Hidden Thrones (28 page)

“Well look what we have here,” the one said with a
heavy Russian accent. “You’re a pretty little thing with your cute little
running outfit and those long beautiful legs. Just the kind of woman I like. We
are going to get to know one another real soon.”

Emily scanned the inside of the van looking for
anything she could use to keep this guy off of her. She noticed he had a large
knife strapped to his side and a handgun jammed in his back pocket.

It wasn’t too long before the van stopped. She
couldn’t tell exactly where she was since there were no windows in the van, but
she assumed it was somewhere secluded.

The man with the scar called to the driver,
“Kostya! Remember, I have first round.” He laughed. “Wait outside. I will let
you know when I am done.”

Kostya groaned, lifted his arm, waved his hand at
him in disgust, and got out of the van. He positioned himself right in front of
Emily, his eyes groping every inch of her. He could never get such a beautiful
young woman to even glance at him for a minute, so for him this was a great
bonus. Money and sex. He moved in closer, leaned over her, and got right in her
face. 

He removed the knife from its sheath and put it
next to her face. “Now, don’t make Maksim have to use this on such a pretty
girl.”

Maksim. She noted his name.

Maksim placed the knife down off to the side and
behind him and unzipped his pants. Emily began to pray for strength and
opportunity. As he leaned over to pull her shorts off, Emily, in the blink of
an eye, jammed her right knee into his groin. He jolted backwards, then bent
over grabbing himself in agony. When he did, she kicked him in the chest with
both feet. She still had her running shoes on, so impact was hard enough to
cause him to tumble backward against the side of the van, furious and groaning
in pain. Seeing the van rock to one side, Kostya smiled, thinking his friend
must be having a good time and hoping he saved a little fun for him.

Emily quickly rolled over to the knife that lay on
the floor on the opposite side of the van where Maksim had left it. She
manipulated the blade behind her back in a desperate effort to cut the cable
ties that held her wrists together. Maksim looked at her with fire in his eyes.
He was going to make her pay for that. Sex was no longer on his mind, only
vengeance. He pulled his pants up and violently snatched her by her feet and
dragged her over to him. Emily stayed focused on setting herself free. He laid
his body on top of Emily’s, pulled his gun out of his back pocket, and put it
to her temple. All of a sudden, his eyes grew wide and his face morphed from
rage to panic.

Emily pushed him off her and grabbed the gun in
one swift motion. Maksim rolled over on his side and looked down to see his own
large knife sticking out of his chest and blood pouring everywhere. Emily got
up on her knees, pulled the gag out of her mouth, and then removed the knife
from Maksim’s chest.

She looked him in the eye and introduced herself,
“Agent Emily Rafel, Mossad.”

She took the knife and thrust it back in his chest
killing him. She knew Kostya was outside and armed. She would have to be ready.
Emily checked the weapon, moved to the back of the van, and waited.

Kostya was getting impatient and banged on the van
door yelling, “Maksim! Come on! We haven’t got all day. Someone might see us.”

He waited a moment more, and then shouting his
name, opened the van’s side slider door. He immediately saw Maksim lying dead
on the floor of the van. His eyes widened and heart rate jumped. He grabbed for
his gun. As he did, he saw Emily kneeling off to the side. Before he could fire,
Emily shot. He crumpled to the ground, one bullet in the center of his
forehead.

Emily jumped out of the van to avoid all the blood
that was now beginning to cover the van floor. She reached in her back pocket,
pulled out her phone, and hit a number in her contact list.

“Aaron, it’s Agent Rafel. I have a situation.”