She’s asleep in seconds, snoring soundly. The noise is comforting, making me forget for just a moment what a fucking mess we’re in.
I lie awake, staring at the ceiling, wondering where the fuck we go from here, when my watch buzzes against my wrist.
My whole body goes rigid. I glance at the screen, half-expecting Julia’s name, but it’s an unknown caller.
I slip out of bed carefully, not wanting to wake Mia, and move to the hallway before I answer.
“Hello?” I whisper.
“Jesus Christ, Nate.” Danny! Thank fuck.
His voice is low, tense as he continues, “Where the hell are you? What happened?”
Where do I fucking start?
“How much do you know?”
“Enough. I got an alert that there was a breach at a Global facility in Jersey, they were trying to hail you but there was no response. Couldn’t get through. Like your line was jammed.”
Jammed. Julia must have done that as soon as I entered the facility, a way for no one else, no emergency, to pull me away from what she had wanted me to do. Kill Mia.
“I couldn’t reach you either, I went to your penthouse, you were gone,” he continues. “I thought maybe something happened, you know, with the guy you…the body I disposed of. Thought maybe you got in trouble. Then I called up a guy I know in security to get more info, you know, and he said that the alert was because Conrad Marsh is dead.”
I swallow hard. “Do they know how he died?”
He pauses. “Not really but like, he’s in pieces, man. Like a fucking beast monster tore him to shreds.” Another pause. “Look, I just need to know that you’re okay.”
“I’m okay. What about Julia? Did they find her…is she dead?”
“They didn’t say anything about Van Veen,” he says and that makes my breath hitch. Maybe telling employees that both the CEOandCTO were killed is too much for the company. It would definitely be too much for the stock market. It would immediately plunge, Global Dynamix would be thrown into chaos, triggering that same chaos across the world.
“Nate,” Danny says. “I gotta ask…what kind of trouble are you in?”
“Is this a secure line?”
“I’m using a burner, if that’s what you’re asking. I knew what kind of call I was making.”
“Good,” I tell him. Then I take in a deep breath and tell him everything, from the moment I got that call from Julia.
“Jesus,” Danny breathes after a moment. “Nate, I…”
I wince. “You regret making this call now, don’t you?”
“Hell yeah I do!” he cries out. “I could have remained in my ignorant bliss, at least for another few hours. Fuck, boss. How are we going to get you out of this?”
I let out a sad-sounding chuckle. “That’s kind of you to think you can help. But I’m afraid I’ll have to figure this out on my own. I can’t involve you, and you certainly don’t need to call me boss anymore.”
“No way, you’re the strongest man in the world, and now that I know what you did to Conrad Marsh, you better believe you’re still my boss, and I’m going to be on my best behavior. Tell me what I can do, I’ll do anything to help you and your little spy girlfriend.”
“Well for one, try not to mention to anyone she works for British intelligence.”
“Right, right, right. I won’t. But listen, there’s already one thing you need to do. Your watch that I’m speaking from? You’re going to have to destroy it. You know they can track you that way. I know with Conrad and Van Veen dead, there’s no one to call the shots and pull on your leash. But make no mistake, by tomorrow someone else is going to be in charge, they’re going to know the truth, and they’re going to try and find you.”
I look down at the device on my wrist. So many years of my life, linked to this little piece of technology. Mission briefings. Check-ins. Julia’s voice, calm and controlled, telling me where to go and what to do.
“I destroy this, I’ve got no way to contact anyone.”
“You’ve got a way to contact me.” Danny rattles off a number. “Memorize it. Burn it into your brain. When you’re somewhere safe—reallysafe—you get a new phone and you call that number. Then I’ll do what I can from this end. For now, I’ll pretend I haven’t heard from you and you guys get far away, to another country if you can. As of today, no one is asking where Vanguard is and they’re making Marsh’s death look like an accident. Any real knowledge of what happened is staying a secret. But that’s for now. Any minute the real truth could go public.”
