She knew better than to run into a dangerous situation unarmed and with absolutely no idea what to expect. But the need to reach her son was so overwhelming she couldn’t stop herself. She left the relative protection of the wall and sprinted down the hall. Vaguely she was aware of Robert moving behind her, but she didn’t slow down.
She tried the first door she came to only to find it locked. The next door stood open several inches. Lily sprinted to it, shoved it open, heard it bang hard against the wall. Standing beneath a stone window, the young female servant spun to face her. Lily stared at the other woman, her eyes going to the child she held in her arms.
“Give me my son,” Lily said.
“Wh—what are you doing here?” the young woman cried.
Lily was across the room and reaching for Jack before she realized she was going to move. There must have been something in her eyes, because the servant relinquished the baby without a word.
Taking her son into her arms, Lily looked into his innocent face, felt the part of her heart that had been missing since he’d been taken from her slide back into place. She held him close, kissing his plump cheeks and forehead, barely aware that he’d stopped crying. “It’s okay sweetheart,” she whispered. “Mommy’s got you. Everything’s going to be all right.”
The sound of steel against steel snapped her head up. Lily watched as DeBruzkya stepped out of the shadows, a shiny chrome pistol trained on her chest. “Ah, Lillian, your love for your child makes you very predictable.” Cruelty glinted in his eyes as he started toward her. “If I weren’t so very fond of you, I’d put a bullet through the both of you right now.”
Terror swept through her with such power that for a moment she couldn’t draw a breath. Heart raging, she clutched Jack to her chest and stepped back. Vaguely, she wondered if Robert was still in the corridor, if he had any idea DeBruzkya was in the room with her.
“You have no right to keep my son from me,” she said.
“Where’s the man you were with?” DeBruzkya asked.
She tried to look confused, but she could tell from the general’s expression he wasn’t buying it. “I don’t know what—”
“Don’t lie to me!” He shifted the pistol toward Jack. “Where the hell is he!”
Lily choked back a scream of terror. “Don’t hurt my baby!”
“I’ve got you covered, General DeBruzkya!”
Shock rippled through her at the sound of the familiar voice speaking perfect Rebelian. She glanced at the door. Robert, in a Rebelian Army uniform and black beret, burst in, his automatic weapon trained on her chest. “Are you all right, General DeBruzkya?” he shouted.
“Fine,” the general spat. “I’ve got the situation under control.”
“Do you want me to take her to her suite, sir?”
“No! I want her male accomplice found, damn it. Now!”
“We’ve found him, sir!”
For the first time, the general gave Robert his full attention. “Found him? Where is he? I wish to interrogate him immediately. I want to know who he’s working for.”
“He’s been injured.”
“Injured?” DeBruzkya lowered the pistol. “No matter. An injury will make interrogating him much easier—”
Robert charged, ramming his head and shoulders into DeBruzkya’s midsection. The general brought the pistol up, but he was knocked off his feet before he could aim, and the shot went wide. Lily dropped to her knees and covered Jack with her body. Another shot rang out and zinged off stone. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the female servant flee the room.
She heard a colorful American curse. Heard the hair-raising snap of electricity from Robert’s stun gun, then DeBruzkya’s body sprawled onto the floor like a fallen bull.
“Robert!” Clinging to Jack, she stumbled to her feet and crossed to him on shaking legs.
Robert reached for her, pulled her to him and kissed her. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“Jack?”
Lily’s hands shook uncontrollably as she ran her hands over their son. “He’s okay. Thank God.”
“Still groggy from the sedative.”
“Thank goodness.” She smiled at Robert. “Even though you were wearing the uniform, I thought for sure DeBruzkya was going to realize you weren’t one of his men.”
“It was too dark.” He grimaced. “Besides, men like DeBruzkya don’t care enough about the people under them to know their names or faces.”
She looked around. “How are we going to get out of here?”
“There’s a stairwell that leads to the roof.”
“The roof?”
“There’s a chopper on the way.” She shot a questioning look at him, and he smiled. “Don’t ask.”
He started to turn away, but Lily stopped him. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” she said.
As if realizing what she was about to say, Robert stopped and turned to face her. “Lily, this isn’t the time or place. You don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do.” She stared at him, felt the words tangle in her throat, dangle precariously on her tongue. “I’ve been wrong,” she blurted. “About everything.”