Page 49 of Croatia Collateral

Though he continued to hit the guy in the knife wound, he was weakening. He needed air. Soon.

Light bounced off the wall near Dax’s face, blinding him.

Then, the guard who was choking him to death stiffened and dropped to the ground.

Giva stood behind him with the stun gun in one hand and the flashlight in the other.

The guy inside the dungeon groaned and moved slightly.

Giva bent and hit him with the stun gun again.

The guards laid still.

Dax sucked air into his lungs until his head cleared. Then he bent, grabbed the guard he’d stabbed by the ankles and dragged him into Maas’s torture chamber. When Dax released him, Giva hit him again with the stun gun before he could regain complete control of his muscles. Dax moved the other guard further inside, out of the way of the door.

Giva patted the pockets of one of the guards.

“What are you doing?” Dax asked.

“I want my knives.” Giva stood, holding up the two sheaths of throwing knives triumphantly. After she strapped one sheath to her ankle and the other to her wrist, she stepped out of the chamber, waited for Dax to follow and then pulled the door shut. She grabbed the ring of keys from the ground and handed them to Dax.

After he locked the door, she handed him the stun gun and retrieved the handgun from where it lay against the wall.

Pounding footsteps raced toward them from the direction they’d come originally.

Giva turned away from the sound and ran ahead with the flashlight.

Dax followed, carrying the keys and the stun gun. He could have taken the pistol from Giva, stood his ground and shot whoever was coming. With stone walls surrounding them, it wasn’t wise to get into a gunfight. Even if they missed their target, the bullets would continue to ricochet and could eventually find unintended marks.

Dax might have been willing to take his chances with his own life, but he wouldn’t put Giva at risk. She might have come to the same conclusion based on how fast she was moving away from whoever was headed their way.

At the first intersection, Giva darted to the left.

Dax followed, quickly catching up to her. When the passage ended in a T-junction, she turned right.

Shouts sounded, echoing off the passage walls.

After another turn, Giva came to an abrupt halt, having reached a dead end of a solid stone wall.

Why would someone build a passage to a dead end?

Giva shined the light all around. No trap doors could be found in the floor, ceiling or side walls.

Dax stepped aside, allowing Giva to take the lead again, running back the way they’d come. She took the opposite direction at the T-intersection, the sounds of shouts and footsteps closing in.

The more they ran, the more Dax realized they were lost in the maze of passages and could end up going around in circles or finding themselves back at the command center with more guards ready to take them down. This time, Maas might not be so willing to hold onto them for interrogation.

The Russians wouldn’t let him. Not after they’d injured one and embarrassed them by fooling them into letting them out of the cell.

Giva continued until they came to one of the doors with the metal plate beside it.

Dax pushed the plate upward to find a keypad. He entered the numbers he’d seen the guard use earlier.

The door slowly swung open.

Giva and Dax stood to the side, out of view of whatever or whoever might be on the other side. No one stood on the other side. The room was silent and appeared to be empty.

Giva stepped across the threshold.

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