Page 7 of Mistaken
“I am almost hurt by your doubts,Brigadier.But I will catch her. Call Patrick and Yuri, have them ready to mobilize men to retrieve the weapons stash as soon as I have her confession.”
“I understand,” he rose, nodding to me respectfully. “May I ask something?”
“Of course.”
“You aren’t… really going to let her go, are you? Was that merely psychological, like waving the red-hot poker in her face?”
“A Pakhan is only as good as his word, even to apredatel'.If she’s clever enough to evade me, she deserves her freedom,” I answered, opening the French doors. My blood was surging, and I felt a long-forgotten sense of excitement. Life as Pakhan was often drudgery, with sudden moments of intense danger. Tilting my head to the skies and taking a deep breath of the night air, I smiled. This was good.
Ella…
I may be a runner, but there is a difference between a well-lit path in Central Park and the dense forest I was tearing through. The sun had set before Maksim let me loose and branches were slapping me in the face. The boots were good on the rough terrain, but they made me clomp around like I was a Shetland pony.
My foot caught under a root and I nearly went sprawling before I caught myself on the huge trunk of a pine tree. The bark scratched my arms as I hugged it like a lost-lost brother, wheezing, trying to drag more air into my tortured lungs. The only clue I’d had about the highway was that when he captured me - for the second time - the sun was rising on my right. So that was east. When I’d glanced out the window of his trophy room, I’d watched the sun set. So… that would be west. When I flew out the doors after Maksim’s terrifying kickstart, I’d circled the gigantic lodge first thing and headed in what I hoped was the easterly direction and back to the highway.
So was that lunatic really going to honor the thirty-minute thing?
Trusting his promise seemed really stupid, but he seemed like he enjoyed his twisted little games. I thought I’d been running for maybe an hour or so. Sometimes, when there was a certain twist or bend in the path, I swear I could see the glow of what must be the lights along the highway. Hiking up those stupid cargo pants, I pushed off the trunk and kept running. Trying to come up with something happy to keep me from freaking out wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped. The thoughts of what could happen if he caught me before I got to the highway kept getting worse the longer I ran. “Okay, okay,” I wheezed, “here’s my happy place; I’m gonna find Tania back in the city, we’re going to have brunch and she is going tofreak outabout-”
A penetrating whistle ripped through the pines.
“Rachel! I’m on your trail! Do you want to surrender and just tell me what I want to know?”
Wincing from his whistle that felt like it just drilled through my cerebellum, I pushed my exhausted, shaking legs into a run again. I was highly motivated by the vision of what would happen to me if he actually caught me.
I can do this…
I tried to cut through the terror, but it clogged my thoughts like mud. If he catches me, I’m never getting out of here. I won’t even live long enough to see the highway ever again. He’s going to cut me up, he’s going to get that red-hot poker and-
“BOO!”
Screaming, I fell on my butt, sticks poking painfully against my bare hands.
Chuckling, Maksim strolled out from behind a thicket of brambles. “Oh, honey,” he said, his faux sympathy infuriating, “did I scare you?” He stepped closer, slowly, deliberately, enjoying my terror. His full lips were pursed as he leaned down. “Are you having trouble catching your breath?” The sickle moon was behind him, and this Russian nutjob’s sheer height and bulk blocked the feeble light, casting me into darkness. “You’re crying?” Maksim crooned, leaning down. “Do you want to beg me not to hurt you?”
Tears were pouring down my cheeks, making muddy trails in the dirt smeared on my face. My left hand clenched into a fist, and it closed around a nice, thick branch. Heavy enough to cause some damage, I was pretty sure I could swing it, even with my shaking arms.
“I- is that what you want?” The words were choking me, my smart mouth suddenly deserting me. “You want me to beg you?”
Maksim’s hugely wide shoulders shuddered a little in pleasure, his head tipped back. “Yes, darling. I want you on your knees. I want you to beg.” His stupid designer jeans were still spotless, no smears of dirt or lashings of pine sap. Did heflyhere? Did he watch me on some hidden camera?
Putting my right hand up, I forced a watery smile. “Could you please help me up?”
Brushing his hair off his forehead with one hand, the monster of these woods examined me. “Give me your hand.”
My filthy right hand gripped his and my left swung up with all my strength. I must have totally telegraphed it. He casually grabbed the branch just before it made contact with one of his prominent cheekbones. He’s laughing, the sound was deep and echoing through the woods and I knew I was going to die when he leaned in close. Maksim Morozov’s eyes were a kaleidoscope of fury, adrenaline, and something else. Something really scary.
“You just can’t stop, can you, Rachel? Not with the smart mouth and the feeble evasion moves and your terrible acting skills? Why do I find you so tempting?” I yelped as his terrifying face was suddenly next to mine, noses almost touching. “Because, at this point? I just want to hurt you. Very much so. Almost more than I want the answers. Almost more than I want my guns back. So let go of the branch, and we’ll-”
Later, I remembered it as a one-two kind of punch; he jerked his arm back sharply, ripping my feeble weapon free from my clenched fist and… The jolt made my boots slip out from under me in the mud and ripped my arm loose from his grip.
Falling backward, my scream was cut short as I landed with a thump, slipping down an embankment, sliding first like a turtle in the mud and then rolling. Rolling faster and faster, rocks digging into my back and ribs and branches and roots tearing at my clothes and hair until the last freefall of five feet or so, right into the water.
Fighting to the surface, I coughed up a throatful of river water, flailing and thrashing in an attempt to get to the bank. I’d known there was a river, I’d heard it earlier but I didn’t know where it went and I was pretty sure I knew what direction east was but probably none of that mattered now because I was just going to drown. There was something wrong with my shoulder and I could only move my right arm, battered legs still kicking.
“RAAACHEL!” I could still hear that certifiable freak shouting over the roar of the river. “THIS IS A VERY SELF-DESTRUCTIVE WAY TO AVOID ME! BUT IT’S STILL NOT GOING TO WORK!”
Spitting up more rank water, I tried to kick to the bank on the opposite side. This was going to hurtsomuch when it all hit me. “Shut up,” I garbled, “just shut up for five minutes. You’re givin’ me… Uh… giving me a… It’s so…” I felt the cool mud against my cheek and this time, I passed out all by myself.
