Drake Sisters 03 - Oceans of Fire

Kingman.”
    Chad sat on the ground cursing as Jackson cuffed him and then carefully searched him for weapons while Jonas did the same with the Russian.
    A small breeze blew through the barn, taking the bats outside into the open air and leaving the men to face one another. Aleksandr frowned, uncomfortable over the ease with which they’d retrieved Fredrickson. He didn’t recognize the Russian, but when the man climbed down from the rafters, he was Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    limping. Jonas examined the man’s calf and found a huge bruise. “Looks bad. How’d you manage to do that?”
    The man mumbled something unintelligible.
    “I don’t suppose a woman did that to you? Nailed you with her little shark stick?”
    Aleksandr studied the Russian. “You must be Chernyshev.”
    The man looked startled and turned his face away. Jonas and Jackson hustled Chad and Chernyshev to the car in handcuffs.
    “Wait!” Mason protested, his voice hoarse with distress. He looked at Aleksandr with desperation.
    “They shot a woman, my ex-wife, Sylvia Fredrickson. I heard her scream, I heard her pleading with Prakenskii. She sounded so scared and then there was a shot fired. They must know what happened to her.”
    Aleksandr patted the man’s shoulder a little awkwardly. “She got away. She’s at the Drake house. She went to them to get help for you.”
    For a moment tears glimmered in Mason’s eyes but he blinked them away. “Are you sure she’s all right?
    She’s never liked the Drakes. I can’t believe she’d go to them.”
    “I think nothing mattered to her but that you were rescued. She was certain they were going to kill you and the Drakes are powerful women. I think she thought they were your best chance for survival. She was very brave.”
    Mason ducked his head, but Aleksandr caught the dawning realization in his eyes. “Yeah, she was, wasn’t she?”
    Aleksandr helped Mason Fredrickson into a sitting position. “Did they harm you in any way?” He was still uneasy. Nothing about the incident seemed right to him.
    “Chernyshev knocked me around a little bit. Chad stayed away from me.” Mason licked his dry lips.
    “You don’t have any water, do you? After the other Russian left, no one would give me a drink.”
    “Prakenskii?” Aleksandr kept his voice casual.
    Mason nodded. “Yeah, that was his name. He pretty much ran everything. Chernyshev wanted to kill me right away. I went into the alley behind the gallery and they were out there with Chad. I thought they were shaking him down, so I went to help him.
    “I heard Chad say he wanted a hundred thousand dollars for transporting the bomb. The next thing I know, Chernyshev slams a gun against my head and is going to kill me right there and then. Chad doesn’t say anything but this guy Prakenskii steps out of nowhere and stops them. He says they can use me.
    Chernyshev started to argue with him, but not very much. I could see they were all afraid of him.”
    “Did Prakenskii hurt you?”
    “No, he gave me water and food and when Chernyshev got pissed about something and walked over and kicked me, Prakenskii told him to do it again and see what happened. He said it really low, no Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    inflection, but it scared the hell out of Chernyshev. He didn’t touch me after that.”
    “Let’s get you on your feet. Just hang on to me and let’s see if your legs will work.”
    Mason gritted his teeth. “Man, it hurts like hell. It feels like a thousand bees stinging me.”
    Aleksandr helped him up, keeping a firm grip when Fredrickson staggered and broke out into a sweat.
    “Where did Prakenskii go?”
    “I don’t know. He told Chad and the Russian guy to wait here for you and then to meet him after they’d taken care of you.”
    “What exactly did he say?”
    Jonas returned, and propped Mason up on his left side. “Can you walk?”
    Aleksandr halted. “I really need to know what Prakenskii said. It’s important.” He met Jonas’s gaze. “I think this is a stall. Keep us looking in one direction while they go in another. Prakenskii knew I’d never fall for this. With or without you, there was no way I’d be taken by rank amateurs. He sent us out here to get us out of the way. And that means they’re bringing in the shipment tonight.”
    Fredrickson shook his head. “No way. They were going to use Chad to transport