CHAPTER 17

PIPER

I start running down the hallway. Maybe a miracle will occur and I can outrun Timofey. I lower my head, ready to give that far-fetched escape plan all I've got…when I hear a cry.

A baby's cry.

Without thinking, I lunge across the hall for the nearest door and throw it open. The cry fills the hallway, and I duck into the dark room.

There's a crib in the center of the room, and in the center of that crib is a squirming bundle.

"I was looking for Benjamin," I mutter, trying to practice my alibi in the few seconds I have left before Timofey finds me. "I was searching for his room, and I found it. I didn't hear anything. I was looking for Benjamin."

He won't hurt me with a baby in my arms, right?

I don't love the idea of using the child I was sent to protect as a human shield, but I guess I'll find out how serious he was about Benjamin being his main priority.

I pluck the little baby out of the crib and cradle him against my chest. His cheeks are pink and round and he clearly has a wonderful set of lungs because he's screaming so loudly that I don't hear Timofey's footsteps in the hallway until they're on top of me.

One minute, I'm alone with Benjamin; the next, Timofey is darkening the doorway.

"What are you doing in here?" he growls.

I turn around, trying to look calm, but it feels like my heart is going to burst out of my chest. My anxiety is doing nothing to soothe the baby. Benjamin wails even louder.

"My job. I'm the nanny, right?"

His electro blue eyes narrow. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm as honest with you as you are with me."

"You're not half as clever as you think you are."

"Who was being clever?" I ask. "I was telling the truth."

Benjamin is still crying, but with the way Timofey is staring at me, the room feels silent. Each second stretches and warps, and I have no idea if I'm going to get away with this or not.

Suddenly, he steps forward. "Give me the boy."

I tighten my arms around the baby, and I know I'm done for. Timofey knows it, too.

"Piper," he snarls, "give him to me."

"Move out of the doorway first."

I wrap my arms around the wailing child like he's my life preserver. Right now, he is. The police officer in the hall won't shoot me if I'm holding Benjamin. Timofey won't tackle me.

Maybe, somehow, I can get myself to the front door and outside.

To your bike? Genius plan, Piper. Really top shelf stuff.

Fuck, I wish I had a car. I wish I could overcome the fear that is the literal least of my worries right now and ride in one.

But even with Benjamin in my arms and Timofey blocking the doorway, I can feel my claustrophobia wrapping itself around me like an anaconda. It squeezes, reminding me I'm backed into a corner, whispering that there is no way out.

Timofey steps closer until he blocks the door from view. "You aren't going anywhere."

"You can't keep me here. People will notice I'm missing."

He leans his head to the side. "You think I'm going to hurt you."

"You've done it before! You told me just before your meeting that you'd kill me yourself. Of course I think you're going to hurt me."

I pat Benjamin's soft little back. His lower lip is quivering with each cry. He's probably hungry and needs a diaper change. My fingers itch to take care of him. I want to help him.

But getting him away from Timofey Viktorov is the best help I could ever give.

"Why would I hurt you?"

Timofey asks the question in a way that makes me doubt myself. Like it's ridiculous that I'm afraid of him. Like I don't have every reason in the world to run screaming from the mere mention of his name.

Then his expression flatlines. Every emotion drains from his face between one blink and the next. "What do you know that is worth killing over?"

I shake my head. "Nothing. I don't know. You're a criminal, that's all I know. But everyone knows that."

You didn't know that," he says. "Not before you walked into my house two days ago."

What I wouldn't give to go back to that moment, yank myself away from Timofey's front door, and never go to that meeting. God, would things be different.

Then again, who would help Benjamin if I did that?

I felt an obligation to Benjamin from the moment I heard about him. Now that I'm holding him against me, feeling his tiny chest breathe in and out, there's no way I can leave him behind. He's imprinting on me with every cry and hiccup. I'm a goner, in every way that matters.

But so be it. He's helpless, and I won't leave him behind.

Not the way so many people did exactly that to me.

"Move out of my way," I hissed at the bastard intent on ruining my life. "Let us go. You don't want to take care of a baby."

"Don't tell me what I want. You aren't leaving here with or without Benjamin."

"What do you want with a baby anyway? Whose baby is this?" I ask. "You said he was left on your porch. Why do you care so much about a baby you don't even know?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"And I'd tell you it's because I'm a human being with a working heart. Because I don't want to see a child left in an unsafe environment if I can do something about it," I retort. "I'm sure you can't relate to that."

"You're right." Timofey nods solemnly. "I don't have a heart. I'm cold and calculating. I'm actually keeping Benjamin for a ritual sacrifice later. Regular deals with the devil are how I maintain my peaches-and-cream complexion."

He's joking, I know, but I still squeeze Benjamin tighter. "The sad thing is that I don't know if you're kidding."

Timofey snorts. "Then maybe you really are stupid."

"Or maybe you're a cold-blooded murderer and capable of anything," I fire back. "The truly stupid thing would be for me to underestimate you."

"So I guess that answers the question of whether you were eavesdropping or not." He exhales and shakes his head. "I gave you such a simple, clear instruction.Wait in my office.That's all you had to do. Instead, you had to follow me and fuck everything up."

My blood pressuring is skyrocketing, pumping through my body at an ungodly rate. I can hear my heart pounding, the incessant boom-boom like war drums.

"What are you going to do to me?" I whisper, even though I don't want to know the answer. Maybe ignorance would be bliss.

"That depends. Are you going to hand over Benjamin?"

I'm ashamed to admit that I consider it for a second, handing over this helpless baby to save my own skin. Exchanging his little life for my own.

But I'd never forgive myself if I did that.

I'd rather die with dignity than live with regret.

"No," I say firmly. "I won't. I'm going to do everything I can to get him away from you or die trying. You're a criminal and the worst possible choice to take care of a child."

Timofey presses a hand to his chest and pretends he has feelings I could hurt. "Then you leave me no choice."

He takes another step closer to me, compounding my claustrophobia and making me feel like a caged animal.

I eye my possible escape routes, but there aren't any. Timofey is blocking the doorway and I can't climb through a window with a baby in my arms. Not before Timofey could stop me, anyway.

"Stop!" I beg, backing up until I'm smashed against the bars of the crib. "Don't hurt Benjamin. Just let us go. I won't say anything to anyone. I'll leave and you won't hear from us again."

Timofey doesn't say anything as he towers over me. I cradle Benjamin's head with shaking fingers and close my eyes, ready to accept whatever is coming next.

Whatever happens, I hope it's quick.

Then Timofey turns his head to the side and bellows, "Rooney!"

Benjamin jolts and starts wailing again. The man I saw earlier appears in the doorway. This time, his hood is up, his face shrouded in darkness.

"What?" he croaks irritably.

"Take your hood down, you idiot," Timofey snaps. "She already saw you."

"You don't know that."

"I do," he says. "It doesn't matter, anyway. Piper won't tell anyone. Will you, darling?"

"Don't call me darling."

He smirks. "She's going to learn her lesson. If she doesn't, the people she cares about will have to learn it for her."

Does he mean Benjamin?

Ashley? Noelle? My grandma?

Does it even matter who he means? Timofey is willing to hurt people. Who he hurts is not high on his list of concerns.

Officer Rooney lowers his hood, revealing a worried mouth turned down at the corners. "What do you want me to do?"

In response, Timofey reaches out and grabs Benjamin. I try to hold on, but Timofey shakes his head. "You won't win this one, Piper. Pull too hard and he'll break."

I know he's right. I also know he won't give in.

So, reluctantly, I let Benjamin go.

Timofey holds the baby casually, like he's done it a million times before. It's strange how natural he looks with a child in his arms.

Then he backs away and jerks his chin in my direction. "Okay, Rooney. Go ahead."

I wilt back, but Rooney doesn't move. "Go ahead with what?" he asks.

Timofey smolders. "Arrest her."