Author's Note: This one took a bit longer to come out, but I've been pretty busy with the holiday prep and stuff (I know - excuses, excuses). Funny story - I was foolish enough to go to Walmart today, three days before Christmas, which is apparently still too close. My advice to anyone considering an idea of going there in the next two days - DON'T DO IT! It was a big mistake. And I don't know why I keep doing it to myself every year.
Anyway, enough rambling, I hope the size of the chapter will somewhat compensate for the wait, hope you enjoy!
CHAPTER 5
The Night Getaway
One day earlier.
The goose down pillows felt like clouds and Elena rolled on the bed, clinging to the blanket and to the blissful fuzzy slumber. Pain in her thighs brought her further back into reality and then the strange softness of the bed pulled tighter on her conscious mind.
Something was not right.
Elena opened her eyes and stared at wispy drapery of the bed canopy above her - this was not her bedroom.
At this realization, the events of the previous night came alive in her memory. With newly found interest, Elena's eyes investigated her surroundings, which they failed to examine last night, when, by the time she was shown to her room, she was too tired both physically and mentally to care about any findings other than a bed to crash on. She didn't even change out of her clothes - that's how tired she was.
Richly furnished bedroom was light and airy - both modern and pretentious-looking at the same time and made Elena think of five star hotel suites, somewhere in Europe she never had a pleasure to be a guest of, but had somewhat an idea about.
Elena got up from the bed - her toes sank in the furry rug beneath her feet - and leisurely stretched, shifting her aching muscles into work after apparently laying in one position for too long. She walked across polished hardwood floor toward the french windows on the right and her fingers stirred the sheer curtains aside.
A rushing river gurgled down the craggy slope in the distance, blowing spray into the air. In front of it, a wide white fenced paddock, surrounded by a sprawling blooming garden, was alive with horses of various shades, nibbling on crisp grass and prancing gracefully along its length. In close proximity to the paddock, there stood a large wooden pergola with illusive gauzy veil of curtains breathing elegantly with the wind.
"A room with the view," Elena commented quietly and felt Cassie suddenly kick at the sound of her voice, "All right, Cass, let's freshen up and find something to eat."
After getting a quick shower in the adjacent bathroom and changing into fresh clothes she'd picked from her suitcase (the one which her captors obligingly filled as she supervised them while standing at gun point last night), Elena felt more enthusiastic about her situation and even managed to find some humor in it.
Stepping out of her bedroom, she found Emir sitting on the floor, propped up against the wall with his head slipped to the side, eyes shut and mouth partially open. As the door closed behind her, the young man smacked his lips at the noise, but did not wake up.
Elena squinted her eyes - good guards are hard to find these days.
"Hey," she leaned forward, nudged the guy on the shoulder and added more volume into her voice, "Hey!"
Emir gave a snorting snore and stirred, "Ne..? …bes dakika daha anne…," he muttered and Elena had to add more force into her nudge as well.
"C'mon sleeping beauty, where's the kitchen?"
For a moment, Emir's eyes opened and he blinked in confusion, scraped at the stylish black stubble on his jaw, wincing as the fingers brushed against the scratch on his cheek and, looking as if he saw Elena for the first time in his life, slowly stretched his arm to the left.
"That way…down the corridor, down the stairs, to the right," he slurred with more evident accent than before.
"Tesekkur ederim," Elena thanked, picking the phrase from the lingering memory of her brief exposure to Turkish language in the past.
"Rica ederim," the man smiled lazily and closed his eyes again.
Very interesting.
Elena shrugged and was just about to follow the aforementioned directions when sidekick#2 suddenly appeared, walking around the corner on her left and, as he approached, his face reflected sullen dark determination.
"Unbelievable…wake up Emir, wake up!" he lightly pushed the other guy with the tip of his foot and shook him up, "You might be Abbas' nephew, but if this one escapes, he'll skin your sorry hide and send it to your mother for Kurban Bayrami," he scolded until Emir got up and rubbed his eyes.
"Ah Ruslan," Emir yawned, "the night was long."
Ruslan shook his head in dismay and clear disapproval in his darkly outlined eyes, "Go to bed."
Emir gave Elena a parting nod and walked down the opposite side of the corridor. As he disappeared around the corner, Ruslan turned to Elena and struggled a pleasant smile, which did not reach into his eyes.
"Please follow me lady."
They walked into the balustrade with stairs on each side and tight-lipped Ruslan led Elena down the steps and toward the open door on the left.
"That guy said kitchen is on the right," Elena protested, but Ruslan only gave her a short nod and kept walking. Severely disappointed, she followed him down the runners on the marble floor, through a set of double doors, across a bright living-kind-of-room and out into the garden she watched from her window earlier.
The sun didn't reach its full height in the sky and Elena concluded it was still morning-ish. It was hot, but it wasn't the sticky muggy kind of heat of Louisiana summer and the light wind brought refreshing cool breeze from the river.
Several horses neighed in greeting as they passed, throwing shiny voluminous manes in the air. Ruslan glanced at them with sudden warmth, but kept on walking, until they reached the pergola, at the footsteps of which he stopped and extended his hand in a gesture for Elena to come in.
"My sister – Alia," he introduced someone inside with a slight raise of his slit eyebrow and walked off toward the paddock.
Elena didn't even notice there was someone hidden under the pergola at first, as the curtains provided shade, which contrasted with the sunlit garden, but, indeed, a small woman wearing a silky blue headscarf was there. And so was a large table full of food.
"Please have a seat," Alia smiled and gestured at the chair across from her, and her face, which looked pale and drained of color, instantly transformed as a glow radiated from inside out through her big sparkling brown eyes, "You must be Elena, my husband mentioned you'll be staying with us for a while."
"For a while, huh?" Elena frowned, but accepted the invitation and lowered herself into a padded wicker chair. The look and the smell of abundant food in front of her made her mouth salivate.
"Please," Alia gave her another look full of seemingly genuine friendliness and glanced at the food before she herself grabbed a toast and smeared a tan paste full of chopped black olives over it, encouraging Elena to follow.
Elena grabbed a piece of toast, dropped several slices of avocado over it, topping them with smoked salmon and crowned the construction with a fried egg. As she took the edge off of hunger she curiously looked around the breakfast area. Besides her and Alia there was a middle-aged woman-servant who stood a small distance away and avoided her gaze, and a little boy of around seven years old, sitting next to Alia and absent-mindedly rolling a piece of grape around the plate while staring back at Elena.
Elena gave a small smile in between mouthful and the boy's dark brown eyes shyly averted hers and returned to the plate. When Elena glanced at Alia, her face bloomed in another encouraging smile.
"I know the circumstances of your stay are not pleasant," she said with understanding, "I tried to talk my husband out of it, but… all I can say is I will try to make it up to you and make your time with us as redeeming as I can…did you meet Abbas yesterday?" she added.
Elena faintly remembered a gallant tall dark man with overbearing air of dominance around him, before whom she was presented after the helicopter ride. He snobbishly went on and on about some hourglass and how much he needed her husband's help in obtaining it as well as how much he'd appreciate her understanding and cooperation on the matter. All the while Elena couldn't help but yawn profusely as he enjoyed the sound of his own voice.
"Is Abbas your husband?" Elena countered a question with a question.
"He is," Alia nodded and looked at the boy next to her, who shuffled busily on his chair, "go play Hamza if you're finished with your breakfast," she said warmly and placed a kiss on top of the boy's head of dark hair before he readily took off and ran toward the river.
"You son?" Elena expressed some interest and took a sip of coffee, the lady-servant poured in the cup before her.
"A fruit of passion Hamza is," Alia answered, watching as the boy begun collecting rocks and throwing them into the stream, "His mother died when he was still a baby…I don't even know who she was and whether I've ever seen her…I am the only mother he's ever known," she lightly raised her frail shoulders, "Anyway," she looked at Elena and smiled, "He needed me as much as I needed him."
"So…was that before you married your husband or…?"
"Oh no, Abbas and I have been married for nearly twenty years."
"I see," Elena's eyes tactfully hid in her cup, but the suggestive silence that hung in the air did not seem to phase Alia's sunny disposition and she only sighed and gave another light shrug.
"We all have our weaknesses" she said simply, "Though he is mine in spirit, my husband's body is weak around petite blond women," she giggled and added, "Sometimes body wants what mind cannot explain, cannot even justify."
"Hmmmm," Elena snorted meaningfully, imagining her own reaction if Nate ever dared tell her something like that.
Alia seemed to correctly interpret her vague answer as she tilted her head to the side and melodic chime of her laughter filled the air until it morphed into a bout of violent coughing and she had to hold on to the back of the chair next to her until it subsided.
"I'm sorry," Alia finally managed to say and held her hand out, stopping the servant from interfering. She straightened herself on the chair again and took a sip of black tea from an ornate tulip-shaped glass, "My cancer has nasty table manners," she explained, still carrying a laughing twinkle in her eyes, "and…where was I?…Oh yes - my husband. He is a wonderful man despite his faults. We met when we were kids, were betrothed to each other by our parents, but unlike other arranged marriages, ours was built on genuine love…ah, it was such a long time ago…how naïve and happy we were thinking we had the world at our feet," she added with dreamy sadness gazing at the scenery down the hill in the distance, "And when he built his business empire he didn't leave me for a younger wife like many men do…despite my life-long health struggles he always stayed by my side. So I decided I could find enough kindness in my heart to forgive his occasional meaningless straying," she chuckled and winked conspiratorially at Elena.
A prickly comment about good men not normally having kidnapping tendencies, was about to slip off Elena's tongue, but she gulped it down, taken aback by the overwhelming sincerity in those pure eyes and felt aching compassion tug at her heart despite the situation.
"You're the reason why he's looking for this hourglass, aren't you?" Elena connected the dots with the help of lingering details she did manage to capture in her memory.
"Ah, the Hourglass," Alia's expression turned sour and she pursed her lips, "it has been his obsession for many years now. Sometimes I think he's been searching for it for so long that he might have forgotten the real reason the search begun and got lost in it."
Elena couldn't contain a chuckle and nodded with understanding, "I might know a thing or two about obsessions in husbands."
"Then you understand my feelings about it," Alia smiled, "I tried to talk him out of it but…gave up after a while. For what it's worth, I came to terms with death – it doesn't scare me anymore. And I want to spend the remainder of my days in peace, simply enjoying being alive."
Surrounded by air of amicable understanding, the two women finished their breakfast in silence after which Elena stood up, throwing curious glanced at the river. Alia followed her eyes then her gaze dropped to Elena's rounded stomach, lingering for a moment after which she looked away as if she didn't dare voice what was on her mind.
"Well," Elena tucked a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear, "Do you think your husband will let the dogs loose on me if I try to take a little walk?"
"Feel yourself at home," Alia looked at her brother by the paddock, who threw occasional sharp glances their way, "Though you might find some little birds keeping a keen eye on you," she added in caution and gave another warm smile, "See you later."
Elena followed the river down the hill and Ruslan quietly followed her – a small distance away, almost disappearing from view every now and then.
Pretending to enjoy the nature walk, Elena carefully observed the grounds around the mansion. She had a small idea of where she was – judging by the continuation of the chopper ride and the surrounding mountainous landscape she narrowed her possible location down to the center belt of the States, closely leaning toward North Georgia, West North Carolina or Tennessee, settling on the latter when she saw a license plate on the bright yellow Lamborghini that disappeared in the parking garage to the left of the main entry road.
Slowly adding details to the overall sketch of her current situation, Elena pondered how far away from civilization she was. She'd try to locate the exact map whereabouts of the estate from the county deed search, but she seriously doubted she would be granted access to internet, so she tossed the idea, unless someone conveniently left their phone sitting somewhere within her discrete reach.
Elena neared the fountain and sat down on its smooth marbled edge, thoughtfully looking into the distance where the back of the fancy yellow sports car stuck out from inside the garage. The driver – one of Abbas' goons – got out of the car and the wind brought jiggling of keys along as he hung them somewhere on the wall and closed the garage, tapping a code into the panel on the outside.
Another guy revved down the road in an ATV and turned it toward the garage. He parked it by a bunch of similar ATVs under a carport, pulled a key out and stuck it into his pocket after which he approached the first guy and they stood sharing a conversation. Elena got up from the fountain and feigned interest in the rows of rose bushes, cutting distance between her and the garage and straining her ears, trying to catch what was being said. Wind played in her favor – she couldn't discern the entire thread of the conversation, but she did hear the words "gate" and "remote" and the second man demonstratively shaking the keys to the ATV in front of the other one's face, which suggested something wasn't working.
A foundation of a plan was starting to form in Elena's mind.
She stared at the faded background of mountains above the treetops, as she kept adding bricks and mortar to that foundation, glancing back at the mansion with its soft pillows, luxurious bathrooms, first-class breakfasts and cordial smiles.
How could she let Nate get dragged into something dangerous again with a guillotine of her safety hanging above his head? Not when she could help it and she could. It wasn't her first rodeo. But it seemed to be one for these guys – an edge she was going to take full advantage of.
Was this a cage? Of course it was – ornate gold cage with a beautiful view – but cage nonetheless.
Was she going to escape? Of course she was – it was just a matter of when and how – but matter nonetheless.
"Hyperboreans?" Sam's face formed an incredulous scowl, "mythical civilization from the mythical land of sunshine and plenty beyond the arctic circle, the mythical people of which lived millennium-long lives unburdened by wars or disease? Wasn't it just an old Hellenic utopia fed into by various Greek authors and legends?"
"Yeah, but it inspired many archeologists and historians to keep searching every corner of the northern part of Asia and Europe, trying to find factual grounds to confirm the story," said James, who took the narration helm shortly after Abbas begun the recap. The older man's eyes glimmered with passion and earlier awkwardness temporarily stepped back.
"That's true, they even managed to find several artifacts and sites near Kovdor in Russia, close to the Finland border," Nate briskly nodded, "But I've never heard of an Hourglass artifact, possessing healing powers, mentioned in any of the stories related to Hyperborea. How did you get that lead?"
"From an old book of myths with comments written by Ptolemy's hetaera Thais, mentioning the Hourglass. It seems one of Alexander's generals – Ptolemy to be precise – learned about it from Egyptian priests when Alexander took control of Egypt and entrusted him with the satrapy."
"Your started this whole thing based on writings of a whor- I mean- a courtesan?" Sam questioned cynically.
"Oh but Thais wasn't just a courtesan, she was much more than that!" James shook his finger with a chuckle, "she was a muse, she was a highly intellectual woman and a great company to keep."
"I bet," Sam commented with an impish rise of his brows as James continued.
"She was close to both Alexander and Ptolemy and even married the latter and gave him three children. It was said he consulted her on many matters, so I wouldn't put her involvement under scrutiny, I believe her words to be true."
"So," Nate chimed in, "Let's go out on a limb and say Ptolemy was onto something and his lover recorded his findings and the Hourglass really exists...Is Kovdor where you found that occult site you mentioned before?"
"That's where our search begun, yes," James nodded, "but then we were able to obtain additional clues and moved the search area down to Siberia."
"Siberia…that's much further down from the arctic circle and doesn't fit the descriptions as well," Nate argued, "What kind of clues did you find to make you go that far south?"
"My men were able to locate a certain journal, which significantly accelerated our years-long research," Abbas, who sat quietly for a while, interjected, with a look of triumph on his face, "Does the name Theodor Panofka sound familiar to you?" his eyes traveled from Nate to Sam and back.
"You mean Theodor Panofka – one of the founders of German Archeological Institute?" Nate raised his brows.
"That's the one," Abbas nodded, "Well, as we have discovered, in the eighteen hundreds he and several other European scholars founded the Hyperborean-Roman Company – a group of like-minded men, the focus of whose work was the study of ancient Greek ruins. Although the scientific papers they published have no mention of Hyperborea, the very name of this group piqued our interest when we faced another dead-end in our search, and-" he paused with suspense before continuing, "then we discovered one of Panofka's personal journals, which was entirely dedicated to Hyperborea."
There was a pause as Nate and Sam waited for the other two men to resume the narration, but to no avail.
"So," Nate waived circles with his hand in impatient gesture of unraveling the idea, "where is the journal?"
Abbas and James shared a look and the older man pursed his lips, while Abbas' expression stayed cold and collected.
"When we followed the clues from the journal," James spoke first, with a look of regret on his face, "They led us to the site I've mentioned before, but- as we explored it, a group of armed men came out of nowhere…They forced us out, took away all of the research findings…including the journal," he hesitated and raised his eyes at Nate, "That's where you come into play Nathan."
"Did you make copies of the journal?" Sam asked, thoughtfully rubbing his forehead.
James slowly shook his head and Abbas' eyes sparked with annoyance.
Nate and Sam looked at each other.
"Rookies," Nate sighed and Sam chuckled in response.
"We need to get the journal back!" James said heatedly as if he didn't notice the brothers' small patronizing exchange, "The clues, which led us to the site were only a drop in the ocean, there is a lot more information it contains that needs further investigation and could shed more light on the Hourglass whereabouts."
"We will leave for Siberia first thing in the morning," Abbas concluded the conversation in a tone that allowed no protests and, in the bright sun-lit room, all eyes set on Nate, who sat stone-faced and only his eyes gave away the calculations of quick thoughts dashing through his mind.
Finally, he turned to his brother, "So, what do you think Sam?"
"Well- I'm with you whatever this leads to."
Nate turned back to face Abbas and his blue eyes coldly stared at the man from under his eyebrows, exuding threat and warning, "I see two problems – one big and one small," he said.
"Problems?" Abbas' thin, sharply-etched lips twitched in displeasure.
"Your small problem is that you have a mole, cause competition doesn't just show up unannounced- you're welcome for this free-of-charge tip by the way. Your big problem is that I'm not gonna lift a finger until I see my wife," Nate drew the line and kicked back in his seat.
Nate was sure he caught a wave of surprise distorting Abbas' cool expression.
"We will discuss the first problem later, however," Abbas looked at his nephew, who had been sitting quietly by the French doors all through the conversation, "Emir, please bring miss Elena in."
As Abbas looked expectedly at him, Emir's eyes went wide and dashed from face to face with a glint of concern, until he stood up, approached his uncle and, as he leaned down and the whispered words flowed out in a hushed stream, his uncle's face grew progressively more alarming.
"WHAT?!" Abbas thundered and Emir stepped back in caution, daring not look away from the glaring onyx eyes.
"The men are already out searching the grounds," Emir said, louder this time and made another stepped back.
Abbas drilled a hole in his nephew for a second longer and, putting a muzzle over his wrath, turned to Nate and Sam, "It seems we've encountered some bumps along the way. Your wife," he looked squarely at Nate and said begrudgingly, "she somehow managed to escape."
Nate's palm went tiredly down his face and the air exhaled heavily through his nose. She couldn't escape. Not after he explicitly told her to sit tight.
Finally he raised his eyes at the two men in front of him, but his gaze traveled and set on his brother's concerned face, whose thoughts clearly mirrored his own, "Of course she did," he said, addressing himself, rather than Sam and rose from the couch.
Posh bumblebee-yellow Lamborghini Aventador stood still a small distance away from the road, on a tiny clearing overlooking the expanses of space beneath and ahead, as the vibrant green edge broke off into a cliff. Sharp polished edges of the sports car reflected bright rays of the sun, as if the car itself radiated light, which surrounded it with soft shimmer all along its contours. This optical illusion was all the more reinforced by a steady winding stream of smoke emitting from within the hidden scrunched up depths of the hood mangled against a giant ragged rock.
Whatever the hell you need a low suspension sports car like that for when you live in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a mountain range with the closest town being over twenty miles away?!
As Nate made his way through the woods, closely followed by Sam, he pondered that very question, ridiculousness of which wouldn't let him be. If he was truly honest with himself and not blinded by annoyance and sleep deprivation, he'd admit that it wasn't the nuisance of the car per se, that was at fault for the grim detached mood he found himself in.
After all, the damn car suffered for Elena's inability to wait, just as much as he did. His thoughts went back to the cliff – hundreds of feet of free-fall it sat over and the bright yellow Lamborghini crashed mere two feet away. Without Elena in it - a thought both comforting and infuriating.
"AH, çirkin!" Emir swore, as he ungraciously hit his foot against a craggy branch in attempt to keep up with the Drake brothers, while the rest of Abbas' men scoured the woods in every direction between the wrecked car and the main road.
Nate and Sam both looked back and then their eyes met in silent understanding. Emir had no clue where he was going. But they did. They picked up on Elena's trail long time ago and methodically stepped on the watery footprints in the mud before the younger man could spot them. They communicated through quick glances and both came to immediate conclusion that it rained the night before – something which the current heat could not entirely hide as abundant pools of water still sat collected in ditches, while thick drying mud covered the elevated areas.
Sam's brow went up in silent question as he shot a sly glance at Emir and Nate discreetly nodded, pretending to tighten the knot on his shoelaces.
"I say we split up and cover more ground," Sam announced, but Emir shook his head with a not-buying-it smile.
"No way, Drake," he sneered, kicking a branch out of the way, "I think we're doing just fine as a trio."
"Depends on who you ask," Nate mumbled for only Sam to hear and his brother gave a slight shrug.
"It was worth a try," he said just as quietly and stepped forward, following Nate through freshly broken twigs and offshoots, still light green at the severed ends. Sam opened his mouth to add something else, but reluctantly closed it, as Emir caught up with them, sticking onto their tail again.
Trying to avoid whips of skinny tree limbs and keep their footing steady as they walked through low-growing thicket and jumped over unreliable rocks that littered the forest floor, they trudged on. Finally, Nate noticed an old, rickety structure of a shack in the distance ahead. It mixed so well with the color palette around that his eyes did not pick up on it at first and it took a second glance around to figure out there was indeed a building there.
Sam noticed it too and glanced at Emir with annoyance, his hands tapping over the handle of his gun, but Nate shook his head.
Suddenly, there was loud noise on their right and the three men turned sharply to see what it was.
"I got it!" Emir shouted, already halfway toward the trees from behind which the noise had come from.
"Oh deer, oh deer, oh deer," Sam chuckled quietly, watching Emir's oblivious figure disappear behind the bushes, "I was just trying to come up with an idea on how to get rid of that guy, but he turned out to be helpful at least with that."
"Yeah, let's let Snow White here chase forest friends, shall we?" Nate snickered darkly.
"Let's."
They picked up the pace in the direction of the shack, noting more smudged footprints popping up in the straight line toward the double doors. When they reached the entrance, Nate strained his ears for a moment, trying to catch any sound from inside, but all he heard was birds tweeting above them.
"All signs lead this way," said Sam, brushing the dirt off his pants, "It's amazing she found this barn in the dead of the night."
Nate shook his head with irritation again - his mind had long been painting images of Elena trekking through the dark woods, stumbling over rocks and fallen tree branches as rain poured down and the yellow eyes of lurking predators shone from within the darkness, watching her every step.
Nate gritted his teeth, shoving the images away, "All right, here we go," he said and pulled on the rusted door handle, but it did not budge, "Elena?" he called out and tried again, adding more force into the pull.
"She probably barred the door or something," Sam said with a grunt as he tried to lend Nate a helping hand.
"Let's try on the count of three, okay?" Nate offered and Sam nodded.
"Yeah, okay."
"Three…"
"Two…"
"One!"
"HULK CRASH!"
Simultaneously they tugged on the doors with all their might and heard creaking, splitting and finally cracking of wood and the doors flew wide open in one sudden motion, causing Sam to hit the left side of the building when the door pinned him to the wall and Nate to tumble down into the prickly rose-hip bush as the old handle decided to separate from the door at the screws at that unfortunate nick of the moment.
"Oh crap! Well that's just wonderful," Nate spat, pulling prickles out of the scratched up skin of his arms.
"Well you look a bit…sharp around the hedges," Sam commented with a grin, leaning his side of the door against the wall and warming his muscles up.
"Haha – cute," Nate grumbled, getting himself out of the thicket and walking back toward the entrance, "Looks like you were right," he observed the sharp debris of the greyed by time two-by-four, which they violently split in attempt to storm the doors.
"Of course I was – when am I ever not right?" Sam bragged and winced as he carefully rotated his arm at the shoulder joint, "I think I just pulled a muscle or something."
Nate watched him with a look of irony, but refrained from comment and, instead, stepped over the threshold and into the shack. Stale musty air immediately filled his nose. Dusty window on the back wall provided faint light and Nate looked around. The shack was definitely abandoned long time ago – mostly empty with only a couple of broken pieces of furniture lying on the termite-stricken planks of the floor and wooden crates stacked one on top of the other in uneven barely-balanced columns. At least the roof was intact and provided somewhat of a shelter from the elements… somewhat of a shelter for his third-trimester pregnant wife to hide from rain last night. Speaking of – he didn't see a sign of Elena anywhere.
He walked further inside and Sam's steps followed behind, sounding too loud in the confined small space. Nate hoped they didn't accidentally break into some hillbilly's hunting house as he wasn't particularly keen on the idea of facing an angry host with a shotgun pointed at his head. He really didn't need to worry about that. Plainly because, just as he neared one of the crate stacks, he caught a brisk motion with a corner of his eye…
"Nathan!" Sam yelled in warning.
Nate extended his arm just in time to catch something long, something cool-to-the-touch, something he caught midflight, which was aimed at his head. He opened his eyes, which he instinctively shut for a moment, as his brain belatedly expected impact before it caught up with his body. This "something" was a crowbar...clutched in the small delicate hands of his wife and she immediately let go of it as soon as she realized just exactly who she had almost wacked on the head with it.
"Nate!" she gasped with relief and flew into his arms, wrapping hers around his chest.
"'Lena," he breathed the air out weakly, still recovering from her startling appearance. He threw the crowbar aside and wrapped his arms around her, "Thank God you're okay."
"Yeah I am, just a bit thrown off by the change of plans with the car crashing into a rock, otherwise I'd be at the nearest police station already," she smiled into his shirt, "You're a sight for sore eyes!"
Relief washed over him and Nate wanted to squeeze her tighter, as close to his heart as he could, but her belly was in the way and he fought that urge. He also wanted to tell her off for all the worry she pulled him through, to yell at her for being so stubborn, but… it was perfect right there – just holding her close and knowing she was safe. However questionable and stretched out that concept was at the time.
In the end, Nate loosened his grip, just enough to take a better look at her – Elena's eyes seemed drowsy, as if she had just recently woken up. Her clothes were wet and muddy, hair lost its usual shine and stuck together after drying up from rain, and the clear olive skin of her face was tracked with lines of old tears. She frowned questioningly when her hands brushed against leftover prickles on his arms, but, just as she opened her mouth to say something, her nose scrunched up and she tucked her head to her shoulder, and let out a thundering sneeze that seemed to shake through her whole body.
"I think I got a cold," Elena confessed, wrinkling her nose again and Nate gave her a lenient look.
"Looks like it."
Nate leaned down and Elena tiptoed his way, but before their lips could meet, Sam's voice rudely interjected and they both startled and turned to look at him.
"Hey, I'm not trying to ruin the moment- well, not by choice anyway – but we better get out of here, before the young overachiever figures out he's been chasing a deer all along," Sam pointed his thumb back and at the door.
"Hey Sam," Elena acknowledged his presence with a smile, "Good to see you saving the day."
"Yeah, had to tag along, couldn't miss all the fun!" he threw a brisk look outside, and then walked over and gave her a quick warm hug, "Not gonna try to whack me with a crowbar in greeting?" he chuckled and his eyes slid over her baby bump and back to her face, "This baby is growing fast, isn't she? Last I've seen you, you were barely showing."
"Weeeeell, that was a while back."
"Time flies."
"It sure does, especially with this guy," she playfully nudged Nate on the shoulder and he tilted his head side to side in acknowledgment.
"Can't argue with that. My awesomeness is second only to my modesty."
"Ha-ha," Elena said flatly and grabbed a jacket from the corner, stuffing scattered belongings into the pockets.
They headed toward the door and outside where refreshingly bright sunlight made them squint and Nate and Sam lead the way back to the road, walking on either side of Elena. Nate pointed out every branch and every ditch in Elena's way and anticipated her every step before she took it, as if it wasn't her who successfully walked that walk all alone the night before. Elena didn't say anything – she patiently followed his cues with a coy flicker of amusement in her eyes – while Nate himself wasn't exactly aware of how ridiculously overbearing his behavior looked from the side. It was only when he caught Sam's snickering expression that he somewhat let up on the efforts.
"So how did you manage to escape?" Nate asked instead, tensely watching Elena step over rocks as they crossed a small stream.
"Oh, that part was easy," Elena's face lit up with mischievous glee, "I took a pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice to my room and kept sharing it with my guard until I finally heard him walk away for bathroom break and snuck out of the room before he came back. Got to the garage, cracked the code on the panel, keys to the car were right there, as well as the gate remote and then I just drove off…those guys are such rookies that no one was even watching the gate or the road – piece of cake!" she summed up and then her smile turned downward, "…that is until I turned the corner and there was a deer frozen in the middle of the road and I swerved and hit a giant rock…there went the car," she shrugged, "At that point I knew I wouldn't be able to go far, so I just kind of wandered for a while, hoping to find neighbors or at least somewhere to hide…not the most glorious of my moments," Elena pursed her lips and glanced up at Nate, giving him a soft smile and he slowly shook his head at her escape recap, but kept his thoughts to himself.
"There's our ride," Sam announced as they walked around a giant pine and neared the last row of trees behind which their UTV and Emir's ATV were parked.
"So we just wait for the guy to finally show up now I guess," Nate said, helping Elena climb into the front passenger seat and hitting the START button to make the AC blow cool air.
"What do you mean?" Elena stared at him with perplexed expression on her face and so did Sam.
"Yeah, what do you mean Nathan?"
Nate stared back, his eyes traveling back and forth between his brother and his wife, "we wait for the guy and peacefully return back to the house is what I mean" he said and watched various shades of disagreement reflect on their faces.
"No way," Elena protested, "let's get the hell out of here while we have the chance!"
"What she said," Sam agreed.
"We can't go, they'll just track us down again, that guy clearly has money and means to make our life very uncomfortable 'Lena," Nate argued.
"Are you really going to get manipulated into this, Nate?" Elena questioned him with disbelief, "They don't have me anymore," she clearly articulated each word, "We're free to go and report this to the police! Money or no money - those guys have no clue of what they are doing, they are not like Lazarevich or Marlowe, believe me, I had enough time to take note of that. Now get in the car and let's go!" she urged and their eyes clashed as Nate stood stiff as a rock with his face getting progressively darker and more stern as she spoke.
"C'mon brother, she's right, let's go before anyone shows up" Sam tapped him on the shoulder and hopped in the back seat, waiting for Nate to follow and take the steering wheel, but he didn't move.
Nate's face seemed to sharpen and his nostrils flared as he felt the pent up emotions of this nightmare of two days, violently bubble inside and, driven by the lack of sleep, the anxiety that had been following him ever since Elena fainted on the boat and, further pushed forth by the irrationality of her latest words, they exploded and when he spoke, his voice reached the peaks it never previously had in all the years of their marriage.
All the indignation against Elena's stubbornness, her inability to accept changes, her unwillingness to let him take care of things and protect her, her apparent "immortality" she seemed to be so sure of, his own insecurities, fears and doubts that, spurred by the sudden shift in the dynamics of their life, suddenly unearthed when he thought they were forever buried – all of it broke through and poured explicitly, elaborately out and he simply couldn't stop.
But then he did, albeit out of basic need to catch his breath. He was still seeing red, but, gradually, the overwhelming wave ebbed and he felt spent and empty and guilty, and oh so tired.
Sam shuffled uncomfortably on his seat and looked away, but Elena, all through his tirade, never took her eyes off him. She was stunned and he could clearly see hurt inside her hazel eyes. Hurt…and something he couldn't quite identify. It took her a moment to recover, but when she did, she got out of the vehicle and walked over to him, taking his hands in hers and staring up nose to nose at his face.
"Nate," she said earnestly, but with air of complete determination, "I am sorry, I really am, and I see your point, but you need to chill - I'm pregnant, not sick! And I am NOT letting you get dragged into another crazy wild goose chase. Not when we have a clean escape cut out. So get your ass in the car and let's go!"
They stared each other down one moment longer and, reluctantly, Nate stalked off and got into the driver's seat. In uncomfortable silence, Elena climbed back in and buckled up and, right then they heard loud rustling of leaves and Emir ran out of the woods with his gun aimed at the UTV.
"Everybody freeze!" he yelled and his eyes wildly dashed from one surprised face to another, "Don't you dare drive off or I'll shoot. You three are coming back to Abbas with me right now!"
Nate's fingers eased on the shifter, which he was just about to switch into Drive, and he tiredly kicked his head back against the headrest, wondering what else the universe had in store for him that day. But then he felt Elena's hand cover his and she put pressure, making the shifter move forward. It clicked shortly. Attentively she watched for Emir's reaction, which failed to follow and she looked at Nate.
"Floor it," she said quietly and Nate's foot let off the brakes.