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At this time of the year, dawn came late and was just rising over the horizon by the time she docked. Sunlight glared in her eyes and off the water, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever seen a sunrise quite so bright.
Her adrenaline surged as she hopped down to the rickety dock and used the boat for cover, knowing it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility for Jonah to be closer on her trail than she estimated. She still wasn’t out of the woods and wouldn’t be. Not until Jonah Salt was dead.
Jerry sat in his lawn chair on the snow-covered dock with a blanket spread over his lap and the smell of hundred-proof something reeking out the top of his flask. He eyed the boat and then his gaze went to her and he wheezed out a gin-soaked breath as she passed him another wad of bills as a thank you. She didn’t realize until it was too late what had seemed off about Jerry. He’d had guilty eyes.
She felt the air move behind her just before a black sack was tossed over her head. She kicked out blindly, but against so many she knew she was better off saving her energy. Her hands and feet were bound and she was tossed unceremoniously into the back seat of a car. A foot shoved her to the floorboard and then gave her another small kick as someone got into the back seat with her. She heard the distinct sound of a bullet being chambered into a gun and went completely still.
But it was the rapid spatter of Russian that had her breathing out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t Jonah who’d found her. At least not yet.
ChapterFour
It had been three weeks since Atticus had passed on the assignment to bring in Eden Kane. Nate had to hand it to Atticus, he never hired anyone who wasn’t the best of the best. And Eden Kane was as good as he’d seen.
If he hadn’t read her file from cover to cover, memorizing her patterns and trying to get inside her head to see how her mind worked, then he probably never would have found her. And he hated to admit it, but luck had been as much of a factor as his skill with this job. If he hadn’t seen her get tossed into the back seat of an SUV, she more than likely would’ve been long gone by the time he got close enough to make contact.
She’d been alive when they’d bound her hands and tossed the black cloth bag over her head, so he wasn’t particularly worried about her safety for the time being. He was more curious as to why Russian intelligence agents wanted her. It had been a while since he’d used the language, but from his hiding place, and the direction the wind was blowing, he heard and understood enough that they needed Eden. At least for the time being.
Nate waited until the three all-terrain SUVs, one of which had Eden in the back seat, started the drive north. There was only one road in that direction—a two-way stretch most people only used when they were headed to fish in the many rivers around the area. There were some abandoned campgrounds and the remains of a town that had once been popular during the gold rush, but the population had dwindled and the buildings had mostly fallen into disrepair. Only a couple of hundred people called it home now.
Nate waited a couple of minutes and then started up his Humvee to follow behind, turning the heat to high. He hit speed dial on his phone and then set the call to speaker so he could keep his hands free.
“Have you found Eden Kane?” Atticus asked in lieu of greeting.
“You could say that,” Nate said. “I just watched a group of Russians toss her into the back of a car and drive away.”
“What?” he asked. “That’s not good. Russia is not on the table right now.”
“Too late,” Nate said.
“Where are you? Is she still alive?”
“We’re in Alaska,” Nate said. “And she’s alive. I’m following behind as we speak.”
“It wouldn’t be good for Dynamis to have any disagreements with Russia. We’ve got several contracts for services at the moment.”
“So noted. I’ll make sure I’m not wearing my Dynamis Security T-shirt when I put bullets in them.”
“Go get ’em, wise guy,” Atticus said and disconnected.
* * *
Eden was more irritated than scared at her current predicament.
After an hour-long car ride over a road that felt like it had been made completely of potholes, her legs and hands had fallen asleep. Fighting back would’ve been a useless effort when they stopped the car and pulled her out by the collar of her shirt. She immediately dropped to her knees since her legs wouldn’t support her, and laughter erupted from those who circled her. Snow seeped through her black cargo pants and she was grateful for the neoprene skin suit she wore beneath them.
“Pick her up and bring her inside,” one of the men said in Russian. “Stop playing.”
Eden’s head hung down and the blood was rushing back to her extremities. Her skin prickled like it was being stuck with hot needles. She bit back a groan as they jerked her to her feet and pushed her forward. She’d managed to work her gloves off and she’d started loosening the ropes before she’d lost feeling in her hands, but she hadn’t progressed far.
The black bag still covered her head, but she could see pinpricks of sunlight through the fabric. The smell of salt and sea was still strong, though the wind wasn’t near as piercing as it had been closer to the shoreline.
Her feet kicked chunks of ice and snow as they led her about fifty yards from the car. The sunlight disappeared, shaded by the building they’d led her to, and she listened as a bolt cutter was used to cut through the lock.
“Hurry. Gregor wants us finished within the hour.”
A laugh slithered against her skin and an arm curled around her body as a hand roughly squeezed her breast.
“Have you gotten a look at her face?” the man holding her said. “I’m not going to be done in an hour.”
