I hope you enjoy this.

Chapter Four:

Raisa kept her head down as she made her way through the wealthier part of Tomsk. Turning away from the camera, she quickly picked the lock of a home. She then raced around the house until she found a computer. It was password protected, but she had brought a tool to crack it. Within minutes she was in and began to type in the code to access the dark web.

She entered the password her sister gave her years ago and promised to never change it. Then she nervously waited. A few minutes later, a video screen popped up and Albina was looking at her.

"Raisa!" she exclaimed. "I was hoping you'd contact me."

"Really?" she said. "Because the last thing I said to you was that you were a disgrace to the family."

She smiled slightly. "You also declared that we were no longer sisters."

"I was hoping you hadn't heard me shout that as you left," she said sheepishly.

"All is forgiven sister. You are in grave danger and you need my help."

"How did you know?"

"You haven't seen the news, have you?" she asked.

Raisa shook her head. "We ditched our electronics at the apartment."

"You and Andrei are wanted as armed and dangerous terrorists."

"Terrorists!" she exclaimed. "That is ridiculous."

"That's what I thought. Tell me the whole story."

"Is this line secure?"

"I took all the precautions necessary."

"Andrei raided a human trafficking compound and found nothing, but a man tortured and nearly frozen to death. He also had the tattoo for that of a government traitor. The man called us late at night and said someone tried to kill him and we managed to get him out alive."

"Wow," she said.

"But the thing is, the man speaks with an American accent!"

"It just gets more interesting. What else is bothering you, aside from your life being in danger?"

She shook her head. "I don't know why they didn't just kill the man. I know I sound harsh, but it just doesn't make sense."

"Do you know anything about the man? Such as his name?"

"Only that he has been tortured for two years. During that time, they beat his name out of his memory."

"There may be one ugly explanation," she said. "They didn't care and were also cocky. They may have just left him to freeze to death because they enjoyed the idea of him suffering some more."

Raisa sighed.

"It's okay to be scared," Albina said. "I'll get you, Andrei, and the man out of the country and hopefully get some answers along the way."

"I don't know to thank you. Especially after being angry at you for so long."

"Think nothing of it. Let us set up a location where you can meet my contact in that area."

"Okay."

…

"No please, don't" he cried as he was dragged by his hair into the dark chamber.

"You know the rules. Stealing will not be tolerated!" the man said he pulled out a whip.

"But I was cold!" he cried.

"That is no excuse!" the man dragged him forward and hung him on the wall with chains on his wrists. "Twenty lashes."

"No! No!" he cried as the man whipped his midsection. Every crack made him scream louder.

He started to shake and couldn't stop.

"Wake up!" Sokolov shouted. "Please, wake up!"

He looked into the eyes of the kind officer.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"There is no need to be sorry," he said. "I take it you had a bad dream."

He merely nodded.

"You don't need to talk about it," he said kindly and procured a bottle of water. "You must be hungry too."

"Not really," he said but took the bottle.

"Slowly now," Sokolov said.

He did as instructed. The water did feel good.

"They never allowed me to have clothes," he said suddenly. "I can't remember when they took them away from me, but it was a rule. They rarely even gave me a blanket at night. I was punished severely when I risked taking something just to warm up."

The officer's eyes were filled with pity.

"As long as you are with me, you will have something warm to wear."

"You and your wife are risking your lives for me, yet you don't even know my name. Why?"

"Because it is the right thing to do," he said with a shrug.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to thank you enough for what you've done."

"Don't worry about it," he said gently. "Just rest. We have a long journey ahead of us."

He tried to say something but Sokolov put a hand up.

"Rest, friend, and worry later."

He closed his eyes and hoped the nightmares wouldn't come back.

…

They met Albina's contact at a mechanic's shop on edge of the city. The man with long graying hair didn't say much and merely told them to get in the car.

After an hour, they were driving on unpaved roads. It was a bumpy ride, and Sokolov held on to the man to prevent further injury. He couldn't keep track of the turns he was making, so he didn't know where they were going. They sat in silence at the moon rose high above them.

The man pulled up to farm house.

"You will stay here the night," he said. "Another contact will be here at dawn to take you to your next location."

"Do you know where that might be?" Raisa asked.

He shook his head as he pulled out some food from the trunk and additional blankets.

"The less I know, the better," he said.

"Thank you," Sokolov said.

The man merely nodded and quickly left.

The barn smelled like animals though there were none to be seen. It was fairly clean. Sokolov nestled the man into what looked like a horse stall where he fell asleep.

Raisa stood by the side.

"Has he said anything more to you?" she asked.

"Only that he wasn't allowed clothes, and was punished when he sought them out," Sokolov said sadly.

Raisa sighed. "My sister suggested they kept him alive because they wanted him to die a slow, painful, death. Whoever did this to him are monsters Andrei."

"I know," he said. "I've never seen anything like it."

"I've been thinking about his American accent," she said. "It is possible he is a dual citizen."

"What's an American doing in Russia?" he asked. "Tensions thaw between the two countries at odd intervals."

"I think it has to be a woman," she said. "He may have fallen in love with the wrong person."

"Are you thinking a sparrow did this?" he said.

A sparrow was a female Russian intelligence officer trained in the art of seduction. They were often sent across the globe to gather information.

Raisa nodded. "Something about him seems so innocent. I could see him falling for one in the right setting."

"That still doesn't explain why he ended up being tortured for two years," he said.

"I know," she said.

"Let us get some rest," he said.

"It is my turn to take the first watch," she said.

"I'll let you," he said and pulled out a blanket.

He slept in the same stall as the man, watching him tremble in his sleep.