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The Raven touched her arm. “Surviving takes the most courage of all, but you’re brave. A fighter. Farewell, Tess. Stay safe.” Silently, the Highlander disappeared into the night, and the soft ground of the forest absorbed his footsteps.
Chapter Twenty-One
Voices in the Trees
Left alone with Yuri’s body, Tess desperately wanted to leave, but she opted to confirm he was dead and hadn’t somehow faked his demise. She bent over to search his neck for a pulse. Nothing. Next, she studied his face, now a ghastly gray, and committed the moment to memory. With this proof, she hoped to exterminate him from her thoughts forever and willed away the images of what he’d done to Kyle. The fear haunting her since Cedarcliff gently fell away, like debris washed aside by a heavy rain shower.
She needed to find Mark and Declan but wanted to protect the Raven’s anonymity. Recounting the past few minutes, she checked the ground and found no evidence which could incriminate him. She’d worn gloves, which meant she hadn’t left fingerprints on the sword, should the Raven need to abandon it in the forest for some reason. Her mobile vibrated in her pocket. Panting from trekking over the uneven ground, she stopped to withdraw an arm from one of her crutches, lifted the phone to one ear, and answered.
“Inspector Willis here. We’re on Queen’s Road, approaching Richmond Park. Any update?”
“I’m nearing the Mound trailhead. Slow going.” Not ready to reveal Yuri’s demise, she skirted the truth. “I haven’t found Mark or Declan, but there’s been no gunfire either.”
“Let’s keep things peaceful, and we’ll arrive shortly.” Willis signed off.
Glad he didn’t waste time chastising her for being in the woods, she rotated in a circle, divining which direction would lead toward the main trail. She managed a steady gallop over the gravelly ground and strained to hear police sirens. The fork of the path branched, and she veered left. After trekking down one route, she hit a thicket of trees that obstructed the way and was lost again. “Damn it.”
She checked her watch. Four minutes past midnight. Huffing and grumbling, she hiked back to where the trail split. Inexplicably, she grew uneasy and felt a premonitory sense she was no longer alone. Across the fork in the trail, several yards away, she heard a clunky, dragging noise and froze.
Someone stumbled and crashed through the bushes and foliage like a drunk.
She cupped a hand against her ear to listen. The rustling stopped, followed by a blunt thud on the ground, heaviness landing on leaves. First, she heard a groan, then a pained howl. She flashed back to the barn when Mark wailed from Sergey’s punches and sensed her lungs tightening. Could Declan be in the trees? Grateful for the cover of darkness, she aimed to remain silent and hidden. But what if it was Mark? Afraid of falling into a trap, she ventured a tentative step forward.
“Help me,” a male voice groaned. “Please.”
She flinched. The man’s refined English voice, a clear tenor, projected suffering veiled by politeness. The Oxbridge accent echoed with familiarity but was so hoarse she couldn’t identify it, despite a rising glint of hope. Betting the man wasn’t an enemy, she couldn’t desert someone injured. “Who are you? Reveal yourself.” She kept her voice low and hushed.
“I’d recognize your American accent anywhere, Tess.”
“David. Thank God. Where are you?” She spun to find his location, her spirits skyrocketing.
“A few meters behind the trail fork, next to the huge tree,” David spoke in a labored rasp.
“Let me get you out.” She switched on her mobile’s flashlight, having forgotten to use it since the encounter with Yuri. Shining the light across the trees in a broad sweep, she detected a figure curled against the base of a gigantic oak tree. Using her crutches to swat foliage away, she stepped toward him through pockets in the bushes. “Almost there.”
Two steps more. She trudged through the thick undergrowth to reach David and angled the flashlight to avoid blinding him. Knowing he’d been tortured, she sucked in a breath to work up the nerve to assess his wounds. Coated in blood, sweat, and dirt, he appeared ill, with a red-stained rag wrapped around one hand. “My God, what have they done?” She covered her mouth.
“Some sadistic arse named Yuri tortured me. Cut off my finger with a dirty knife. It’s gone, but it hurts like hell.” David’s voice cracked as he presented his left hand, and the rag dropped. A dirt-covered, bloody gauze bandage twisted around the gory wound, covering most of it.
Choking down the bile rising in her throat, she contorted at the nasty taste. Her second worst fear had materialized—they had maimed David.
She slid off her right glove and felt his forehead, which was burning hot. “You have a fever. How long ago did this happen?”
“Two days ago. God Almighty, the torture almost killed me.”
“You need a hospital. Police are coming, and I’ll fetch an ambulance. You’re safe now.” Whether help arrived in time to stop further violence, she couldn’t say. She squeezed his shoulder and bit her lip, trying not to visualize Yuri abusing him. She stuffed the glove back in her pocket and straightened to scan the thick trees around them. “This nightmare stops tonight.”
David grabbed her arm with his good hand. “Wait. They blackmailed me, and, well, I had to make sacrifices.”
“What kind of sacrifices?” She tensed as new, foreboding chills crept up her spine.
“Ah, shit.” David’s voice quavered like he might cry. “When they tortured me, I gave away the root encryption keys to two of our customers. Polish banks.”
“Yes, those banks got breached, and they’re losing cash by the minute.” Her brow furrowed. Based on Kavita’s call, the timing didn’t make sense. “How’d you access those numbers while kidnapped? How’d you figure out what they were after?”
“I received a security alert about heightened activity in Eastern Europe right before the Cedarcliff attack. Riku warned me about new dark web chatter indicating Poland might be targeted.”
“Before the attack? How the hell did Riku find out?” Her blood pressure surged, and she reconsidered whether David had betrayed her. Had he withheld critical information?
