Sonya shook her head. “It’s too dangerous. I heard about the ultimatum that Chris gave the Road Runners, making them choose between you and Strike. Pure chaos. If I returned, I know there would be plenty of Road Runners wanting to hunt me down.”
“No one will know. Just myself and the security team.”
“And what if someone on the security team wants me dead? Or the Council? I know how this works, Martin. You’re the commander—lots of people already know where you are and why you’re here right now. That alone is already too many people. And how many people are in this building right now? Probably hiding near all the exits, right?”
Martin fell silent, letting his gaze fall to the table.
“You forget I spent a very long time with the Road Runners and had friends in high places. I know how it all works. The commander doesn’t just get to hop on the jet and fly across the country because he feels like it. And I’m sure it’s even more strict since Strike was killed. How many people are here, Martin? Don’t lie. Twenty? Thirty?”
Martin licked his lips, now wishing he was the one who could bolt out of the room. Out of this life. “Twenty-four of us have been living here for the past two weeks.”
Sonya grinned, shaking her head. “Unbelievable. You sick bastard. If you actually loved me, like you claim, then you’d know to leave me alone. You’d let me live my life. I’m going back with you today, aren’t I? I don’t have a say in the matter.”
“I’m not forcing you to do anything,” Martin said in the flattest voice he could muster. He felt like an amateur poker player who got caught trying to bluff a veteran. His hand was in the cookie jar and he had nowhere to turn.
“Right. It’s not you who will force me, but one of your people waiting outside. Let me guess, you planted others at this location all throughout time, didn’t you? That’s what a good, well-planned mission would look like.”
Martin pursed his lips, several beads of sweat forming on his head, unable to wipe them away in case Sonya decided his movement warranted a death penalty.
“You’re right,” he said. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“Well, you’re the commander, so you can stand up and leave, and order everyone else to go with you. Then never come back here.”
“I wish it was that simple. This mission was authorized by the Council—my team has strict orders to carry out this mission regardless of what happens to me.”
New tears welled in Sonya’s eyes, streaming quicker down her face. “You truly surprise me—always have. I never thought I’d see the day where you turned into the enemy, but here you are, sitting right at my fucking table.”
“Sonya—”
“Shut your mouth, Martin. You can’t sweet talk your way out of this now. You’ve dug your grave, and now you must live with it.”
Martin gulped, convinced the slug would knock his lights out in just a few moments. Ironically, the only person he had any desire to say goodbye to sat right across the table.
“I’m leaving this apartment when I say it’s time,” Sonya snarled. “Now tell me, what is the plan? We all get on the jet and sing ‘Kumbaya’ while we fly to Denver? I know everything is planned to the final detail. Humor me.”
Martin’s throat had tensed shut again, and he had to fight to simply get the words out. “They’re going to kill you.”
Sonya snorted. “Shocker. Are you just now realizing that you’re the pawn in this game they’re playing? Or have you thought you were calling the shots all along? Now I have to wonder if I was also the pawn, sent to recruit the man who would one day be used to capture me. The circle of life, I suppose. We just use each other until death, then move on to the next valuable person.”
Martin felt tears of his own forming, blinking rapidly to not let them appear. The tension in the apartment brought the stillness of impending death, the sensation crawling over his skin like spiders. He tried to piece together all the actions and decisions that led to this exact moment, but his mind was too scattered to make any true sense of it. The Council had essentially forced this mission, but not necessarily him as the one to do it. Did they know he would volunteer, knowing he couldn’t resist the opportunity to see Sonya in the flesh for what would be the final time? Did they care if he was killed on this mission? They had been so strict with the rules about guards never leaving Martin’s side, until this most dangerous portion of the mission.
The walls closed in around Martin, his heart rate and breathing increasing by the second. “Sonya, we can run together. I can buy us time to get out of here.”
She shook her head vigorously side to side. “I don’t think so—this is the finish line. I can’t even be mad at you. We were both pawns in this war, used with and against each other. The Road Runners are brilliant, I’ll give them that much. Don’t you see, this only ends one way—with me dead. You admitted you can’t even control the people they sent with you. They picked someone just smart enough to be called a commander, but dumb enough to not realize he was being played. Combine that with your emotions for me, and it was the perfect storm. Once I successfully recruited you, that was checkmate as far as the Road Runners were concerned—just a matter of figuring out the logistics to make it all work and appear like a natural occurrence. Bravo, Road Runners,
