In For the Kill (McClouds & Friends #11)(140)

“All that death and destruction, just to entertain you.” Her voice cracked with loathing. “You sick, perverted son of a bitch.”

“Not at all,” he said. “I’m as clear as a bell. Destruction is not necessarily a bad thing, my dear. It’s always good for someone. I’m just careful to make sure that someone is invariably me.” He sipped at his brandy and glanced at his watch. “Almost time. It’ll be so stimulating to watch this with you, Svetlana. You have the biggest stake.”

“And me?” Renato asked sourly. “I have a beautiful apartment and two priceless Picassos that will be worthless in a half an hour!”

“I said I’d compensate you, Renato. Don’t nag and carp, please.”

“You can’t compensate the loss of a Picasso!” Renato bitched. “You have no soul, Michael. You cannot possibly understand that kind of loss.”

Hazlett waved that away and turned back to her. “Although I don’t feel emotions the way you do, I enjoy watching them. The dread, the terror, the buildup.” He chuckled. “Rather sexual, come to think of it.”

“You call the destruction of irreplaceable property and priceless artwork sexual? I call it stupid and wasteful!”

Josef tossed her to the ground with a bone-rattling thud. The other two men were too busy with their bickering to notice. She’d fallen facing them this time, so they wouldn’t see what she did behind her back. If they saw her move, they’d probably focus on her breasts.

She had no hope of living through this. All she hoped was to hurt one of them, and maybe earn herself a quicker, cleaner death.

She worked Liv’s ring open again. She couldn’t get her hands free, but she could pick at the plastic strip that bound her ankles. With one hand, she seized the hem of her jeans, so that her bowed position would not snap suddenly loose and draw attention to her when the plastic finally gave way. She sawed away at it, heart thudding heavily.

They had forgotten about her for the moment, though Josef turned often to leer and grab his crotch. He started toward her just as the binding that held her legs together gave way. She clutched the hem of her jeans with all her strength, willing him away, away, away.

“Feeling lonely, bitch?” he crooned. “Want some attention?”

“Don’t get distracted,” Hazlett snapped. “Did you set up the other TV? I want to hear the live news coverage, too. Hurry, please.”

Josef turned to obey. Tears of relief sprang to her eyes. If she got her moment, it could only be when someone was bending over her, thinking her still trussed. But not Josef. She’d have a better shot with the complacent Renato or Hazlett, rather than a feral, twisted creature like Josef. She had to just blow on that tiny, secret flame of rebellion. Keep it alive until she could burn out, all at once, with everything she had. Until then, she’d concentrate on looking helpless and terrified.

The role came to her very naturally, under the circumstances.



“She’s in that house at the top of the drive,” Misha said. “There are no other houses near.”

“Great. Thanks for your help,” Sam said. “This is the part where you tell me you’ll be good and stay far away.”

Misha just looked at him.

Sam sagged, exhausted. “Goddamnit, Misha,” he said. “I can’t protect you up there! I don’t even know what I’ll be facing.”

“Josef is there. I tagged his car,” Misha said. “He followed Sveti to the middle of nowhere yesterday and stayed for hours after she left. Now he is here. I think Sveti led him to The Sword of Cain.”

“So the charming Josef now has nuclear capability,” Sam said. “What a stimulating thought. And you want a reunion with him?”

“No,” Misha said. “I want to kill him.”

A sharp groan of dismay hissed from between Sam’s teeth.

“Josef has been back in Rome all day, at one of my father’s properties. A storage facility with large supplies of ordnance. Josef is good with explosives. He might have already built a bomb.”

“Not my problem,” Sam said curtly. “Only Sveti is my problem.”

“I am coming,” Misha said. “This is my problem, too.”

Fuck. Sam let out a slow breath. “I will tie you down.”

“If you die, they will find me tied, and they will kill me slowly.”

Sam counted down from five. “Listen to me,” he said. “If I go in and I don’t come out, and you’re not out here watching, there’s no one to warn the world about the bomb, and no one to help Sveti. Sasha will have died for nothing. You’re my only hope if it all goes to shit. This is the best way to help Sveti. Do this for her, and for Sasha. Stay back.”

Misha considered this, and pulled out his Walther. “But I must come closer,” he persisted. “How can I bear witness if I do not see?”

Goddamn stubborn butthead. It made it that much worse that he was actually starting to like the weird little freak.

He gestured at Misha’s pistol. “Watch it with that thing. All I have is surprise. Play it too soon and we’re done for.”

They got out of the car. Light glowed from the large windows of the boxlike modern structure far above them on the ridge.

“We hike up this hill and circle around the back,” Sam said.