Hard to Kill (16 page)

Finally, she spotted Kane doing the fast version of the old-man shuffle. He must have gone to their agreed-upon spot and found her missing. But if she got too close to him, he
'd be made as well. She needed to keep her distance until the men left.

She ducked into the shadow of a doorway and held her breath as the car rolled past. The rapid beat of her pulse began to pound in her ears as adrenaline, combined with increased blood flow, wound its way through her. When they rolled past Kane, she unzipped her bag and fingered the trigger on the gun.

Even though he feigned obliviousness, she knew him better than to be fooled by his casual stance. When he shifted the pack from his shoulder to his hand, she knew he was readying to shoot his way out of the mess if need be. Still, she couldn't help but admire his acting chops. If she didn't know better—

A plastic bag came over her head noiselessly while men surrounded her on both sides, grabbing her arms and wrapping them behind her back in what felt like industrial-strength bungee cords. Her feet were lethal, but not without leverage, and not without her ability to breathe. While she struggled to suck in air, a voice whispered in her ear as he pulled her along,
"We've heard about you and aren't taking any chances." The sinister laugh that followed caused her mind to freefall.

Suck it up
.

Wheeze. Instead of air, plastic hit her gaping mouth. Dizziness set in as spots vibrated before her eyes. It wouldn
't be long before it was over.

The ping of a bullet sounded and the guy holding her on the left dropped away with a curse. She was too out of it to react until the tight grip on the bag loosened, freeing up some much-needed oxygen. A slip of air hit her nostrils, bringing with it a sense of awareness. She twisted her head, hoping to get the bag off her head. It wasn
't working, but air was swirling underneath, giving her what she craved.

Another bullet sounded close enough for the guy on the right to bring her in front of him. Using him for leverage, and feeling a surge of strength, she stomped on his instep and dove left. Seconds later, another shot rang out.

Her shoulder hit the hard ground. Ouch.

"
Sabrina, are you okay?" Kane didn't wait for an answer and yanked the plastic bag from her head, as he alternated between swearing and clucking like a little old lady. Somewhere along the way—she couldn't say when—he'd dropped the disguise. He made fast work of the things binding her arms and wrapped himself around her.

She worked her shoulder up and down and was glad she hadn
't dislocated it. "How did you find me?"

"
Dumb luck. I saw them park the car and get out and thought I should investigate."

A shiver wound through her.
"When those guys don't respond, they'll send more."

"
That's what I'm thinking too."

"
The train's not due for another twenty minutes." She chewed her lip. Even while the craving for oxygen had subsided, her brain still flashed panic.

"
Let's hide out until night when we can walk to the next station to throw them off." His voice was tight, his jaw clenched. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and tucked her in close.

An inner wuss she didn
't know existed didn't fight the contact. Memories from long ago tickled at the base of her brain but stubbornly refused to surface.

As they trudged silently up the century-old village steps, two men emerged around the corner of one of the buildings to point guns at them. With nowhere to duck and hide, they raised their arms in capitulation—at least for now. She knew Kane well enough to know he wouldn
't go down easy, and neither would she.

"
You're coming with us." The men spoke in German as they motioned with the tips of their guns to a point higher, where the likelihood of being spotted by a villager was even more remote. One guy was freakishly tall, with long, gangly arms. He moved behind Kane, forcing him forward. The other was about a foot shorter, with a mustache, and stepped in line behind her.

The men had every intention of killing them. She had no doubt about that. But first they needed to find out what she and Kane knew so they could report back to Trinity.

She knew Kane was thinking the same thing: they would use him to get to her and vice versa. In her estimation, that was a losing proposition. It would take a whole lot for either one of them to give in. They were alike in so many ways.

But she had no intention of getting to that point. And, she suspected, neither did Kane. Once they got to the torture thing, it was a vicious cycle that could easily spiral out of control. Stopping things before they got there was the best solution she could imagine.

The Uzi poked into her lower back as they went farther and farther into the ruins of the village and farther and farther away from the train that would be due in less than fifteen minutes. She glanced at Kane. He gave her a wink and mouthed counting back from three.

They struck in tandem, twisting and grabbing the guns, pointing them away until they fell from the men
's hands. Leverage on the stairs was treacherous, but that worked to their advantage with the two out-of-shape men sent to capture them.

Kane and the tall guy were trading blows, while she knew better than to engage in a fistfight. She
'd lose that battle for sure. Instead, she ducked and weaved among the crumbling architecture, hoping to find an opening. The uneven ground was making that nearly impossible. The mustached guy stalked her up the steps higher and higher. Kane and the tall one were still at it. Their abandoned guns had tumbled out of reach. But if she were quick, she might be able to secure one before Mustache Man did. Just as she had the thought, the man lunged, grasping her foot and yanking. She lost her balance and fell.

A menacing smile broke out on his face as reached into his pocket and came after her with a knife. The shot rang out, clipping him in the shoulder and causing him to drop his knife. Sabrina expected to find Kane, but instead spotted Antonio holding a rifle. He motioned with his hands.
"
Fretta, fretta
," he shouted as bullets began to fly all around them.

Kane came up behind her and grabbed her hand. Together they tore down the steps toward the slowly approaching train.

Another shot sounded behind them. When she turned, she spotted Antonio with a giant red stain blooming on his chest.

They were both out of breath when they settled into their train seats. Sabrina couldn
't speak for Kane, but it took more than a few minutes to calm her racing heart.

He clasped her hand in his.
"Antonio made amends in the end."

"
I guess he did." She nodded slowly, still trying to process the idea that Antonio was dead. Despite his double cross, shouldn't she at least have tears in her eyes? "At some level I understand him. If it weren't for my brothers, I might have turned into even more of a cold bitch than I am."

He chuckled.
"That's only what you want people to believe."

"
You're naïve, Kane. I never have been one of those touchy-feely kinds of people. I can't remember the last time I cried—probably not since I was a little girl and learned how cruel life can be." Why did he keep thinking she was capable of something that would never be? She'd made peace with it. Why couldn't he?

"
That doesn't mean you're emotionless. It means you're guarded. I get that.  No doubt it's a lingering effect of having a shitty childhood."

She shrugged, knowing he
'd minimized her emotional desert. "It's who I am. I don't get all gaga over any man in my life; I don't sit around and talk about my problems or try to work them out; I never get overly attached. Most times I say screw it and move on." While nerves jumped around inside her, he looked the epitome of calm, cool, and collected.

"
You told me a little too much about your past. That's your real fear, isn't it, Sabrina? Maybe people won't back away from you. Maybe they won't walk on eggshells to keep from pissing you off. Maybe they'll see you for the scared woman you are."

"
What, are you my psychoanalyst now?"

"
I'm more than that and we both know it." The firm set of his jaw irked her more than she could say.

She looked around the train, anxious for an out.
"I don't need this." Her legs were shaky when she stood, brushing past him and moving to another seat.

Her plan all along was to go at this assignment alone. Just because he fell into her lap didn
't mean she had to make use of his talents and the high-and-mighty power of the FBI. Besides, his talents weren't that great, and she had much more incentive to see this to its conclusion.

Seconds later, he settled next to her, spoiling the good vibe she was desperately working on.
"Do I have to report you to the authorities?"

"
Both you and I know that's not going to happen." His eyebrows rose up and down and he chucked her under the chin. "We don't have internet access; we have nearly a five-hour train ride before we hit the outskirts of Venice. We might as well hash things out between us."

She rolled her eyes.
"How many times do I have to say there's nothing between us? I have connections with nobody. Take it or leave it. It's the way I am."

"
That doesn't explain your commitment to Caitlyn, does it? It doesn't explain why you left me in the middle of the night, does it?"

"
I told you I like to work alone." She knew he'd eventually go there. It was part of his makeup that wanted to see her exposed and vulnerable.

He nodded, but not in a way that felt understanding. Instead, his gaze narrowed as he took her in.
"It's the whole sex thing, isn't it? It wigged you out." His comment came out of the blue.

She rolled her eyes.
"I'd never get wigged out by something as trivial as sex."

He palm slapped his forehead.
"That's right. It wasn't about the sex. It was about the intimacy. I'm betting you never told any other man about Petrovich before."

She wanted to protest, but the words seemed stuck to the roof of her mouth like a glob of peanut butter. When she glanced into his eyes, she knew she couldn
't deny it even if the words themselves weren't trapped inside.

"
Your non-answer speaks volumes." He nodded as if he knew what was going on inside her head. But he didn't. No one did. Not even her sometimes. "I get it now."

She wanted to spout off a pithy response to his observation but she couldn
't think of a word to say. Did he actually understand what drove her to do what she did? Could that even be possible?

After keeping a metal case around her heart for as long as she could remember, that tightly wound spring keeping it closed loosened a notch.

*  *  *

Thankfully, their conversation on the train faded into oblivion when she faked sleep on the journey toward Venice. By the time they got to the small inn on the opposite side of the canal, Sabrina was more than anxious to tackle the information sent to Kane.

"Now that we're settled for the night, I need to see." She urged him to open the laptop and the program the FBI wizards had unearthed. When Sabrina inched closer, she saw the pictures: women, girls, hundreds of them. Sexual positions, naked, vulnerable. Bile rose up her throat in less than a heartbeat.

"
Try to ignore the photos; it's the codes next to the girls we need to concentrate on." He placed his hand across the screen and looked into her eyes.

"
Am I in those pictures?" She drew in a breath and tried to suppress the wash of vulnerability.

"
We know the code next to the photo has to do with the airports where the women were abducted."

Sabrina couldn
't speak. All she could do was stare at the screen, mesmerized by what she saw. Revulsion more potent than she could have imagined made a nauseous ball form in the pit of her stomach. It took every bit of willpower she possessed to not throw up all over the keyboard.

"
Where's my photo? I know there's one of me in there somewhere." Judging by the women's drugged-out state, it had to be taken when she first arrived at Marco's.

She drew in a shaky breath and brought her hands together. The trembling started in her fingertips and worked through her hands to her arms to her shoulders, and on down until her whole body quivered.

He scrolled through the photos, finally stopping at a picture that looked like her, but didn't at the same time. Her eyes were closed as she was propped as if a naked rag doll against the wall of Marco's basement. "Who took that picture?" She wanted to look away, but at the same time couldn't. Seeing herself displayed in that way made everything more real.

"
I'm not sure. I'm guessing maybe Petre or Arte." He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. "Sabrina, do not get sucked into this."

Although inside Sabrina felt close to tears, she knew they
'd never fall. They never did. "How can I not?" Her voice sounded strained and raw, as it had to pass through the wash of emotions trying to keep it in place.

"
Tell me what Caitlyn looks like."

Sabrina nodded.
"Red hair, about five feet five, green eyes, freckles across the bridge of her nose." With a family that loved her more than life itself. She could picture their faces tinged with hope when she said she'd bring Caitlyn back to them. A shiver worked its way inside her chest and squeezed. Time was running out. Was she still alive? "This is perverted. What kind of man gets off on this stuff?"

"
That's what we're trying to find out, isn't it?"

She opened her eyes again, steeling herself for the task at hand. This had to be done. And it might lead to Caitlyn. She could do this if she kept that thought in mind.

"How many pages are there?"

"
Thirty or so. About four pictures per page."

Her fingers twitched on her lap as she fought the urge to press a button and remove it all from her memory. But she couldn
't. "I need to find Caitlyn."

After the first few pages, she began to get immune. Maybe her perspective changed. Maybe she was able to focus on their faces, scrutinizing each for that silly lopsided grin, the huge, expressive eyes, the freckles across Caitlyn
's nose and cheeks. That was now her focus. 

Her heart felt it before her mind registered the picture. Then a moan erupted from her throat, starting somewhere deep down inside the pit of her belly.

Seeing it in blazing Technicolor heightened the madness. Made it all the more real. All the more frightening.

Tears hovered near the surface, but still refused to fall. Still her heart squeezed within her chest as emotion, raw and potent, set up inside and fought for control. As if he knew somehow, Kane stood her up and enveloped her in his arms and held her tight.

"We're going to find her, Sabrina."

"
How?" Somehow the vulnerability slipped out more easily than she ever could have imagined.

"
I'm not sure. But I know for damn sure we're smarter than whoever's behind this organization."

Desperate for a break in the crushing pressure lodged inside her chest, she bit off a chuckle.
"Oh yeah, obviously you haven't seen my chemistry grade."

He smiled for the briefest of moments, as if he knew she couldn
't focus right now. "I'll see if I can get one of the FBI specialists to take a look to see if there's a hint of a location somewhere in those numbers. There's got to be some kind of a clue that connects those numbers to people. It's the only thing that makes sense."

Bile revisited her throat.
"You worked in the accounting end."

He opened his own laptop and pulled up a Excel sheet to show the transactions.
"All the money was filtered through an account in Switzerland that can't be traced. Deposits were made under initials, but not necessarily representing their names."

"
Is there someway to trace G through his phone?"

He shook his head.
"Nope. He went the disposable route."

Trepidation lit up her spine.
"We've got to figure out what that next code means. That's got to be about the locations or the names of the buyers." She tapped her fingers against the desk. "Did the FBI run the two lists through their software to find anything to link them?"

Kane shook his head again.
"As far as I know, they were concentrating on the hidden file, figuring the first file we found was a red herring."

"
But what if it isn't? What if the two lists together somehow complete a picture?" When he didn't interrupt, she continued, "Bring up the original list on Marco's computer."

"
The one that had all the random numbers?"

"
Maybe the two are connected somehow."

He pulled up the list on Marco
's computer and copy and pasted it into a Word file. "Give me Caitlyn's code number and see if we can match up a part of it somehow."

"
2L1G(2)71AP4." She read off the code and held her breath. It was hidden there somewhere. She could feel it.

"
No exact match. Let me search for combinations." He plunked at the keys some more and shook his head. "It's like finding a needle in a haystack."

"
How many codes are listed on Marco's page?" She clicked and un-clicked the pen in her hand several times.

He went through the list.
"A hundred and twenty."

She slammed her hand on the table.
"And that's how many pictures you said were there, right? No way that's a coincidence. Start with the airport code. LGA."

He went through the list and five numbers popped up.
"Got a couple of hits. What do you think?" After highlighting the numbers, he showed her the screen.

She pointed to the number that got her attention.
"The same three letters are there. 44AP71GG11L. That's the one." She chewed her lip. "Now, what does it all mean?"

"
The airport code is there but backwards." He eliminated LG and A from the sequence.

She high-fived him.
"Good call. What else is there?" She studied the numbers until they started to blur together.

"
How about the date? When was Caitlyn taken?"

At last he gave her something to focus on.
"Around mid-February." She pointed at the number by the girl's photo. "2-1-7-1-4. Sounds like a date to me." The bubble of progress shimmied along her spine.

"
What if the G(2) means GG?" He laid it all out. "Left in the first sequence is GP. Maybe initials? To keep with the backwards theme, we have GP but in reverse order."

There were still too many numbers left in the sequence to match up.
"Maybe the whole date doesn't get transferred over. Maybe just the year. 1-4 in backwards order."

He ran his fingers through his short hair.
"That leaves us with 4711. Could be an address, but that could mean anywhere."