by Aisha Tritle
She rubbed her forehead and groaned. Where had he gone? Somebody had found him. Somebody had kept eyes on him, followed him, and taken him. Was their mission going to shit just because Ilya went on a walk to calm down?
Sophia kicked the wall. If Ilya showed up now, she didn’t know whether to embrace or strangle him.
Benny’s voice blasted through her angry thoughts. “I got the feed.”
“Alright, I’m going back to the van.”
Sophia pulled her hood down, put her hands in her pockets, and quickly strode back toward the van, parked across the street from the Winchester.
Sophia opened the door and got in.
“Show me.”
Benny turned his laptop to her. The feed was blurry, but the figures were still discernible. Three men surrounded Ilya; all were tall and clad in suits. Only their backs were visible, but there was something familiar about them…
It was hard to tell with the crowd around them, but it looked like one of the men held something up to Ilya’s lower back. A knife, maybe? Sophia shuddered.
Benny skipped forward a few minutes. The men exited the alley, carrying Ilya between them. They’d covered him up in a hoodie, much like the one Sophia was wearing.
But now, the men’s faces were visible.
“Stop,” said Sophia.
Benny paused the feed.
“Can you zoom in?” she asked.
Benny zoomed in. To Sophia’s dismay, the faces turned into blurs.
“Can you clarify that?”
“I can clean it up, yeah,” said Benny. “Just gimme a minute.”
Sophia sat, impatiently awaiting the finished photo. The cold interior of the van seemed to sear into her; she pulled her jacket tight and grimaced.
A faint whine escaped Benny. “Nooo…”
“What?”
Benny turned the laptop back around. “Look.”
The image was clear now. And in the center was a familiar face, Lund.
Sophia’s heart sank. She didn’t recognize the two other men, but there was no doubt that the third was the handler that hated her so much.
“They found us,” she whispered.
Benny’s hands covered his face. “That’s the guy who shot me. The guy who fricken shot me with the tranq.”
Sophia stared at the computer screen, numb. They couldn’t go through with the plan now. She knew how ruthless Lund could be; it would be a miracle if he hadn’t tortured every last detail out of Ilya.
She set the laptop to the side. “They’re gonna know.”
Benny was silent. Sophia threw her hands up.
“They’re gonna know,” she said. “We can’t go through with it. We’re done.”
“There’s a chance…” Benny’s muffled voice drifted off.
“What?”
“There’s a chance Ilya didn’t break. That they don’t know.”
Sophia scoffed. “Are you kidding me? They could know everything. Who knows how long they’ve had eyes on us?”
Benny shook his head. “I don’t think—“
Sophia cut him off, “Honestly, Benny, don’t think. You don’t know these people like I do. You don’t get it. We’re screwed—and that’s the end of it.”
Benny’s distraught face almost made Sophia feel sorry for snapping. Almost. Her anger left no room for regret.
A knock sounded on the van door, and Sophia and Benny exchanged glances.
“What if that’s them?” he whispered.
A loud ring echoed through the van. Benny pulled a cell phone out of his pocket. “Hello?”
Within a few seconds, relief covered his face. He pulled open the door.
Jonathan slipped his phone back into his pocket and climbed in, his green eyes narrow. He studied Benny and Sophia before speaking. “What happened?”
Benny silently handed him the laptop.
Jonathan’s ethereal countenance didn’t change as he watched the screen. His face displayed nothing but calm. It was what Sophia expected; the man didn’t have a panic button.
“We can’t go through with it now,” she said.
Jonathan’s head rose from the laptop to look at her. “Why not?”
Sophia’s jaw dropped. “Because they know.”
“Why do you say that?”
Sophia arched an eyebrow. Why didn’t he get it? “Lund just picked up Ilya. They could’ve been keeping tabs on us for a long time.”
“No,” said Jonathan, his voice low and steady. “This is because of what Ilya did last night. He went out and brought this upon himself. I told him it was too risky.”
His apathetic attitude confused Sophia. Yes, Ilya had brought it upon himself. But was Jonathan fine with feeding him to the wolves?
“Are we going to get Ilya?” she asked, her voice husky.
Jonathan gave her a level stare. “No, we don’t have the time—and we can’t risk it. The Org meets in two and a half hours.”
“Jonathan!” Benny spluttered.
Sophia’s eyes widened. “We’re still going through with it?”
Jonathan closed the laptop. “Do you doubt Ilya that much?”
“You don’t know Lund like I do,” said Sophia. “He’s ruthless. He’ll torture Ilya to get everything he wants to know.”
“We may have our differences,” said Jonathan. “But believe me, Ilya is not easily broken.”
Sophia stared at him, stunned. Since when did he have such faith in Ilya? But his words rang true…
“There are ways,” she protested weakly. “Truth serums, threats…“
Jonathan leaned forward. His face had turned a shade paler; his mouth was set in a grim line. “That may be,” he said. “But whatever happens today, Norbert dies.”
29
Sophia rifled through the drawers and cabinets, fitting as many weapons as she could into the two black duffle bags she carried.
They had an hour left. The plan had changed. Not too much, but enough to throw her into a frenzy.
They were still going through with the gas. But Sophia wasn’t allowed in the building—she might still be recognized in spite of her new appearance. She’d been told to sit outside in the van with Benny and wait on standby.
Jonathan was going to close off the vents and send in the gas by himself. Sophia knew he could do it. But it would be easier with her help.
She couldn’t just sit and wait. She needed to do something…but what could she do? They wouldn’t have any eyes besides Jonathan’s inside the Royal.
Sophia picked up a curved knife, examined it, and strapped it into her boot. There was a chance the Org knew about the gas, that their plan would fail. She stuck a handgun in the waistband of her jeans. It was always good to be prepared.
Zipping up the duffle bags, she went into the living room. Benny sat on the L-shaped couch, typing away on his laptop. Jonathan was already at the hotel.
“Done,” said Sophia.
Benny nodded. “Just one minute,” he said, his fingers still going a hundred miles an hour.
He closed the laptop. “Ready.”
They headed down to the garage.
“I was so excited,” muttered Benny, as he started the van.
Sophia set the duffle bags in the back. “And now?”
“Now I’m just dreading it,” said Benny. “I’m sweating all over. And it’s not even hot. But look at this—“ he ran a finger over his forehead “—this is just bad.”
Sophia shut the passenger side door. “I know how that feels.”
They rode to the hotel in silence. A sense of doom seemed to envelop them.
“These streets are so damn crowded,” said Benny, navigating his way through the narrow streets. “I want to park exactly three blocks away, but I don’t know—oh, look.”
He slid the van into a newly available space. “Phew.”
Benny put in an earpiece and handed one to Sophia. “We should be good to go,” he said.
“Jon?” she asked. “Jonathan, can you hear m
e?”
The answer came in a hushed tone. “I can hear you.”
“What’s your sitch?” asked Benny.
“I’ve got eyes on Lund.”
Sophia’s stomach dropped. “Does he see you?”
“No,” said Jonathan, sounding slightly offended. “He doesn’t. He’s with another guy. Same build, probably bodyguard, security of some kind.”
“Why are you watching them?” exclaimed Benny. “You should be running in the other direction.”
“Listen, I just used the device you gave me, Ben,” said Jonathan.
Confusion crossed Benny’s face. “Which device?”
“The one where you point, click, and whatever they’re saying gets directed into your earpiece.”
“Oh, right.”
“They never mentioned him by name, but it sounds like Ilya got away.”
Sophia caught her breath. That was good—scratch that, it was amazing. “Thank God,” she said.
“No, Sophia,” said Jonathan. “They’re not going after him. They said he’s too weak to get far. One of them said something about how they were going to dump him after the meeting anyway.”
Sophia’s heart stopped. Dump him? That meant…
“We have to find him. If we don’t, he’ll die.”
Silence came through the earpiece. Benny stared at her, wide-eyed.
“Let me go look for him,” she said.
“You need to stay out of sight,” said Jonathan.
“I’m armed. If anybody comes at me, I’m prepared.”
Again, silence.
“Let me go look for him,” said Sophia.
A sigh came through the earpiece. “Fine. Go.”
Sophia quickly exited the van. She forged her way through the swarms of people; the streets were just as crowded as they had been earlier. Her heart beat so fast in her chest she wondered it didn’t beat straight out of her. Time was of the essence.
Her eyes scanned the streets, the alleys, the shops. If he was severely injured, he’d do his best to stay out of sight.
Unless…would he go to a hospital? No, he wouldn’t. Thoughts flew through Sophia’s head. What would Ilya do? What would Ilya do if he was close to death?
Her legs carried her farther away from the Royal. Ilya would have made it more than a block away. He was nowhere to be seen. Sophia bit her lip. What would he do? What would he do?
She rushed down the street, searching the heads who passed her on each side, desperately looking for a blond one. Alas, no luck. There were too many options, too many places he could be.
She froze. Ilya was smart. No matter how weak he was, he’d go where they could find him.
Sophia clenched her fists. “Think, think, come on…” she muttered to herself.
He was too weak to go back to the apartment. The Royal was too risky. Except…
“Benny, where are the lapses in the Royal’s security?” she asked.
“It’s pretty good when it comes to surveillance, Soph.”
“Is there anywhere outside lacking in security?”
“Not that I know of…”
“How about around it?”
“Well, that alley where we picked you up…”
“Did Ilya know about it?”
“Yeah, we decided on it before we dropped him off.”
Sophia pulled her hood down and turned around. She elbowed her way through the crowd before jumping into the street and breaking into a run.
It took her less than three minutes to reach the alley. Her breath was stunted, her heartbeat rushed, not so much from the physical exertion as the worry.
The alley was devoid of anything except a stack of cardboard boxes.
She cautiously slowed her pace and rounded the pile of boxes. There was Ilya, slumped against the wall, bloodied, bruised, and almost unrecognizable. Sophia knelt down.
“Ilya?”
His blue eyes stared mournfully at her. “I’m sorry,” he wheezed.
A lump formed in Sophia’s throat. How could Norbert let this happen to his own flesh and blood?
Blood. There was so much of it.
“Shh, don’t apologize,” she whispered.
Sophia laid a hand on his shoulder. He winced at her gentle touch.
“We’re gonna get you out of here,” said Sophia.
“They know,” Ilya whimpered.
Jonathan was wrong. Ilya did break, but Sophia didn’t care.
“That’s okay,” she said.
“They know something’s going to happen,” he said. “But they don’t know what. They don’t know about you. I didn’t—“ he took a deep breath “—tell them about you.”
A single tear fell down Sophia’s cheek. “It’s okay. You can tell me all about this in the van. Come on.”
Ilya reached into the pocket of his torn shirt. “They took this away, but I managed to get it back.”
He pushed a photo into Sophia’s hand.
Benny’s panicked voice flooded Sophia’s ear. “He’s in the alley?”
Sophia unfolded the crumpled photo. It was a photo of her, her mother, and her father—taken before her recruitment into Program Occidis.
“Where’d you get this?” Then, it dawned on her. The photo Jonathan had pulled off the fridge. So he’d had that photo, a bit odd, so what?
“It’s not Jonathan’s,” wheezed Ilya.
Curiosity enveloped Sophia, but they needed to tend to Ilya. They had a med kit in the van, but that definitely wasn’t enough. In addition to outside abrasions, he was probably bleeding internally. She took off her hoodie and slipped off her shirt.
Ilya’s eyes widened. “What are you doing?” he asked.
Sophia put her hoodie back on and ripped her shirt into strips. There was a nasty cut on his forehead. She wrapped a strip snugly around his head and tied it.
“I’m gonna patch you up; then you’re going to get up and come back with me to the van.”
“I can’t leave this alley, they’ll see me. They have eyes everywhere.”
“I don’t care.”
“Sophia,” said Ilya. “The photograph belongs to the owner of the apartment.”
“So?”
She focused on bandaging a nasty gash right above his knee. Ilya didn’t reply. She looked up. His eyes had closed, his head tilted to the side.
Sophia reached for his neck in alarm. There was still a pulse. “Ilya? Ilya!”
He didn’t wake up.
Sophia knew she couldn’t carry him by herself.
“Benny, he’s unconscious. I need you to come help me carry him.”
“Shit,” said Benny. “I can’t leave the van.”
Suddenly, Jonathan’s voice entered the earpiece. “Sophia, go back to the van. Benny will carry Ilya.”
Sophia scoffed. “He can’t carry Ilya by himself either.”
“Hey!” exclaimed Benny.
“He’ll be fine,” said Jonathan. “Benny, grab the med kit. As soon as Sophia gets back to the van, bring the kit into the alley, patch Ilya up, then give him a shot of adrenaline. That’ll make it easier to get back.”
Sophia groaned. Jonathan was too fond of adrenaline. But maybe it was actually called for this time. It would work—or kill him.
“I don’t want to leave Ilya,” she said.
“You have to,” said Jonathan. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”
Sophia took one last look at Ilya before exiting the alley. She wiped the tears that had started streaming down her face and ran back to the van as fast as she could. The door slid open, and Benny hopped out with the med kit.
“The alley, right?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
And he was gone.
Sophia sat in the van, staring at the laptop screen in front of her. It displayed a layout of the hotel, with a blue dot representing the trackers she planted in Max Kwon. But Max Kwon was still in his room.
So, The Org knew they planned something. Would the meeting still go ahead? Sophia shook
her head. Norbert wouldn’t cancel the meeting. He had too much pride to cancel a meeting because of a possible threat. He thought The Org was impenetrable.
Sophia sighed. Maybe it was.
The blue dot on the screen started moving. Sophia sat up, alert. “Jonathan, Max is on the move.”
“Where’s he going?”
“He’s in the elevator. Going up. I think he’s going to the conference room on the 27th…”
“Got it.”
Suddenly, Benny’s panicked voice came through the earpiece. “Are you sure you said Ilya was in the alley?”
“Yes,” said Sophia.
“The alley where we picked you up?”
Sophia rubbed her forehead. Something else was going wrong now. Great. “Yes,” she said.
“The alley where we picked you up today?”
“Damn it,” she snapped. “Yes, the alley where you picked me up today.”
“Well, he isn’t here.”
Sophia’s heart seemed to jump into her throat. “He has to be there.”
“He isn’t though,” panted Benny. “He isn’t here.”
Jonathan’s voice shot through in a sharp whisper. “Don’t leave the van, Sophia.”
“I’m not going to leave the van.”
Sophia let out a sharp groan. What was going on? “Well, he couldn’t have gone far, Ben,” she said acerbically. “He was unconscious.”
Benny huffed. “I swear, Soph—“
“Go look for him.”
“Okay, okay, okay. I will.”
Sophia leaned back and looked blankly at the laptop screen. She felt numb. The whole thing was turning into a mess. Ilya was gone…
She buried her face in her hands. “Shit.”
A few minutes passed; the only sounds were Benny’s panting as he scurried around and the quiet clicks of Jonathan setting the metal panels up in the vents.
“I’m going to send in the gas now,” said Jonathan. “The cart’s ready. The boy I paid earlier is going to take it in.”
Sweat covered Sophia’s palms. This was the moment; it was do-or-die time.
Benny had stopped panting. All that followed was silence.
Sophia nervously rubbed her hands on her jeans. Would they take it? All they had to do was accept the cart into the room. Jonathan controlled the gas with a remote.
After what seemed like an eternity of quiet, Jonathan spoke.