Page 85 of Spies Don't Fall for Their
“Okay,”Charliesays. “Zoe, keep heading in that direction.Miles, take your next left.Yeah, that one.Okay, about halfway down this corridor, there should be an opening.Goright, and you should interceptZoe.”
Ipull the three devices out of my side pocket.Milesemerges from a corridor to my left just beforeIget there, andIslow just long enough to get them into his hands without dropping them.ThenIrun.Iround a corner, thinkingIshould be catching up to them, but don’t see them anywhere.
“Back!”Packstoncalls out in my earpiece. “Therewas a corridor you missed.It’shidden in a kind of alcove.”
Ihead back in the directionIjust came from, slowing just a bit as my spleen makes its displeasure at my activities known.Ibreathe through the pain, trying to calm my body when it wants nothing even close to calmness.
“Alittle further.Doyou see it?”Packstonasks.
“Foundit!”Isay and hurry down that corridor.Thistime,Idon’t run blindly.Ourtech ops have the surveillance cameras we placed on their screens and they have the one onLedger’schest, so they are seeing so much more thanIdo.Ijust need to trust that listening to them will get me to him more quickly thanIcan on my own.
Packstondirects me to a door that leads down to holding cells, andIcan hear the slam of a prison door closing echo up to me.Istop and take two measured breaths in an attempt to calm my body beforeIhead down.Normally,I’mgood at calming myself as needed.Butwhen the manIlove is in danger, apparently none of that works.
Istill manage to walk quietly down the winding stone staircase, my stun gun raised, as the sounds of the men talking carry toward me.Evenif it’s not as supportive,Ihave never been so grateful for my new boot asIam while sneaking down the stairs.Withmy previousboot, the sounds of me clomping down these stairs would’ve been bouncing off the walls, alerting the entire fortress to my actions.Withthis one,I’malmost silent.
Islow asIreach the bottom of the stairs and peek around the last corner.Isee both guards, talking and gesturing to each other and the cell where they’ve putLedger.Ilift my stun gun higher, take aim, and then tag both guards, one right after the other.Theyboth drop to the ground, unconscious.
Irun toward the cell.Thearea has stone walls, floors, and ceiling.Rustedmetal bars run from the floor to a low ceiling, separatingLedgerfrom me and the guards.Myeyes rove all over his perfect body. “Areyou okay?Didthey hurt you?”
He’sstanding.Well, leaning against the bars for support, but standing, which gives me immense relief.Ican’t stop scanning him for damage.
“I’mjustTased.”Hisvoice is still cracking, so he clears his throat.Itdoesn’t help much. “I’llbe sore for a day, butI’mfine.Youdidn’t get the data?Plantthe virus?”
“No,”Isay asIstep over one of the guards.
“Youdidn’t finish the mission?Youweren’t supposed to sacrifice the mission for me!”
Ishake my head. “Ipassed it off toMiles.Didyou really expect me to stay when they were hauling you off?”
“Yes!That’sexactly whatIexpected!”It’sthe smile he’s trying to hide through his electrocuted-moments-ago exhaustion that makes me realize that he’s saying to me almost exactly the same thingsIsaid to him whenIfound out he sacrificed the mission inAnkarato save me.
SoIgive my own little smile back asIshuffle sideways in the small space between the guards, shaking my head, and say whatIremember he said to me. “Nevergoing to happen.Iwill choose to save you every time.”
Helifts an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah?”
Inod and step over the second guard soIcan be right next to the cell’s bars.Overmy comms,IhearMilessay, “I’mactivating the localized signal jammer, soI’llbe dark until the download is complete, thenI’llcheck in.”
ThenJacesays, “I’malmost toMiles.I’llwatch his back.”
Iremember thatLedgerno longer has an earpiece, soItell him, “Milesis in the command center now, downloading the data.Jaceis watching his back.”
“So,”Ledgersays, “you’re saying you sacrificed getting the most credit for the mission for me?Yousacrificed the win?”
Igrab hold of the bars separating us. “IthinkIwould sacrifice pretty much anything for you.”
Hehad asked the question in almost a teasing, flirty way, butIcan see how much my response is affecting him.Ittells me that until this moment, he wasn’t really sure thatIwould.MaybeIwasn’t sureIwould myself.
No.Iknew.IfI’mbeing honest with myself,I’veknownI’dsacrifice anything for him for quite a while now.Thereis so muchIwant to say to him.SomuchI’vefigured out over the past couple of days thatIwant to share with him.Ijust don’t even know how to start.IwishIwas better at this kind of thing. “Yourmom came over to my apartmentlast night.”
“Yeah?”
“Youknew she did?”
Henods. “Butshe wouldn’t tell me what you two talked about.”
“Shetold me that if you say you love me,Ican trust that it’s true.”
“Andhere she said she wasn’t going to be my wing-man.”
