Page 68 of Savage Warrior

“Where are we going?” I ask as I zip it up.

“The castle,” he replies simply. “Can you manage, or do you need me to carry you?”

I can get around inside fairly well on my own, but outdoors I’m unsteady.

I decline that offer, so he invites me to take his arm and assists me along the rough track which leads from the clinic to the ancient fortress. It’s slow going, but he’s patient. When we reach the cobbled forecourt, he pauses and gazes into the sky over to the east. The Scottish mainland lies in that direction, I gather, but if not ?tefan, I still have no idea who could be visiting me from there.

“Ah, we’re just in time,” he says. “I can hear the helicopter.”

So can I. The distant hum grows louder as the chopper approaches. It is a sound I have become accustomed to in the days I have been here. Most movement on and off the island is by helicopter, and flights come and go all day.

Jack takes a seat on a bench close to the main steps leading up to the castle entrance. I join him, and together we watch the helicopter circle, then descend onto a vacant spot near the old drawbridge. It’s not the usual aircraft that I’ve seen so many times while I’ve been here. This one is more military in appearance, dark khaki-coloured with a double rotor. It settles, and the rotors slow to a stop. The door opens, and a man hops out.

“Is it him?” I whisper. “Is that my visitor?” I don’t recognise the newcomer.

“That’s Marius Bival. He’s Cristina’s brother.”

I’m baffled and apprehensive. I’ve heard enough about Cristina’s background to know who this man is. Head of a Mafia family in Moldova and as rich as Croesus. What could he want with me? “Oh. I see. I—”

I pause when another, much smaller figure emerges from the aircraft. A child, I think. He hesitates in the doorway. Mr Bival holds up his arms to help him out. Once on the ground, Mr Bival places his hand on the boy’s shoulder and gestures towards me.

Shielding his eyes with his hand, the boy turns to face me. My heart stops for a moment. I stare, open-mouthed. He looks so much like…

I jump to my feet, unaided for once, and take a hesitant step forward. Then another. It cannot be… Can it?

“Yuryl?” I whisper, unable to believe what I’m seeing. “Is it…?”

He sees me, recognises me. His face registers first shock, then delight. He breaks into a smile and glances hesitantly up at the man beside him. Mr Bival bends to say something, and Yuryl starts running. He races over the cobbles towards me, and the world slips into slow motion as I drop to my knees.

My baby brother flings himself into my arms, and I forget my injuries for once as the pair of us tumble to the ground. I’m laughing, crying, babbling with relief.

“Yuryl, is it you? Is it really you? I’ve been so worried, so scared…”

“Arina, Arina, Arina,” he sobs. “I thought I would not see you again. Not after…”

“Not after what?” I sit up, noticing for the first time that he is alone but for Mr Bival. “Where is Natalija? Where is your sister?”

Tears course down his cheeks, and he clings to me.

“Tell me, sweetheart. Tell me where she is.”

“I do not know,” he wails. “Men came to our flat. I was in bed, but I heard them. I… I hid.”

Dear God! “What men? What happened to Natalija?”

“They took her.” He swipes the tears from his face with his hand. “She was screaming, and they hit her to make her stop. Then they took her. I was watching through a crack in the bedroom door. I… I should have helped her, but I didn’t. I was too scared. They put her in a car, and they drove away. I could still hear her. I couldn’t stop them.”

“No. Oh, dear God, no.” I crush his skinny body to me and stare up at the man who brought him home.

He offers me his hand. “Let us go inside. I’ll explain what’s happened, as much as I know.”

CHAPTER 17

Rome

Three weeks earlier, Richmond Clinic, Inverness

Natalija! Yuryl!

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