The deadbolt disengages on the other side and the door opens.
I’m not surprised to see Adam on the other side. I knew he was with her in some capacity, but to see him standing here sends a wave of indignation tearing through me. That, and the fact that he’s in a pair of low-slung sweatpants and nothing else. “Are you living here?”
“For the moment.” Adam ushers me inside and it is irritating, it is infuriating, how easily he does it. He looks completely at home in the cluttered, bohemian apartment.
“Where’s my sister?”
“I’m right here.” London steps out of the bathroom in a t-shirt and leggings with a towel around her hair, looking wide-eyed and wary. “Are you okay?”
“Are you okay?” I cross my arms over my chest and stare at her. “You told me you were seeing him. You didn’t say you shacked up with him. He kidnapped me.”
“For what it’s worth, I am sorry about that,” Adam puts in.
London holds up both her hands. “It didn’t seem like the best time to mention—”
“That this man is living in your apartment? Living here, London, not just dating you, not just hooking up with you, living here. What were you thinking?” London and Adam exchange a glance, which pisses me off even more. “Oh, so it wasn’t you. It was Adam’s idea.”
“There were extenuating circumstances,” he says.
I stab a finger in his general direction, cutting off whatever pointless explanation he’s about to give me. “Elijah is in danger. He’s going to be tried for treason—or worse.”
“Why should I care?” He puts a hand to his side and drops it. “Last time I saw him, he shot me.”
“Because you deserved it. And also he let you leave.”
Adam sighs. “Look. It’s complicated. The colonel has too much power for one man. I know that more than anyone, but that doesn’t change the reality. He’s too strong to beat.”
The colonel, the colonel. If I never have to hear another word about the colonel it will be too soon. “Not exactly. He’s dead.”
I’ve never seen Adam look so surprised. I wasn’t sure he was even capable of this expression. He looks...stunned. “What? No. What the fuck did you just say? He’s not dead.”
“Oh yes.” I give him a sharp nod. “He’s really dead. I shot him myself.”
Adam sits down heavily on the couch, his hands folded under his chin, and without his shirt he looks somehow like a lost little boy despite the large muscles and three days of scruff. “That changes everything. Jesus Christ. The colonel. Dead. Shot by a civilian.”
“It changes nothing.” My voice is so sharp it’s cutting my throat and bringing burning tears to my eyes. “I did it to save Elijah, but it only made things worse.”
He frowns. “How is it worse?”
“Because now the U.S. government thinks he did some kind of treason plot. They think he was paid by a foreign country or something.”
“But you’re the one who shot him.”
I swallow around the knot in my throat. “Yes.”
His solemn eyes meet mine. “You should leave it alone. Elijah sacrificed himself for you. This is how he’d want it.”
“No, damn it.” Adam blinks at the raw edge of my voice. “I refuse to give up on him. He never gave up on me.”
16
Elijah
I have no explanation for the airport hanger.
It’s a change of scenery, at least. No more cinder block walls. Only massive ceilings coated in fireproof sealant foam. The sound of fists hitting flesh echoes off those high ceilings while a new set of henchmen take turns with me. Possibly they’re just using me for practice. Someone has to be the test dummy for torture school, after all.
I’ve had just enough recovery time to be conscious for this latest session. Lucky me.
They’ve been at it for fifteen minutes or so when a door opens at the other side of the room and a man in a suit and overcoat walks in like he’s late for a board meeting. One of the Army men makes a show of pulling out a chair for him, which he takes.
“Don’t stop on my account.”
One of them drives a fist through my gut all the way to my spine and steps back to let me finish coughing. The man in the suit stays far enough away that drops of blood just miss his shiny black shoes. He’s wearing a suit that probably costs as much as a damned private jet.
“Good evening,” he says, not sounding disgusted in the least to see me hanging here like dried meat. “You don’t know me, but I’ve been watching you for many years.”
“Well, that’s creepy.”
He adopts an amused expression. “You got your orders from the colonel, but did you ever wonder where he got his orders?”
“Let me guess. From you.”
“You always were a smart boy. I think I understood that even better than the colonel. You knew someone had to be pulling his puppet strings, but you knew better than to ask questions.” He frowns. “You were so useful, for so long. Perhaps we took you for granted.”
“Are you supposed to be the good cop?”
A low laugh. “Compared to bruiser here? No. I don’t speak with my fists, but neither am I the one who’s going to coddle you. I’m the person who controls the board. I move the pieces around. And until very recently, you were one of my pieces.”
Until Holly Frank appeared in that prison cell with me. Everything changed in that moment, no matter how hard I fought it. “You never controlled me.”
“Every creature likes to believe he’s in charge of his own fate.”
I was in charge of my own fate. Holly taught me that. She shot the colonel to free me, but it was her example that truly unleashed me. She didn’t flinch in the face of guns, in the face of danger. Holly, a woman with no military training. It was the same thing she did for her sister, hopping on the plane for France. She’s fearless. “I did what you said because it suited me. It suited me to be mindless and violent, and I let you use me. Probably to do shit that was far more traitorous and harmful to my country than shooting the colonel.”
“Traitorous.” He looks offended. “What I do may not be sanctioned by the upper echelons of military personnel, but it’s what keeps this country afloat. They don’t understand the big picture. For them it’s all about duty and regulations. The enemy doesn’t care about those things.”
“The enemy being… who? Me?”
A small smile. “You can’t play stupid with me.”
I hang my head, too fucking exhausted to care. “Let me guess. You think someone paid me to kill the colonel. North Korea or Russia or something like that.”
“Of course not, don’t be foolish. We have ties with North Korea and Russia. They may have harsh, dictatorial regimes, but they understand the chain of command. I appreciate that about them. No, I’m worried about a threat a little closer to home.”
A snarl breaks out of me. “Don’t tell me this has anything to do with Holly Frank.”
“Was that her name? I heard you got led around by your dick. Tits and ass will bring even the strongest man down.” He holds out his hands in question. “But how can I judge? I’m not immune. It’s the weakest part of our nature.”