He should be coming from the west…
* * *
Move swiftly.
No noise.
She wasn’t sure how close Razov was, but she figured she had at least ten to twenty minutes before she’d encounter him.
Move faster.
Keep an eye out for the beam of his flashlight. It was the principal thing she had to worry about. She could defeat him only if she took him by surprise.
Twenty minutes later, she saw Razov heading down the trail toward her. He was moving fast, and she had to duck to one side into the bushes to avoid the beam of his flashlight. He was ahead of her now. How to take him out? Another karate blow? Or a karate chop to stun him and then go for the—
What!
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a dark-clad man came between her and Razov!
Lara stopped, stunned, as the man’s arm encircled Razov’s throat and he gave a jerk that broke his neck. Razov crumpled in a heap on the path.
Dead? How could he be dead? She couldn’t understand it. No, this couldn’t be happening. She was the one who had to do it. It wouldn’t work otherwise. He couldn’t do this to her. She instinctively took a step forward with fists clenched. “What do you think you’re doing? Who are you? There was only supposed to be two of you and I—”
“It’s okay, you’re safe.” He whirled to face her. “Everything will be okay.”
He was speaking in English instead of Russian and she instinctively switched to it, too. “The hell it will. You’ve ruined everything.” She braced herself for the attack to come. “You can tell Volkov that he can’t get away with cheating me like this. Come on. I’m ready for you.” It was a lie. She was trying to desperately think of a strategy that might get her out of this. No surprise, and he had taken Razov down with dazzling efficiency. He was facing her, and if she could just make the strike to the jugular absolutely perfect, it might work. No choice. She could see his muscles begin to tauten and he’d be coming for her! She darted to one side and then spun and leaped toward him.
But he’d already anticipated the move and was whirling toward her, moving swiftly. Dammit, he was so fast…No time for the jugular. She spun again as her leg lifted in a kick to his abdomen. She heard him grunt with pain but then he grabbed her ankle and flipped her to face him. She had only a glimpse of a lean, taut face and glittering light blue eyes before his hand was pressing her carotid artery.
Darkness.
* * *
Tanner was kneeling beside Lara giving her a shot when Mallory came down the path from the creek. “Gregor’s down?”
Mallory nodded. “I didn’t have to do it.” He nodded at Lara. “She took care of it before I got the chance. Very clean. Very neat.” He looked down at his phone. “Jordan says the helicopter is on the way. We have seven minutes to get to the edge of the forest for pickup.”
“Then let’s move.” Tanner settled Lara in a fireman’s lift on his shoulder and started trotting down the path. “I want to be at the airport and on the jet by the time she comes out of the sedative. She wasn’t in the least grateful about getting a little help with a nasty job. And she wasn’t in a mood to listen. She tried to come after me.”
“Maybe she was scared.”
Tanner remembered her dark eyes glittering with fury as she’d leaped toward him. “Somehow I don’t think so…”
* * *
Something was wrong.
She was lying on a bed of some sort…a bed made of the softest leather she’d ever touched.
And she was on a plane!
She shouldn’t be on a plane.
She should be in the forest.
But there was something wrong about that, too.
Something about Razov…
“No!” Her lids flew open and she jerked upright.
“Easy. No one’s going to hurt you.” English again. A man in his middle or late thirties. Light blue eyes, high cheekbones in a lean face, dark hair. Black sweater and black jeans. He was sitting in a seat across the aisle and straightened warily. “There’s nothing wrong. You’re safe.”
It was all coming back to her. “The hell I am.” Her voice was shaking. “You said that before, and then you knocked me out.” She got to her knees, prepared to leap at him. “You killed Razov. I was supposed to do it. Why did Volkov send you? It wasn’t fair. I would have brought him down. He can’t go back on his word.”
“I imagine he does that quite a bit. Though I’ve never met him. He certainly didn’t send me.” He got to his feet. “And I knocked you out because I was short on time and you impressed me as not being willing to listen without taking up too much of it. But I’m ready to explain everything to you now, if you’ll stop threatening me and let me do it.” He added, “I’m going to go get you a cup of coffee. While I do it, I’d like you to sit there and look around and pull yourself together enough to be able to react reasonably when we have our discussion.”
“You patronizing son of a bitch.”
He suddenly chuckled. “It probably did sound like that. But I’m trying to handle this situation with tact, principally because I want to avoid having you leap at me and try to take me out the way you did at Avgar Forest.”
“You’re not succeeding.”
“I was afraid of that.” He made a face. “But just go along with me, Lara.” He bowed mockingly. “You might feel better if you know who you’re dealing with. I’m Logan Tanner and I have nothing to do with those bastards who sent you into that forest. I was sent to bring you out of there alive because I’m very good at it. I have two other employees on this plane. The pilot is Les Jordan, and Josh Mallory works with me and was down there in the forest with me.” He smiled faintly. “Mallory admired the way you took out Gregor. He said it was neat and clean. Neither of them will hurt you, and they have nothing to do with Volkov or your dear papa, either.” He started down the aisle. “I’ll make sure that it takes me at least ten minutes to get your coffee to give you time to think about the situation and get your questions in order. The bathroom is in the rear of the plane, and you won’t find any weapons. There are some parachutes in the closets, but I wouldn’t advise you jumping out. You have a much better chance with me, as you’ll see when we talk.” Then he disappeared from view.
She stared at the door for an instant before she slowly swung her legs to the floor. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Think. Absorb the situation. Consider Tanner and anything she had picked up about him. She didn’t know enough about what was happening to fit him into the scenario, but that wouldn’t stop her from analyzing, comparing him with the men she knew. Razov hadn’t had a chance with him. She hadn’t, either, though she might have done better if she could have taken him by surprise. So excellent warrior skills. Clever? Probably. He’d handled her as diplomatically as possible considering the situation. She got to her feet and headed for the bathroom. Explore her surroundings. Just because Tanner had said there were no weapons, it didn’t mean that was the truth. If possible, she had to find a weapon to fight him if he was as good as she suspected.
She went into the tiny bathroom and quickly relieved herself. Then she washed her face and hands to take off some of the mud and sweat of those days in the forest. It didn’t do much good, but it made her feel a little fresher and better able to cope. She checked the cabinets, but there were only towels and cleaning products. No weapons.