Stranded but not Alone (Midnight Moanings Collection) (19 page)

In the car Seth eyed his mother in the back seat and saw another blow coming.

“What’s wrong, Mother?”

“Seth, I forgot to tell you something. That nice young lady you use to go out with, a Grace, Gloria…”

He glanced back. “Gretchen, her name was Gretchen. What about her?”

“She called about a week or so ago. She said you two knew of some mutual friends that wanted to get in touch with you. She wanted to give them your number. I told her she should contact you first.”

“Mutual friends? Gretchen never contacted me. I’d rather not have her in my life.”

“What happened between you two, son?” Sergei asked.

“Being with a man who’s sterile was a disappointment for her. She broke off the engagement.” His knuckles creased as the blood left his hands him squeezing the steering wheel.

“Son, I’m sorry. Adoption wasn’t an option?”

“Apparently not.”

“Does Simone know you can’t have children, honey?” Larissa asked.

He wasn’t having this conversation with them. “Did Gretchen say who the friends were?”

“No just…..” His mom paused. “I take that back. She did mention a Gregori. She said that he wanted your number, but I know you don’t like giving your number to strangers.”

His blood lost mobility within the vein, gelling. “Did you say Gregori?”

“What’s wrong? You’re as white as milk. Who is Gregori?”

“Gregori is the guy that tried to get Sim in the nightclub. Mom, Gregori is one of the guys who has her.” He hit his fist against the dashboard, cursing low.

“Oh no! That can’t be right. Why…” She leaned forward touching Sergei’s shoulder.

“What, honey?” Sergei leaned back and held his wife’s hand from the front seat.

“Gretchen asked if you would be out of town long. She said if you were, she would meet you out here. Oh, Sergei, I sent them here.” She curled into her seat and began crying.

“Mother, you couldn’t have known what she was up to. How much does she know?”

She was crying so hard that Seth strained to make out that Gretchen knew the hotel name and what room he stayed in.

“But, son, if they knew what room you’re in, why go after Simone?” Sergei asked, leaning back and rubbing his wife’s knee.

“Who would you try to kidnap, Father? The six foot, two hundred pound man or the woman he loves, who isn’t quite five foot six and might weigh a hundred and ten with that damn backpack of Ziplocs?” In all his pain, he felt warm thinking about her and her affection for Ziploc bags.

“This’s terrible. Your mother had no way of knowing.”

He skimmed his mother‘s face in the rearview. “I think Gretchen was setup to find me. This doesn’t sound like her. As much as I despise her, I don’t think she did this without coercion.”

“Honey, I never thought that finding out would put so many lives in danger. I’m so sorry.”

Once they left the Notary’s and dropped off the signed affidavit to be delivered, Seth paced the lobby waiting for the next instructions.

Until he had something new, he was stuck.

Three hours later, they received a call at the desk.

“Mr. Dragoslava, you have a call.”

He jumped to his feet. “Seth speaking.”

“Very good, Mr. Dragoslava.” The voice from the other end was female. “You follow directions well. I need to contact my third party, and the file has been authenticated and it will be filed with the courts. I will be contacting you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow! We gave you everything you asked for. Where is Simone?” Anger began to burn up through his body. With extreme effort he tried to bring himself back down to stay calm.

“Temper, temper. Once I have filed it with the courts, your precious Simone will be returned to you. The courts do not stay open all night, Mr. Dragoslava.”

“I need to speak to her. We've come through on our end.”

“Alright. Just to show you that I do appreciate those who follow directions, I will let you speak with her for two minutes. I will have someone call you. Do not leave. I would hate to kill your mother, she looks so content sitting beside your father.” She disconnected the line.

“Damnit, they’re watching us from somewhere,” he said, angling his head around the room. “We don’t get Sim back until tomorrow.” He faced the stares focused on him.

“Why the hell not?” Mikhail grabbed Seth’s arm.

The concierge stepped toward the men. “Sir, may I suggest a drink by the fire? I will alert you when the call comes in.”

Acknowledging the suggestion with an acceptance, they seated themselves in front of the fire.

“Why don’t we get her back tonight?” Mikhail accepted the snifter of brandy from the host.

Seth composed himself and took a soothing drink. “It’s too late to file the papers with the court. We get two minutes to speak with her.”

“Sir, you have a call.” They return to the desk taking the phone from the concierge.

“Hello.”

“Seth.”

“Sim, hang in there,
liebling
. We're doing everything we can. We're gonna get you back home. Are you okay?”

“I'm okay. I'm just worried about your parents and Mikhail.”

“Where’d they shoot you, Sim?”

“In my thigh. Just listen, Seth.”

“I’m gonna get you out of there.”

“Just listen to me. If I don’t make it out, I wanted you to know—I love you.”

“Sim, I’m getting you out.” He took a breath ran a hand through his hair, facing his family. Scrubbing his jaw he said, “I love you, Sim.”

“I want you to do whatever it takes to keep your parents safe,” she said and he could hear the slight change in her breathing like when he told her to get in the lake and she hesitated. She had a plan. “Seth, make sure to put the horses, Chaney and Nowendohere, back in the old barn. I left them out in the back. They seem to prefer the dampness.” Luckasz grabbed the phone from her.

“Say good-bye.” The call ended.

Seth shoved a hand through his hair and ran the other over his face. “I need a piece of paper,” he said and the concierge handed him a note pad. Leaning over the marble counter he replayed her words back.

“Seth, what did she say? Is she okay?” Mikhail asked, watching him jot down what Simone said to him. When she said it, it made no sense.

“What’s that?” Sergei asked, looking over Seth’s shoulder.

“Simone said it just before they took the phone from her.”

“It’s a code,” Sergei said. “She’s trying to tell you where she is. Break the letters down into words.”

Seth felt his love for Simone spreading over his face. His lady was brave and cunning. “That’s my girl… She said she left the horses out back, Chaney and Nowendohere.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

He listened as they all made suggestions on what they meant and then Seth saw it.

“Chaney, she’s chained to something or the doors are chained. The other word, No-wen-do-here…”

“No window in here,” Sergei said. “She’s in a building with no windows. Let me think.”

“How do you know they’re clues?”

“She and her brother used code words when they camped... military father. He taught her quite a bit about survival.”

“So you two did talk in the cabin. I thought you were bullshitting me.”

“She’s a smart girl, Seth,” Anya said.

“That’s my Sim,” he said and looked at the faces around the lobby. Someone could be watching from the inside and listening to their conversation.

“How’d Simone sound, Seth?” Mikhail asked.

“Honestly? Scared as hell. What upsets me more is that she’s pissed off.”

“Why more?” Mikhail asked.

“You don’t know her like I do. I watched her kill two wolves because she was protecting me. She reacts, not runs.”

“I’m holding whomever I find with her responsible.” Seth paced the marble floors. He pulled his cell back out and replayed Simone’s message from the stairwell. She’d been shot, but pretended to be okay. The captors must not have known she sent the message earlier.
Smart girl, Sim
. He excused himself and went to the corner.

Seth dialed his friend from his military days. Dmitri lived for stuff like this and was in the area.

“Hello.”

“Dmitri, it’s Seth, I need your help, bro.”

“Name it. What’s up?”

Seth filled him in on all the details and hung up with him.

“Who’s Dmitri?” Mikhail asked coming over to him.

“A friend. If anyone can find Sim from these clues, he can.”

“We’re waiting for him to all back?”

“Unless you got a better idea.” He tossed back the remainder of his brandy.

He shook his head. “How long will he take to find her?”

“Depends, but he’s always accurate.”

“So he’ll find her?”

“Yeah, he’ll find where she is and we’ll handle it my way.”

“What about the detective?”

“I can’t wait on the detective. He works within the line. Until I find Sim, I am the line.”

“Seth, this is way over our heads.”

“Mikhail, this is what I did every day. You never lose this kind of training. You just hope you never have to use it again.”

“Why is that?” Mikhail asked

“Somebody always dies.”

Twelve

Never play all your cards at once; you never know when you may need that ace. In this case, Seth’s ace happened to be a guy he bunked with for five years in the military.

“First, the hotel is being watched, so we’ll go out the service entrance,” Seth said. “Dmitri found the trail from the van that took her. She’s about nine miles from here in an abandoned barn. Let's go. I don't know about you, but my woman could be being tortured as we stand here. I think losing a baby was torture enough.” They jogged down to Mikhail’s truck.

Seth and Mikhail were on their way to meet Dmitri down from the barn. He located the van that took Sim—four miles from the hotel.

“She’ll be okay,” Mikhail said.

Seth watched as Mikhail turned the gun repeatedly, as if he’d never seen one before.
We are so different
, he thought.

“She’s a lot tougher than people think,” Mikhail said and tucked the gun inside his coat pocket.

“That’s just it.” Distress left his face as he went into his military mental zone. “I don’t want her tough. I love her just the way she is. She’s loving and caring. She’s all woman. She’s soft, but she’s no push over. I don’t want another military woman.” He looked at his brother out the corner of his eye.

“Don’t worry, Seth. I know she’s off limits. You don’t think I know you stayed with her last night. It’s on your face—in your walk.”

“Mikhail, you don’t get it.”

“Makes you feel good to be around her, doesn’t it?”

He tossed a sideways glance at his brother. “Alive—she makes me feel alive.”

“I’ll admit that when I saw her in the shower and she had the towel on…” He held a hand up. “Calm down. I can see the veins in your temple throbbing. Like I was saying, she has a peacefulness about her, comforting. When I saw you two together, I was surprised you weren’t married.”

“Whatever happens between us, it can’t happen until we get her out safely.” They finish the drive in silence. He finally finds a woman he would give his live for and what she wants he can’t give her. Reality was a cruel bastard.

Old abandoned farms dot the countryside, just miles from town. Now they look like excerpts from old movie trailers, where the farms go on forever. This was one of those areas were if you weren’t familiar with the terrain, don’t drive it at night. There were no lights out this far.

The hairpin curves made it tricky driving without headlights. They parked the SUV behind a rise of trees. Moist ground and darkness camouflaged their ascent. Seth could see a barn about a hundred yards away from them. His heart rate spiked. His head wasn’t right.
Focus on Sim
. He shifted into military mode and all his senses heightened. His attention narrowed to one target, the bastard who had Sim must die.

He climbed out of the SUV and gently closed the door. His body relaxed when he saw his friend.

Dmitri walked over to them, five feet eleven, medium build, blond hair pulled back into a ponytail—the way Seth had seen him the first day they met. The black cargos and black windbreaker made his signature look.

No need to ask what he was carrying. Dmitri wore his Sig Sauer the way Seth wore his Gerber LMF knife tucked into the waistband of his pants.

Another man stepped from the truck. Crazy, as everyone called him, his big body made the truck rock as he got out. He looked like he ate people for lunch. They greet each other with the man signature hug, opposite shoulder’s bump one another.

“Damn, man, he looks just like you,” Dmitri said, adjusting his hat to cover his hair. “This Simone must be something else.” He checked his watch.

“She is,” Seth agreed.

“Mikhail, meet Crazy. That’s what we all call him. Don’t ask why.”

“Long as you’re on our team, I don’t care what your name is.” Mikhail shook the man’s hand.

“You don't put up with the ladies this long, Seth, especially the American women. Unless it's with another lady…”

“That was more your territory, not mine, Dmitri. Let’s do this. They already shot her in the thigh. She took out two wolves in the woods thinking I was in danger. I want her out in one piece before she tries to take them on herself.”