24
1022 Words
“Do you know their last name?”
He scoffs. “Sure. You want Killian’s social security number and date of birth, too? He gave me a file with all his personal info in it.”
“God, I really hate that guy.”
“He’s really great once you get to know him.”
I flop back down onto the cot and exhale a heavy breath. “He keeps telling me that, too.”
“Give him a chance. He’ll grow on you.”
“Right. Like mold. What else can you tell me about him?”
Doc thinks for a minute, finishes the stalk of celery, and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “He hates disco music.”
“Oh, for f**k’s sake.”
“All I know, man, is the guy is a ghost. He’s the best at what he does, and he’s a ghost. When he wants me for a job, he calls me. If I can make it, I come. He pays me in cash, I do the job, we don’t chat about our childhood traumas. I happened to be in town for a convention, so you got lucky and got me instead of whatever quack he could rustle up on short notice.”
“A convention?”
He shrugs. “EuroSciCon is putting on World Pathology Week. I’m big into continuing education.”
I close my eyes and mutter, “I can’t believe this shit.” Then I open my eyes and finish dialing Connor’s number.
“We done with sharing time?” asks Doc, grinning.
“Go away.”
He ambles off back toward the refrigerator and the long stainless-steel table that makes up the kitchen portion of the warehouse, then gets busy assembling his meal.
The line is answered on the first ring. Into the heavy silence, I say, “Connor. It’s Naz.”
“Jesus Christ.” A relieved sigh comes over the phone. “We on a secure line?”
“Yeah.”
“Günter said you were picked up by an ambulance, but you never showed up at a hospital. I thought one of Dimitri’s guys nabbed you and dumped you in a ditch.”
“I got picked up by Killian. I’m at his safe house somewhere in the city now.”
“Killian?”
“Trust me, I was just as surprised as you are.”
Connor grunts. “The man’s big into rescues.”
“If you say we should hire him, I’ll quit.”
“Any idea where the safe house is?”
“None. I’m full of holes and nonoperational, but stable enough.” I give him a quick rundown of what happened, filling him in on where Killian went and what Doc told me about him and his brother.
“Twins. Interesting.”
“More like irritating.”
“Tabby might be able to use it to dig up something on him, though. I mean, them. Talk to me about your condition.”
“Doc says it’s not life-threatening, but I’m feeling pretty hairy. I’ll be down for at least a few days.”
“Copy that. How soon will you be ready for exfil?”
“No exfil. I’m staying put until Killian gets back.”
Connor’s pause is weighted. “You think you can trust him?”
“Not as far as I could throw him. But I need to be right here if he comes back with Eva.”
“And if he comes back without her?”
My lungs start to ache again. “I’ll deal with that then.”
“Your call, brother.”
“Has Tabby picked up any new intel about Dimitri?”
“No chatter on the ground yet, but we’ve been watching his estate via satellite. Far as we can tell, nobody’s come or gone. Looks real quiet. Unless they’ve hacked the sat.”
“He would’ve anticipated we’d be watching. He’s too smart to take Eva somewhere we already know. See if Tabby can find out if he’s bought any new properties, signed any new leases. There’s gotta be a paper trail somewhere.”
“She’s already on it, brother.”
Of course she is. God bless her. “That’s awesome. Thank you.”
His voice drops. “We’re watchin’ all the hospitals in the country, too. Just in case.”
Staring at the ceiling, I blow out a hard breath.
“Can I call you back on this line, or is it a burner?”
I shout across the warehouse, “Doc! Can I keep this phone?”
“Sure, man. It’s all yours.”
I navigate to apps and pull up the phone’s number from the SIM card, then read it off to Connor.
“Copy that. Gimme the coordinates where Killian went, and I’ll see what we can get on our end. Address, sat view, whatever’s available.”
When I don’t respond, Connor prompts, “You still there?”
“Yeah.”
After a moment, Connor guesses the reason for my continued silence. “He didn’t give you the coordinates, did he?”
“No.”
“Any way you can get ’em?”
I look over at the computer screens. They’re all dark.
Son of a b***h.
I shout over to Doc, “Can you get me the coordinates where Killian went?”
He looks up from the bowl of raw hamburger meat he’s mixing together with his hands. “Sure, I’ll just pull those right outta my ass, dude.” Shaking his head and chuckling, he goes back to mixing.
“Fuck.”
Connor says, “I’ll take that as a no.”
My heart starts to pound. What if he doesn’t come back? What if he finds Eva but never comes back with her? She doesn’t even know if I’m alive. He could tell her a million different stories, get her to go with him, they could disappear— “I can hear your mind spinning, brother. Take a deep breath.”
I growl, “We have to find out who this fucker is!”
- Writer
