Home > High Stakes(7)

High Stakes(7)
Author: Iris Johansen

“I wouldn’t think so.” Volkov lifted his glass in a toast. “You’ve had all these years to train her. Or should I say we’ve had all these years? You have to admit that I’ve done my part. Not that I haven’t enjoyed every minute of it. There have been times when it’s been quite satisfying.” He smiled. “I suppose we should consider this weekend as graduation?”

Balkon’s eyes widened in bewilderment. “What do you mean?”

“Well, you can’t actually believe she’ll come out of this alive. Our little experiment had to end sometime.” He shrugged. “I would have preferred to finish her myself, but this will do as well. I find that I like the idea of thinking about her facedown in the forest with a broken neck. I’ve been getting sick and tired of your Lara lately. Those last two times that she managed to win our little challenge, it was a bit humiliating for me.” Now to flick the whip and make him feel it. “My men didn’t dare to laugh in my face, but I heard their bets and I saw how they looked at me after she won. That’s not going to happen again. I believe this is where our paths part. I enjoyed our little games, Balkon, but we’ll have no further business once she’s gone.”

Balkon’s jaw went slack. Then he recovered. “You can’t be sure you’ll win.”

“Sure enough. I chose my best men, and she’s only a woman.”

“What if you’re wrong?” He moistened his lips. “And even if you’re not, I’ve been valuable to you in other ways over the years. No one has been more loyal.” When Volkov didn’t speak, he added quickly, “And you might be bored with the game, but you’ve said a few times that you might have a use for her later. What if we continue with our usual business arrangements, and I just give her to you as a gift for any embarrassment she might have caused you?”

Yes. But Volkov kept his expression impassive. “You’ve always refused to do that before. You said that because she was your daughter, it would look bad to the other families.”

“I’ll find a way around it.”

Volkov pretended to think about it. “If she wins, you’ll still deliver her to me?”

Balkon nodded. “But you’ll have to pay me what you owe me. That’s only fair.”

“Then I can hardly lose, can I?” Volkov took another sip of vodka. “Have I ever told you how I admire the way you’ve kept your Maria in her place all these years? A perfect combination of sex slave and meek servant. Lara might keep me amused indefinitely in that role.” He smiled at him. “How clever you are, my friend. You might have come up with a way to salvage our relationship…”

* * *

 

Avgar Forest

Third Night

 

Volkov’s men were still together, Lara realized in frustration. Gregor and Razov were hunting as a pair, and there was no way she could take them down as long as she had to face that double threat. She’d hoped they’d split up to go after her tonight.

Yet she would find a way, she told herself instantly. But not if she allowed herself to lose confidence or let herself be intimidated by the odds. Forget being tired. There was always a way to succeed if she kept her mind clear and fear at a minimum.

“Where are you, bitch?” Razov had stopped on the trail to shout out into the darkness. “We’ll get you tonight. Volkov doesn’t understand why it didn’t happen last night. I told him that you were so scared of us, you were probably burrowing in a cave somewhere. But he liked it when I described all the things we’re going to do to you when we catch you. Do you remember what I told you last night?”

How could she forget? Ignore him. He only wanted her to speak so that he could zero in on where she was. Don’t let it get to you. It’s almost over.

When Volkov had given her this Trial six months ago, she’d realized that she’d be lucky to survive it no matter how many martial arts lessons her father had put her through. It would be two against one, and she wouldn’t have their strength or experience. But she did have the advantage of being fit, lithe, and very, very fast. So she’d concentrated on learning this forest like the back of her hand. Her father had told her that Volkov would almost certainly choose Gregor and Razov, and she’d spent several nights spying at Volkov’s compound watching them so that she’d know their strengths, the way they moved, how they reacted to each other. She’d been as ready as she could be when her father had dropped her off at the forest two nights ago. Her only plan was to keep out of their way and keep them moving. Let them catch glimpses of her and then vanish and make them hunt her. She’d wanted them tired and frustrated enough to make mistakes so that she might get her chance. It hadn’t been easy, but she’d evaded them for the last two nights. Though she hadn’t counted on how tired she would become herself or that the curses and foul descriptions about what they were going to do to her before they killed her would make her this afraid. She’d thought she could block the ugliness out, but the more exhausted she grew, the more difficult it became.

She’d done more difficult things.

Though she’d never taken a life.

Yet if she didn’t take their lives, Maria would not survive. Her father had made that clear. He had no more use for her now, and he had only one use for Lara.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” Gregor was suddenly cursing as he strode ahead of Razov. “She’s only a woman. I thought we’d track her down the first night when I saw her down by the creek. I told you we should split up then and each take a different direction. I’m not going to spend another night wasting my time. I’m heading east toward the creek. You go west and circle back to meet me. I want this over.”

Yes. It was the break Lara had been waiting for. She moved down the trail toward the east, taking a shortcut so that she would arrive at the creek before Gregor in order to position herself.

There he is.

She froze on the other side of the trail, watching as he moved toward the creek and then bent to check the bank for footprints. He would find them: She’d deliberately left prints leading deeper into the woods to the west before she’d swung up into a low tree and moved through the branches until she was close enough to the creek to jump into the water and wade toward a stone bank.

Gregor had straightened and was following the trail to the west.

She drew a deep breath. Then she was silently moving forward. No noise. Don’t breathe. Gather your muscles for the blow. Precision was all-important, but when she struck, it had to be with all her strength to have the needed force. He was in the trees now. She could see the beam of his flashlight on the ground as he looked for footprints.

Then he bent lower to examine the area.

She leaped forward and struck a karate blow to the back of his neck!

He slumped forward and she followed it up with another blow. It wasn’t necessary; the first one had killed him. Most of the time it was impossible to kill with a karate blow. You were lucky if you could knock the other person unconscious. But that would not have saved her. So she had practiced balance and precision for hours until she could do it.

And she felt sick.

Don’t be this weak, she told herself. She hadn’t the slightest doubt that he would have killed her if he’d had the chance. Only he wouldn’t have made it this quick or easy. She turned away. She couldn’t keep standing here and staring at him. It wasn’t done yet. She had to go after Razov.

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