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It took way longer than that just to crack open the files Anton had left for me, and he intended for me to see them. I shook my head. “I don’t know if I can do it.” I looked at Adrian, whose mouth was set in a tense line. “But I’ll try,” I promised. “Anton wanted this to happen. He gave you that message in the hopes that you’d find me…I don’t think he’d set all of this up as a failsafe just for it to be impossible.” Though a secure facility in the middle of a city was a lot. Even for a team of former SEALs.
My doubt must have shown on my face because Adrian stood and slid an arm around my shoulders. I bit back the gasp that rose in my throat. “I’ll bet you can run circles around whatever obstacles that bastard puts in our way,” he said. It was patently absurd, and I rolled my eyes…but the tension in my shoulders bled out a little.
“You’re putting entirely too much faith in me.”
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I like to think I’ve developed some good instincts over the years, and I have a good feeling about you.” He held me to him for just a moment longer before he let go, and I almost mourned the loss of his body heat against me.
“My brother was like that,” I said. “He trusted his instincts…but then those instincts got him involved with Ian Hayes, and he died.”
“He died trusting us,” Adrian said, putting voice to the ugly thing I was thinking but didn’t want to say. “We were supposed to keep him safe, get him out of the RoW and bring him safely here to you. And when it went to hell, you and I both lost people we cared about. But I’m going to make it up to you. I’m going to make it right and make sure that Hayes can’t harm you or anyone else ever again, okay?”
I studied him for a moment. Adrian’s guilt ran deep, that was obvious, but I had also learned he was one of those genuinely sincere people who were exceedingly rare in the world. Guilt might be driving him to make these promises—but he’d keep them, no matter what it took. “I trust you,” I said finally, and his eyes widened just a hair, like he didn’t quite expect me to say that. “I’ve never met anyone who’s as motivated as me when it comes to getting what you want.”
“Grief is a hell of a motivator,” he said.
“Agreed.” I gestured to the smart phone in his hand. “When will the others be here?”
“Nate’s busy cleaning up in Tupelo,” Owen said, drawing my attention away from Adrian. “And Zach and Gabe are supposed to be heading this way, but?—”
“But?”
He flicked his eyes to Adrian. “What if they met you in Georgia? It would be less of a drive, and if they’re being watched, it wouldn’t bring hell here.”
Owen didn’t have to tell us he was worried about his family. Nate and Emily were lucky that Hayes’s men didn’t descend on their actual home…but Owen lived here. If the others brought Hayes to his doorstep, it wouldn’t be a vacation home that was ruined—it would be their whole lives.
“We can drive to them,” I said before Adrian could say anything. “Besides, they’d have to backtrack if they drove all the way here. There’s no sense in wasting time.”
“There’s another issue here.” We all looked at Sam. “What are you going to do with Elias?”
ELEVEN
ADRIAN
Even with the distance between us, I felt Nataliya go rigid. “He goes where I go,” she said in a tone that did not invite argument.
“So, you’re going to take him with you to the Hayes headquarters? While you try to do some kind of impossible computer magic and stay a step ahead of armed guards?”
Nataliya’s face went flat. “What would you suggest I do?”
Sam had a plan, I could see it on her face, and I braced for what I knew was coming: “Leave Elias here with me,” she said. “If he’s going to be a part of my clinical trial, he’s going to need a battery of tests, and he’s going to need to stay in the hospital while he’s receiving treatment so we can keep him under observation. He won’t just be safe here; he’ll be getting important medical care. The hospital can handle any flare-ups he might have, and the security is excellent. You can do what you need to do knowing he’s taken care of.”
There was logic in what she was saying. It would be much safer for Elias if we didn’t take him into the hot zone. It would be safer for everyone, actually. We weren’t going into a battlefield, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous. It didn’t mean there wouldn’t be the possibility of guns or violence.
“Absolutely not,” Nataliya said in that same unquestioning tone. “Elias doesn’t have to be in the hospital yet. There’s no reason we couldn’t start his treatment after we get back.”
“Nataliya—” I started, and her hazel eyes found mine. They were molten with anger.
“No,” she said. “I’m not leaving my son?—”
“Mama, stop.” We all turned, and Elias had joined the group of adults, frail and small between Owen and Sam. From the sheepish looks on everyone’s faces, it seemed we’d all forgotten he was close enough to hear what we were saying—and old enough to understand it.
“Sakharok,” she admonished. “It’s rude to interrupt when adults are talking.”
“I don’t want to keep moving around,” he said curtly. “I don’t want to keep being chased by scary guys with guns.” He gestured to me. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of us. I don’t want you to get hurt because you’re worrying about me instead of looking after yourself.”
Nataliya wavered. “I’m not going to get hurt, sakharok,” she said.
“You can’t be sure of that,” he told her, quiet and solemn. “Uncle Anton didn’t think he was going to get hurt, either. But the bad man who hurt him is still out there, and he’s going to keep sending more bad men after us until you stop him. It’ll be easier for you to do whatever you have to do if you don’t have to take care of me at the same time, right?” he said, talking over her. “That way, you can stop the bad men and make it so we can stay in one place.”
