Viking enters, and I lose sight of him.
* * *
After I wait for more than fifteen minutes Viking is still nowhere to be seen. Things really don’t look good.
Fuck. I might not make it out of this place alive, and to make matters worse, I’ve successfully dragged Jonathan into this mess where he could die for my stupidity.
Classic shithead, not thinking about other people.
I was naïve and irresponsible, but what’s done is done. I’m here now, and I will have to deal with whatever happens.
The door’s creak as it opens slowly is loud.
Viking emerges with his head down. His gaze is lost on the ground, and he doesn’t look like a bad boy anymore. A big strong arm comes from the inside of the room pushing him forward. He trips with his own foot and barely regains his posture.
“I… I hope you have steel ovaries, the Prez is waiting for you,” he warns, walking away from us along the hallway we came down earlier.
I take a deep breath.
You can handle him, Sarah.
I check myself and fix my clothes. With my head high I approach the door with clear purpose. I push it open with my fingers, only to see a desk in the center and the same huge guy I saw two years ago, sitting behind it on a big black chair.
Rage – his street name says it all. He is someone you don’t want to mess with, or at least that’s what his appearance screams at me right now, and please, let’s not forget I saw him in action once.
He stares at me, his arms crossed rigidly, which his huge biceps make difficult to maintain. I step forward, and he doesn’t flinch. He sits there, solid.
His face looks like a sphinx, I can’t read him at all, especially not when he studies my every move.
I grab the chair on my side of the desk and prepare to sit.
“I didn’t offer you a seat,” he snaps, his voice guttural.
“I’m sorry, force of habit.” He doesn’t reply, so I continue, “We’ve met bef—”
“Who the fuck do you think I am? I know who you are.” His eyes go from my face to my arms and stop at my tits.
“Then you know why I’m here.” I pause. “Bruno went AWOL, and I need some information, something that can help me to find him.”
He chuckles. “And let me guess, you think I have some information, right?”
“Yes.”
“Have you lost your mind, kiddo?”
“If you know who I am, then you also know that I need to find him. I’ve been doing this all by myself for two years without any success.” I sound desperate, but that’s because I truly am.
“Haven’t you considered for a second that maybe he doesn’t want to be found?” He lifts an eyebrow.
I take a deep breath. “I did, but I need to find him anyway. If he actually wants me to stop looking for him, I need him to say so himself.”
He barely nods. “Why do you think I know where to find him?”
“You came to help him once… you are his frie—”
“We are not friends, he and I… We were squad buddies, nothing more.”
Squad? Is Rage a jarhead too?
