page9 (1/2)

Her cell was perhaps four by twosloped sharply The rooe bulb that was never extinguished No furniture, just a thinon a plank floor She’d tried to learn what she could during the limited times she’d been removed It appeared she was inside a house, the distance from here to the torture room only a few steps and in between them a bathroom that she’d visited twice

But where was she?

Two days ago she had been in Antwerp

She bent forward, hands on her knees Her legs were li, and she shuddered

Twice she’d been strapped to the board, the towel slapped across her face She’d thought herself capable of withstanding anything, but the sensation of drowning, while her ars, was proving too much She’d read once that mental violence needed no punches

She believed it

She doubted she could take another session

Near the end of the first one, she’d involved Malone, which see Pau Wen’s residence and her capture, she easily could have handed the artifact off

And they’d apparently believed her

Cotton was all she had

And she could not give these people what they wanted Would they kill her? Not likely, at least until they en

After that?

She didn’t want to think about the possibilities

She was proud that she hadn’t begged, whined, or compromised herself

But she had compromised Cotton

Then again, he’d told her , she shouldn’t hesitate This situation seemed to qualify

Over the past two days she’d played hts away She’d multiplied numbers to the tens of thousands

But thoughts of Malone had also kept her grounded

He was tall and handsoreen eyes Once she’d thought him cold, emotionless, but over the past year she’d learned that this was not the case They’d been through a lot together

She trusted him

Her breathing settled Her heart slowed

Nerves calmed

She stood upright and rubbed her sore wrists

Pushing forty years old and in anotherelse she could i Actually, her project to reconstruct a 14th-century French castle, using only tools andHer on-site superintendent had reported a feeeks ago that they were at the 10 point in construction She’d intended to devote herself ed that

“They took hione”

Lev Sokolov was not a man prone to panic In fact, he was a smart, clever, concise individual Born and raised in the old Soviet Union, he’dto China, of all places

“My son was playing at his grandetable stall,” Sokolov said in Russian, voice cracking “One of his grand hiht weeks ago”

“What about that neighbor?”

“We went straight to his door He said that after giving him money for sweets, he left hi bastard He sold him, Cassiopeia I know he did There is no other explanation”

“What did the police do?”

“The govern To them it’s isolated and under control It’s not Two hundred children disappear here every day”

“That can’t be right”

“It is Now my boy is one of them”

She hadn’t knohat to say

“Our options are limited,” Sokolov said, his voice wretched with despair “TheThe police will not speak to us Even parents’ support groups that exist for others like us have to meet in secret We plastered the province with posters, but the police threatened to arrest us if we kept on No one wants reminders of a problem that officially doesn’t exist” He paused “My wife has fallen apart She is barely coherent I have nowhere else to turn I need your help”

That was a request she could not refuse