I crawled on the ground and grabbed Drake’s coat collar, pulling him along the ground until he was out of the sniper’s scope.
He was wheezing pretty badly. “How bad is it?”
I covered his chest wound with both my hands, but I could feel his lifeblood spurt out with each pump of his dying heart. “Hang in there, Drake.”
He reached up and pulled me closer to his face. “I have a cat. I don’t want her going to a shelter.”
“Don’t you have any friends?”
He stared at me with fading eyes. “You’re my friend, remember?”
I fucking hated cats. “What’s her name?”
His voice was a near mumble. “Beatrice… She likes having her chin scratched. She needs a lot of cuddles.”
I gritted my teeth. “Okay.”
He wasn’t looking too good; he started to wheeze. “Now the sniper is here for you, not the USB drive.”
“What?” I leaned in closer. I could smell the mint of his breath mingled with the sharp coppery smell of his blood.
“You’re the one the sniper is hunting. Word is he’s gone rogue, and he won’t stop. Not until he’s done with you.”
“Why is he after me?”
“Because of Beirut,” he gasped on his dying breath, and then he was gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
BLAIRE
I waited in that house for two agonizingly long hours, staring out the front picture window while my thoughts tortured me. Was Viktor safe? Would he come back okay? Would Drake keep his word and tell him where my grandfather was? Now that we were back in Vancouver, I had an overwhelming urge to contact my grandmother, but my role was to wait.
The car appeared in the driveway, and then I heard the sound of the garage door open.
I raced to the hallway. I could hear a car door slam, and then the door swung open. Viktor, who seemed larger than life, stepped into the hallway.
The relief of seeing him alive and safe nearly made my knees buckle. I started toward him, but he held up a hand.
“Don’t touch me.”
There was something in his voice that made me stop. “What’s wrong?”
He refused to answer my question and instead moved past me and disappeared upstairs.
I slowly followed him. He hadn’t shut the door, and he was standing in the bathroom staring into the mirror. His expression looked so weary. When I moved to the entrance to watch him, he started to strip off his clothes.
He pulled off his shirt and dropped it to the floor. My hands covered my mouth when I realized that his chest and arms were stained with dark blood.
“Oh my god,” I breathed. Between the blood and his own bruises and scratches, he looked like something out of a slasher movie.
He gave me a hard look. “It’s not my blood.”
“Whose blood is it?”
“Drake’s.”
What the hell happened? Did something go wrong with the exchange? What did he find out about my grandfather? Did he kill Drake? I tried to remain neutral. “I see.”
He sounded grumpy. “I didn’t kill him.”
“Okay.” That didn’t explain why he had come back literally covered in another man’s blood. I didn’t know how someone could lose that much blood and still survive.
Still wearing his pants, he reached into the shower and turned it on. With the bruises on his ribs, he looked like he belonged in a hospital. I couldn’t imagine how much he was hurting.
I needed to know what happened. “Is Drake going to be okay?”
“I didn’t say he wasn’t killed. I just said I wasn’t the one to do it.”
Just when things were starting to feel normal, crazy shit derailed my reality. I struggled to hold on to the facts and not just ride my emotional response. “Drake is dead?”
“Yes.”
Oh my god, what about my grandfather? Stay calm. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“He told me where your grandfather is.”
“Is he…?” I couldn’t bring myself to ask if he was also dead.
“He’s being held in Vancouver, but we need to go get him. We don’t have a lot of time.”
I could feel my heart thud heavily in my chest. “He’s alive?”
“For now.”
All the breath escaped out of me. “Oh, thank god. What about the USB drive?”
“I gave it to Drake’s men.”
“What can I do?”
“I’ve got some friends coming over to help. They’ll be here soon.”
Friends who could help sounded like the best plan yet. I was extremely concerned for Viktor’s safety. I honestly wasn’t sure how he was still walking around like he was. “Are you okay?”
His hands hesitated on his belt. “I just need something to eat.”
“I can make you something. There is canned food here.”
He leaned over and dropped a light kiss on my lips. “Thank you. I’ll be out in a minute.”
I stood at the stove, heating up some soup I found in the cupboard, when the side garage door opened. Before I could move, I heard male Russian voices coming down the hallway toward me.
Frozen, I watched as six huge men filed into the kitchen. They were all wearing black clothing and had big guns attached to various parts of their body.
They all stopped speaking when they saw me.
A handsome man with dark hair and stunning eyes casually spoke. “The calvary is here. You must be Blaire Asterdam.”
His eyes took in the scene around the kitchen. My bare feet, my knapsack and the pot of bubbling soup on the stove.
“Yes.”
“Where’s Viktor?”
“He’s upstairs in the shower.”
“I’m Andrusha.”
This was Viktor’s friend. I studied him a bit closer. “Viktor was trying to save you and your wife.”
“He did save us. And now, I hear, we are going to save your grandfather.”
Tears blurred my vision as I fought emotion. The thought of seeing my grandfather again just made me weepy. “That would be really incredible if you could do that.”
Viktor came down the stairs. His hair was wet, and he was wearing fresh, dark clothes. I wanted to rush to his side and tuck myself under his arm, but I felt shy in front of all these men.
He glanced at me before he spoke to Andrusha. “How was the spa?”
“It seems my week was more relaxing than yours. You look like shit.”
“Been worse.”
“You need the doctor?”
“At some point.”
Andrusha looked over his shoulder and gave one of the men a slight nod. I watched as the man stepped back and then spoke quietly into a cell phone. I had no doubt that he was calling the doctor.
Andrusha stood next to the island table and rolled out a map. “Where is Mr. Asterdam?”
“Drake said he’s being held at the old canning factory, near the old Ballantyne Pier building.”
“Did he say how many men?”
“He didn’t, but we need to move fast.”
“You want to take point?”
“Sure.”
I carefully ladled the soup into a bowl and placed a few crackers on the side. I carried it to the table and set it in front of Viktor. He was speaking in Russian to the men, and they all stood, paying attention around the table.