He pulls out a knife and starts running it lightly up and down Ariel’s exposed neck. She closes hereyes, and goes still. But I can see the trembling in her fingertips. She is not afraid of death. But dyinglike this? Gutted like a stuck pig? That enrages her.
“What are you doing?” Willow gasps.
“Showing you how far I’m willing to go to get what I want,” he says.
Willow looks helplessly at Ariel and then she screams, “Stop! Please, just stop!”
“Is that your answer?” Belov asks expectantly.
“I’ll go with you,” Willow blurts out.
I grab her hand and twist her around to face him. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“I have to protect our son,” she says.
Then I throw her over my shoulder and start walking away from Belov and Ariel. I hear his cackle asI exit the building. But it’s almost comple
