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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Maggie looked around at their little group and shook her head in amazement. How long she’d slept while MacGyver and Artem had been gone, she had no idea. But when Shawn woke her up, the two were back, and they had their hands full of food. Two dented cans and two MREs. She’d asked where in the world they’d found everything, but MacGyver had shaken his head, making it clear he wasn’t going to talk about it…at least not in front of the kids.

Artem had frowned at Maggie and woken up Yana, taking her by the hand and leading her to the other side of the room. It was clear he wasn’t especially happy at how quickly she’d trusted the Americans. The three kids knelt over an MRE, and if the way they shoved food in their mouths was any indication, they’d been very hungry.

Seeing their desperation and enjoyment of the meal made Maggie’s hunger disappear in a flash .

“I know,” Shawn told her in a low voice. “But you have to eat, Maggie. You need the nutrients. You’ve been deprived too.”

She knew that, but it was still really hard to eat when she felt as if she was literally stealing food from the mouths of babes.

Even though Yana had fallen asleep in her lap, it was obvious the children were drawn to MacGyver more than her and Shawn. The SEAL was amazing with the kids. Didn’t talk down to them and asked for their thoughts on subjects ranging anywhere from the situation with the Russians to their favorite foods.

And despite Artem still being distrustful and wary, clearly something happened when he and MacGyver had gone foraging for food. They’d bonded in a way that was obvious to Maggie. Artem seemed more relaxed around the man, and his gaze was glued to the SEAL anytime one of his siblings wasn’t talking.

Suddenly, a loud explosion sounded way too close to where they were holed up.

Artem was on his feet instantly, his sister’s hand in his own and Borysko on her other side.

MacGyver quickly gathered up the uneaten food and shoved it into the pockets of his cargo pants.

“We gotta go,” Shawn said unnecessarily. “Maggie, you take Yana. MacGyver, you’re in the lead. Artem behind him, then Maggie, Borysko, and I’ll bring up the rear.”

Maggie wanted to protest, but the SEALs were the experts here. She knew nothing about evading incoming bombs or defeating any unexpected bad guys they came across.

To her surprise, Artem nodded in agreement, towing Yana over to where she was standing next to Shawn. He said something to the little girl, and she nodded and held up her arms to Maggie.

Once again, Maggie’s heart melted. It wasn’t that the little girl was coming to her for protection; she’d done it because her big brother told her to. And yet, she was still in awe of the trust Yana was showing.

MacGyver turned to Artem and held out his KA-BAR knife. In any other situation, Maggie would’ve protested giving such a lethal weapon to a child, but this wasn’t suburbia United States.

Artem took the knife and nodded at the SEAL. He held it in his small hand, and Maggie had a feeling he wouldn’t hesitate to use it, which made her feel queasy all over again. No child should feel as if he had to use violence to protect himself or his family.

They made their way out of the hidden room that had somehow felt safe, which it obviously was not, if the sound of the explosions coming closer and closer were any indication.

It was eerie how they didn’t come across anyone as they crept out of the rubble and through the streets of the small city. Every now and then the sound of gunfire echoed around them, making Maggie flinch every time.

This was scary. She could admit it. And even though MacGyver and Shawn were there, they couldn’t stop a bullet. Not from hitting her or going through their own bodies. At that moment, she hated Roman a little more, and she already hated him with every fiber of her being. He’d done this. He was evil to his core. He had to know it was likely she wouldn’t die in that crate. So his plan was to dump her here, in the middle of a war zone, alive, bound, and unable to protect herself in any way.

If she’d been found, she could’ve been sexually assaulted, beaten, sold, killed on the spot…the possibilities were endless. She wanted to be rescued so damn badly, but at the same time, she didn’t want to go back to California. Because Roman would be more determined than ever to torture her once he realized she was still alive. He’d have to get rid of her once and for all. She was as good as dead the second she set foot back in Riverton.

She began to shake with fear. Of the current situation and what awaited her back home. She literally couldn’t win. Maybe she should ask if Shawn could drop her off in Turkmenistan or something. Somewhere no one would find her. Not that she wanted to live abroad or be away from Shawn, now that she’d finally met a man who she felt as if she could spend the rest of her life with. But she didn’t want to die either.

“Mag okay?” Yana whispered, patting Maggie’s cheek as they walked.

Meeting the little girl’s gaze, Maggie took a deep breath. “I’m okay,” she echoed, not feeling okay in the least, but for this child, she had to be. “Yana okay?” she asked .

Yana nodded. The serious look on her face was tragic. This child should be laughing and smiling, not being carried through streets of rubble, dodging gunfire.

All of a sudden, those streets were full of Russian soldiers. They spotted their little group immediately and pointed their rifles, yelling something Maggie couldn’t understand but assumed was something like “stop.”

“Run!” Shawn yelled—and then they were all literally running for their lives.

It was difficult to run with little Yana in her arms, but she knew if she didn’t, they’d all end up dead or captured, because neither of her brothers would leave Yana, and Shawn sure as hell wouldn’t, and it was obvious that MacGyver had bonded with the little family and wouldn’t leave any of the siblings behind. So it felt as if she was the only one keeping them out of the Russians’ hands…which was almost a joke. Out of everyone in their little group, she was the least equipped to handle what was happening.

But she did her best.

She almost tripped over a piece of debris in the street, but thankfully Shawn was suddenly at her side, her elbow in his grip, helping her stay on her feet as they fled.

Just when she thought they were going to get away from the men chasing them, they went down a street that was completely blocked by the rubble of a building that had been bombed sometime in the past. There was no way around it, and they couldn’t go back the way they came because they could still hear the soldiers yelling.

“Up!” MacGyver ordered, turning and grabbing Borysko by the waist and heaving him upward, toward a little shelf of concrete about eight feet above the ground.

Shawn took little Yana out of Maggie’s arms without a word and held her up to her brother. Before Maggie could blink, MacGyver had lifted Artem up to join his siblings.

“Your turn,” Shawn told Maggie, leaning over and clasping his hands together. “Step here, I’ll help you up.”

She wanted to argue that this was crazy, but time was of an essence. There was no room for hesitation. Putting a hand on Shawn’s shoulder for balance, she stepped into his hands—and practically flew into the air. Before she knew how it had happened, she was standing on the ledge with the kids.

She had only seconds to wonder how Shawn and MacGyver were going to get up there with them before the soldiers appeared at the end of the street. They shouted something, then began to run toward the two men.

“Shawn!” Maggie screamed—but it was too late. The soldiers were there, hitting the SEALs with their rifles, yelling at them.

“Go!” Shawn managed to shout, before someone hit him in the face with the butt of a rifle. He went down, hard…and then didn’t move.

Maggie stood frozen in shock and horror. MacGyver was fighting for all he was worth, but eight against one wasn’t a fair fight, and it was obvious he was going to go down like Shawn at any moment.

“Come!” Artem said urgently, tugging at Maggie’s hand. The ledge they were standing on was part of a wall that had fallen, which sloped downward into the darkness on the other side. She could just make out a tangle of steel and concrete that had obviously once been some sort of residence.

She didn’t want to go. Wanted to stay where she was to see if Shawn got back up. But then one of the soldiers looked right at her. When he realized she was a woman, she could see the rage in his expression turn to lust in a heartbeat. He said something to the other men, and they all looked up at her.

She turned and ducked out of sight. Nothing good would come out of her being captured. As much as every molecule in her body was screaming at her to help Shawn, she knew she stood no chance against eight men. Self-preservation kicked in.

Yana was surprisingly quick for someone her age, and the small spaces they had to squeeze through were easy for the kids but more difficult for Maggie. Her body was getting scraped up as she forced her way under rebar and around obstacles all around them. But Artem seemed to know what he was doing and where he was going. He’d either been here before, or he had an innate sense of how to get out of the rubble.

Maggie didn’t know how long they’d ducked, squatted, crawled, and shimmied through the destroyed building, but before she knew it, they were standing once more on a debris-littered street.

“Come,” Artem said again, reaching down and picking up his little sister. He and Borysko started walking, not looking back to see if Maggie was following them.

Maggie’s breath hitched, and she realized that at some point she’d started crying. She had no idea when, only that her face was soaked with her tears and it felt as if her heart had been torn in two.

“Shawn,” she whispered, not able to move her feet. She was as frozen now as she’d been when she’d seen the soldiers first start to beat Shawn and MacGyver. It had been horrible. Violent and full of hate. She’d seen fights when she’d been incarcerated, but nothing like what she’d just witnessed.

She kind of thought the siblings might disappear into the streets of the city without her. But to her surprise, Artem had a short conversation with Borysko, and the younger boy walked back to where she was standing and took her hand in his. “Come,” he said, repeating his brother’s simple instructions.

“Shawn,” Maggie said. “Ricky.” She used the name the children called MacGyver.

“We get. But first safe.”

Two words. That was all it took to get Maggie’s muscles working again. We get. She had no idea what three kids and a woman clearly out of her element could do to save two Navy SEALs from a roving band of Russian soldiers, but she so badly wanted to have faith in the boy, she allowed him to pull her forward as they made their way toward another hiding spot.