Relief flooded my heart, mingling with a new unease.
Could it really be this easy? I didn't want to believe it.
The commandos led me deep into the forest. They were frustrated at how slow I was going, stopping to climb carefully over every gnarled branch and muddy stream. I wasn't dressed for this crap at all.
I could've sworn they were impatient, like they had a schedule to keep, but I kept thinking it had to do with wanting to get me out ASAP.
Later, they stopped in a small clearing so I could catch up. New moonlight beamed down between the trees, painting everything in an otherworldly chalk glow.
They were huddled together when I finally approached, just a few more feet to go.
“This is a good spot,” I heard the tall one say to his shorter partner. “GPS says we're in the densest part. No homes or streets for miles. Nobody around.”
“Hey, guys?” They looked up when I shouted. “I don't need a break. We can keep moving if you think that's wise. I'm slow, but I'm not tired.”
Whatever. They didn't need to know how exhausted I really was.
I just wanted to get the hell out of this place and forget all about the monster named David. It also amazed me that for the first time in my life, Dad had changed his mind. He hadn't thrown me to the big bad wolf for good.#p#分页标题#e#
I shouldn't have doubted him. Of course he'd come for me, and he had. The wolf had bitten me, yes, but he wouldn't let it swallow me up whole.
“You'll be home and free before you know it, Miss Rossini. Now, if you'll just step back for a moment...”
Behind the calm voiced commando, the squatter man was toying with something in his hands. I leaned forward and felt my blood chill when I saw it was a gun. He was screwing something onto the tip, a long black tube.
It must've been a silencer. Wasn't sure why I remembered that from the silly spy movies I reviewed for the High School paper. When I did, my heart stopped, and the world took on a surreal glow.
“What's going on, guys?” I whispered, folding my arms to protect against the sudden cold. “Are we in danger?”
Neither man answered me. Tall man narrowed his eyes until they were just tiny slits in his face mask. He stepped forward, took me by the shoulders, and began to drag me back through the dirt.
Shit! I couldn't have been more wrong. These men weren't sent to save me from the wolf – they were the beasts, the monsters, the things in the dark that wanted me dead.
I screamed and beat against his shoulders, hurting my fists on his hard armor.
“Get her against the tree!” Short man yelled. “This needs to look like an accident. Whole mission's fucked if Strelkov gets a whiff anybody else was out here...”
It wasn't the bone grinding pain flaring in my knuckles that caused me to stop punching him, or the totally hopeless chance at cracking through his armor like brittle shell. I stopped because I was whirling with confusion, sadness, betrayal.
This had to be a mistake. It had to be!
Why would my own father kill me?
“That's good,” Short man grunted. “Give me a clear shot on my mark. Don't want any do overs. You can let her go. Don't mind if she gets away and trips. Maybe that would be more natural.”
“Ah, fuck it,” Tall man said, holding me indifferently. “Let's just get this over with here. Can't stand this bitch's crying. You ready?”
“Yeah...” The other man cleared his throat. “Ready on three. One...two...”
“Three!” A third voice roared several feet away, and then everything was drowned out in explosive gunfire.
The short man barely got out a scream before he crumpled to the ground. Tall man spun, released me, drawing his side arm and staring into the blackness. Another shot nailed him between the eyes. I hit the ground, screamed, and shook, catching several misty red droplets on my hands as he slumped dead next to me.
Who else but David emerged from the brush a second later, the two men who'd taken me from the house the night before at his side.
“Great shot, D. Ochen korosho.” Boris fingered his pocket and pulled out a cigarette, flicking the lighter near his lips. He waited there with the other man, Nikolai.
Nothing slowed David down. He was still coming, all fury and footsteps, coming right at me. He stepped over the dead man's body, giving it a kick with his shoe.
“Sloppy fucking bastards. Old man Rossini shouldn't have skimped on helmets if he wanted the job done right...”
“Hey, boss. Check this out.” Nikolai plucked the short man's gun off the ground and held it up. “Haven't seen a bolt like this since Grozny. Lots of smoke and mirrors in that city, and lots of terrible accidents too.”
David's thug made a noise. I couldn't tell if it was a cough or a laugh. Maybe a little of both.