The End of Games (15 page)

Voices were coming from the room off of the back of that one. I could make out Servario and an Englishman who spoke, "Servario, I think it's safe to say we're under fire, leave before you are seen. I'm going out the back now. You can come with me through the tunnels, but we will run an awfully big risk being seen together at the end of the tunnel."

Servario laughed, "I'm not leaving until I get what I came for. You have the thing you wanted; we both know her parents will come for her. That might even be them downstairs now. If it is, you're in over your head. Now I want the information you have on the Burrow."

The other man sounded panicked, "Gustavo, you and I both know, I have bullshit information. Now I need to get out of here."

"I don’t believe you, Anderson. I want the information. I got rid of Mary and James. I cleaned up all my messes that were your messes really, weren’t they? James was your son, wasn’t he?"

I looked back at Coop. He scowled and I shook my head, mouthing, "I'll explain later."

He nodded, "Okay. Are you alright?"

I nodded. It was a lie, but I didn’t have time to feel sorry for myself.

Servario opened the door, "We aren’t going anywhere, Anderson. Your supper is here early." He smiled at Coop and I, "Come on in."

An older man with grey hair with steely-blue eyes snarled, "YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Servario folded his arms. I lifted my gun to the grey-haired man, "What are we doing here, Servario?"

He laughed, "I wanted you to know who put the hit on your family and your home. He wanted to clean up any mess, just in case James accidentally did leak a little something during pillow talk. This is the man who paid James to impregnate you, marry you, and pretend to love you. I wanted you to know that if this very man here were dead, you would be safe, forever. You and your children. The suspicions die with him. He and Mary were the only ones who knew who James really was."

I stepped forward, "Why?"

He sneered at him, "I don’t have to answer anything to you, little girl."

I shot him in the kneecap just as I had done to James. The building shook with another explosion.

"Why did you make him marry me? Why would you do that?"

He scoffed, "Ask your father."

My finger jerked, shooting the man in the chest. He gasped. Servario cocked an eyebrow, "You are jumping the gun a little, Evie. We might get information from him."

I fired again, "I want the fuck out of here." The man fell to the ground. Servario sighed, looking past me at Coop, "She's your problem now; the Burrow is going to want to know why he wasn’t interrogated."

Coop ignored him and put his hand on mine, lowering the gun, "You okay, Evie?"

I shook my head, "No. No. This has been some shit, Coop. I wanna go back home." I looked at Servario, "You going to tell me what was on that phone you got from James?"

Servario shook his head, "It's nothing that concerns you."

"See ya 'round." I turned and walked out of the room. Servario laughed, loud and confidently. "Evie, wait."

I turned, pointing my gun on him, "If I see you again, I will kill you."

His eyes gave it all away. He knew he'd fucked up royally. He had risked me, my life, and my sanity and he knew it.

He looked haunted as he nodded once and gave Coop, who couldn’t look more confused, a soft smile, "Take care of her."

Coop scowled, lowering my hand again and pulling me through the hotel. A man walked out of a room. I lifted my gun and shot him without even a second thought.

Coop look horrified, "Evie?" I ignored him and walked for the stairs. He pulled me in a different direction, "Back stairs."

I let him pull me to the back stairs. We ran down them and out into an alley to a car waiting for us.

When we got inside, Jack looked back from the driver's seat. He looked like he might smile but he didn’t. He passed me an iPhone, "Press send."

I looked at the hotel and pressed send. I didn’t think about the girls or Servario or anything else. I pressed send and blew it to the heavens.

Jack drove calmly away, not suspicious at all. I stared out the window at the fiery blast and knew, he had gotten away. Nothing could kill him. I had been wrong about James. He never was the monster in the movie who couldn’t die. That had been Servario.

Jack drove us to the docks, away from the sirens and everything else. We got out and walked casually down to a large fishing boat. Mom and Elise were sitting on board when we got down into the hull. The boat started, I didn’t even know who was driving it. I didn’t care. My mom grabbed me, pulling me into her arms. When I got there, I started to cry. I couldn’t stop myself. It was a cleansing cry.

I just folded into my mother and let her soothe me.

"I know, baby. I know." She sighed, "They're all dead now."

I shook my head, "Servario never got any information from Anderson. I shot him first."

She sighed, "You are going to have to learn to keep that trigger finger in check. Save it for after you get the information."

I sighed, "What if anyone else knows about Montana, the kids, me and you, Servario, and Dad? What if Steve told people? We'll never be safe. Did you feed the cat before you left? He will pee and poo on everything if he doesn’t get food."

She smoothed my hair and kissed the top of my head. She didn’t try to lie to me or sugarcoat it. She was just there, “I fed the cat a huge bowl of food, massive. And water.”

I glanced over at the blonde as she walked from the back of the boat, peeling the huge scars and scabs from her arms and wiping her face clean. She looked less like a junky, only a little. "Do I know you?"

She smiled, "You do not." She looked so familiar.

My mom pulled me back and held a hand out to the blonde, "This is Elise, she is part of the Burrow."

I sat frozen, not really sure what to say or do. If she was part of the Burrow, wouldn’t she be in Japan and not on a boat leaving Croatia?

Elise laughed, "I have been team Burrow for some time. I only came out of my forced retirement to help out with this." She winked at me, "Servario and I were friends once."

My nose wrinkled involuntarily, making her laugh. I nodded, "Nice to meet you."

She smiled, "I'm going back to Japan with your dad." I gave my mom a look. She nodded, "He's alive. I wasn’t sure but Elise saved him. She convinced them we needed help with Anderson and Mary and that Servario was self serving on this one."

I gave her a look, "He got a phone. It had something on it. I do think he was self serving on this one."

Elise held her hands up, "Hey, I'm not here to rat anyone out. I saw Servario blow up in that hotel. That’s the story the Burrow is getting from me."

"Why would you lie to the Burrow and help him?"

She gave me a softened look, "Like I said, Servario and I were friends once."

I looked at her blonde hair and wondered if that was the reason he hated blonde hair and told me never to fall in love with him or make him love me. I almost hated her for all of it.

I pushed it away and looked over at Coop and Jack. They were huddled, going over things. "How's Luce?"

Jack smiled up from the phone he was bent over, "Good. She's with Fitz."

"Oh, good. How did he get her?"

Coop shook his head, "Long story." He cocked a smile, "You wanna go get cleaned up?"

I looked around the fishing boat, "Where?"

He nodded, "Back there. It's a full captain’s quarters."

I moaned, "Oh my God, yes." He offered me his hand. I took it and let him pull me to the back of the boat.

He closed the door and gave me a weird look, "Well, this turned out to be quite the crap shoot."

"It really did."

His blue eyes had hardened, "Get over here."

I walked to him, resting my head on his collarbone, "I still don’t forgive you for selling me to Servario."

He wrapped himself around me, "Good, don’t. I won't ever forgive myself for it."

I smiled. I couldn’t believe I was on a boat and was totally safe and James was dead, and his mom was dead, and the MI6 bastards were dead. We were safe, sort of. As safe as we ever could be.

Coop smiled, "You want to tell me the story?"

I nodded, "Let me get into the shower, and you can sit on the toilet while I fill you in. I need to get clean."

He chuckled, "Yes, you do. You stink, Evie."

I shoved him and walked to the bathroom off to the side. When the hot water hit my body, I nearly wept for joy.

Chapter Sixteen

Highly effective can also mean crazy

The drive up to the house made me sleepy, instantly. I glanced back at my mom, “You sure?”

She smiled, “They don’t know we’re here. Trust me.”

I couldn’t shake it, that feeling like everyone we were running from knew exactly where we were. I gave Coop a look, “We have to move.”

He nodded, “I agree. Let’s get our shit together this week and we’ll head to a little place I know of that no one else does.”

Jack sighed and stretched in the back seat, “I am beat.” His voice was sleepy until the car parked. Then he ran inside, as if discovering new energy in the hope he would get to see Luce.

Fitz came walking out in an apron, pale linen pants, and a blue shirt. He was whisking something in a bowl and grinning like a fool.

I got out of the car as both my kids came running. Jules stopped short, aghast at the state of my face. I smiled at her, “It’s okay, baby. I’m fine. I got kicked by a horse, helping Coop with them. Apparently, horses are kind of mean.”

She ran to me, “Mommy, your eyes are tiny. I can't even see them.”

I laughed. The swelling of my face had worsened with exhaustion.

Mitch hugged me and gave me a telling grin. I rubbed his head and pulled him into me. He was getting too smart for his own good.

Fitz laughed, “Evie, you need to ease up on the plastic surgery. Age gracefully.”

I stuck my tongue out, “Quiet you.” I smiled at Coop who looked like he was holding his breath. I pointed, “You better not say anything.”

He winced, “I can't believe I never thought of that one.”

I tossed my small bag at him. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder, “Come on, let’s get you inside and all rested up.”

Jules scowled, “Mommy, Uncle Fitz said we have to move again.”

Mitch’s eyes lit up, “Please, can we move, Mom?”

I gave Fitz a crooked look. He put his whisk in the air, “Easy tiger, I was just trying to soften the blow. Get them ready for it.”

My mom peeked into Fitz’s bowl, “What are you making?”

He pulled it back, “Snickerdoodles.”

Jules made a face, “I hate snickerdoodles.”

I laughed and walked inside the house, grateful for the fact snickerdoodles were the hot topic for a change. Saving the world was on the back burner for a few days. I kissed my kids, “Mommy needs some sleep. That horse work took it out of me.”

Mitch laughed, “You’re getting too old for horse work, Mom.”

I stuck my lower lip out, making them both laugh. Coop rustled Mitch’s hair, “You be nice to your mom. She brought you into this world and has all the skills necessary to take you out.”

Mitch sneered, “I can run faster than her.”

Coop laughed, “That’s probably true.” He gave me a cheeky grin, “But she has endurance.” I almost bought the compliment but he started laughing, “It comes with age.”

I groaned and walked into the house.

Fitz winked at Coop and I, “She’s in your room, Evie.”

Mom got the kids settled in, and I dragged my tired butt up the stairs to grovel and beg for forgiveness. I opened the door slowly. Luce gave me a weak smile, “Hey you!”

I fought the tears in my eyes, “Luce, I am so sorry.”

She closed her eyes, “I should have told you about him knowing who I was. I almost blew the whole thing. I’m sorry.” She looked at Coop, “It won’t happen again.” He nodded.

I sat down on the bed next to Jack. He was holding her hand and stroking it gently.

“Luce, we got him. He’s dead, like ‘dead’ dead.” I said.

She smiled, “I knew you would, Evie.”

Coop sat at the foot of the bed, “How’s the lung?”

Luce shook her head, “Almost good as new, just a couple weeks and I’ll be right as rain. How was the mission?”

Jack winced, “We think we accomplished everything. MI6 is going to need a new head of their organization. We may have to face a smidge of retaliation for that one, if or when they discover it was us. The commander and I spoke from the ship on the way back to Italy. He’s pissed about the damages, but he’s satisfied we kept the American name out of it. He says we can consider coming back in if we think it’s safe, but he thinks that MI6 was just one toxic pot. He thinks that there is an arms race for the Burrow and we need to stop everyone.”

I sneered, “He just wants it for our country. We can't give it to anyone.”

Luce nodded, “I agree.” We all looked at Coop, “Our allegiance is to our country.” I almost argued but he continued, “We need to make sure that the people of our country are safe, even if it’s from our own leaders. No one gets the Burrow. We take the list and put a hit on every person on it.”

“Except Fitz.”

Coop gave me a look, “We discuss Fitz when we need to.”

Jack nodded, “I think that’s a fair one.”

Luce shook her head, “I’m with Evie. Fitz is good.”

Coop’s look didn’t change, “So is Servario, that doesn’t mean I won't kill him if I have even a slight reason.”

Luce moaned, “I need to go back to sleep, sorry guys.”

Jack curled up next to her.

“See you next year, when I wake up.” I chuckled as I got up and walked to the room my mom slept in. There were other guest rooms downstairs she could sleep in. I was closing the door, but it opened against my resistance. Coop smiled, “We’re sharing a bed.”

I scowled, “What?”

He nodded, “Yeah. Fitz and your mom have the rooms downstairs and they’re taking first watch. Your kids have to go to bed soon, this makes sense.”

I growled, “No.”

He pushed past me, “Stop being a baby.”

My eyes were too swollen for him to notice the glare I was giving him. I moaned and climbed onto the bed, “You can have the floor.”

“Fine.” He closed the door. I tossed him a blanket and a pillow and curled up into a ball.

Of course the opposite thing happened, I couldn’t fall asleep. He was out like a light in no time, and I was stuck staring at him sleep. I watched his chest rise and fall, his lips twitch slightly as he got deeper into sleep, and his trigger finger shudder every few seconds. He was dreaming. How had he fallen asleep so quickly?

I closed my eyes after a while and remembered how it had felt to kiss him in the casino. My cheeks flushed and my heart rate increased. I turned and rolled over. I was on the verge of just getting up, when I felt something I hadn’t expected. The bed shifted and suddenly he was wrapped around me. The thought of fighting him on his being in my space was overruled by the feeling of bliss I had. I loved sleeping with another person. I hated sleeping alone and he was the only person in the world I trusted whole-heartedly. I drifted off to sleep, restless sleep but who was counting.

When I woke, I felt like I had been run over by a truck. I noticed the sun was shining in the curtains. Coop was gone. I closed the curtains tighter and flopped back onto the bed.

I slept for what felt like an eternity and felt more tired when I was finally really awake. Coop was back sleeping in the bed again. He was under the covers and not wearing a shirt as far as I could see. I bit my lip and resisted the urge to look. I snuck from the room to see Jack doing the same across the hall. He smiled, “Sleep well?”

I shook my head, “I don’t think so. I’m still really tired.”

He laughed, “You’ve been there for forty hours, Evie. Any longer and we were going to have to cryofreeze you.”

I rolled my eyes, “It has not been forty hours.” He gave me his blank stare and I gasped, “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

He shrugged, “You seemed exhausted.” He pointed at my face, “The swelling looks improved. Are you feeling better?”

I shook my head, “I’m beat.” My stomach grumbled and we both looked at it. He scoffed, “Apparently, you are also starved.”

I grumbled, “Forty hours, no wonder.” I made my way to the kitchen where my mom and Fitz were laughing like it was old times. He gave me a wide smile as I sat at the bar, “My precious. How are you? Are you hungry?”

I nodded. My mom laughed, “I know that face. She hasn’t had coffee in ages.”

Fitz’s eyes widened, “Oh.” He started the espresso maker, “Lucky I brought some coffee back from Italy.” He rolled his eyes, “I assumed you all would forget to get things from the shops.”

I laughed, “With all our free time.”

Jack sat next to me at the bar, “This is the best coffee I’ve had in ages.”

Luce made her way into the kitchen and sat on the barstool next to Jack. She leaned in and kissed his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned into it. I smiled as Coop came around the corner, making a face at their kissing. “Get a room!”

I shoved him as he walked by, “Don’t encourage that. They’re sleeping in my room.”

He laughed, “Oh yeah, use the barn.”

Mom’s eyes flashed when he said that.

I cocked an eyebrow at the same time as Coop. We both asked, “What?”

He punched me in the arm lightly, “You owe me a Heineken.”

I rubbed my arm, “It’s coke and no. Mom, what was that look?”

She swallowed hard, “Well, the barn is so dirty and nasty. Who wants to have relations in there? It smells and it’s getting cold out now. Have you noticed? Shall I go get the kids from school?”

I got up and walked to the front door, after Coop who already had it open.

“Just leave it, you two.”

Coop was remarking something snarky as he crossed the dry grass to the barn. He pulled open the door, “Shit.”

I looked inside to see Steve. He was hanging upside down, bleeding into the pot on the ground.

“What the fuck?” I gagged a little. I really did need some coffee to start the day off. “Oh shit. We can't leave him there like that.”

Steve moaned, making Coop and I jump back. I looked down at his hands gripping my shirt as firmly as I was gripping his. Coop gave me a wide-eyed look, “He’s alive.”

I nodded, “No shit, Sherlock.”

Steve moaned again. Coop gave me a disgusted look, “Are those spots where she peeled the skin off?”

I nodded and turned away, “Oh my God.”

Coop took a deep breath, “Wow, I haven’t seen that before.”

Mom came out of the house, “Darlings, just leave him. He’s making some serious life decisions.”

I pointed, “MOM!”

She sighed, “This is why I never told you.” Jack and Luce followed her out of the house. Jack covered his mouth like he might be sick at any second. He grabbed Luce’s hand and dragged her back into the house. I could tell by her confused face, she hadn’t seen it.

Coop pulled me back from the barn as my mom walked in and cut the rope, dropping Steve on his back, onto the ground and the blood bucket. I bent over, gagging. I hadn’t eaten in so long that my body was completely devoid of anything to throw up. So I retched as Coop rubbed my back, “Don’t look. Just don’t look.” I knew it was bad when he had jumped and looked disgusted. He never showed much emotion.

Fitz came out of the house, still wearing an apron. He had a coffee for me. Coop took it from him, “You guys are disgusting. Just shoot him for Christ’s sake.”

Fitz nodded at Steve, “This is a highly effective way of getting the truth. Trust me, he told your mom things he didn’t even know he knew.”

I walked back to the house. When I was inside, I shuddered and went back to my barstool. Coop came in a moment later, putting the coffee down for me. I sipped but the image of the dark blood spilling out was stuck on repeat in my head.

Coop and I sat at the bar, staring at the counter on the far side. Finally he spoke, “I slept with you. I should have asked, but I actually woke up to a back cramp just as I started falling asleep..”

I started to laugh, “I know. I can't believe she peeled his skin off.”

He shook his head, “I can't talk about that right now. Distract me.”

“I like it when you sleep with me.”

He nudged me, “I like sleeping with you too.”

I couldn’t face him and say it, but I had to say it. So I continued to stare at the counter and muttered, “I like you.”

He nodded in my peripheral, “I more than like you.”

I blushed and smiled, “I feel like an idiot around you.”

He nodded again, “Yeah. You are an idiot.”

I shoved him off his barstool. He started laughing, “You know I meant me too.”

I bit my lip and slumped back on the chair, “Can you just try acting like an adult and treating me nicely?”

He frowned for a second and then shook his head, “If I let you in, Evie, it’s going to be all the way and then neither of us is ever going to go back.”

He got up and left me there with that. That and blood bucket images.

A week later, I watched the moving truck drive away with all my new things. Jack waved out the window as he rounded the corner. I gave Coop a confused look, “Can he drive anything?”

He nodded, “Yeah. Huge rigs, planes, jets, helicopters, ships, you name it. He’s pretty handy to have around. He was actually at NASA for a year before the whole space program started going tits up and CI grabbed him.”