RECKONING
464 Words
POV: Marco
---
Three days.
Three days since Ivan's body was loaded into a bag and driven away. Three days since Sasha stopped sleeping. Three days since Dmitri's phone call planted a clock in my head, ticking down to something terrible.
We moved again. Different safe house. Deeper underground. No windows, no phone, just a radio and each other.
Sasha sat in the corner, knees to her chest, staring at nothing.
"Talk to me," I said.
"About what?"
"Anything."
She was quiet for a moment. Then: "I used to have a dog. When I was little. Before my father decided I didn't need soft things."
"What happened to it?"
"I don't know. One day it was there. The next, it was gone. I never asked what happened. I was afraid of the answer."
I crossed to her, sat on the floor beside her.
"I had a dog too. After my family died. Antonio's father gave him to me. Said every soldier needed something to come home to."
"What was his name?"
"Bruno. He was ugly. Stupid. Loved me anyway."
" dogs are like that."
"Some people too."
She looked at me. "You're trying to make me feel better."
"Is it working?"
"No."
"Good. I'd be worried if it was."
She almost smiled. Almost.
---
The radio crackled at midnight.
Antonio's voice: "We found him."
I was on my feet. "Where?"
"His main safe house. Staten Island. He's been there the whole time, hiding in plain sight."
"You're sure?"
"We have eyes on him now. Multiple sources. He's not moving."
"Then we move."
"Sasha?"
I looked at her. She was standing now, her face hard, her eyes clear.
"She's coming," I said.
"Sasha." Antonio's voice was careful. "You don't have to do this. You've already—"
"Yes, I do."
Silence. Then: "We move at dawn. Be ready."
---
She didn't sleep that night.
Neither did I.
We sat together in the dark, holding hands, listening to the building settle.
"After this," she said. "What happens?"
"I don't know."
"Will you stay?"
"Will you?"
She turned to look at me. "I have nowhere else to go."
"Then stay."
"You make it sound easy."
"It's not. Nothing about us has been easy." I squeezed her hand. "But it's been worth it."
She leaned her head on my shoulder.
"Dawn," she said.
"Dawn."
---
The sun rose gray and cold.
We dressed in silence. Black clothes, weapons checked, no words left to say.
Antonio was waiting outside, a convoy of SUVs idling in the street. Sofia stood beside him, her face pale.
"Come back," she said to Sasha.
"I will."
Sofia hugged her. Then me.
"Both of you," she said. "Come back."
"We will," I said.
I didn't know if it was a promise or a lie.
- Writer
