Chapter 8 - The Price of a Life
Through the thick steel door of the panic room, Nikolai’s voice was surprisingly clear, carrying the deep, gravelly accent of an old-world Russian gangster.
"David!" Nikolai called out, his voice echoing through the bedroom. "I know you are hiding the boy in there. And the little librarian. Did you really think a steel door would stop me? I brought enough C4 to blow this entire cabin into the next county."
On the monitors, I saw David run up the stairs, his white shirt stained with dirt and blood, his weapon drawn. He stopped at the end of the hallway, his gun pointed directly at Nikolai's back.
"Step away from the door, Nikolai," David said, his voice dropping into that quiet, lethal register that made the hair on my arms stand up.
Nikolai slowly turned around, his silver revolver held casually at his side. He didn't look afraid. He looked like an old friend greeting David at a dinner party.
"David," Nikolai smiled, his gold teeth catching the dim light of the hallway. "You look tired, malchik. This business... it does not suit you. Your father would be ashamed to see you hiding in the woods like a beaten dog."
"My father is dead," David said flatly. "And I am the one who buried him. If you touch my son, I will make sure you do not even get a grave."
"You talk big for a man whose men are all dead or running," Nikolai said, gesturing toward the stairs. "Viktor is down. Your perimeter is gone. You are alone, David."
Nikolai raised his revolver, pointing it directly at David's chest.
"I will make you a deal," Nikolai said, his eyes narrowing. "Open the door. Give me the boy. I will let you and the girl live. You can take your little trust fund and disappear to Switzerland. But the Romanov name... the shipping routes... they belong to me."
Inside the panic room, Leo clutched my hand so tightly his fingers turned white. He looked up at me, his eyes wide with a silent, terrifying question.
I looked at the monitor. David’s finger was on the trigger of his gun. He was looking at the steel door behind Nikolai—looking at us, even though he couldn't see us.
"No," David said softly.
He fired.
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At the exact same fraction of a second, Nikolai fired.
Both men fell to the floorboards as the hallway exploded in a hail of splinters and blood.
