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Bile splashed the back of my throat. “Could I end up being arrested?” I asked.
Adrian winced, but he didn’t sugarcoat his answer. I appreciated that. “You could,” he said, “and if they have your real name, it stands to reason they could alert ICE about the falsified documents. They could separate you and Elias, and it would be very hard to get him back.”
A shiver ran down my spine; my hands trembled, and I pressed them against the counter in an effort to steady them. “What can we do?” I asked, even though my first instinct was to snatch Elias and run like someone was trying to set us ablaze. You trust these people, I had to remind myself. Adrian isn’t a bad man. And running away from him won’t protect you. It’ll just make you more vulnerable.
Nate held up a set of keys. “Get to Birmingham and figure out your next steps from there. You shouldn’t have any problems in our car.” He tossed the keys to Adrian. “Don’t get pulled over. If you have to take a break, don’t do it at a rest stop, if you can avoid it. I filled up the tank, but if you have to stop at a gas station to use the bathroom or buy something to eat, Adrian should be the one making any purchases since it’s just you and Elias in the photos and the Amber alert, Nataliya. They say you’re traveling with an ‘unidentified man,’ but they haven’t named Adrian or used his picture.”
“Why not?” I couldn’t help asking. “Surely, they know who he is. Hayes put a tracker on his car.”
“They’ve gotten the local police involved,” Adrian explained grimly. “Which means they have to make their claims look legit. If they admit you’re traveling with a federal agent, their story that you kidnapped your son won’t be plausible. So they’ll just imply that I’m some random scumbag who’s helping you break the law.”
I nodded to show I understood. “Our bags—” I asked.
“Are on the porch,” Adrian said. “I’ll start loading them into the trunk.” He glanced behind into the living room. “Want me to break it to Elias?”
I shook my head. “It’s better if it’s me.” He was used to me taking him away from playmates. Rounding the corner, I watched Elias with Matthew—he was taking such care to include the little boy in their game, not to run over him and take over. My heart clenched. “Sakharok.”
Elias looked up, smiling, but my expression wiped it away in moments. “Can’t we stay? Just for a little while longer?”
I shook my head. “I’m so sorry?—”
Where my son was usually quietly sad and accepting, today Elias’s face screwed up in frustration. “I don’t want to go,” he said, petulant.
“Sakharok, we can’t stay—it’s not safe,” I said, keeping my tone level but firm.
He pointed at Matthew, who was watching us with owlish eyes. “But it’s safe for him?! He’s younger than I am, even if I am sick, so why should it be safer for him?”
“This isn’t about being sick or being young. You know what this is about. We’ve talked about the bad men.” Still, he glared and refused to get up. “Elias, I am not asking,” I said. “We are going as soon as the trunk is packed, and that is that.”
He all but snarled at me, like an angry cat. “I hate this,” he declared, and even if he didn’t say it, I heard the and I hate you loud and clear. He stood and stomped to the front door.
When he threw it open, I fully expected for it to slam against the wall…but I didn’t even hear it. Not when all I could see was three men in tactical gear with guns. They had been aiming their weapons at Adrian, who had his hands raised over his head, but the noise of Elias trying to stomp his way out of the house startled everyone, and one of the men swung around, pointing his gun at him.
I was across the room in an instant, tugging him behind me. I heard Nate move, but I resisted the urge to look away from the man pointing a gun in my face. “Nataliya Koza,” the man said, voice muffled behind a mask, “you are under arrest for the kidnapping of Elias Koza. Please kneel and put your hands behind your back.”
My eyes slid to Adrian, who shook his head. These men weren’t the police. “Let me see a warrant,” I said, straightening my shoulders to the best of my ability. Remain calm, I told myself.
“Kneel and put your hands behind your back,” the man reiterated.
“After you show me a warrant,” I shot back. “Or a badge.”
The man took a menacing step in my direction. The other two men were watching us…which meant they weren’t watching Adrian. Apparently, that was the opening he had been looking for, because he was off the ground in an instant and launching himself at the man who was closest to me. He was able to knock the gun out of his hands, and Nate was there to grab it. He swung and aimed it at the other two men who immediately crouched down beside the car.
Where had they come from? The only cars in front of the house were Nate and Emily’s and mine. These men must have come out of the woods.
With a sickening crunch, Adrian put the man who had aimed at me on the ground. He was breathing…but that was about all he was doing. Adrian looked at me. “Close the door, Nataliya.”
I complied and retreated to where Emily had gathered the boys and pushed them behind her, shielding them. “It’s going to be okay,” I murmured as she looped her arm through mine. Her fingers dug into my arm, no doubt leaving bruises, with every gunshot or shout from outside.
“Mama,” Elias sniffled behind me.
I shook my head. “Not now.” There had to be a back door. We needed to move that way. Just in case. We needed a backup plan. “Come on,” I murmured to Emily. “We need to get out of the living room.”
She nodded sharply. “Right. Let’s go.” She followed me as we crept out of the living room and headed toward the back of the house. Like I thought, there was a back exit that went out to a private porch.
Before I could open the sliding glass door as quietly as possible, the front door into the living room burst open like someone kicked it. So much for stealth. I threw the back door open, and we ran for it, each with our son in our arms.
“The woods,” I panted. “Don’t run in a straight line.”
