My Russian Nightmare Read Free Page B

you.”
    His words cause me to shudder, because I don’t doubt he means it.
    I’m not sure if it’s my imagination, but I think he just squeezed me even tighter against him. Message received: if I force his hand, he’ll do it himself using just his bare hands.
    He whispers in my ear once more, “Stay close and do as I say.”
    I want to tell him to fuck off, but I can already tell he’s much stronger than I am. I’ll need to use my mind to figure out a way to escape.
    We come out of the stairwell next to the elevator on the ground floor. There are people all around us: doctors, nurses, visitors. The older man walks in front of us while Blondie takes up the rear. My breaths are quick and shallow as I spot the security guard.
    I stare at him, hoping his eyes will find mine. I want him to know just with a look that I’m in trouble. He’s been trained, he’s supposed to know. We head toward both him and the main exit. “Help! Help me!” I yell inside my head, hoping he’ll read my mind and know something’s wrong.
    Mr. Arms of Steel leans over and whispers as if he knows what’s running through my mind. “Don’t do it.”
    The security guard does look our way. His eyes meet mine for a moment and he offers a smile as my captor kisses the side of my head. Shit. He made it appear like we’re a couple. Even if I look upset, no matter how miserable I might seem, the guard won’t be able to pick up on it because we just visited someone in a hospital. It’s perfectly reasonable for me to be upset. And not just upset, but completely hysterical and consumed with grief.
    I tremble as we walk out into the open air. Why can’t anyone hear my heart hammering against my chest? No one is even looking in our direction. Tears cloud my sight. With Sammy out of commission, no one will notice I’m gone. My roommate Tammy knows that something happened to Sammy and I left to take care of him, so she won’t realize until it’s too late, if at all.
    I’m escorted to a navy blue van with blacked-out windows. The older man doesn’t wait, he walks straight to the front passenger door. The beefy blond opens the back doors and sneers at me.
    “Get in.”
    Dima releases me, and a teensy part of me wishes those strong arms were still wrapped around me. For some reason I don’t understand, I feel safer, protected, pressed up against him. He doesn’t look at me with the same sinister glee that the blond and old man do. I take another look at my captors and consider spitting in their faces before climbing into the van. I don’t. Instead, I do as I’m told and climb up into the darkened vehicle.
    “I got her.”
    I turn back to see Dima putting his hand on the blond’s chest to back the other man up as he climbs in behind me.
    “Not until she’s secured.” Mr. Sinister looks at me with an evil glint in his eyes. “Don’t you worry, bitch. I’ll have my turn with you.” Blondie smiles, undressing me with his icy blue eyes before climbing in behind us and slamming the door shut.
    “Is she restrained?” comes a voice from the front of the vehicle.
    “Working on it,” Dima answers. Using only the light from his phone and whatever bit of daylight sneaks in from the front window, he gets down to business. “Sit,” he orders, pointing to a spot on the floor against the wall of the vehicle. Once again I do as I’m told. “Put your wrists out in front of you.”
    “Why the fuck are you being so nice?” asks the blond as he pulls a length of rope off the floor and wraps it around my ankles.
    The way he does it, so fast and with such efficiency, I feel like a calf being hogtied in a rodeo. I don’t know how many times the rope is wrapped around me. All I know is that I can’t separate my ankles even a centimeter. It is so tight, I wince as he attaches and pulls taut another rope from me to the other side of the van so I can’t use my feet as a weapon to fight them.
    My legs are pin straight and absolutely fucking useless.