He must have thought it was strange to give me a timeline of when to expect him. And it was. He was my captor and I was the captive. He didn’t “owe” me any clues about what was going on. Yet, the lines were blurring between us. Neither of us was lowering our guard and talking about anything incriminating, although we mutually wanted intel from the other. In the meantime, we were…
What? What the hell are we doing?
Admitting that I was befriending my kidnapper was a form of Stockholm Syndrome I really didn’t want to consider accepting. I couldn’t be. Right? I couldn’t be friends with the man who’d snatched me from the airport and held me here against my will. I couldn’t be friendly with the guy I was supposed to arrest and bring in for intel about the Obsidian Eye group forming—not to mention the many crimes and murders he could be tried for.
It would take years to fully prosecute him for all he’d done as an assassin.
But he’s got a point.
Sometimes, he’s doing good, after all.
Like Sergei Romanoff. His death, if it was due to Emil, was a good thing for the rest of the world. We were safer without that rogue war-minded man.
That’s still not an excuse.
I sighed, leaning my head back against the chair. Before I could let my mind go idle—a dangerous concept because I would betaken to the memories of how he’d touched me—I wondered what was going on outside this remote safehouse.
After this many days of being missing, someone would have to do something. I wasn’t well-liked in the department, chosen to be the one criticized and harassed in the office. But still, Special Agent Hufford would notice my lack of checking in. Someone would know I was gone, and even if I wasn’t anyone’s favorite at the FBI headquarters I worked out of, I was one of them.
Or maybe they assume I’m just off on a case.
Something like that.
And those guesses weren’t far-fetched. All agents had flexible schedules, coming and going for the sake of our jobs. We didn’t hold nine-to-five gigs.
Even if no one was motivated to wonder where I was, someone in Emil’s world would. I knew from researching his movements that if he wasn’t on one job, hunting down a target, he’d be after another. He didn’t take time off, so I had to imagine Luka Dubinin would be expecting him to check in.
Or maybe he has been all this time. Maybe Luka put him up to kidnapping me because he doesn’t want me to interfere with the Obsidian Eye formation.
I didn’t have enough evidence to suggest that the Dubinins were interested in being a part of the Obsidian Eye alliance, but they very well could be. It was the biggest reason I couldn’t interrogate Emil here, like this, right now. He had to be the one without options for me to question him. I needed the security of someone else protecting me before asking him anything.
Due to the heat, not to mention the toll of constantly being on guard and stuck in a survivalist mode, I grew drowsy. My lids felt heavier as I sat in here alone.
The chirping of insects and birds outside lulled me to breathe slower.
And without anything to alert me and drag me out of this sleepy state, I soon fell asleep.
When I woke, I wasn’t sure how long I had napped for. All I knew was that I was no longer alone.
A sixth sense, something wired inside me, alerted me. That was the only reason I snapped out of this sudden slumber. Wide awake and straining to hear a sound or feel a vibration, I narrowed my eyes. Zoning out as I stared unseen at the still-closed door, I waited for a clue.
Something had to have woken me up like that.
Someone or something.
An animal?
Emil coming close to the door?
I shook my head.No.I would’ve woken up, too light of a sleeper, to doze with the sound of the door being opened.
He wasn’t here, anyway.
But someone else is.
Staying as still as possible, I tried to rely on my ears to pick up a clue. It couldn’t be something I’d imagined. I wasn’t prone to startling easily. I trusted my instincts because they'd seldom failed me before.
Who’s out there?
