back to watching the road. “Made me give him a BJ? I could’ve survived that. Hell, you think you’re better? You could’ve twisted her mind until she was Mother Theresa’s clone.”
“No. I can’t do that.”
“The hell you can’t. God. Fuck .” I hit the dashboard with my fist. Useless, this was all so useless. I felt useless.
“Swearing doesn’t change anything. Stop doing it.”
“Or what?” I blurted. My scowl deepened.
“Do you really want to find out?”
His matter-of-fact tone, combined with what I’d just seen him do, made me pause, but...he was driving and couldn’t do anything.
“Fuck you,” I grumbled.
I may have been suicidal saying that to him, a man who killed as if it were no fancier than sucking a lollipop, but I was past caring. If he’d wanted to shoot me, he’d had plenty of opportunities.
I’d abducted him, nearly sold him to the Russians. I’d also been his carer for months, and I’d liked him, once. Helped him. Now? I didn’t know. It was all too raw and it hurt my chest to think about what had happened.
I shifted my butt, finally remembered to fasten the seat belt, then planted my head into the headrest.
They were dead as dead could be. Wolfe was right, I couldn’t change anything. I should try to sleep. But always there were questions. What if the other agents turned up? If riled, Wolfe would happily go beyond the limits of the law or an average person’s morals. Who would end up dead?
I had an inkling he’d chew them up and spit them out then keep on walking, as if nothing had happened.
Chapter 16
Wolfe
“We’re going to stay here a while, until I figure things out.”
Kiara hadn’t spoken since I’d killed the two muggers. I didn’t exactly blame her. That’d be traumatic for most, maybe even more so for a nurse. Didn’t change why I did it or my feelings. I did it because they needed killing.
The place...this was Magnus’s, for sure. I’d remembered the road in, even if it mostly petered out the last hundred yards and I’d had to forge through the overgrown shrubs while keeping a close eye on the ground. Only thing that’d saved this from being swallowed by trees was that much of it was on bedrock and the plants were growing in thin soil. I parked the SUV under some trees and nose-in to a heavy growth of some green shrub.
On the outside, the cabin looked ready to fall over the edge of the mountain that was ten yards to the left. Brick and timber construction, and a roof that had a few bits of trees collapsed over it.
“Looks done for.” Her first words for ages.
“Magnus was a survivalist. This is made to look old. Built on the shell of an abandoned cabin. Behind that is new brick and some concrete.”
I peered through the glass of the windshield one last time before popping open the door and slipping out. A raccoon scampered down a rotten tree trunk that lay propped at the right corner of the cabin, then ran off.
In the last shine of daylight, some of the leafless branches looked golden. Parts were starting to lift off, like scales barely adhering to skin. They shook, eager to float.
That...not good.
I needed food. It seemed to stave off the signs of the crazies.
The front door had tons of leaves and crap piled up to it. I ripped away some dangling plants and bent on one knee. Memories said the key was under all this. Under the welcome mat...which was probably not here anymore.
“What, are you doing?”
“Welcome mat.” I tunneled my hand down through dirt, more dirt, then some roots, and found the edge of something synthetic, which I flapped about to loosen then ripped up and out. The wonders of modern science. I had an entire green, still bright green, mat in my hand.
“You’re joking? Way up here in the beyond... He has a key under a mat?”
“Yup.” Metal found my hand, a ring of it. Which meant... I dragged the metal out through the loosened soil. Triumphant, I held up the key.
“Incredible.”
At least she
“No. I can’t do that.”
“The hell you can’t. God. Fuck .” I hit the dashboard with my fist. Useless, this was all so useless. I felt useless.
“Swearing doesn’t change anything. Stop doing it.”
“Or what?” I blurted. My scowl deepened.
“Do you really want to find out?”
His matter-of-fact tone, combined with what I’d just seen him do, made me pause, but...he was driving and couldn’t do anything.
“Fuck you,” I grumbled.
I may have been suicidal saying that to him, a man who killed as if it were no fancier than sucking a lollipop, but I was past caring. If he’d wanted to shoot me, he’d had plenty of opportunities.
I’d abducted him, nearly sold him to the Russians. I’d also been his carer for months, and I’d liked him, once. Helped him. Now? I didn’t know. It was all too raw and it hurt my chest to think about what had happened.
I shifted my butt, finally remembered to fasten the seat belt, then planted my head into the headrest.
They were dead as dead could be. Wolfe was right, I couldn’t change anything. I should try to sleep. But always there were questions. What if the other agents turned up? If riled, Wolfe would happily go beyond the limits of the law or an average person’s morals. Who would end up dead?
I had an inkling he’d chew them up and spit them out then keep on walking, as if nothing had happened.
Chapter 16
Wolfe
“We’re going to stay here a while, until I figure things out.”
Kiara hadn’t spoken since I’d killed the two muggers. I didn’t exactly blame her. That’d be traumatic for most, maybe even more so for a nurse. Didn’t change why I did it or my feelings. I did it because they needed killing.
The place...this was Magnus’s, for sure. I’d remembered the road in, even if it mostly petered out the last hundred yards and I’d had to forge through the overgrown shrubs while keeping a close eye on the ground. Only thing that’d saved this from being swallowed by trees was that much of it was on bedrock and the plants were growing in thin soil. I parked the SUV under some trees and nose-in to a heavy growth of some green shrub.
On the outside, the cabin looked ready to fall over the edge of the mountain that was ten yards to the left. Brick and timber construction, and a roof that had a few bits of trees collapsed over it.
“Looks done for.” Her first words for ages.
“Magnus was a survivalist. This is made to look old. Built on the shell of an abandoned cabin. Behind that is new brick and some concrete.”
I peered through the glass of the windshield one last time before popping open the door and slipping out. A raccoon scampered down a rotten tree trunk that lay propped at the right corner of the cabin, then ran off.
In the last shine of daylight, some of the leafless branches looked golden. Parts were starting to lift off, like scales barely adhering to skin. They shook, eager to float.
That...not good.
I needed food. It seemed to stave off the signs of the crazies.
The front door had tons of leaves and crap piled up to it. I ripped away some dangling plants and bent on one knee. Memories said the key was under all this. Under the welcome mat...which was probably not here anymore.
“What, are you doing?”
“Welcome mat.” I tunneled my hand down through dirt, more dirt, then some roots, and found the edge of something synthetic, which I flapped about to loosen then ripped up and out. The wonders of modern science. I had an entire green, still bright green, mat in my hand.
“You’re joking? Way up here in the beyond... He has a key under a mat?”
“Yup.” Metal found my hand, a ring of it. Which meant... I dragged the metal out through the loosened soil. Triumphant, I held up the key.
“Incredible.”
At least she
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