Keep Me (18 page)

I first become aware of the noises. Low feminine murmurs intermingled with rhythmic beeping. A hum of electricity in the background. All of this overlaid with a throbbing pain in the front of my skull and a strong antiseptic odor in my nostrils.

A hospital. I’m in a hospital of some kind.

My body hurts, the pain seemingly everywhere. My first instinct is to open my eyes and seek answers, but I lie still, letting the recollections come to me.

Nora. The mission. Flying to Tajikistan. I relive it all, the remembered sensations sharp and vivid. I see myself talking to Lucas in the cabin, feel the plane bucking underneath us. I hear the sputtering whine of the engines and experience the gut-churning sensation of falling from the sky. I endure the paralysis of fear in those last few moments as Lucas tries to level out the plane above the tree line to buy us precious seconds—and then I feel the bone-jarring impact of the crash.

Beyond that, there is nothing else, just darkness.

It should’ve been the permanent darkness of death, yet I’m alive. The pain in my battered body tells me so.

Continuing to lie still, I assess my new situation. The voices around me—they’re speaking in a foreign language. It sounds like a mixture of Russian and Turkish. Likely Uzbek, given where we were flying at the time of the crash.

It’s two women speaking, their tone casual, almost gossipy. Logic tells me they are probably nurses at this hospital. I can hear them moving about as they chat with one another, and I carefully crack open one eye to look at my surroundings.

I’m in a drab room with pale green walls and a small window on the far wall. Fluorescent lights on the ceiling emit a low buzzing sound—the hum of electricity I’d noticed earlier. A monitor is hooked up to me, with an IV line connected to my wrist. I can see the nurses on the other side of the room. They’re changing the sheets on an empty bed that’s standing there. A thin curtain separates my area from that bed, but it’s drawn open, enabling me to see the room fully.

Other than the two nurses, I’m alone. There’s no sign of any of my men. My pulse jumps at the realization, and I do my best to steady my breathing before they notice. I want them to continue thinking that I’m unconscious. There doesn’t seem to be any overt threat, but until I know what happened to the plane and how I ended up here, I don’t dare drop my guard.

Cautiously flexing my fingers and toes, I close my eyes and take mental stock of my injuries. I feel weak, like I lost a lot of blood. My head throbs, and I can feel a heavy bandage over my forehead. My left arm—which aches mercilessly—is immobilized, as if it’s in a cast. My right one seems fine, however. It hurts to breathe, so I assume my ribs are damaged in some way. Beyond that, I can feel all of my appendages, and the pain in the rest of my body feels more like scrapes and bruises than broken bones.

After a few minutes, one of the nurses leaves while the other one walks over to my bed. I remain still and quiet, feigning unconsciousness. She adjusts the sheet covering me, then checks the bandage on my head. I can hear her humming softly under her breath as she turns to leave as well, and at that moment, heavier footsteps enter the room.

A man’s voice, deep and authoritative, asks a question in Uzbek.

I crack open my eyes again to steal a glance at the doorway. The new arrival is a lean middle-aged man wearing a military officer’s uniform. Judging by the insignia on his chest, he must be fairly high up.

The nurse answers him, her voice soft and uncertain, and then the man approaches my bed. I tense, prepared to defend myself if necessary despite the weakness in my muscles. However, the man doesn’t reach for a weapon or make any threatening moves. Instead he studies me, his expression oddly curious.

Going on instinct, I open my eyes fully and look at him, my body still coiled for a potential strike. “Who are you?” I ask bluntly, figuring that the direct approach is best at this point. “Where is this place?”

He looks startled, but recovers his composure almost right away. “I’m Colonel Sharipov, and you are in Tashkent, Uzbekistan,” he answers, taking half a step back. “Your airplane crashed, and you were brought here.” He has a thick accent, but his English is surprisingly good. “The Russian embassy has been in contact about you. Your people are sending another plane to pick you up.”

He knows who I am then. “Where are my men? What happened to my plane?”

“We’re still investigating the cause of the crash,” Sharipov says, his eyes shifting slightly to the side. “It’s unclear at this point—”

“Bullshit.” My voice is deadly quiet. I can tell when someone is lying, and this fucker is definitely trying to blow smoke up my ass. “You know what happened.”

He hesitates. “I’m not authorized to discuss the investigation—”

“Did your military fire a missile at us?” I use my right arm to prop myself up into a sitting position. My ribs protest the movement, but I ignore the pain. I may feel as weak as an infant, but it’s never a good idea to seem that way in front of an enemy. “You might as well tell me now because I will learn the truth one way or another.”

His face tightens at my implied threat. “No, it was not us. Right now, it appears that one of our missile launchers was used, but nobody issued the order to shoot down your plane. We received word from Russia that you would be passing through our airspace, and we were told to let you through.”

“You have an idea of who is responsible, though,” I observe coldly. Now that I’m sitting up, I don’t feel quite as vulnerable—though I would feel even better if I had a gun or a knife. “You know who used the launcher.”

Sharipov hesitates again, then reluctantly admits, “It’s possible that one of our officers may have been bribed by the Ukrainian government. We’re looking into that possibility now.”

“I see.” It all finally makes sense. Somehow Ukraine got word of my cooperation with the Russians and decided to eliminate me before I became a threat.
Those fucking bastards.
This is why I try not to take sides in these petty conflicts—it’s too costly, in more ways than one.

“We have stationed a few soldiers on this floor,” Sharipov says, changing the topic. “You will be safe here until the Russian envoy arrives to bring you to Moscow.”

“Where are my men?” I repeat my earlier question, my eyes narrowing as I see Sharipov’s gaze slide away again. “Are they here?”

“Four of them,” he admits quietly, looking back at me. “I am afraid the rest didn’t make it.”

I keep my expression impassive, though it feels like a sharp blade is twisting in my insides. I should be used to it by now—to people dying around me—but somehow it still weighs on me. “Who are the survivors?” I ask, keeping my voice level. “Do you have their names?”

He nods and rattles off a list of names. To my relief, Lucas Kent is among them. “He regained consciousness briefly,” Sharipov explains, “and helped identify the others. Besides you, he’s the only one who wasn’t burned by the explosion.”

“I see.” My relief is replaced by slowly building rage. Nearly fifty of my best men are dead. Men I’ve trained with. Men I’ve gotten to know. As I process that fact, it occurs to me that there is only one way the Ukrainian government would’ve known about my negotiations with the Russians.

The pretty Russian interpreter. She was the only outsider privy to that conversation.

“I need a phone,” I tell Sharipov, swinging my feet to the floor and standing up. My knees shake a bit, but my legs are able to hold my weight. This is good. It means I’m capable of walking out of here under my own steam.

“I need it right now,” I add when he just gapes at me as I pull the IV needle out of my arm with my teeth and peel the monitor sensors off my chest. My hospital gown and bare feet undoubtedly look ridiculous, but I don’t give a fuck. I have a traitor to deal with.

“Of course,” he says, recovering from his shock. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a cell phone and hands it to me. “Peter Sokolov wanted to talk to you as soon you woke up.”

“Good. Thanks.” Placing the phone in my left hand, which protrudes from the cast, I begin to punch in numbers with my right. It’s a secure line that moves through so many relays, it would take a world-class hacker to trace it to its destination. As I hear the familiar clicks and beeps of the connection, I reclaim the phone with my right hand and tell Sharipov, “Please ask one of the nurses to get me some regular clothes. I’m tired of wearing this.”

The colonel nods and walks out of the room. A second after he leaves, Peter’s voice comes on the line: “Esguerra?”

“Yes, it’s me.” My grip on the phone tightens. “I assume you heard the news.”

“Yes, I heard.” A pause on the line. “I had Yulia Tzakova detained in Moscow. It seems like she’s got some connections that our Kremlin friends overlooked.”

So Peter is already on top of this. “Yes, it seems like it.” My voice is even, though anger boils within me. “Needless to say, we’re scrapping the mission. When are we getting picked up?”

“The plane is on its way. It should be there in a few hours. I sent Goldberg along in case you could use a doctor.”

“Good thinking. We’ll be waiting. How is Nora?”

There is a brief moment of silence. “She’s better now that she knows you’re alive. She wanted to fly out there as soon as she heard.”

“You didn’t let her, though.” It’s a statement, not a question. Peter knows better than to fuck up like that.

“No, of course not. Do you wish to see her? I may be able to set up a video connection with the hospital.”

“Yes, please set it up.” What I really want is to see her and hold her in person, but the video will have to do for now. “In the meantime, I’m going to check on Lucas and the others.”

* * *

Because of the bulky cast on my arm, it’s a struggle to put on the clothes the nurse brings me. The pants go on without any issues, but I end up having to rip out the left sleeve to get the cast through the armhole. My ribs hurt like hell, and every movement requires tremendous effort as my body wants nothing more than to lie back down on the bed and rest. I persist, though, and after a few tries, finally succeed in clothing myself.

Thankfully, walking is easier. I can maintain a regular stride. As I exit the room, I see the soldiers Sharipov mentioned earlier. There are five of them, all dressed in army fatigues and toting Uzis. Seeing me emerge into the hallway, they silently fall into step behind me, following me as I head over to the Intensive Care Unit. Their expressionless faces make me wonder if they’re there to protect me or to protect others
from
me. I can’t imagine the Uzbekistani government is thrilled to have an illegal arms dealer in their civilian hospital.

Lucas is not there, so I check on the others first. As Sharipov told me, they are all badly burned, with bandages covering most of their bodies. They’re also heavily sedated. I make a mental note to transfer a huge bonus into each of their bank accounts to compensate them for this, and to have them seen by the best plastic surgeons. These men knew the risks when they came to work for me, but I still want to make sure they’re taken care of.

“Where is the fourth man?” I ask one of the soldiers accompanying me, and he directs me to another room.

When I get there, I see that Lucas is asleep. He doesn’t look nearly as bad as the others, which is a relief. He’ll be able to return with me to Colombia once the plane arrives, whereas the burned men will have to stay here for at least a few more days.

Coming back to my room, I find Sharipov there, placing a laptop on the bed. “I was asked to give this to you,” he explains, handing me the computer.

“Excellent, thank you.” Taking the laptop from him with my right hand, I sit down on the bed. Or, more appropriately, collapse on the bed, my legs shaking from the strain of walking all over the hospital. Thankfully, Sharipov doesn’t see my ungainly maneuver, as he’s already heading out the door.

As soon as he’s gone, I go on the internet and download a program designed to conceal my online activities. Then I go to a special website and put in my code. That brings up a video chat window, and I put in yet another code there, connecting to a computer back at the compound.

Peter’s image appears first. “Finally, there you are,” he says, and I see the living room of my house in the background. “Nora is coming down.”

A moment later, Nora’s small face shows up on the screen. “Julian! Oh my God, I thought I would never see you again!” Her voice is filled with barely contained tears, and there are wet tracks on her cheeks. Her smile, however, radiates pure joy.

I grin at her, all my anger and physical discomfort forgotten in a sudden surge of happiness. “Hi baby, how are you?”

She gapes at me. “How am
I
? What kind of question is that? You’re the one who was just in a plane crash! How are
you
? Is that a cast on your arm?”

“It appears to be.” I lift my right shoulder in a brief shrug. “It’s my left arm, though, and I’m right-handed, so it’s not a big deal.”

“What about your head?”

“Oh, this?” I touch the thick bandage around my forehead. “I’m not sure, but since I’m walking and talking, I assume it’s something minor.”

She shakes her head, staring at me with disbelief, and my grin broadens. Nora probably thinks I’m trying to be all macho in front of her. My pet doesn’t realize that these kinds of injuries truly are minor for me; I’ve had worse from my father’s fists as a child.

“When are you coming home?” she asks, bringing her face closer to the camera. Her eyes look enormous this way, her long lashes spiky with residual wetness. “You
are
coming home now, right?”

“Yes, of course. I can’t exactly go after Al-Quadar like this.” I wave my right hand toward the cast. “The plane is already on its way to get me and Lucas, so I’ll be seeing you very soon.”

“I can’t wait,” she says softly, and my chest tightens at the raw emotion I see on her face. A feeling very much like tenderness winds through me, intensifying my longing for her until I ache with it.