Page 85 of Savage Truce

I get back into the SUV and answer, “I’m a little busy.”

“I know. Wait for us. Constantin and I will be there in two and a half hours.”

“I don’t have that kind of time.”

Another video call comes through, and knowing what it means, the blood in my veins turns to ice as I accept it.

The sight of Andrei, tied to a chair in an otherwise empty room, comes onto the screen.

He looks straight at the camera and growls, “This is not on you.”

A masked man suddenly appears on screen, punching Andrei before stepping back again.

My friend spits blood onto the floor, then looks at whoever is in the room with him. “No matter what you do, they’re going to kill me. Revenge for Sokolov. I don’t want you to watch. End –”

The masked man appears again, this time holding a K-Bar. He slashes Andrei across the face, from his temple to his chin.

I feel that cut straight through my fucking soul.

“End the fucking call!” Andrei roars angrily.

“Rodian,” Anastasia whimpers.

Getting out of the SUV, with the phone in my hand, I slam the door shut. “No. Tell me what you see.”

“Oleg Junior.” Another slash right through his left eye. “Mercenaries.” Andrei manages to get his right hand free from the rope restraining his wrist to the chair, and as he swings at the masked fucker, another one joins, grabbing his arm and holding it down. The first one brings the K-Bar down on Andrei’s hand, taking his whole pinky and half of his other finger off.

I almost close my eyes but force them to stay open. “I’m at a fork in the road! Where do I go?”

“Left!” Andrei shouts between grunts of pain as they punch and slice him. “Left. Left. Right. Left.”

Hauling ass, I get in, and clipping my phone to the holder on the dash, I start the engine and floor the gas.

“Oh my God,” Anastasia cries. “Andrei!”

While I focus on driving as fast as possible and Andrei is being tortured, my wife’s courage knows no bounds as she begins to talk to him. “Listen to my voice, Andrei. You’re alone at a cabin in the woods. You can hear water trickling nearby as the snow melts. Birds sing. Just focus on my voice. You open your front door and walk past the trees, following a trail your feet have carved out. Do you hear the birds? Feel the breeze. The sun breaks through the treetops, warming your skin. Then you see a lake where you like to fish. There are no other people. Just you and nature.”

Throughout it all, I see Andrei checking out, his expression going blank, and I think it’s because he went to the safe place Anastasia was describing.

“Bring him!’ A man shouts, and the last I see of my friend is the blood coating his cut-up face before the video call ends.

The fact that they’re moving him tells me I’m close and they’re making a run for it.

“There’s a message from Rosie,” Anastasia gets out before she begins to cry hard.

I check the text and see it’s GPS coordinates Rosie sent and realize she probably tracked the call.

Passing the device to Anastasia, I say, “Put the coordinates into the map. Tell me where it is.”

Even though she’s trembling violently, she does as she’s told, then says, “Up ahead, turn right.”

Movement behind me draws my attention, and glancing in the rearview mirror, I see sedans and SUVs as my army joins us.

Just as my gaze returns to the road ahead, two vans come speeding from the right, fishtailing as they take the sharp turn.

“There they are!” Anastasia exclaims.

“That’s a decoy.” I take the right, then bark, “Where to next?”