Page 72 of Protecting Maggie
“She’s smart,” MacGyver said. “And I have no doubt she’s far away from here…and has taken the kids with her.”
What the hell was she doing? Maggie crouched behind a large pile of bricks as she stared at the church across the street. Artem and his siblings had left her about ten minutes ago. They were going to circle around to the back of the church and make their way in through a maze of concrete, rebar, and glass to the back of the nave. They’d seen both Shawn and MacGyver sleeping in there before the sun came up.
It was up to her to provide the distraction they all needed to sneak the guys out of the church and to safety. She would meet up with them at the edge of town, near one of the many fields that littered the countryside. She had no idea what would happen at that point, but she couldn’t worry about that yet. She had enough to worry about right this second.
Mainly, why the hell she’d thought this would work.How was she going to distract all—she counted the soldiers again, hoping against hope the number wasn’t as high as it was a minute ago, thelasttime she’d counted…it wasn’t—six of the soldiers standing just inside the broken doors of the church.
She couldn’t see Artem or Borysko but knew they were waiting on her to do her part of the plan before they moved. But Maggie couldn’t seem to make her legs work. She could sneak away, go back to the hidey-hole they’d stayed in last night. She wasn’t brave. Wasn’t cut out for this kind of thing.
But the alternative was for Borysko to be the bait…or worse, Yana. And that wasn’t going to happen, not as long as Maggie had breath in her body. No, she had to do this.
Taking a deep breath, she looked behind her at the escape route she and Artem had scoped out earlier. Over the pile of bricks she was currently hiding behind, down the street, under the precarious-looking slab of concrete, through a confusing maze of rubble, down another street, then going in and out of as many buildings as she could, hiding in or under one of the many burnt-out cars if needed.
Anything she had to do to hide, to keep from being caught, was what she would do.
Her heart was beating out of her chest, her adrenaline was making her feel sick and shaky. But it was now or never.
Taking a deep breath, Maggie stood up.
One of the soldiers outside the nave shouted something, making Preacher straighten up where he sat and look in that direction. Their guard was also looking where his comrades were gathered—and not at the men he was supposed to be guarding.
Footsteps pounded on the ground as shouts from the soldiers outside got farther and farther away. They were leaving! Chasing after someone was what it sounded like, and at the moment, it didn’t matter if it was a rabid hippopotamus leading the men away from the church. All that mattered was that they were leaving the place unattended.
He and MacGyver had no plan, but they weren’t about to let this opportunity pass them by. They moved swiftly and silently toward their guard. Because his attention was on the door, he didn’t even notice MacGyver before he wrapped an arm around his neck from behind.
Preacher grabbed his wrist, making sure he didn’t have a chance to fire off a round. The last thing they wanted was for any kind of ruckus bringing the other soldiers back to investigate.
It didn’t take long for MacGyver to render the young soldier unconscious. Preacher relieved him of the rifle as MacGyver eased him to the ground. The kid would be out long enough for them to get the hell out of there. But how? It was likely the soldiers who ran off would be back soon, and Preacher didn’t want to get caught slipping away.
As if they shared a brain, both men turned to head to the back of the nave, toward the ruined altar. There had to be a way out that way.
“Ricky! Here!”
Turning, Preacher saw a dirty little face peeking out from behind a huge piece of steel. It had fallen from the building next to the church, piercing through the wall, leaving a large hole and glass everywhere.
“Artem?” MacGyver asked incredulously.
“Yes. We go! Here.”
MacGyver didn’t hesitate. He got to his knees and crawled behind the steel beam. “Where’s Borysko and Yana?”
“And Maggie,” Preacher added as he followed behind his friend.
“They here. Come. We go.”
This wasn’t a time to ask questions, but the thought of Maggie being with them, and safe, was almost overwhelming for Preacher. The boy led them through a maze of rubble and debris. In some places, Preacher wasn’t sure he and MacGyver would fit. But somehow they did. And when they emerged, the church was nowhere to be seen. The boy had led them through a maze of destruction that was at least a block away from the church itself. It was genius—and dangerous as hell. But then again, they were living in the middle of a war zone, so the thought was a little ridiculous.
To his relief, Borysko and Yana appeared out of nowhere. They were safe.
“Run now,” Artem said.
“Maggie?” Preacher asked again, worried again, now that he wasn’t seeing her anywhere.
“She meet. We run.”
Preacher didn’t like that answer. Not at all. Where the hell was she?
Then a thought struck him. What made the soldiers at the church run off the way they had…?
