Left For Dead (The Guarded Secrets Series Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

into mine, freezing me to the bone as the water soaked into my skin.
    “Take Katya back to the hideout,” he commanded as he pulled a phone from his pocket. “We may still have time to save her if we get her warmed up. I’ll bury the mother in the snow and try to make it seem as if she was killed prior to the snowstorm in case someone comes out here. On my way back I’ll call Sharp Shooter and update him. Now go, and don’t get caught.”
    I nodded before racing toward our hideout as fast as I could. Katya’s breathing told me she was alive, but I knew the dangers of being caught out here in the cold, how the shock would affect someone, and how fast hypothermia could set in. She needed to get somewhere safe and fast. I couldn’t risk losing her, and I couldn’t chance being seen by someone in town and alerting Volodya to our presence.
    Hopefully Nikolai didn’t remember much of me, or they may have already known we were here and that could only mean one punishment―death.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 4
     
     
    “We can’t stay here much longer,” I said, walking into the small living room and shutting the bedroom door behind me. “What if someone sees her with us or goes looking for her body?”
    Katya was sleeping in my bed, her wet clothes discarded on the floor until I had the time to hang them up to dry. My only priority was getting her warm again, not worry about her clothes. I had been waiting for Demon to come back after I got Katya wrapped in the few blankets we brought and hugged her in a futile attempt to warm her up again. Once Demon returned, still on the phone with someone back home, I went to figure out what the plan was.
    Demon sighed, finally hanging up the phone. “I know that. I called Sharp Shooter and he’s sending Maverick over with the plane now. We have a few hours left, and then we have to go back home. For now this is done.”
    “What about the mission?” I asked, placing Katya’s clothes near the fire to dry. “We still have nothing to end Volodya’s reign. How will we get rid of him and manage not to start a war? We’re taking his daughter, for heaven’s sake. He’s bound to find out.”
    “And when he does we will deal with it,” Demon stated, effectively ending further argument. “Besides, her father wanted her dead, this may buy us some much needed time. We didn’t get much information from Nikolai, and we will have to try again if what he gave us doesn’t pan out, but if we do it too soon it may raise suspicion. You still need to improve in a lot of aspects to make this mission possible.”
    I scowled. “Next time you can bring Renegade. I’m sure he’ll be a real hit with the men around here. Of course, then you’ll be on a rescue mission and wasting more of CIRA’s time.”
    Demon didn’t reply right away, and when he did he made sure to change the topic. “Maverick will be here in a few hours. I’ll take charge of watching over Katya until then so you can rest.” He paused, and I was about to say I wasn’t tired, but he beat me to the punch. “You’re a bitch when you’re tired. I know I woke you up early, and I know it’s taking a toll on you. Just rest until Maverick shows up with the plane. I need you alert in case something goes wrong, and if you’re tired, your performance lacks.”
    I clenched my jaw knowing he was right, I needed a break. While I had been getting up early to train with Rum every day since I was fully recruited, or found dead on the Appalachian trail as the cover up goes, it had taken a lot out of me to think that I had lost Katya and her mother. While her mother wasn’t a target of Ash Crest when I killed him, I should have protected her. I had sworn I would protect individuals like her when I became an agent, and I had failed. No matter what I told myself, whether it was that I had saved Katya or I had given it my best try, I’d always know I had failed Katya’s mother.
    “Night Stripe,” Demon said, as he