He must have picked up the knife after it had dropped from my hand. Why had he not used it on me? He could have sliced me half a dozen times while I was fighting Max. The pallid face that peered over Rachel's shoulder and his frantic calls to his unconscious accomplice were all the answer I needed. At his core, Yuri was a coward. He might steel himself enough to attack a lonely woman, but he had an inherent fear of fighting other men. Not even when he had a knife and the man standing in his way was unarmed and had all his attention set on another adversary.
"He can't hear you, Yuri," I said, taking a step closer to him and Rachel.
His panicked eyes shifted to me, and he tightened his grip on Rachel. She was utterly colorless, her eyes pleading. Her lower lip trembled. Not that Yuri looked much better. In fact, I would have been hard put to determine who was more terrified—Yuri or Rachel.
"Stay away from me, or she gets it. Right in the neck."
"You all right, Rachel?"
She gave the tiniest of nods. I took another step forward.
"Stay away, I tell you." Yuri's eyes went from my face to Max. He was praying for a rescue. I very much doubted God was listening.
"Max can't help you, Yuri. If he stirs, I'll kick him in the head and knock him out again."
"You son of a bitch. Back off."
There were four feet between us now. I moved right so my body blocked Yuri's view of Max. I wanted his undivided attention. I wanted him to feel he had no way out but what I was willing to offer him. "You got two options," I said, feigning a calmness I did not feel. What I had in mind depended on my having read him correctly. If I hadn't, things might end badly. "Neither of them is good, but one is much worse than the other. Listen closely. Option one is you hurt Rachel in any way. If you do that, I'll kill you. Option two is you let her go unharmed. Then you'll be alive come dawn. Which do you choose?"
He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again. It stayed open for a while, but not a sound emerged from it. All his plans for the evening had come crashing down around him. Even this moment was not going as it should. He was holding the knife. He had the hostage. He should be the one setting terms. But I wasn't following his script. I was the one who was directing how this little scene would play out. He didn't know what his next line should be. I took another step. Then another. I was close enough to reach out and touch Rachel. If I had the inclination, I could have counted the sweat drops on Yuri's forehead.
"What will it be, Yuri? Life or death. Choose now, or I'll make your choice for you."
We stared at each other for half a minute or so. His hand was shaking, and I worried he might accidentally nick Rachel. "Max," he said, his voice quaking. When no answer came, he cursed in Russian. I could see the wheels turning in his pathetic excuse for a brain, searching for a way out. By the expression on his face, those wheels were stuck in a rut, spinning in place.
Then, with a cry of anger or anguish, directed at me or at himself, he let go of Rachel and pushed her hard to me. I grabbed her and steadied her on her feet.
"Now the knife," I said, steering Rachel to the side. "Put it on that table there."
A final hesitation, and I could imagine what was going through his mind. He had a knife. I was weaponless. Was this the day he would overcome his cowardice? Could he emerge from this day a new man?
I let him work through it, and he did not surprise me. His nature won out. He tossed the knife on a nearby table. Then he straightened his back, tried a sneer on for size, found that it didn't sit right, and let it melt off his face.
"You can have the bitch if you're so keen on her," he said, moving to go past me.
I buried my right fist in his belly. He was soft, hardly any muscle. The fist went deep. He folded with a whoosh of air and fell to his knees, retching.
"Adam," Rachel said with evident surprise, but I paid her no mind. I put my foot in Yuri's side and pushed him over. He landed on his back, still gasping for air.
I knelt by him, stuck my hand in his pants pocket, and took out his wallet. I stood and emptied the wallet of money, placing the cash on the table by the knife. Then I read his full name out loud from his ID.
"Now I know who you are, and I'll be able to find you. If you ever come back here, if you ever bother Rachel again, I'll find you and kill you. Get it?"
He didn't answer. He just lay there, looking pitiful. But I felt no pity for him. He had terrorized and robbed a helpless woman, and was planning on doing much worse. I knew what I had to do.
I stood over him. "I told you I'd let you live, but you still need to pay for what you did here. Extend your hand. Put it right here." I tapped on the floor with my shoe.
Yuri blinked at me uncomprehendingly. I had to tell him again before he did as instructed.
He didn't see it coming, but Rachel did. As I raised my foot and brought it down on his outstretched hand, she screamed, "No! Don't!"
