Landing is a terrifying experience I never want to repeat. Through it, Cabal remains distant and disconnected.
Call it the belligerent pacifist in me, but I turn my legs, blocking his exit, waiting until he looks at me. I can taste the condescension building on my tongue while I speak calmly. “I understand your focus is probably split because your ‘friend’ needs you, but Quinn should be your only concern.” My words are barbed intentionally, and the color of his eyes shifts from distracted to pinpoint focused in a heartbeat. “We’re not here to fuck spiders, Cabal, we’re here to save her.”
“Your insinuation I am not here for her is repugnant,” he spits angrily. His usual carefully practiced English and elegant persona is exaggerated under his reaction.
He’s fast as fuck, too, moving before I blink. His fingers press against my throat. The gesture is overtly threatening, despite the lack of pressure. Much the same as the way my finger sits on the trigger, my pistol kissing his forehead.
Never once, not on any job or in any professional capacity, have my morals been tested the way he tests mine. I get it’s nothim so much; it’s her. Everything I thought I knew about what is good and bad no longer seems relevant.
Watching her leave me at the airport made me realize I have no issue committing any crime necessary, or even murdering wanted criminals who get in my way, when it comes to keeping her out of harm’s way.
He grins, pushing his forehead harder into the gun while adding slight pressure to his choke hold. “If only you told someone where you were going,Kade. No one knows where you are, you idiot. When I say it’s very easy to dispose of a person’s body, I want you to understand I’m basing that on years of experience doing just that. Remember my surname if you forget everything else.”
I pull back the safety. “You’re so fucking easy to rile, Cabal. I’ve got years of pretending to be someone else. Unlike you. I think the Russians are going to see straight through your act. The second they realize your deceit, I’ll hand them my gun and watch while they pull the trigger.”
His eyebrows raise, and his confidence returns. “Tal vez. Pero no puedes entender ni una palabra de lo que digo, ¿verdad?”
I’m happy for him to assume I can’t speak Spanish. For now. I’ll blow my own cover in an instant when it comes to Quinn.
I twist my wrist to check the time. “You need to report to Victor.”
He shoves me backward, letting go of his hold at the same time. “I’ll do that while you wipe down the cockpit and transfer the bags. You know how to make evidence disappear, don’t you?”
I shake my head in frustration, pushing past him. I have to concede, or we’ll be here bickering all night.
He pisses me off by simply existing. It’s something we share, because he isn’t my greatest fan either.
Getting to work and wiping down the aircraft helps me settle the growing tension that started the instant we landed in Russia. I want to say she’s going to be thrilled to see us, but I’m not sure, given how cold she was at the airport.
I’ve got some serious apologizing to do.
I constantly lied to her face about my occupation, and I’ll be sorry for a long time. But at least I’m here, in a position to protect her while I try to make amends.
Cabal rejoins me as I’m changing into the all-black getup we decided on, standard bodyguard attire. I drew a line at us wearing matching aviators.
The car Victor arranged for her “guards” befits his status; new model, blacked-out Range Rover, diplomatic staff plates in place. Supposedly it’s bulletproof. I’m not putting Quinn inside it until I know for certain. Cabal is on the same page as me, thankfully, and before I can tell him to step aside, he’s walking around the car, firing into the glass and panels. Nothing shatters. He uses silicone spray and a rag to buff where the bullets hit until there’s no sign of our test.
After storing the bags in the back, he punches the coordinates into the GPS, and then as soon as I pull the door closed on the hangar on the private landing strip we used, we start driving towards Moscow.
“How long?” I ask, ripping into our food supplies, handing him a protein bar.
He takes a bite, not mentioning how bland it tastes. We’re not about to stop to get fresh food now that we’re so close to her.
“Six hours. If it was clear skies, I’d say four,” he says, taking another bite.
“And Victor has no clue?”
“None. Let’s keep it that way.”
We don’t talk for the first few hours. Cabal clears his throat before glancing at me. “Do you have your affairs in order? As much as I’d like to have left you in a burning car, like we did…”
“Youdid,” I insist, not wanting to think too much about the bodies we stashed back near the meetup point for Victor’s guards.
“No, Kade. There is no way you’d be able to cover up the fact you were the one that pulled them over. The flashing lights and the badge you used to do that were as authentic as my level of distrust for you.”
Avoiding him, instead looking out the window, doesn’t detract from the truth. I was complicit in the crime. And would do it again if needed.
“The Russians are…”
