16
1030 Words
I holler, “What did I tell you about calling me that?”
Doc interjects again, pausing his jabbing to stare at us in exasperation. “Do you two lovebirds need a minute alone to canoodle, or can I please get on with my job?”
I’m derailed from the urge to break Killian’s nose by the sudden jarring memory of Dimitri instructing me not to follow him or Eva would pay the price.
“What’s that look?” asks Killian, sounding alarmed. “Are you dying?”
My mind turning, I say slowly, “No . . . but I should.”
He looks at the ceiling. “And you accuse me of being abstruse.”
“Before Dimitri left with Eva, he threatened that if I followed them, he’d send her back to me in pieces.”
Into my thoughtful pause, Killian says, “I’m sure you have a point. Feel free to make it this century.”
“If he thinks I’m dead . . .”
Catching my drift, he stands up straighter. “He won’t be expecting you to follow him.”
“Bingo.”
Killian thinks for a moment, then nods. “It’s genius.”
Doc mutters, “You two girlfriends are giving me whiplash.”
Ignoring him is becoming much easier. “Also . . . you should probably get arrested so he thinks you’re out of the picture, too.”
“Arrested?” repeats Killian, horrified.
“Unless you wanna be dead, too.”
He sniffs like he smells something bad. “Aye, that’s preferable. I can die with my honor intact, but arrested . . .” He shudders. “That’s for amateurs. I have a reputation to keep.”
“God forbid your gargantuan ego gets bruised.”
He laughs at my tone, which burns with sarcasm. “Gargantuan ego? Excuse me, but people who live in glass houses, et cetera.”
“Seriously, you two biddies are giving me a headache.” Doc jabs at me with unnecessary ruthlessness.
“Ow!”
“Besides,” continues Killian, sounding reasonable, “Dimitri doesn’t know who I am.”
“How does he not know who you are?”
“Did you think I called him up and gave him my real name and home address while I was negotiating to trade your girlfriend for a nuclear weapon? What kind of spy do you think I am?”
“Is that a rhetorical question? Because if not, I’ve got a shitload of answers.”
“All smart-ass, no doubt.”
“But accurate. Moving on, one of the Germans apparently has contacts high up, because he went out to greet the police before you showed up. I’ll see if I can get him to get the cops to leak a story about an American dying in that gunfight. Dimitri might think I’m dead already, considering I was flat on the floor covered in blood when he left, but a mention in the paper will seal the deal. It’s not much, but it might make him lower his guard a little.”
Killian nods. “In the meantime, I’ll see if I can get any intel on how Dimitri located you. Someone somewhere is compromised, and I want to know who it is.”
“It’s not on my end, I can tell you that for damn sure.”
He looks at me for a moment, his gaze inscrutable. “You never know, mate. Some people are very skilled at playing two sides against each other without either side ever knowing what’s going on.”
I narrow my eyes, suspicious, but he turns away, pulling a cell phone from his pocket. He paces to the other side of the warehouse and makes a call. He keeps his voice low so I can’t hear what he’s saying, which of course only makes me even more suspicious.
Then my gaze lands on the bank of computers.
I call out, “Hey, Killian?”
He glances at me.
“What does it mean that the blinking green GPS light on the computer just turned red?”
Killian strides to his desk and the bank of computer screens. He toggles the mouse, clicks a few buttons, then mutters an oath.
“What’s happening?” I say loudly, panicking.
He straightens and looks at me. “Don’t panic.”
“Too late!”
“The GPS went off-line.”
“Off-line?” I struggle to sit up, balancing my weight on my elbows. “How the f**k did it go off-line?”
“I don’t know.”
“Will it come back online?”
“I don’t know.”
I shout, “What do you know?” then groan as a bolt of pain rips through me. I collapse to my back, panting, feeling electrocuted.
In a mocking falsetto, Doc says, “Oh no, I don’t need anything for the pain. I’m a big macho idiot.”
“Shut up!”
After a few moments where I try to breathe and Killian clicks around on his computer, he says, “For one thing, I know the exact coordinates of where the card was when it went off-line. And it had been stationary, which could mean it was their final destination.”
“Oh sweet Jesus,” I say hoarsely, relief coursing through me like rain. “I’m having a heart attack.”
“Really?” says Doc, concerned. He lifts my wrist and starts to take my pulse, but I yank my arm away.
“Figuratively! f**k!”
“Calm down, psychopath. All this hollering is bad for your blood pressure. You’ll spring a leak.”
I make a growling noise through clenched teeth that makes him roll his eyes again.
“We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves,” says Killian. “Eva could’ve thrown the card out, changed clothing, submerged it in water . . . the possibilities are endless for why it was stationary and went off-line. There’s no way to know without . . .”
He pauses. Looking at me all busted up and pathetic on the cot, he makes an apologetic face.
- Writer
