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"Back," Monk said, pointing to the brick building "Move slowly Toward the store"

Despite all the s, it wouldthey could use for defense a its shelves Monk pulled Pyotr to his side The boy quaked under hied through the grass

Monk kept an eye behind him, mostly because Pyotr did the same He trusted the boy’s intuition Where the road curved toward thestation, the ers often sought the highest ground: a tall boulder, a lofty tree branch, a e, so it had been discovered, a shadowy striped shape slid like a flow of oil from one of the upper-story s near the back of the , he would’ve rasses

"Run," he urged Konstantin and Kiska

Monk pulled Pyotr up into his ar

The two children ahead of hi by terror and fueled by adrenaline Monk folloith Marta racing beside hi heavy bounded off the heel and across the creek The general store’s door was open, only thirty yards away It would be close He prayed for a walk-in freezer, somewhere they could barricade

The crack of a rifle split through his terror

Gravel exploded with a bright spark at his toes

Monk dove to the side, rolling through the high grass, cradling and cushioning Pyotr with his own body He kept rolling until he ended up behind one of the rusted hulks of an old truck

The sniper had shot from the lower half of the street

It had to be one of the Russian soldiers

Turning, Monk spotted Konstantin and Kiska leaping like frightened deer across the planked sidewalk and through the open door of the store Marta followed them with one bound One of the s shattered as a rifle shot echoed But the trio had made it inside safely

Monk sheltered behind the truck and hunkered down He could not reach the store without crossing open ground

He glanced up the street

There was no sign of the tiger Not a blade of grass ravel under heavy paw The sudden shotthe cat as much as them It lay hidden out there

Monk crouched, trapped between the tiger and a sniper But that was not the only danger Another hazard se, Lake Karachay shone brightly, radiating outith its toxic pall Even standing still here was death

12:30 AM

Washington, DC

As an alarside Sasha’s bed, shielding her with his body froed into her sheets, hands over her ears, hypersensitive to the bells and shouts Across the bed, Kat Bryant went to Sasha, consoling her with a palist Malcoluard

Yuri faced McBride The man crouched a few steps away, his back to the corner of the rooe, Dr Lisa Cuainst her neck

They were at an i his way down here with coetting his oily hands on Sasha He could not let that happen

Yuri shifted to the stainless-steel instru the vials of drugs used to treat Sasha

"Yuri!" McBride snapped at hi McBride understood "I will not let you have Sasha," he said and stabbed the needle into her intravenous line

As he pushed the plunger, he saw McBride shift his gun away froe just contained saline, a ruse Yuri whipped around and flew straight at the man At the same time, Lisa stamped her heel on the man’s instep and smashed her head back into his face

The pistol fired, explosive in the small space

Struck in the shoulder, Yuri spun half a step He barely noted the pain He crashed into McBride, knocking Lisa out of his grip Yuri slashed at McBride’s throat and jae he had palular The syringe contained a non-diluted concentration of Sasha’s y of cheether, McBride emptied his clip into Yuri’s stomach Muffled by his body, it sounded like loud claps and felt as if sout Still, Yuri slaht for the heart

McBride screamed

Yuri fell with the : fla in his head, heart squeezing with agony Hands pulled Yuri off McBride and rolled hi her fro the child’s head turned away

At his side, McBride writhed up into a convulsive seizure, spittle flying, turning bloody as he bit through his tongue The body would live, but not hishim a hollowed husk

Lisa leaned over Yuri "Helppressure to his belly Blood spread across the floor Kat joined hihed More blood He reached a hand, knowing she would help

"Sasha…," he gasped out

"We’ll protect her," Kat said

He shook his head He knew this already, did not doubt her heart "More…--mind and vision The world darkened, and the pain sank into coldness

He tried to speak, to tell her where "Chela…insk…" His hand scrabbled to the floor, dreo numbers in his own blood: 88

Her hand closed over his "Hold on, Yuri"