Page 21 of Dark Medicine (Strange Gifts #2)
Sgt. Uri Bellum let out a sigh of relief when he received word that his wife and daughter were safe in their remote cabin in the mountains of Wyoming. There was no paper trail to lead anyone to believe the cabin was his. Years ago, he purchased the run-down, two-room abode and completely refurbished the entire building. He added a bathroom, modern kitchen, and two bedrooms to accommodate his growing family. Everything paid for in cash, and the deed, title, and land tax under an alias that not even his wife knew.
The cabin was rarely used, and when they did use it, they traveled via back roads and unmarked thoroughfares. To his knowledge, it was still just the secret of him and his wife.
Twenty years before, Uri defected from his motherland, Russia. His father, a Soviet colonel, was hanged for alleged crimes against the state. Crimes fabricated by a jealous colleague to drive his father out of favor with the heads of the military. Uri’s mother died from grief, and he had no option but to leave or suffer the same fate. The Americans were happy to have a young, strong Russian with information about the happenings in his native country.
Uri was more than willing to spill the beans on anything and everything he knew, including documents and journals that his father left behind. The Americans were thrilled with him, and he felt useful and needed for the first time in his life.
In return for their kindness, he joined the Army and became a loyal patriot of the United States of America. When Colonel Weston Moore approached him about a top-secret project, he eagerly raised his hand and accepted the assignment. He wished he could cut that hand off right now.
He wasn’t even sure why he still called him colonel. Forced into retirement, disgraced for his behavior, and taking with him several men who felt loyalty to him. Now, they were all disgraced. Yet they continued to call one another by their military titles. It was simply ridiculous! Men playing at boys’ games.
Moore would be hunting for him at this very moment. No stone left unturned, no door left open or closed. He would be hunting for his wife and daughter. Yet he still sat in the room of his Shannon hotel, wondering what to do next, completely lost and devoid of direction.
The colonel’s ultimate mission was to get the girl. Fiona Graham allegedly possessed an ability that would heal Colonel Moore of his multiple maladies. Somehow, Uri doubted that possibility, but he knew the colonel and his minion maiden would stop at nothing to get the girl.
He and Zurvel, sent to kidnap the girl, were shocked at the abilities of the men surrounding and protecting her. They obviously possessed military background and experience. It didn’t escape Uri’s notice that they all could have been a part of the project, just like the girl.
Maybe that was his way out of this mess. If he could find them, let them know what was happening, why the colonel was after the girl, maybe they would take mercy upon him. It would be his death warrant with the colonel, but perhaps his wife and daughter would survive.
He tried to remember the name of the inn Roman and George sent him. Scanning the phonebook in the room, an actual paper phonebook, he found the location of the inn. Given where he was located, he guessed he could be at the inn by nine p.m. If he survived this, Uri vowed to hide his wife and daughter forever and find a way to leave the colonel’s employment.
First, he would help Fiona Graham, and in the process, sign his own death warrant.