Page 161 of Cruel Demands

Taylor cannot survive delay.

“Do it,” I tell Arkady. He turns immediately.

The government commander steps into my path. “You will order those men to stand down.”

“No.”

“You are obstructing government security.”

“There has been an abduction inside a government event. Two guests were taken during a staged medical emergency. Secure the crowd. Verify every identity. No one leaves the property until every vehicle has been searched.”

“You do not have jurisdiction over my officers.”

“No. But you do. So perhaps use it.”

Arkady is already moving. “Take half the men to the elevators,” I tell him. “Send the rest to the ambulance bay.”

“And you?”

I look farther down the corridor. The private wing splits ahead. Left leads toward the service elevators and ambulance level. Right leads toward the unfinished surgical section.

That is where Orlov went. I saw him. Not toward freedom. Deeper into the hospital. He has hidden from me for months. He would not walk willingly into a building full of my men, cameras, police, and government security unless today mattered enough to justify the risk.

And Orlov has never trusted another man to control what belongs to him. He came to watch. He stayed to make certain the extraction succeeded. “The unfinished wing.”

Arkady studies me. “You think he stayed.”

“I saw him go that way.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“No. Find Taylor,” I say. His jaw tightens. “Arkady.” He looks at me. “If she reaches one of those ambulances, I need you there.”

That decides it. He turns and runs toward the elevators.

The unfinished surgical wing is dark.

Plastic sheeting hangs over open doorways and unfinished walls. The emergency lights do not reach this far. Dust lifts beneath my shoes as the noise of the hospital recedes behind me.

I draw my gun.

Somewhere beneath us, men are tearing open ambulances and searching service corridors. Somewhere inside this building, or already beyond it, Taylor is being moved by men who know exactly what she means to me.

Orlov knows which vehicle. Which exit. Which route. That’s why he stayed.

Behind me, the hospital roars with alarms, reporters, officers, and men who no longer bother hiding what they are. My political life may already be over. Taylor is somewhere below us. My mother is with her. My child is inside her.

Orlov believes that gives him control over me.

He is about to learn the difference between having power and surviving it.

42

TAYLOR

The first man keeps one hand around my arm as he pushes me deeper into the private treatment wing. Behind us, alarms pulse through the hospital. People shout instructions over one another. Somewhere beyond the sealed doors, the public event has dissolved into panic. Ahead of us, the corridor is empty.

Hospitals are never empty. That’s when I know. We are not being escorted to safety. We are being abducted.