Her father walked to the bathroom door and took the lid from her, braced it against one foot, and snapped it in two. “I thought about that ages ago and would have done the same if he’d used zip ties on me. Also thought about slitting his throat with it but couldn’t figure out how to get out of the chains once he was dead. I was still thinking about it anyway when you showed up.”
She held out her wrists. “Cut this off, please.”
He went to work, sawing against the zip tie. His hand slipped and he nicked the soft skin of her inner wrist. She gasped and he froze.
“Keep going,” she whispered. “That doesn’t hurt nearly as bad as what he’s got in mind.”
“How do you know what he’s got in mind?”
“There were some floppy disks found in Jesse Fields’s home. Once one of the analysts found a computer to see what was on them, she sent them to Caden. I was there when he played one of them and saw a video of what someone did to people who crossed the KGB. It wasn’t pretty.” Her stomach still turned when she thought about it.
He winced. “Yeah, that was Maksim Kuznetsov. He was a nasty one, but he was brilliant and willing to sell his country’s secrets. I couldn’t pass up helping him defect.”
“Well, he’s dead if that makes you feel any better.”
He glanced up. The plastic parted about halfway and she sucked in a breath. “That’s it.” She pulled, but it wouldn’t release.
The lock pad outside the door beeped, and Ava pushed her father out and shut the bathroom door. Moving quickly, she hid the toilet lid in the bathtub and drew the curtain closed, then turned on the faucet. “I’m almost done, Dad, then you can have it,” she called. She shut the water off and opened the door.
A strange whirring sound filled the room and Ava gaped as the chains attached to her father’s shackles disappeared into the wall, pulling him toward the porthole, reeling him in like a fish. He didn’t fight it, but his eyes blazed.
The door to the room opened and she spun.
Nicolai stood there, that creepy half smile on his face. “It’s time.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
Ava’s phone was going straight to voice mail once again. Caden wanted to throw his own device out the window but knew that wouldn’t help anything. Unfortunately.
Gavin, Travis, and Asher had volunteered their services and he’d love to have their help as soon as he could figure how they could. They’d all been at the hospital offering their support while he waited for more news about his father. When he’d finished telling Sarah that Ava was missing, she’d called them over and told them to go find her friend. “She needs you much more than my father and I do. Go. You can explain on the way.”
And so they’d rushed out the door. And he still didn’t have a plan. “I’m making this up as we go, guys, so feel free to throw out something brilliant.” He’d call on the Bureau’s resources as soon as he could decide which ones he needed. “In the meantime, I’m headed to her last known location.”
“Which is where?” Asher asked.
“Back at the bombing. The house on the lake.” Caden spun the wheel and took a sharp turn. “I sent an officer out there to take a look as soon as I realized where it was telling me she was. He said he saw nothing out of the ordinary—other than a house in ruins.”
“Why would John take her there?” Travis asked.
“No idea. I’m hoping we find out when we get there.”
Gavin, in the passenger seat, looked up from his phone. “And you haven’t found John?”
“No.” Caden seriously suspected the man was dead. He’d called Julie and let her know that John had disappeared off the radar and authorities were looking for him, and if she had connections or favors she could call in, she’d better do it now.
Asher, seated behind him, sighed. “And this Nicolai character doesn’t have any other real estate connections?”
“No. Not even a rental agreement. Those were all in his aunt’s name. Right down to the little speedboat next to the dock. She bought that too.”
Travis frowned. “And she won’t tell you anything?”
Caden’s fingers curled around the steering wheel. “Not a peep. She’s so loyal to Nicolai, it’s as admirable as it is infuriating.”
“He could be using an alias,” Travis said.
“He could be.”
“Any idea what name he would use?”
“No.”
“So, what you’re saying is our only lead is a location that’s already been checked out and she’s not there.”
“Yeah.”
“Perfect.”
Caden thought so too. But she had been there. The question was why. He pressed the gas while praying for Ava’s safety and a lead.
Please, Lord, we need a lead.
The chains held Ava’s father almost immobile. “Let her go, Nicolai. Or I swear I’ll kill you.”
“Like you killed my family?”
“I didn’t kill your family!” Her father yanked at the cuffs on his wrists, the cords in his neck standing out, a vein pulsing in his forehead. “What happened to them is on your father!”
“If it hadn’t been for you, he never would have left.” Nicolai simply held a knife to her throat, pressing until she winced.
She refused to cry out, but felt the warm trickle of blood slide down the side of her neck. “Dad, stop!”
“Letting him kill you now might be more merciful,” he muttered.
Nicolai eased the pressure and Ava drew in a deep breath. “Dad. Stop. You can’t do anything, so stop.” She tried to communicate with her eyes that she would be okay, but she doubted he could see her beyond the red rage in his eyes. “Dad!”
Nicolai picked up the remote from the floating shelf next to the door and aimed it at the television. “Don’t worry. You’ll get to see and hear everything.”
“Ava! I’m sorry, baby, I’m so sorry.” Tears spilled over his lashes, but Ava’s attention was on the screen that had flickered to life.
Her heart shuddered and her stomach twisted into one big nauseous knot at the sight of a torture chamber like the one in the video Daria had pulled from the floppy disks. Her pulse pounded in her ears and she fought to stay calm.
Nicolai grabbed her by the arm and shoved her out the door, then closed it. He pressed a button on the side and the whirring sound of the chains hummed through the area.
“Ava! Nicolai, don’t do this!” A heavy thud echoed against the door. “I’m going to kill you!”
Her father’s desperate cry nearly sent her to her knees. Don’t panic, don’t panic. Breathe, Ava, breathe. And think. Please, God . . .
Without releasing his grip on her bicep, Nicolai turned slightly and punched in the code to lock her father behind the steel door once again. Four digits. But she couldn’t see what they were.
Ava pushed past her fear, ordering her brain to work. Think!
“Tell me why you’re doing this,” she said. “At least let me know why you want me to suffer before I die.”
“I’m more than happy to tell you. Your father convinced mine to betray his country.” He led her along the deck of the boat as he talked, like they were out for a pleasant stroll, rather than a march to her agonizing death. “He bought my father off, and when the KGB found out, they didn’t take kindly to his actions.”