“Calm down, Evie; I’m fine.” She helped me off the floor and down the hall to the bathroom. “I need you to go upstairs and grab me some gauze and tape. There is a black bag under the sink. It looks like a shaving bag. Bring it to me, please.”
Evie moved as fast as she possibly could to retrieve the items I asked her to get for me. When she returned, she handed me the bag and sat on the floor beside me. “What can I do to help?”
“If I pass out, call 911,” I said with a straight face. I hadn’t expected the terrified look on Evie’s face when I said it. “I’m only kidding, Evie. I will not pass out, I promise you. I’ve had to suture myself before, and it was a clean hit; the bullet went straight through.”
As she watched me push the needle under my skin and up through the wound with forceps, her face began to turn ashen. When I ran the fish-like hook through the other side of the bleeding bullet hole, Evie’s hand went to her mouth as she sprinted toward the bathroom. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her when I heard the retch followed by what sounded like water draining from a pan into the toilet. “You alright in there?” I called out.
“I’m fine,” echoed back to me, followed by the sound of a sink turning on.
When Evie returned, I had finished my sutures and was ready to cover the wound with gauze. Her tiny hands took the dressing from mine, and she began to wrap it around my thigh several times. “There, all done,” she said emphatically as if she’d just performed open heart surgery.
Leaning in, I brushed my lips against her neck and felt her shiver from that simple touch. I couldn’t control the emotions I’d denied myself when I heard the tiny moan leave her lips. My tongue brushed along her neck, she tasted like heaven, and I knew I would pay for what I did next. Without hesitation, I claimed Evie’s mouth, devouring every breath she expelled, each groan she mewed until there was nothing left. I was riding high on seventeen years of desire and didn’t want to let go. That was until I heard her whisper my name when our mouths parted. The passion that laced the mention of my name told me I’d made a mistake. I was leading Evie down a path I knew I wouldn’t follow through on, and I couldn’t do that to her.
“We can’t. This is wrong,” I said as I pulled away, placing a sizeable distance between our bodies. “I shouldn’t have kissed you that way, and it won’t happen again.” I stood, reaching out my hand to help her off the ground.
We were both standing when Evie spoke. “Go to hell, Max.”
I’d spentthe rest of the afternoon trying to decipher the message on the note, and I’d come up against so many roadblocks. It wasn’t until I started digging into Rostropovich’s file that things clicked into place. The Russian owned a long list of restaurants and bars in the Arlington area. One called the Firehouse was on the list of assets. I dialed the restaurant number, and a recording came on advising patrons that the business was closed indefinitely and to try one of the other restaurants owned by the establishment.
The note from Sawyer’s desk read the smoke will be heavy at the firehouse around nine on the fifth. Did this mean someone was going to torch the place? One thing was sure; the only way to get answers would require me to be present at nine.
The restaurant was fifteen minutes from my home. My leg was throbbing with pain as I got behind the wheel. I closed my eyes and reminded myself that pain could only control me if I let it. It was time to push the pain aside and focus on the end goal. It was ten to nine when I turned onto Baker Street. Halfway down the road was an old fire station renovated into a restaurant. I continued past it and parked along the curb in front of a Starbucks. I sat at the window with my coffee, watching for anything that looked out of place across the road. Everything seemed ordinary until five after nine. A delivery van pulled up and parked in front of the firehouse. Two men got out and retrieved several fire extinguishers from the back of the truck: three red and one green. Once inside, there were no signs of movement until ten minutes later. A black Suburban pulled up, and three men exited. One of them had a fedora on, just as the man in the picture had been wearing.
I couldn’t wait any longer; I needed to be inside. I utilized the fire escape outside the building that led to a door on the top floor. Easing my way up, I gained access and found a spot that gave me a chance to see all the parties. I watched as the money exchanged hands, and the man in the hat took possession of the green fire extinguisher. I attempted to move closer, but my leg gave out as I tried to stand, and I couldn’t mask the sound of my knee colliding with the metal rail. Five heads turned in my direction. I knew I’d be able to shoot my way out of the building if necessary. But, I hadn't prepared for the face of the man wearing the fedora.Sawyer!
No plan survives first contact with the enemy. I now knew what that meant.
Chapter Fifteen
Friend Or Traitor
It all made sense now—thestranger in my home who bypassed my security system. The SVR knew that I was in St. Petersburgh and all the lies. Sawyer was involved; he was a traitor to our friendship and the United States. How could that be?
Two of the men below drew their guns and ran toward the stairs that led to the second floor. A bullet blew past my head as I stood, went to the open door, and ran for the fire escape. I was opening my car door when Sawyer and the other two men exited from the building behind me. Looking in my rearview mirror as I drove off, I saw two of the men firing at me but not Sawyer—he just stood there and watched it all happen.
I stormed through my front door calling Evie’s name out as I ran up the stairs. Not hearing any response from her made me move faster. The pain from my wound was excruciating, but lives were at stake here, and I couldn’t think of myself. No, it was all about protecting Evie and getting to the bottom of this mess. Not seeing Evie in her room at first glance scared me until I heard her voice singing the chorus to “Closer” by Nine Inch Nails.What. The. Fuck.Busting through the bathroom door, Evie jumped at the sound of the door slamming against the wall.
“What the hell, Max?” she yelled as the water rained down on her. “Ever think of knocking first?”
I stood there, taking in the beauty of her body. She’d filled out nicely since we were kids. It was apparent by how her clothes fit her, but seeing her naked, I could appreciate the perfection of her supple breasts, toned abs, and muscled legs. But, it was her bare pussy that was my undoing. My dick rose to a full erection under my jeans. I was entranced; I couldn’t think. I just stood there ogling her body.
“Excuse me, Max,” Evie muttered as she reached around me to grab the towel off the rack. “Honestly, a little privacy would be nice.”
Once she’d covered her body, my brain began to function again. “Clothes, get dressed ASAP. We don’t have time to waste, and we need to get out of here now, or we're both going to be dead.”
Evie opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. “Don’t ask; I’ll tell you in the car; just get dressed now.”
Once we were in the car, I started explaining how I’d gone to investigate and found Sawyer there with the enemy and how they came after me.
“That can’t be, Max,” Evie said. “He’s not a traitor, and he would never do anything to hurt you.”
“I know what I saw, and I can’t start working on figuring this out until I get you somewhere safe where no one would ever think to look for either of us. But first, we need to get rid of my car.” I pulled into the parking lot of Union Station in D.C., searching for an older model vehicle. Two minutes later, Evie and I were headed south in a 1970s pickup truck. We drove to Annapolis for an hour and a half and turned down a gravel road.
“Where are we going, Max?”
I pointed through the trees further down the road. “Beyond all that green is a house that sits on the Chesapeake. It’s mine; no one knows it exists, not even your brother. I bought it five years ago because I wanted somewhere I could go where no one would bother me, and I could unplug if needed.”
“And your mansion in Reston wasn’t sufficient?” Evie laughed.