Page 24 of Catch Me
I waited, praying silently that she heeded my warning, and just as I thought she was about to ignore me once more, an alert chimed from a small black radio she had tucked into the waistband of her pressed linen slacks. She clicked the receiver and mumbled a few words in rapid Russian. The man’s voice on the other end was terse and clipped but, by the way, her gaze flicked rapidly from José and then back to me. I knew my calculated guess hadn’t been too far off. She barked a few more orders and tucked the radio back inside her belt before pulling a set of keys from her pocket. And approached me.
“Well, it seems some of your training has paid off. You were correct. My men tell me there are vehicles approaching.” She slipped the keys into the cuff and quickly released them, but didn’t bother helping me to my feet. Just turned and walked back towards José.
I stood, rubbing my wrists and then rolling my shoulders as I tried to get the blood flow back into them. I didn’t even have time to process what was happening when suddenly she pulled out a silenced 9mm handgun, pointed it directly at Josés head, and pulled the trigger.
“Sybil! What are you doing?” I cried out, stumbling backward as she whirled and pointed the gun directly at me.
“Taking care of loose ends. If what you say is true and the Hildagos are on the way here, then our business dealings are done, and they will come after me as well as you. Or maybe it’s your little hodgepodge group of friends thinking they can steal you away. Either way, you’re coming with me. No one is separating us again.”
I held my hands up, pleading with her. “Sybil, no one knows I’m here. I didn’t tell my friends where I was going. Thatisthe Hildago’s and you’ve just killed, literally, any chance we had of negotiating with them.”
She gave me a grim smile and motioned with her gun toward the rear entrance to the barn. “Well, it’s a good thing I have no intentions of negotiating with anyone. Move.”
I stumbled forward, my head still fuzzy from the blow to it earlier and nausea coming in waves now that I was moving. The world felt like it was titled, spinning on the wrong axis as I moved, and just as I was about to reach the door, I heard the muffled shouts of men outside and the distinct sound of bullets hitting the side of the barn. Gunfire erupted behind us and I felt a body slam into me from behind. It was Sybil. We hit the ground hard and pain exploded in my head again as it bounced against the earth-packed floor. She groaned and then pushed herself off me before jamming the end of her gun into my ribs and screaming in my ear to get up.
I scrambled to my feet, unsure of who was shooting but not caring, because there was no way I was going to turn around and look. We burst through the doors and ran straight for the cornfields. Shouts came from behind us, more bullets exploding into the crisp night air. My feet sunk into the mud and I heard Sybil curse as she stumbled behind me. I could hear the voices of Sybil’s men as they barked orders and other voices, unfamiliar ones, screaming back at them.
When I paused to catch my breath and orient myself in the maze of corn, Sybil grabbed my shoulder and I felt the cold press of her gun on the back of my neck. “Keep moving.”
I tensed. “Sybil, we need to orient ourselves. We don’t know what’s happening behind us. If we can get to my SUV, we might get out of here alive.”
She snorted. “My men are taking care of it. We will wait in the woods until I get the all-clear and then go back. Now move.”
I shook my head. I had to stall her. The longer she was in control, the more dangerous the situation was. “We don’t know who is waiting in the woods. There are professional killers out here after us, Sybil. Contract killers. My guess is that Hildago’s regular men are engaging with yours and trying to flush us out where they will be out there, ready to ambush us. We’re running in the wrong direction. We need to go back.”
Her lips whispered in my ear, and I shivered. “You’re trying to trick me again, aren’t you?”
“What?” I turned to look at her, her green eyes glinting in the darkness. “No, Sybil, I’m trying tosaveyou. I’m trying to save us both.”
An explosion sounded behind us and she jerked her head around in the direction it came from to see flames dancing from the roof of the barn. I pounced, grabbing the wrist of her hand that was holding the gun, and slammed it down on my knee to loosen her grip. The gun fell to the soft earth, and we fell together into the mud with her on top of me. She screamed and wrapped her hands around my throat, her eyes ablaze now with a wild fury. Just as I saw black spots clouding my vision, I brought my fists down hard on her forearms, breaking her grip, and as she sat back, I landed a punch in her face. She fell to the side with a cry of pain, and then it was a scramble to get to our feet as each of us landed blows. Someone had trained her decently well. Her punches were precise even in the darkness and the muck. We crashed into the cornstalks and just as I was able to roll away and get some distance; I heard the click of her safety and a snarl. “Get on your knees.” I stilled.
“Sybil- “I whispered her name, but she cut me off.
“You could never justlistenand do as you were told, Hannah. You always had to make things difficult andpushme to the breaking point.” Her breathing was heavy, and her hands shaking. She was covered in mud and filth, her pretty mouth cut with blood trailing down her chin to her neck. “Maybe Sergei was right all along. Maybe it’s time I let you go, finally.” Her voice softened as she spoke her thoughts out loud.
“Sybil wait...” There was a soft click and then the world exploded around me. I watched in slow motion as her mouth formed a shocked O and blood bloomed from the center of her chest. I cried out, turning to see where the shot had come from, and lurched forward as I saw a dark shadow rising in the distance between a row of corn, the light from the burning barn glinting off the scope of his sniper rifle. Then a deep, burning pain registered in my chest and I looked down to see a matching bloom of crimson spreading across my shirt. The world twisted and suddenly I was staring into dark grey eyes that were bright with fear and worry. His mouth was moving, but I couldn’t hear the words he was saying and then once more, everything went dark.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
Hannah
Warmth spread over me and I sighed, snuggling deep into the cloud that seemed to be wrapped around me. Muffled sounds came to me: voices, laughter, seagulls calling, and the crashing of waves. Light penetrated my eyelids, and I squeezed them shut, willing myself to back into the dream. The sounds became louder, voices calling out to each other, children giggling. The waves sounded closer and less dream-like. I opened my eyes.
Pain. I winced softly as I attempted to sit up and then collapsed back down into a sea of down-filled pillows. Now I knew why I’d been dreaming about sleeping on a cloud. I looked around the room, confused. Where was I?
I slowly took in the room and wondered if I wasn’t still dreaming. Or maybe I was dead, and this was heaven. The room was large and looked like it belonged in some Grecian palace by the sea. Porcelain white columns with gilded decorations of birds and animals decorated the room. The floor was a shining marble and the bed I was in looked large enough to host an entire Olympic volleyball team. Large doors opened up to a balcony and an endless blue sky to my left. I looked to my right and saw a half-opened door that looked like it led to a bathroom or maybe a large walk-in closet.
There was a table next to my bed with a glass of water, some pills in a small cup, and a note. I picked it up and read. “Take your medicine. Drink your water. Clothes are in the armoire. Gun is in the drawer. I’ll be back soon. - S.”
More confused than ever, I set the note down and slowly tested out my feet on the marble floors. No dizziness, but I winced slightly at the way my muscles stretched and the sting of pain I felt in my chest. I looked down to see a small bandage covering a spot just to the right of my heart. Memories came back to me. Sybil, fighting in the mud, the barn burning brightly against the night sky. Then watching as Sybil pointed her gun and shot me. And Simon, holding me, telling me it would be okay.
I followed all the instructions but didn’t take the pills. Something told me that my fuzziness and lack of recognition about what had happened over the past several days had something to do with the medicine. Instead, as I pulled the gun from the drawer and tucked it into the waistband of my yoga pants, I tossed the pills in the trash bin next to the side table and made my way to what I thought was the exit.
I found myself in a long hallway in what appeared to be a large mansion. Ok, so maybe not quite the palace that my drug-addled brain had thought it was, but it was still impressive. I passed room after room in the hall before I came to a set of stairs that wound down to what seemed to be the main floor. I’d yet to see one face and frowned. It was becoming unsettling. But then I remembered I’d heard voices and laughter coming from outside and searched for the way out.
I entered another room that looked like it might be a sitting area and saw large double doors similar to the ones in my room that opened out onto a grassy lawn. I stepped through the sunlight brighter here and squinted, trying to see if I could hear where the voices were coming from again.
“Hannah! You aren’t supposed to be awake yet!” A musical voice with a soft French accent reached me and I spun around.
