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Smirnov shrugged. “I didn’t kill it, did I? The Cicero woman had her chance to tell me what she knew and help me get my egg, but she refused.”
His twisted logic left Lucas speechless. Did he really think the egg belonged to his family? They’d stolen it from the Romanovs.
“Your family stole it,” Kyle said.
Smirnov’s attention swung back to Kyle. “You’ve gotten in my way for the last time.” He pointed the assault rifle at him, and Carly screamed, “No!”
Smirnov glared at her. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to go get the egg and bring it back while everyone stays put right here. Do what you’re told, and you all might walk away.” His gaze swung back to Lucas. “Except for this guy. You’re the one who killed my Debby, and there has to be retribution for that.”
“It was self-defense,” Ryan said, but his comment didn’t elicit a response from Smirnov, who continued to glare at Lucas.
Lucas glared back. “You ever think her death was your fault? You sent her in there.” He felt naked and helpless without his SIG Sauer, but it was on the floor four feet away.
Smirnov stepped forward and drove the butt of his M16 into Lucas’s stomach. The air left his lungs in a painful whoosh. He buckled and fell to his knees. Mary screamed and stood from her seat on the sofa, but she sank back when Smirnov turned the rifle her way.
Noah still in her arms, Carly rushed to his side, and he leaned against her, gasping for breath. She stared up at Smirnov with angry eyes. “I’m not going anywhere unless you assure me you won’t touch him. None of this is his fault.”
“If you want that baby of yours to grow up, you’ll do exactly what I say.” Smirnov glanced at his watch. “You have twenty minutes before the bank closes, so you’d better get going.” He held out one arm. “Give me the kid.”
She rose to her feet and shook her head. “I’m taking him with me. He’ll need to eat, and you don’t want him screaming.”
“That will make you get back here sooner then, won’t it? There and back should be all of fifteen minutes.”
She stared back without moving.
“Fine, take the kid with you. You have half an hour, or people start dying.”
Lucas regained his feet, but his legs felt weak and unsteady. At least Carly would be out of here. If he could talk to her, he’d tell her to go straight to the police station and not to the bank, but he knew her. She’d never run the risk of Smirnov following through on his threat. Knowing the man’s criminal background didn’t reassure Lucas either. The man had murdered before, and he’d do it again. He had no compunction about taking human life.
Carly snatched up her purse and rushed from the room and out of the house with Noah in her arms. A minute later, the engine of his truck started. Would she warn the police or fully obey Smirnov? Lucas wasn’t sure of the best course of action himself. One thing for sure, the killer wasn’t leaving with the egg unless he had a hostage. He’d know they’d call for help the second he was out the door.
Four family members were still out to dinner, and they could come back anytime. They needed to be warned to stay away, but Carly might think of that. Bringing in more people would muddy the situation even more. This was far from over.
Caroline began to cry, and Isabelle jiggled her on her lap. “I need to get her a bottle.”
Smirnov jerked his head toward the next room. “Don’t try anything funny or I might have to blast your grandmother.” His M16 veered from Mary to Elizabeth and back again.“Though since I don’t know which one is which, I could take out both of them.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Isabelle said. “I’ll be right back with the baby bottle. Two minutes tops.” She handed the baby to her father and hurried from the room.
“What would your grandmother say about the way you’re acting?” Mary asked in a soft voice. “And don’t tell me she’s dead and it doesn’t matter. It does matter.”
Smirnov blinked and looked away without an answer.
Just Lucas, Kyle and Caroline, Ryan, and the older women were left with the glowering killer. He was as unstable a person as Lucas had ever seen in his days as an officer. Extricating them all alive from this was going to be tricky. Smirnov might just blast them all as he left. Lucas needed a strategy.
He glanced longingly at his SIG in the pile of pistols and phones before glancing around the room. The lamp or a side table might work, but Smirnov was likely to shoot him before he got hold of them. He would need a distraction, and once Carly returned, she might provide that as Smirnov examined the egg to make sure it was real.
It was the only hope they had.
Forty
Carly had never felt such searing terror. Her family was in the crosshairs of a maniac, and she wasn’t sure any of them would escape alive. She prayed for their safety all the way to the bank, where she parked and got Noah out of the back seat. He was happy, kicking his legs and smiling, without any hint of the trauma unfolding.
She pasted a placid expression on her face as she went inside and spoke to the teller about accessing her box for the third time today. In minutes she had the egg in her purse and was back out in the beautiful late-afternoon sunshine. Her phone dinged several times, but she ignored it until she was back in the truck with Noah in his car seat.
She glanced at her phone. She had a message from Amelia that Dillard had arrived in town and wanted to reconcile. They were on their way home. Carly quickly texted her back.
Hostage situation at the house. Do not attempt to come in! I will keep you posted. Pray!
