Broken Wings (The Broken Series Book 3) (48 page)

He
shook his head. “Did you tell him he should expand the Odessa-Brody oil
pipeline up to Poland?”

I
smiled. “Yes. Yes, I did. You should definitely expand the pipeline. Think of
all the money you could make if you sold your oil to the EU. You could build a
whole new children’s hospital and a research center. You’d have enough money to
buy real toilets for the university so women don’t have to crouch over those
holes in the floor.” I shook my head. “I’d like to see
you
try that in
five inch heels!”

Shae
laughed. “I almost fell in, and I was only wearing two inch heels.”

“Shut
up!” the man screamed.

Shae
and I jumped in our seats. “You’re the one who asked,” I muttered irritably.

He
braced his arms on either side of my legs as he leaned into my face. His breath
smelled like coffee and cigarettes. “You have been in Ukraine for nine days.
You have been in their children’s hospital and their orphanages. You have been
in their universities teaching young people to question authority. You advise
the prime minister on foreign policy, and you seek protection from the Russian mafia…”
he paused as if waiting for a response, then screamed, “
Who the hell are you?
”

My
heart slammed into my chest. My voice grew pleading as tears welled in my eyes.
“I’m Kristine Annabelle Stone. I swear. I’m nobody.”

His
eyes hardened. “Are you or are you not an American spy?”

I
shook my head as tears streamed down my face. “I’m not a spy.”

He
growled as he pushed off my chair. He snatched my cell phone from the table, scrolled
through the pictures, then shoved the phone in front of my face. “If you’re not
a spy, then what are you doing with these people?”

I
blinked my eyes multiple times, trying to see through my tears. Eventually, the
image came together. I stared at the picture from Mason’s pinning on ceremony.
“Those are my friends.”

His
eyes narrowed as he slowly backed away from me. Then he turned on Shae. He
leaned against the seat of her chair as he got in her face. “Are you working
for the United States government?”

Shae
shook her head. “No. I’ve never worked for the U.S. government.”

“Then
why were you taking pictures of the Russian naval fleet on the same day that
her lover was threatening Russia’s foreign policy leaders with the termination of
Russia’s lease on that navy base?”

Shae
trembled violently. “I didn’t know it was illegal to take pictures of the ships,
and I didn’t know what Maxim was doing in that meeting.”

The
man huffed out a breath irritably. He turned toward the men who had brought us
into the room. “Get them sobered up, strip them down, then bring them back here.
I want them back within the next two hours!”

*
* * * * *

Kadyn
stood outside the hospital with Rafael and Michael. “I don’t believe Markov is
going to secure Kristine’s release. If the SVR is doing this to further Russian
interests, then why would the Russian mafia do something that conflicts with
those interests?”

Rafael
stopped pacing. He glanced at Michael and Kadyn. “There are over six thousand
organizations within the Russian mafia. Each organization has its own agenda…
its own interests. They collaborate in areas that further their interests, but
they often act independently. Their interests may or may not align with the
governments within their region. Maxim’s organization appears to be more
aligned with the Ukrainian government than it is with the Russian government.
Besides, these governments don’t control the mafia. In most instances, the
mafia controls them.”

Kadyn
raked his hand over his unshaven head. “You saw that picture and those news
articles. You don’t think this is some ploy by Markov to keep Kri here?”

Rafael
shook his head. “No. I don’t.”

Michael
sat on the cold metal bench. He glanced at Rafael as he pulled the laptop from
his briefcase. “Kristine wasn’t really dating that man, was she?”

Rafael
sighed. “I have no doubt that Maxim was interested in Kristine. I’m sure he
manipulated the situation to some extent, but she was dating him as a security
precaution. He offered her protection when he learned she was being followed by
the SVR and the SBU. You know how often people, especially Americans, are
accused of being spies in this region, and you know what happens when they’re
taken into custody.”

Michael
suddenly looked wrecked. “They’re tortured.”

Rafael
nodded. “Her relationship with Maxim and the publicity surrounding them was
supposed to keep her safe.”

Kadyn
kicked a pebble into the parking lot. “If the SVR is using this kidnapping to
manipulate Ukraine’s foreign policy, then Markov’s strategy made her an even
bigger target.” He scowled. “If Markov was protecting her, then how did the SVR
get their hands on her?”

Rafael
met his gaze. “The SVR kidnapped those women the minute they were outside
Maxim’s reach. They knew he’d be tied up in that foreign policy meeting. They
saw a lapse in the security when Kristine arrived in Sevastopol, and they
seized on that opportunity. If Maxim Markov had been with Kristine in
Sevastopol, I don’t think they would have attempted to take her. I’ve done my
research on this guy. He wields a lot of power in Ukraine, and I still think
he’s the best chance these women have of getting out of this country alive.”

Michael
looked up from his computer. “I’m having a difficult time gaining access to the
Internet, even though my mobile hotspot should work here.”

Rafael
glanced at the computer screen as he joined Michael on the bench. “Brady told
me the Internet service here is unreliable and a bit sporadic, so your hotspot
may not be the problem.”

Kadyn
frowned as he approached the two men. “Why do you need Internet access?”

Michael
shook his head as he closed the laptop. “I want to make sure I can access my
bank accounts in case we have to bribe the SVR to release Kristine… and her
friend.”

Kadyn
sighed. “You don’t think Markov will be able to negotiate her release.”

Michael
shook his head again. “Not without offering a substantial amount of money.”

Kadyn
looked at Rafael. “Why am I here?”

Rafael
narrowed his eyes at Kadyn. “What do you mean? How can you even ask that?”

Kadyn’s
jaw clenched. “I mean… why did you ask me here? The mafia is handling
negotiations, your brother is paying the bribe, and you’re keeping everyone in
check. It’s not that I don’t want to be here, because I do. I want to be here,
and I want to help Kri. But I want to know why you want me here. What is it you
expect me to do?”

The
anger eased from Rafael’s face as he rose from the bench. “This isn’t the
easiest environment for either of us to engage in hostage negotiations. We need
Maxim, and we need Michael. I don’t know what it’s going to take to get
Kristine out of here. But if Maxim’s negotiations fall through, or the money
isn’t enough, then we’re going to have to try to extract her, or I may have to propose
a hostage exchange. If anything happens to me, or if I have to offer myself in
exchange for Kristine’s release, then you’re the only person I know… the only
person I trust to get her out of here.”

Kadyn
slowly nodded. “I’ll do everything within my power to get her out of this
country, but, just for the record, a hostage exchange is about the stupidest
idea I’ve ever heard. I’m going to pretend you never said that.” He patted Rafael
on the back.

Rafael
tried not to smile. “Thanks, Kadyn.”

Michael
shoved his laptop in his briefcase. “So how long are we going to sit here and
wait for Maxim to secure her release?”

Rafael
shook his head. That was not a decision he wanted to make.

Kadyn’s
gaze flitted between the two men. “I say we give him until the end of the day.”

Rafael
shook his head again. “Then what? What exactly are our options here?”

Kadyn
looked thoughtful. “If Markov can’t secure her release, and he can’t pinpoint
where she is for an extraction, then we need to pull in the U.S. government. We
should contact the U.S. Embassy in Kiev. I can talk to the Secretary of Defense
and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, since I work closely with both
men. If our political leaders can exert enough pressure on Russia’s political
leaders, they’ll force the SVR to release the women.”

Michael
stood. “That could take weeks. I say we give him until the end of the day. Then
we’ll start throwing money at them. I don’t care how much it costs, Rafael. I
want Kristine on my jet and out of this country by tomorrow morning.”

Rafael
sank onto the bench. He braced his elbows against his knees as he peered up at
Michael. “Shae and Kristine have been missing for over twenty-four hours. If
they’re being tortured, I’m not sure they’ll survive another nineteen hours.”

*
* * * * *

I
shook miserably as bucket after bucket of ice water was thrown at us. I clung
to Shae as we huddled together on the cold cement floor.

Shae’s
teeth chattered as she spoke. “Wh… wh… why do they want us to take our clothes
off?”

My
stomach roiled as I considered the possibilities. “Ma… maybe they want to
humiliate us.”

Shae
ducked her face into my neck as another bucket of frigid water sliced through
us. “Arghh. That hurts!”

I
ran my hand down my face and tried to squeeze the water out of my eyes. I was
so thirsty, I was tempted to drink the water that was dripping down my face. I
had to force myself to keep my mouth closed.

The
two men threw the last of the rusted buckets against the floor. The man who had
threatened me earlier pulled a thin black club from his belt. “Get undressed.”

I
shook my head. “No.”

Shae
scrambled away as he raised the club.

I
curled in on myself as the thin stick bit into my ribs.

Shae
screamed. “Stop!”

He
shoved her to the floor as she lunged for his hand. His face twisted in fury as
he turned toward me. “Get undressed!”

I
braced myself against the wall. “No.”

I
slammed my eyes shut and clenched my teeth as he struck me three times against
my shoulder… my back… my side.
I won’t cry, I won’t cry, I won’t cry,
echoed
in my mind like some unforgotten memory
.
I pushed to my feet and spit
blood on the floor as I turned to face him. “My ex-husband hit harder than
that.”

He
dropped the club, reached for my shoulders, and kneed me in the stomach. He began
punching me in the back as I fell to my knees. The other man pulled him off of me.

Shae’s
voice turned pleading. “Look! I’m taking my clothes off. I’m getting undressed.
Kri, come on. Get undressed. Please just get undressed with me, so he’ll stop
beating you.”

I
groaned as I rolled onto my back. I tried to sit back up, but my body wouldn’t
move. I slammed my eyes shut as one of the men began tugging at my wet pants.

Shae
started crying. “I’ll do it. Please. Just let me do it. I’ll get her
undressed.”

The
two men backed off as Shae began undressing me.

She
glanced at me apologetically. “We have to do this, Kri. If we don’t do this,
then we’re as good as dead.”

“I
wish we were dead,” I responded numbly.

We
were handcuffed before they took us back to the interrogation room. The man who
had questioned us earlier turned livid as his eyes raked over my body. My knees
slammed into the cement floor as he threw the man who held me against the wall.
He pointed to me as he screamed at him in Russian.

I
glanced up at the man who pulled me to my feet. “Why is he so angry?”

“He
doesn’t want marks on your bodies. He doesn’t want any evidence of beatings,”
the man holding Shae responded.

I
turned his statement over in my head. If there wasn’t supposed to be any evidence
of beatings, then who exactly was in charge here? I studied the six men who
were standing in the room. They seemed completely unaffected by the fact that Shae
and I were naked, as if interrogating women while they were naked was a normal,
everyday occurrence.

Shae
and I were forced back onto the cold metal chairs. The man who had questioned
us earlier reclaimed the chair that sat between us. Another man approached Shae
with a small black device.

She
shifted nervously in her seat. “What is that?”

He
glanced down at the device. “This is a stun gun.”

My
entire body began trembling. I looked at the man sitting between us. “Why does
he have a stun gun?”

He
smiled tightly. “Because it causes a great deal of pain without leaving any
marks.” He nodded toward the man who had previously held Shae. “Open her legs.”

I
sat suspended in horror as the man asked his first question. “Now, Ms.
Garlington… tell me who you really work for.”

Shae
couldn’t tear her eyes from the man with the device, which was now just inches
away from her pubic bone. “I work for Seeds for Peace,” she responded
breathlessly.