Part 29 (1/2)

The words died in his mouth. Pasko drew back his right hand and stabbed her in the stomach.

He saw Sarah's eyes widen and her mouth fall open.

Pasko held Sarah close to him, the knife pressed into her gut.

Hicks swore and yanked against his restraints.

Pasko released Sarah and stepped away from her.

Sarah gasped. She dropped to the floor, her hands pressed to the wound in her gut.

Pasko's s.h.i.+rt was stained with the fresh bloom of her blood. He reached up and pressed the palm of his hand into the middle of it. He stepped closer to Milton, laid his palm on his chest, and then dragged it down. It left scarlet tracks across Milton's flesh.

”She betrayed me, John. A week away from us? She could have left much sooner than she did. How could I trust her after that? I had no choice, and that is your fault. Her blood is on your conscience.”

Chapter Fifty-Four.

MILTON'S MUSCLES burned with adrenaline, but he forced himself to wait. The man next to Hicks had raised the gun and aimed it at him. There was nothing he could do.

Sarah was curled up on the floor, blood pooling around her body.

Pasko ignored her as if she wasn't even there. He gestured across to Nadia with the bloodied knife. ”Your brother found Mr. Milton, Nadia. Did you know that? He was driving the lorry that Samir used to get into the country. I am going to punish John this afternoon, and then I am going to kill him and his friend. You are going to watch. And then you are going to persuade me that you will never try to contact your brother again. Because we know where he is, don't we, John? Mr. Hicks told me. He is in Dover. The detention facility. Applying for asylum. It would be very easy for me to pay someone to put a knife in his heart. I could kill you, just like that silly b.i.t.c.h on the floor, and then I could kill your brother, too. You need to persuade me that I don't need to do that.”

”I won't,” she said.

”Pasko-” Milton started.

Pasko gestured to Florin. ”Get him ready. Help him, Llazar.”

The last few moments had been a surprise-to everyone, not just to Milton. He turned his head to look back at Florin and the man with the gun, who must have been Llazar. They hesitated; not because they were frightened of Milton-and why would they be, with him naked and pathetic?-but because they were frightened of Pasko.

”Now!” Pasko spat.

Florin grabbed Milton's shoulders.

Milton struggled.

Milton allowed Florin to wrap his arms around his chest.

Pasko took a quarter turn and laid a finger against the charge box. ”You know what this is, Nadia?”

Llazar put the gun away and stepped closer to Milton and Florin.

Nadia did not answer.

”It is a parilla,” Pasko said. ”I normally use it when I want to extract information. Not today, though. I am going to use it to torture him. And when I have inflicted enough pain, I will kill him.” Pasko laid the b.l.o.o.d.y knife down on the table. ”Come over here,” he said to Nadia. ”You can help me. I'll show you how to use it.”

Nadia turned and tried to run for the door. It was pointless-the fourth man was still standing before it, blocking it with his bulk, but it was a distraction. Llazar turned his head a fraction toward the sudden commotion as the fourth man caught Nadia with a backhanded slap across the face. Llazar was directly in front of Hicks, and he wasn't concentrating. Hicks sprang up, wrapped his right arm around Llazar's neck and fell back, his weight bringing them both down to the floor.

It was the chance that Milton had been waiting for. He jerked his head backwards, his skull cracking into Florin's face. His grip was released, and Milton threw the hardest punch that he could muster. His right hand connected; Florin stumbled back, lost his footing, and fell onto his backside.

Milton turned and barged into the man next to Nadia, driving him all the way across the room until they crashed into the door. Milton had his arms around the man's torso, holding his arms in place even as he tried to free them. The goon b.u.t.ted Milton, his brow clas.h.i.+ng against Milton's left eyebrow and immediately cutting it open. Milton felt the blood well up before it bubbled over and ran down into his eye. He b.u.t.ted back, clas.h.i.+ng his forehead into the man's nose, and then reached up and rested both hands so that they were spread around the side of the man's head, his fingers splayed and his thumbs pressing against his eyes. He pushed hard. The pads of his thumbs dug into the man's eye sockets and he felt the aqueous fluid within the cavities as it bulged and spread around the pressure. The man screamed, reaching his hands up until they fastened around Milton's wrists, but it was too late. Milton pushed harder and was rewarded with a popping sensation and then a gus.h.i.+ng of blood that burst around his thumbs and ran down his wrists.

Nadia screamed.

Milton turned and quickly located the others.

Llazar had freed himself from Hicks and was rising to his feet. His gun was on the floor, dislodged during the struggle.

Florin was getting up, too, a knife in his fist.

Pasko went for the blade on the table.

Three on one.

Florin squared up to him. He had blood running out of his nose from where Milton had struck him. Milton could see that the man was a comfortable and adept fighter: his weight was evenly balanced, and his arms were loose and moving freely as he pa.s.sed the knife from hand to hand.

Milton sensed movement and turned as Llazar swung the wooden chair at him. Milton had just long enough to raise his arms to cover his head, and the chair broke across his right shoulder and the top of his arm.

Florin sprang forward and slashed down. Milton sprang away into the middle of the room, the knife nicking his shoulder. Pain flashed. Milton ignored it.

Florin had overstretched and unbalanced himself. Milton stepped up, wrapped his arms around the bigger man's waist, and heaved up, lifting him off the floor and bringing him across the room until they both clattered into the parilla. Milton slammed Florin down onto it, the sudden impact enough to send them both through the metal grid and onto the floor between the frame.

Llazar grabbed Milton from behind and yanked him up. Florin disengaged himself from the wrecked frame as Milton put his feet on the metal and pushed back, toppling Llazar.

Florin stabbed again at Milton's gut just as Hicks arched his back and kicked out at the big man. The top of his foot cracked into Florin's elbow. His thrust was redirected, the tip of the knife flas.h.i.+ng across Milton's skin, scoring a narrow trench from his breast down to his navel.

Milton was lying atop Llazar.

”Milton!” Hicks warned.

Florin drew back with the knife and stabbed down. Milton intercepted the downward thrust and redirected it, the six-inch blade disappearing into Llazar's shoulder. Milton held the blade there as Florin tried to free it and then drilled the point of his elbow into the bigger man's face. Florin's nose exploded, even more blood spilling out to mingle with the flow that had already been discharged. He slumped to the side, the back of his head bouncing against the concrete.

Florin fell flat and then lay still.

Milton quickly looked up.

Pasko had grabbed Nadia and now he was backing away, the smashed parilla standing between them.

Milton twisted the knife in Llazar's shoulder and then yanked it out.

Llazar screamed in pain.