Page 43 of Croatia Collateral

Dax slammed one of the Russian guards into the two oligarchs, sending all three to the ground.

With the other man out cold, he ran for the keypad next to the door, pushed the metal plate upward and keyed in the numbers he’d seen the guard use. The lock clicked, and the door swung toward them.

“Let’s go,” he called out to Giva.

“A little busy here,” she said, straining to get air into her lungs as one of the Russians grabbed her in a headlock.

She let her body go completely slack, forcing her captor to either drop her or take on her full weight. His arm loosened enough; Giva ducked out of the crook of his elbow, landed her elbow into his gut and slipped behind him. She planted a hard kick into the center of his back, sending him flying forward.

That’s what you get for trying to choke me.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spied movement near the slowly opening door.

Dax’s gaze was on her, so he didn’t see the man in the doorway.

“Look out!” Giva yelled.

Before Dax could fully turn, a man stepped through and pressed a handheld device into Dax’s chest.

Dax grunted and dropped to the ground.

A stun gun.

Giva started toward Dax but didn’t get far.

The Russian she’d swept off his feet wrapped his arms around her from behind and lifted her off the ground.

No matter how much she twisted, turned and kicked, she couldn’t break free of the steel bands of the arms the big man had clamped around her.

As the man who’d stunned Dax strode toward Giva, her heart sank into her shoes. He and Dax could have been twins.

Evan Maas was in the building.

He stepped to the side of her flailing legs and pressed the stun gun against her arm.

A bolt of electricity burned through her, turning her muscles to mush. Her entire body went limp.

The Russian lowered her to the floor beside Dax, pulled out zip ties and secured her hands behind her back. Not that she could move them or inflict any harm.

Then he secured Dax’s wrists behind his back.

Giva lay her cheek against the cold stone floor, her eyes open as their cover was blown wide open.

“What the hell is going on?” Evan demanded. “Who called this meeting ahead of our proposed schedule? And who the hell are these two?” He waved a hand toward Giva and Dax.

Yamaguchi stared at Evan Maas. “Who the hell are you?”

“You know me, Hochi,” Evan said. “I helped you gain control of your father’s holdings after you had him assassinated.”

Her brow furrowed. “If you are Evan Maas, who is that man?” She pointed at Dax’s inert body next to Giva’s. “And is that woman, not your fiancée, Sasha?”

“Sasha is on a shopping trip with her sister in Paris. I have no idea who those two are. How much do they know?”

Yamaguchi’s lips thinned. “Everything. We thought he was you.”

Evan shoved a hand through his dark hair. “My cell phone had been compromised. Once I realized it, I went through my messages and found one from you, reminding me of an invitation I never received. When I tried to contact you, your secretary said you were in Croatia. I flew out here at once.”

Giva tried to will her body to move. Now would be a good time to leave. Five minutes ago would have been better. Before the real Evan Maas had shown up.

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