?
Outside, Adam and his brothers moved silently through the forest surrounding the chalet. Snow crunched softly beneath their boots while security teams covered every possible escape route.
Adam watched the upstairs windows. One glowed faintly with someone standing behind the glass. Though he couldn’t make out who it was, he knew in is gut it was Millie. Close enough to touch, or to lose if he made one wrong move.
Gabriel’s voice came softly through his earpiece. “Movement inside. Multiple heat signatures moving downstairs.”
“They know we’re here,” Benjamin muttered in Adam’s earpiece.
“Then let’s end this,” Adam said through a clenched jaw. Before anyone could stop him, he ran forward toward the front door just as it burst open.
He ran at the first man out.
That man pulled his weapon.
Shots were fired.
The man went down but not for long. He was up and running for the SUV.
Adam took two steps toward her.
Ricard fired his gun.
The impact slammed into Adam’s chest like a sledgehammer. For one brief second he stayed upright, staring at Millie. Then the world tilted and he crashed face first into the snow.
"Adam!" Millie's scream tore through the night.
Millie tried to free her arm, but Ricard held tight. She needed to get to Adam. Her heart was breaking and she needed to know that he wasn’t really dead. He couldn’t be dead. Please, God, don’t let him be dead.
“Let’s get out of here before more of them show up,” Ricard yelled. He tugged her toward the SUV.
She dug in her heels, her exhales forming fog with each breath she took. “Let go of me!” Millie pulled with all her might to free herself from his grasp.
He tightened his hold while they rushed to the SUV as multiple figures burst forth from the tree line.
“Sullivans!” spat Ricard.
Millie grinned. “Yes, Sullivans. You’re done for now Ricard.”
“Not yet I’m not. Viktor! Do it! Do it now!”
Viktor took a small round object from his coat pocket. Then he pulled the pin and threw it.
“Oh, my God. A grenade.” Millie watched it land. Fear raced through her body, her blood pumped harder and her stomach churned.
The explosion rocked the clearing. Snow, dirt, and shattered branches rained down around the Sullivans, forcing them to dive for cover.
Was that the farthest Viktor could throw?
If so, the Sullivans knew not to go any closer than that.
But would they do it? Would they stay back or would they face the bear in the den?
Ricard and Millie reached the SUV. He shoved her inside and climbed in after her. “Now, Viktor. Come.” He yelled at Viktor even as the man ran toward the car.
Viktor lobbed two more grenades and slid into the driver’s seat of the SUV, started the engine and gunned it.
Dirt, snow and gravel sprayed behind them as they drove off into the night.
Adam lay face down and still in the snow.
Benjamin reached him first. He pressed two fingers to his neck and looked up at his brothers, who ringed Adam’s body. “I have a pulse. Let’s get him turned over and figure out what we have.”
“Do you want me to call 911?” asked Everett.
Benjamin shook his head. “No. We can get him to the hospital faster than an ambulance can.” He and Christopher gently turned Adam over.
“I need a flashlight on his chest.” Benjamin opened Adam’s coat.
A flashlight came on.
“Well, I’ll be.” Benjamin sat back on his heels
Gabriel started chuckling.
Followed by Fred.
Soon they were all laughing.
Benjamin slapped Adam’s cheek.
Adam came to. “Wh…What?” He brushed the snow from his eyes and face.
“Now, I know why you were determined to beard the dragon, so to speak. Why you didn’t wait for the rest of us? I’m glad you remembered to wear your vest like the rest of us. You were in such a hurry I wasn’t sure you would take the time. It saved your life tonight,” said Benjamin.
“Good thing, too. I wouldn’t want to be the one to tell Millie you were dead,” said Daniel.
Adam sat straight up and looked around at the people surrounding him. “Millie. Where is Millie?”
Christopher squeezed Adam’s shoulder. “We weren’t prepared to have grenades lobbed in our direction, but our people are at every exit from this mountain. They won’t get away this time.”
Adam rocked a little getting his balance as he got to his feet. “Let’s get out of here. We have to find Millie.”
“No. You need to be checked by a doctor. Even with a vest on you could have internal injuries,” said Benjamin.
Adam turned on him. “If we don’t get moving right now, then you’ll be the one with internal injuries.”
Benjamin ducked his head and raised his hands in surrender. “Okay. Okay. Let’s load up. Everyone follow me.”
“That’s more like it.” Adam slapped his brother on the shoulder.
“If we hurry, we can cut him off,” said Daniel. “I hunt up here. Another road cuts off from the main road about half a mile down the way. If we take that we’ll come out in front of him.”
“Let’s make it happen. But I want Christopher and Gabriel to follow them down so they’re boxed in.”
“Will do,” said Gabriel.
Christopher nodded and took off toward his SUV.
Viktor slowed the vehicle, looking left and right.
Millie saw the roadblock up ahead. She recognized Daniel standing in front of one of the vehicles blocking their way.
Suddenly, Viktor gunned the engine and headed directly for Daniel.
“No!” screamed Millie. She tried to grab Viktor by the shoulder, but Ricard grabbed her and slammed her back against the seat.
“Stay where you are,” Ricard growled.
At what seemed like the last second Viktor swerved and went around them by driving toward the forest until he was clear of the vehicles before returning to the road.
She fully expected Daniel to follow and when she looked behind them she wasn’t disappointed. All the men at the roadblock jumped into the various vehicles to give chase.
Millie turned back and looked out the windshield.
Red and blue flashing lights, cherries and berries as a young friend of hers called them, were headed their way.
She sat back, buckled her seatbelt, and braced herself as she waited for the law to reach them.
If Viktor was about to try any fancy driving she wanted to live.
He didn’t know these roads especially at night. He was bound to crash.
“You know that getting in an accident won’t save you from either of our fathers. If you live, they might kill you themselves. You want this union too much. You put too much faith in my worth to my father. Trust me, he is only looking at getting rid of a daughter not a legitimate meeting of minds.”
Ricard sneered. “Shut up. You know nothing. You’re just a woman. Nothing more. Only worth what you can bring to the family through marriage.”
She stared back. “You think marrying me will get you that. You’re so very wrong.
” Millie threw her head back and laughed.
“And your father will blame you. He might even take your territory and divide it among your brothers. He should include your sister. She’s smarter than all the rest of you combined, but that’s a topic for another day. ”
“Why don’t you just shut up? What can Sullivan see in you? You’re the loudest, bossiest, most irritating woman I’ve ever known.”
Millie laughed but for a different reason now. She’d just realized that Viktor’s gun was on the passenger seat. He probably thought it was in easy reach. The weapon was. For her.
She unbuckled her seatbelt quietly, so Ricard wouldn’t know or suspect. When it was unlocked and just laying across her lap, she scooted forward and grabbed for Viktor’s weapon.
All hell broke loose.
Viktor took his gaze from the road and reached for the gun.
Millie fought to reach it.
Ricard pulled on Millie to get her back into the seat.
She looked up and saw them barreling toward a large snowbank on the side of the road. With no time to put back on her seatbelt, she forgot about the gun and braced herself against the seat in front of her.
Viktor looked ahead and hit the brakes but the SUV didn’t stop. Instead it slid sideways on the icy, snow packed road, before slamming into the snowbank.
Ricard was the first to recover. He opened his door and pulled Millie out of the car into the snow that was half way up her calf. He pulled her through the snow and into the forest, away from the Sullivans.
Millie’s legs were immediately freezing as the snow worked its way inside her boots.
The accident had knocked her head against the headrest of Viktor’s seat and it was harder than it looked, momentarily causing her to lose her focus.
She quickly recovered and tugged her arm and dug in her heels to slow their way into the forest, but Ricard was much stronger than she was and simply pulled her along, his fingers clamped like a vice around her wrist.
In his other hand he held his pistol. He raised his arm and aimed the weapon at her. “Get going if you don’t want to die right here and now.”
Having pushed him as far as she could, she started walking as the snow sucked at her boots with each step.
Ricard’s longer strides made keeping up with him hard but if she didn’t she was afraid he’d kill her. She was becoming a liability.
Shouts sounded behind them.
Search lights swept through the trees. Close. So close.
Ricard turned toward her. “If I can’t have you, Milena, then no one can.” He lifted the gun and pointed it directly at her heart.
Her eyes widened and she held up her hands. “Wait, Ricard. I’ll come with you. I’ll do whatever you want.”
He lowered the gun. “Let’s go.”
A shot pinged, hitting the tree beside him.
She heard a shout.
“Stop! No shooting! You might hit Millie.” Adam’s raised voice reached her.
Adam!
“Move.” Ricard pressed the gun into her side.
“ won’t stop. He’ll never stop.” She was exhausted and pregnant and had had enough of everything. She dug in her heels and pulled against his grasp. “I can’t go any further. I’m too tired. Please just leave me. You can get away if you just leave me.”
Finally, after dragging her for several feet, he stopped, keeping the gun pressed hard into her side. “I told you, if I can’t have you, no one can.”