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She shakes her head. “Security will come back. We can sit with you if you want. Hank!” She barks over her shoulder to an elderly man with her. “Hank, get the girl some water.”
He groans. “We’re going to miss our connection.”
I don’t want to hurt these poor people’s feelings, but every second that passes, Timofey is getting further away.
“I’m fine. You two go ahead. I need to go find my…” Timofey isn’t my husband. My boyfriend, maybe?
“Nonsense. We’ll stay right here with you. Those men will be taken to the security office, I’m sure. Hank,” she barks again, “ask the gate agent to get one of those golf carts here.”
The man grumbles again, but turns towards the desk.
“No!” I stand up, still trying to extricate myself from the woman’s tight grip. “Thank you for the offer, but I need to go. I have to—”
“You’re in shock,” the woman repeats.
All I can hear is Timofey’s voice in my head.You don’t owe them anything, Piper. You don’t have to be so damn nice all the time.
With his words ringing in my ears, I jerk my arm away from the woman. She stumbles forward a little bit, then catches herself and looks up at me in horror.
“She’s as crazy as her husband!” the woman shouts to the crowd.
But I’m already running down the walkway, chasing after the security guards I can barely see weaving through the travelers ahead.
People are gathered on the edges of the hallway, looking towards the commotion. I know I’m headed in the right direction.
But I’m so focused on getting to Timofey, on helping him do whatever needs to happen next, that I don’t see the man waiting behind the pillar until it’s too late.
An arm shoots out and snatches me mid-run. Momentum twirls me around, and we collide chest to chest. The wind whooshes out of me. I have to force my lungs to expand so I can breathe.
“Piper.”
I hear my name, and my first thought is the Albanians. Kreshnik confronted Timofey, separated us, and now, I’m being kidnapped, too.
This is it. I’m going to die.
But not without a fight.
27
PIPER
I fling a fist at the man’s chest, but it’s like my body is moving in slow motion. When I connect, pain shoots up my fingers and around my wrist.
“Piper!” The man grabs my fist and bends down to look into my face. “Piper! It’s me!”
I blink through the pain and confusion. “Akim?”
He smirks. “I guess I should count myself lucky Timofey hasn’t put you through training yet. Otherwise, that punch might have left a bruise.”
“You shouldn’t be here. You should be—Did you see Timofey run by? Kreshnik is here and—”
“I saw him.” His smile fades, and he glances up and down the concourse. “But it’s time for the two of us to go.”
“Go? We can’t go! Timofey is herewith Kreshnik Xhuvani. We can’t leave him alone.”
He nods at a few curious passersby, but I can’t care at all about the optics of any of this. I just want to be with Timofey.
Akim pats the back of my hand gently. “Piper, I know you want to help Timofey, but the best way you can help right now is to get to safety. That is all he wanted for you.”
