A confident, almostperturbed voice filled her ear. “Special Agent White.”
“Uh, Agent White,it’s Davis. We’ve got a problem.”
“We’ve got aproblem, or you’ve got a problem?”
“Both, sir.”
His exasperated sighsounded like the cold north wind. “Let’s hear it.”
“She’s missing,sir.”
“Quit with the sir,Davis. Who’s missing?”
“Uh, Anya, sir.”
The sound of White’sfeet hitting the floor and the creaking cry of his office chairthundered through the phone. “What? What do you mean Anya’smissing? Where is she?”
“I don’t know, sir.You see, there was a kidnapping outside Barney’s this morning,and—”
“Are you telling mesomeone kidnapped Anya?”
“No, no, sir. Itwasn’t Anya. It was a little boy. There was a standoff with police,and Anya snuck out behind the guard at Barney’s and saved the boy.”
White’s palm landedwith a smack against his forehead. “Why didn’t you stop her,Davis? You know we can’t let her face hit TV screens. That’s theworst possible outcome.”
Gwynn cleared herthroat. “Well, there’s one thing that could be worse.”
“Yeah? What’sthat?”
“She escaped from thescene. The NYPD chased her, but she was too fast for them.”
“Escaped? I’m notfollowing. Slow down, and tell me exactly what happened.”
Gwynn told the story,play-by-play.
Ray White’s headdidn’t explode, but the pressure was building. “You let her getaway, and you didn’t immediately report it to me?”
“Well, I was tryingto find her, sir, and . . .”
White roared, “Youwere trying to find her. You, fresh-out-of-the-Academy, JuniorAgent Guinevere Davis, were trying to find one of the most highlytrained Russian assassins on the planet, by yourself, in New YorkCity. Is that what you’re telling me?”
Determined to keep thetears at bay, Gwynn gritted her teeth. “I found her trail acrossthe top of some shops and down a scaffold, but I couldn’t make anymore progress.”
White leaned back inhis chair and tried to calm himself. “We’ll deal with yourtransgressions—multiple transgressions—later. For now, let’scover the background. Did she say or do anything to make you believeshe was going to run?”
Gwynn replayed theprevious night’s feigned attempt at a kiss by the front door andthe morning’s sparring match in the living room. “No, sir, shedidn’t. In fact, quite the opposite. She told me she would’vehelped us if we’d simply asked. She said we didn’t have to arresther and threaten her. She believes what we’re doing is the rightthing. I mean, that’s pretty much exactly what she said.”
White let out a long,pained breath. “She was setting you up, Davis. She was trying toget you to talk me into changing the terms. Let me guess. She said ifyou’d get her a deal that didn’t include the threat of prison,she’d volunteer to stay on as long as we needed her. Does thatsound familiar?”
Gwynn’s heart sankinto her stomach. “How could I have been such an idiot?”
White slammed a handonto his desk. “Would you look at that? CNN already has footage ofyour little train wreck. No, wait. It’s not a little train wreck.It’s a train wreck of nuclear waste in the streets of Manhattan.”
Gwynn protested. “Ididn’t mean to—”
“Shut up, Davis. Justshut up. I’m listening to the report.”
“A bizarre event onthe streets of New York City today. Thirty-four-year-old RazmikSahakyan, an Armenian immigrant, is accused of kidnapping his sonearly this morning from Hell’s Kitchen in west Manhattan. A briefstandoff with police on Seventh Avenue and Sixteenth Street in frontof Barney’s, a person who is now being called “Barney Badass,”ran from the world-famous department store, assaulted and disarmedthe kidnapper who was wielding a large knife, and saved the child,whose identity is being withheld at this time. After saving thechild, the good Samaritan ran from the scene and evaded police, butthe . . . excuse me for saying so . . . badass can be seen clearly inthis video CNN acquired from a bystander at the scene. If anyoneknows the identity or whereabouts of this do-gooder, NYPD asks thatyou notify them as soon as possible. It is likely a reward is inorder for this brave citizen. From Manhattan, I’m Jodie Bellacourt,reporting live for CNN.”
White said, “I don’tknow how much of that you heard, Davis, but it may not be as bad as Ifeared.”
Gwynn breathed a sighof enormous relief. “That’s good to hear.”
“Oh, your part inthis is still as bad as it gets, and you’re going to pay for it,but at least there are no pictures of Anya’s face flooding theairwaves.”
“I’m really sorry,Agent White. I had no way to know—”
“Stop apologizing,Davis. You’re not making things any better.”
“So, what do you wantme to do now?”
Ray White almostchuckled. “I want you to do exactly what you’ve been doing allday—absolutely nothing. I want you to sit your ass down in thatapartment, and don’t get up. If my hunch is correct, Anya needs atleast a few things she left inside the apartment, and she’ll beback to get them. So help me, God, Davis, if you let her leave thatapartment again, I will hang you out to dry, and I’ll use yourbadge as a coaster. Do you understand me?”
“Do you really thinkshe’s coming back to the apartment?”
“What’s wrong withyou? Weren’t you listening? Yes, I think she’s coming back, butnot while she thinks you’re there, so you’ll have to make surethe doorman knows you’re not home, even if it takes all the cashyou own. Got it?”
“Yes, sir. Pay offthe doorman, and hole up in the apartment. I’ve got it.”
The line went dead, andGwynn sat in disbelief as she stared down at the black screen of hercell phone. The trip to pad the doorman’s pocket took less thanfive minutes, and she was back inside the apartment locking thedeadbolt behind her. As she stood staring at the chain hanging fromthe lock, it occurred to her that the chain could only be in place ifsomeone were inside the apartment, and Anya would know the samething, so she left the chain hanging free and turned off every lightinside the apartment. The urge to stare out the window was almost toomuch to overcome, but she managed to stay clear of the glassoverlooking the street below.
Gwynn’s mindalternated between exploding and imploding as the minutes passed likehours inside the darkened space. Every sound from the hallway wasmagnified
