Page 79 of Call Sign: King
RYDER
It took every ounce of Ryder’s self-control to keep from moving into action. Playing dead while acting like a Volkov punching bag wasn’t half as hard as listening to Khloe’s sobs from across the room and not being able to comfort her.
Hang on, princess. We really do have a plan.
And thankfully, their plan had worked perfectly so far. The problem was, they had known that once they got inside the fortress, it would be harder to map out their script. What would happen over the next few minutes relied directly on Vladimir and his men and if they had bought Alexi’s olive branch ploy.
As Vladimir pelted Alexi with questions about how he’d been able to kidnap the elusive Nicolai Romanovski — AKA Ryder Helms — so effortlessly, Ryder sneaked a peek across the room.
It was surreal to see his wife — the only woman he’d ever loved — hanging from the same manacles Viktor had had the Linenkos spy hanging from the last time he’d been in this room. If he’d known then what he knew now, he would have emptied the gun into each and every one of the Volkov men that night, even if he’d have died beside them. At least then Khloe would have never been put into danger.
Focus, Helms.
He needed to pay attention… to listen for their ‘go’ word from either Alexi or Torch. As the seconds dragged on, he grew impatient. He wanted to end this, here and now, especially when he heard Vlad’s voice coming from across the room with his next order. “Wake him up! I need him to watch.”
Keep your fucking hands off Khloe!
At least this explained why Torch had delayed making their move. He could hear Vlad hurting Khloe over on the stage. It was too risky to make their move until he moved away from her. That meant Ryder would need to play along a bit longer.
Torch acted like he was roughing Ryder up. In reality, he hit the release latch on the fake handcuffs they’d put Ryder in just before coming inside. Ryder was careful to keep his arms behind his back as he pretended to wake up slowly.
Ryder didn’t have to fake the look of hatred he gave Vladimir as soon as he ‘woke up.’ He did, however, have to push down his panic at finding the tip of Vlad’s handgun pressed directly to Khloe’s temple.
“Let her go, Vlad. She has nothing to do with this,” Ryder warned, not taking his eyes off his enemy even though he longed to look into Khloe’s eyes instead. He wanted to give her hope… to tell her with a look how much he loved her and how sorry he was for putting her in danger.
“The hell she doesn’t. The fact that you’re here already after all these years tells me she may be even more important to you than I originally thought.” Vlad said, accurately reading the signs between the lovers.
Ryder needed to defuse the situation. He needed to find a way to draw Vlad away from Khloe long enough for them to make their move.
It was Yana’s voice that broke the silence between the men. “It’s time to end this now, Vladimir. We have had enough talk. Kill the girl in front of him and then we can put him down just like he did your father in this very room years ago.”
“I would rather rape her in front of him first. Make him listen to her screams as I violate her in the most delicious ways. I meant it when I said she is my trophy. To snuff out such beauty would be a shame. I would rather keep her in my cage for the rest of her life, servicing me when I need to remind myself how I bested my oldest enemy.”
His words made Ryder’s blood run cold.
The mother cautioned her son. “End this now. We must not play this dangerous game any longer. Do not forget that he has dangerous men who will fight for him.”
Ryder was relieved when Vlad turned all of his attention to berate his own mother.
“You call this a game, Mother, but you forget yourself. This has been no game for me. I spent years in pain, mutilated and alone, learning to walk again. When I look into the mirror now, I see a different man staring back at me. So don’t you dare tell me that I have not earned the right to make him suffer!”
Vladimir’s eyes were wild. Ryder exchanged a glance with Torch, trying to get a read on his readiness to make their move. Torch’s slight nod had Ryder turning his attention to the other end of the room instead.
As Vlad and his mother had been focused on their argument and taunting Ryder, Alexi had managed to move to the opposite end of the table. He was moving slowly in the direction of the stage, outside his cousin’s line of site.
Every one of Ryder’s muscles was wound tight, like a panther, waiting to pounce on his prey. All it took was seeing Alexi breaking into a run, closing the final few feet between him and his cousin, to get Ryder in motion.
“Go!” he called the signal to Torch and Alexi’s two guards.
Letting the handcuffs fall to the floor, Ryder drew his weapon from behind his back as he took off running toward Khloe.
Shouts and screams bounced off the walls of the enclosed room as chaos reigned. Gun shots pierced the air, but Ryder was focused on only one thing. He had to throw the chairs just in front of the stage out of the way before launching himself through the air, tackling the terrified looking Khloe.
Just feeling her body under him soothed the worst of his anxiety, knowing any shots being fired would have to go through him to hurt her.
“Stay down, princess,” he cautioned even as he lifted his head to assess the situation. He could feel her gripping onto his shirt for dear life.
Torch and Alexi’s men were handling Vladimir’s loyal guards which left only Yurdin and Yana at the table. Swinging his view around to the other side of their position where the cousins had been struggling, he was just in time to see Vlad raising his weapon, pointed in Ryder and Khloe’s direction.
