Option to Kill (Nathan McBride 3) (44 page)

“Voda could be back any minute. Lauren, coming down here was a very brave thing to do, but you have to leave. I’m handcuffed to this bracket, and Voda has the key. There’s nothing you can do for me.”

Outside, the Magnum boomed again.

The sound made Lauren flinch with fear.

For his part, Nathan felt a small measure of relief because the handgun report sounded farther away. He toyed with the idea of asking Lauren to go find a gun, but it was too risky. Voda might see her. The last thing he wanted was Lauren back in the hands of a proven child-murderer.

“Can’t you break the handcuffs? Aren’t you, like, super strong?”

“No, I can’t break — ” He stopped midsentence.

And in that moment, Nathan knew what he had to do.

“Okay, Lauren, you can stay. See that piece of wood leaning against the wall over there?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Go get it. Hurry.”

She ran over and back.

“I need a piece of broken glass. Go look under one of the windows.”

Lauren returned a few seconds later. “Is this okay?”

He took it from her. It was about an inch long. “Perfect. Remember when you became the tough girl inside your stepdad’s warehouse?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I need you to be the tough girl again.” Nathan used the shard of glass to slice into his wrist below the cuff. The cut wasn’t deep enough to open any arteries, but it would provide a good blood flow for a few minutes.

“What are you doing! Trying to kill yourself?”

“No, the blood will act as a lubricant.”

“A lubricant for what?”

“I’m going to break my hand, but I need your help.”

“Break your hand? No way! Are you serious?”

“After I get this piece of wood in place, I’ll need you to jump on top of it.”

“That’s crazy! Won’t it hurt?”

“No, it won’t hurt that bad.” He pointed. “I need one of those socks.”

Nathan considered using the two-by-four like a club and smashing his own hand, but the handcuff employed a ratchet locking mechanism, and if he missed his hand and hit the handcuff, the ratchet would lock down so tightly he’d never get his hand out, short of amputating it. He needed to act quickly and not give Lauren a lot of time to think.

Nathan placed his manacled wrist on the concrete next to the framing anchor and shivered. This was going to be bad. He had no illusions about it. The damage might even be irreparable, but he had no choice. The trick, however, was convincing Lauren to do the dirty work.

With his hand facing sideways in a karate-chop position, he tucked his thumb into his palm and placed the end of the board directly on top. He used his left foot to anchor the other end of the lumber. The downward force from Lauren’s weight should dislocate his thumb, and the ensuing momentum should shear the carpal bones apart — a very crappy deal.

“Okay, Lauren. I need you to stand next to this board, jump up in the air, and land on top of it. You have to drive your feet down at the same time you land, like you’re jumping on a trampoline.”

“I can’t do that!”

“Lauren, you have to. If you don’t, Voda will kill your mom, then come back and kill me. I’d rather have a broken hand than have your mom and me dead.”

She was crying. “I can’t. I can’t!”

“Lauren, look at me. You’re saving my life. Do you understand? You have to hurt me to save my life. Your only other choice is to run away and never come back.”

“But if I do that, you and Mom die.”

“That’s right. Be the tough girl. Spies have to do difficult things. Do it!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’m sure. Hurry, Lauren. Do it!”

Nathan folded the sock a couple of times and put it in his mouth.

Lauren’s face reflected the horror of what she was about to do, pleading for a reprieve.

He gave her a smile behind the sock, and a nod.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry…!”

Lauren jumped into the air and stomped down with eighty-three pounds of momentum.

His world went red.

Chapter 32

Nathan’s mind registered the event but had difficulty processing it.

He felt his thumb rip free from the socket a split second before his bones crunched like dry pasta. A sickening wave of agony fogged his vision, but this was only half over.

Screaming behind the sock, Nathan bit down, put his good foot against the anchor, and yanked his arm with all his strength. He had to pull free before the swelling set in.

The manacle held.

No! Not in this Marine’s world!

Near unconsciousness, Nathan tapped a dark part of his soul. Spiraling inward to a place he’d spent half his life trying to forget, he whipped his head back and forth in a frenzy and pulled. Hatred, bitterness, and a desire to kill every living thing on the planet emerged from inside him like an exploding sun.

Pain chewed into his brain as the carpal bones ground and compressed against one another. He felt everything in horrid clarity.

He screamed through the sock and pulled harder.

And harder.

He pulled until his shoulder reached the separation point, and then gave it even more.

In a final spurt of effort, Nathan sucked air through his nose and yanked with everything he had.

With a sickening, liquid sound, his wrist literally extruded through the manacle.

Nathan tumbled backward and slammed against the living-room wall.

His vision grayed again, then began to tunnel inward.

A low whistling in his ears got louder and louder as he teetered on the verge of blacking out.

He fought to stay conscious.

And lost the battle.

Nathan…

The voice sounded distant, echoing from a deep well.

Nathan…

He felt his body shake.

Nathan…

“Nathan! Are you okay?”

He opened his eyes. Lauren’s face was inches from his.

Reality slammed home. He was still in the living room of H3. The throbbing in his hand instantly became a brutal reminder of the horror he’d inflicted upon himself.

Lauren’s voice pulled him through the haze. The room came into focus.

She hugged him. “I’m sorry I hurt your hand.”

He heard himself panting and struggled to control his breathing. “I’m sorry you had to see that part of me.”

“What do you mean? What part?”

He knew then that the dark place he’d visited had been completely internalized. She hadn’t seen or heard the inner battle he’d waged, nor did she know about the vicious monster living in his soul. And he’d never share that aspect of himself with her.

Nathan looked at his hand. Aside from the blood, it didn’t look too bad. The bones were crushed, but it wasn’t horribly deformed.

“Are you going to help my mom now?”

“Yes, but first I need you to hide. Go into the bedroom on the east side of the house and get in the closet.”

“What are you going to do?”

Nathan squinted at the throbbing in his hand and leg, but managed a smile. “Don’t question orders. Good spies never question orders.”

“I
knew
you were a spy!”

“Guilty as charged, but you can’t tell anyone, ever.”

“I promise I won’t.”

“Go on.”

Lauren left the room.

Keeping his pulverized hand elevated, he hopped on one leg to the front door, each labored bound sending a jolt of fire along his broken shin. With sloth-like slowness, he peered to the east, along the row of houses.

His stomach turned.

Limping along the road, Voda had Jin by the wrist, dragging her. The ghillie suit coat he’d given her was gone. Although Voda was a good fifty yards distant, Nathan could see a red stain on Jin’s shirt. It looked as though she’d taken one of Voda’s bullets — a .44 Magnum hollow point. If that were true, Jin’s body had absorbed a massive amount of destructive energy, putting her at serious risk of bleeding to death. Even if the mushroomed bullet missed critical organs, she wouldn’t survive without medical care.

Estimating he had fewer than ninety seconds before Voda arrived, Nathan struggled his way back into the living room and put the two-by-four against the wall where Voda had thrown it. He sat down next to the framing anchor and placed his body between it and where Voda would enter the room.

“Lauren,” he whispered loudly, “Voda’s coming. No matter what you hear, stay put and don’t make a sound. You’re safe in there.”

He decided to give Voda some additional confidence. As loudly as he could, he yelled, “Voda, you can have your alexandrites. Leave my sister out of this and I’ll tell you where they are!”

Nathan’s body began an uncontrolled shiver as the adrenaline rush wore off. “Voda! Can you hear me? I said you can have your gems!”

He heard Voda’s voice, muffled in the distance. “It’s too late for that. You had your chance.”

He repeated his order. “Lauren, stay in there and don’t make a sound.”

A minute later, Nathan heard Voda before he saw him, recognizing the sound of Jin being dragged across the concrete. Red-faced from exertion, Voda pulled Jin into the living room and dropped her arm. She lay still, unmoving, except for the heaving of her chest as she breathed. The bullet wound appeared to be high on her shoulder. Nathan prayed that her brachial artery hadn’t been clipped. If it had, she probably would have been dead by now.

Nathan faked a jerk against the handcuffs and cursed.

“I see you’re still feisty. There’s no fun in beating your sister when she can’t feel it, so I might as well begin with you.”

“Stop,” Nathan pleaded. “I said I’d tell you where the gemstones are. I can’t tell you if you kill me.”

“I have no intention of killing you. At least not yet.”

“You’re a
sick asshole
, you know that?”

Voda shook his head dismissively as he retrieved the two-by-four. Holding it like a baseball bat, he moved in. “What are you smiling at?”

“I was just thinking about how I’m going to continuously bash your head on the concrete until your brains drip out of your ears.”

Voda actually laughed at the comment. “I must have busted your
cabeza
worse than I thought.” He took a menacing step forward. “I’ll just have to wipe that stupid grin from your lips.”

“Yes, of course you will.”

Using his good leg, Nathan sprang up. Headfirst, he lunged forward, catching Voda completely by surprise. Like a linebacker, Nathan drove all his weight into his target’s midsection.

They fell to the concrete, Voda landing on his back with a grunt.

Nathan’s pulverized hand smacked the floor. Fresh agony erupted, threatening to overwhelm him. But face-to-face with Voda at last, Nathan regained his focus quickly. Before Voda could twist away, Nathan used his good knee like a piston and rammed his wounded leg.

The man cried out and cursed.

Time wasn’t on Nathan’s side. Half his body had been rendered useless. The longer this went on, the more likely Voda was to gain the advantage. One way or the other, this was a brawl to the death. Knowing it would make his own concussion worse, Nathan head-butted Voda and felt the man’s nose collapse. His vision reeled for an instant.

Voda let out an animal-like shriek and tried to knee Nathan in the groin. Nathan was no stranger to hand-to-hand combat and had already anticipated the move. He closed his legs before Voda’s knee could penetrate.