I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole. “Can we focus on the fact that someone just tried to kill us?”
“Da, yes, the shooting situation.” Dmitri's expression shifted, got more serious but still maintained that easy warmth. “Luka says I am to take you both to safe house. Is already stocked with food, weapons, everything you need. We leave now, yes?”
“No,” Declan said.
Dmitri blinked. “No?”
“I'm not going to any safe house. I'm staying here.”
“But someone just shot through your window.”
“I'm aware of that.”
“And you think staying here is good idea?”
“I think running isn't going to solve anything.” Declan crossed his arms over his bare chest. “This is my home. I haveresponsibilities. I'm not abandoning my life because someone wants to scare me.”
Dmitri looked at me with an expression that said he couldn't believe what he was hearing. “Is he always this stubborn?”
“You have no idea.”
“Luka is not going to like this.”
“Luka can deal with it.” Declan's voice stayed level and controlled. “I appreciate the concern, but I'm not going anywhere.”
“Troy, talk to him.” Dmitri gestured at Declan like he was a puzzle that needed solving. “Tell him this is stupid.”
“I already tried.” I ran a hand through my hair. “He's not budging.”
“Bozhe moy.” Dmitri pulled out his phone and started typing. “Luka is going to lose his mind.”
“Let him.” Declan moved to the coffee pot and started making a fresh pot like we weren't in the middle of a crisis. “I'm staying. End of discussion.”
Dmitri watched him for a long moment. Then he looked at me with raised eyebrows. “You are staying too?”
“If he's staying, I'm staying.”
“Both of you are insane.” But Dmitri was smiling now, like he appreciated the audacity. “Fine. We do this the hard way. I bring security here. We turn this house into fortress. But when Luka arrives and is angry, I am telling him this was your idea.”
“Fair enough.”
Dmitri made a call and spoke rapid Russian that I only caught pieces of. Words about perimeter security and overwatch positions and teaching stubborn Americans a lesson. When he hung up, he looked at both of us.
“Two men will be here in twenty minutes. They will watch the street, the rooflines, make sure no one else takes shots at you.”He dropped into one of the kitchen chairs and sprawled like he owned the place. “Until then, we wait. You have beer?”
“It's ten in the morning,” Declan said.
“Is five o'clock somewhere.” Dmitri grinned. “Besides, I have been up since four. That counts as afternoon for me.”
Declan pulled three beers from the fridge and handed them out. We all drank in silence for a moment.
Then Declan set his bottle down and looked at me. “I need to ask you a question.”
“Why am I being targeted?” His voice was calm but there was an edge underneath, controlled anger waiting to surface. “This is your problem, Troy. Your life. Whatever shit you're involved in. So why is someone shooting at my house? Why am I collateral damage in whatever war you're fighting?”
The question was fair. More than fair, and I owed him an honest answer.
I took a long drink and tried to figure out how to explain this in a way that didn't make me sound like an asshole.
