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She’d timed her departure to catch the attention of the car, but she didn’t time it properly and missed her chance by a few seconds. Now she was out in the middle of nowhere.
I’d never chased down a fugitive like this, but it couldn’t be that hard. She couldn’t be that fast, not barefoot. She wouldn’t risk coming toward me, so she would head for Milan back the way she came.
I started to jog, my feet hitting the pavement as I scanned the grass beside the road. It was slightly untamed so it could hide her body somewhat, but it was too short to hide her completely. The fact that I couldn’t see her running told me she was crouched down, hoping I wouldn’t be able to spot her in the darkness.
I pulled the small flashlight from my pocket and clicked the button, illuminating the field in front of me.
There she was.
I aimed my gun. “Don’t you fucking—”
She took off at a dead sprint, moving at the speed of a bullet.
Shit, she was fast.
I pointed the gun past her shoulder and pulled the trigger, the sound of the gun echoing across the dark pastures. It was loud, so loud that it made her fumble to the ground.
I sprinted hard, catching up to her within a few seconds.
She got to her feet and started to run again, picking up speed remarkably fast.
But I was faster.
I grabbed her by the neck and put her in a choke hold, jerking her off the road and into the grass so I could force her to the ground.
She kicked her legs and threw her arms back, doing everything she possibly could to hit me. She was overwhelmed, but that didn’t stop her from fighting. She pushed against me with all her strength, refusing to give up even when the fight was lost.
I squeezed her neck tighter, having no choice but to knock her out. “You’ll pay for this later, sweetheart.” I cut off the air supply to her lungs and pressed her hard into the ground, overcoming her small frame with my size and strength. The jacket was coming loose and revealing her nakedness, but now I had no respect for her vanity. I’d underestimated this woman, and as a result, she caught me off guard.
I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
Her movements lessened as her brain slipped away from the lack of oxygen. Finally, she went still, her body limp in my arms.
I held her for a few more seconds, just to make sure this wasn’t another trick. Then I let her go, looking down at her in the grass. I shone my flashlight on her, staring at her slightly parted lips and the way her chest rose and fell with her breathing.
I wasn’t sure whether I admired this woman or despised her.
I should have told her I was saving her the second we got into the car. But judging by how paranoid she was, she probably wouldn’t have believed me anyway.
I gathered her into my arms and carried her back to the car, which was still on. I got her in the passenger seat before I sat down behind the wheel, keeping my gun in my hand this time. I pulled onto the road, grateful no one had witnessed the action that had just taken place.
When I glanced at her in the passenger seat, she was still dead asleep. Her head rested against the window, and she seemed harmless when she was unconscious. She was definitely a lot prettier when her mouth was shut.
I reflected back on my conversation with this mystery woman, this woman without a name. Every smartass comment that flew out of her mouth was in an American accent. It wasn’t Russian, like her brother Egor. There could be an explanation for that, but I found it strange all the same.
Something told me I was missing something here.
And I intended to figure it out.
I shackled her ankles and secured her to the frame of the bed. I left her hands free because there was nothing she could do without her legs. I’d give her the dignity to scratch her nose if it itched, even if she didn’t deserve it.
Just to be safe, I inserted a tracker into her ankle. That way, I could see exactly where she was if she managed to slip through my fingers again. The area started to bleed slightly, so I placed a small bandage over the site. This woman obviously wasn’t trained in self-defense, but she still had the grit to fight me. She thought I was a psychopath who would rape her and kill her, so of course, she fought as hard as she could. I would have told her I was actually her savior, but she was too busy running that mouth of hers.
