There is no more time to waste and I won’t fail her—I’ll escape and I’ll save our baby. I won’t let them take him, too.
I cradle him in my arms and head toward the road. I look back the way we came as the clouds part and moonlight glints off the metal. I strain my eyes to see. There really was a spike strip laid across the dirt road, at the bottom of the long decline.
It was put there intentionally.
It’s why there was no guard at the gate.
They knew this would foil any escape attempt.
Well, fuck them.
I can’t take my girl with me, but her baby and I…we’re getting the fuck out of here. Anger bolsters my intent, punches another rush of adrenaline, and fuels my determination.
I turn.
I take a deep breath.
And I run.
Chapter 24
Anya
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight.
One…Two…Three…Four…Five…Six…Seven…Eight.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
“Not now.” I hear Kostya’s frantic voice say to me in Russian. “You were almost there.”
My chest hurts. Rhythmic pain pulses over and over on my ribcage. An engine rumbles in the distance, the sound drawing nearer and nearer.
“I promised him,” Kostya utters in his native language. “I promised I would keep your heart beating. Come on, Anya!”
I want to scream at him to stop whatever it is he’s doing to me because it hurts. Everything hurts. I’ve never been in this much pain. But I can’t open my mouth to scream at him.
Suddenly, the pounding on my chest stops. The sound of the engine peaks in volume and then shuts off. Kostya’s voice grows more distant and he begins to speak in English. “Murphy, I’m sorry. I did not—”
“Save it,” Murphy says with an edge to his voice. “I’m not the one who put that fucking spike strip across the road.”
“Please, don’t—”
“My wife told me everything, Kostya. I know every detail of your involvement in this attempted escape.”
“Then kill us now,” Kostya says and I wish I could shout at him to stop talking. “Kill us before they come for us.”
“She’s alive?” It’s Stella’s voice this time, and when she speaks again, her voice is closer, as if she’s right beside me. “Oh, my God. Murphy. Please. We have to help her.”
“You’ve already gotten me into enough fucking trouble with your involvement, Stella. And where the fuck is Ezra?”
Kostya replies, “He’s gone. With the baby. On the helicopter that left ten minutes ago.”
“She’s bleeding,” Stella says, sadness touching her voice. “Did she give birth? Out here? Oh, my God. Murphy…” Her voice moves away. “Please. You told me you could change. You told me you could be a better man for me. You told me you had enough power now to make changes and be a better father than your own. I’m fucking begging you. Don’t let this poor girl die. Not like this.”
Am I dying?
“You don’t understand, Stella—”
“No, you don’t understand, Murphy. You find a way to save her life or I go to the board and tell them everything. I’ll tell them how I helped Kostya plan her escape and you know what will happen to me then. Are you willing to let me suffer those consequences? Or can you step the fuck up right fucking now?”
There’s silence.
It stretches for too long.
Maybe I’ve died.
Maybe this dark awareness is what it’s like to be dead.
But I still feel pain.
“Well, fuck. Let’s get her outta here before the rest of the four families come looking.”
“Where are we taking her?” Stella asks. “And what about Kostya?”
“I have a plan. Go get my phone from the car so I can call our pilot. I can stall the rest of them from coming out here for maybe a half hour. We need to move quickly. I can’t afford any suspicion on my head. We’ll tell them they all got away on the first chopper and you and I went after them in the second. Understood?”
Stella sounds relieved. “Thank you. Really, thank you, Murphy.”
But I’m still not so sure I’m actually alive. Maybe this is all a dream. Perhaps death is simply this state of awareness where only darkness exists without a physical being. Maybe I’ll be trapped inside my own rotting corpse forever.
Purgatory.
But then, I feel fresh cold along my back, the familiar damp cold of fresh, powdery snow, and I realize my body is being moved. I’m hoisted from the ground and I feel Murphy’s shoulder jab into my stomach and it fucking hurts.
I scream and the movement stops.
“Anya? It’s…You’re gonna be okay, just hang on,” Stella says.
Could she hear my scream?
Did I make a sound?
“Jesus, why would they do this?” she murmurs. “Why would they put a spike strip in the road?”
“Fucking Vittoris.”
“It’s…it’s vile.”
“We’re all vile, sweetheart,” Murphy says, and I realize he’s carrying my limp body over his shoulder. “It’s in our blood. It’s our business.”
“If you’re so vile, then why are you helping her?”
“For you, lass. You wanted proof I could be a good man and stand up for you? Well, here it is, sweetheart. I’m saving her to show you that I’ve…that I’m capable of being better. This poor girl has been through enough. Maybe I’m a little tired of it, too.”
I want to laugh.
I wish I could.
Murphy O’Shea, of all people, ruthless king of masters, has come to my rescue.
Unless he’s too late to save me.
Unless I’m already dead.
Chapter 10
Ezra
1 Year Later
I place my silver laptop on the small table in front of me, lifting the screen and powering it on. I bring up my video chat app and wait for Lidia’s call. She promised she’d check in with me at noon, New York time. I’m not exactly sure what time zone I’m in right now crossing the Atlantic Ocean.