Slava was kneeling beside her, unzipping his fly, several knives sitting on the bedside table, and an evil sneer on his face.
He whipped around at the commotion, his smile fading, and he leapt to his feet, groping for the gun that was still clipped to his belt.
He didn’t stand a chance.
Before his fingers had closed around the weapon, Marc squeezed the trigger of his raised SIG Sauer and delivered one lethal head shot right between Slava’s eyes.
The impact sent Slava crashing backward, blood oozing from his forehead. His body shattered the side table, then rolled onto the floor in a lifeless heap.
Stepping over him, Marc grabbed a blanket from the foot of the bed and wrapped it around Emma as Aidan sliced the ropes binding her.
“It’s Marc,” he said as he removed her gag, aware of the fact that she couldn’t see him or make out his identity through his scuba gear. “Aidan’s with me. We’re getting you out of here. Hold on.”
Emma’s teeth immediately began chattering, and she whimpered, the expression in her eyes almost painful to see.
“Easy,” Marc murmured, as, very gently, he lifted her blanketed body into his arms. “We’re almost home free.”
Aidan was already in the shattered doorway, scanning the corridor. “We’re clear,” he announced. “You lead. You know where the staircase is.”
They took off.
As they rounded the bend at the opposite end of the corridor, they could hear racing footsteps approaching the now-empty room.
They ascended the steps two at a time, and Marc kicked open the door at the landing hard enough to knock over the guard on the other side.
Waiting to hear his grunt of pain as he fell over, Marc shoved open the door, and he and Aidan bolted for the study.
Even carrying Emma, Marc shot through the window in one smooth motion, with Aidan right behind him. They squatted down, using their powerful quadriceps to hustle them across the grounds.
“I’ve got you,” Marc murmured to Emma, who was shaking violently and making agonized sobbing sounds. “You’re safe.”
Aidan was texting Ryan as he moved.
As they neared the lake, the red beam pierced the sky like the Bat signal.
The powerboat reached shore, and Marc waded out, placing Emma on the boat. Then, he climbed in, Aidan alongside. Ryan turned the boat and sped away from shore.
Behind them, they could make out a convoy of trucks pulling up to the Lubinov mansion and a blur of figures swarming inside.
“Looks like SWAT,” Aidan noted.
Marc turned around to see. “Yeah, I’m guessing it’s Albany SWAT. Hutch must have made this happen. Good. They’ll finish up where we left off. So much for Lubinov. I hope he rots in hell.”
Ryan glanced over, seeing that Marc was still cradling Emma, rocking her like a baby in distress.
“How is she?” he asked.
“Not good,” was Marc’s blunt reply. He reached over to grab the bottled water that Ryan had just uncapped and was handing him, along with the couple of extra blankets they’d brought on board. “Time to rehydrate,” Marc told Emma.
“Okay…but Marc.” She stopped him with a painfully devastated expression. “I tried not to say anything or to answer Lubinov’s questions. I tried. But those instruments he let Slava use…they hurt. I was scared. After a while…I told them I worked for Forensic Instincts. Not about Lisa’s identity switch, but about FI. I’m sorry.”
“Stop it.” Marc put down the water long enough to wrap the extra blankets tightly around Emma, easing both her internal and external chill. “You were a trooper. Now sip slowly.” He held the bottle up to her lips.
She complied, coughing at first but then gradually swallowing small amounts of fluid.
“Damn straight you were a trooper,” Ryan said. “We’re so proud of you. Besides, it doesn’t matter anymore. The FBI has Lubinov by now, along with all the psychos working for him, and those poor athletes who won’t even understand why they’re being taken in.”
“They won’t be charged. But they’ll make ideal witnesses. They’ll help put the scumbags away.” While he was speaking, Marc was studying Emma’s bruised and swollen face. He remembered the rivulets of blood on her body, along with additional bruising around her ribs. “We’ve got to get you to a hospital.”