UNRAVELED ~ STEVE ROGERS [3]

Chapter Five

Lagos, Nigeria, was hot, but that didn’t stop me from taking a sip from my warm hip flask.

“Enjoying your coffee, Keight?” Steve said, watching me from the window. I swallowed, the mixture sliding down my throat.

“Coffee? Didn’t I see you pour a can of Red Bull into that flask?” Tasha said over the comms, from the café below. Before I could reply, Sam cut in, equally confused.

“I’m pretty sure she put vodka in there,” he said confidently. I chuckled.

“Clearly, I put all three liquids into my flask and mixed them together into a very dangerous cocktail,” I said, my lips twitching into a smile. Steve stared at me in awe and disgust.

“You’re going to die,” he said, shaking his head and grinning. I held up one finger.

“Wrong. I’m going to ascend into the astral plane.” I took another swig and grimaced. Steve turned back to the window.

“Alright, what do you see?” he said into his comms.

“Standard beat cops. Small station. Quiet street. It’s a good target,” Wanda said from below. Whatever I thought of her, I couldn’t help but be proud of the way she was catching on to the whole spy thing.

“There’s an ATM in the south corner, which means…” Steve trailed off, and let Wanda finish his sentence.

“Cameras,” she said, and I mouthed the words along with her.

“Both cross streets are one way,” Steve noted. He turned to me and gestured for me to get over to the window and analyse with him. I waved him off, and he frowned.

“So compromised escape routes,” Wanda said. Steve nodded.

“Means our guy doesn’t care about being seen, or he isn’t afraid to make a mess on the way out.” He scanned the street below. I felt sweat slip down my spine. It was hot here, an African heat I hadn’t felt in a long time and forgotten the feeling off. I clicked my hip flask back onto my belt and stood.

“See that Range Rover halfway up the block?” Steve pointed, more for my benefit as I joined him by the window.

“Yeah, the red one? Its cute,” Wanda said sarcastically. I frowned. Sarcasm was my thing. Or at least, it was.  

My hands trembled, and I stuffed them in my pockets. Last night had been rough, rougher than any other night. But what really rattled me was Steve. He had never stayed before. Usually, he would wake me up, and send me off to sleep again, and then leave, careful to keep the door open. But this time had been different, and I didn’t know why.

“If I’m as smart as I think I am, I’d say that truck was bullet proof,” I said, peering out the window, my head close to Steve’s.

“Which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us,” Natasha was pessimistic at the best of times.

“You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?” Wanda said, and I could almost imagine the smirk on her face.

“Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature,” Tasha said firmly. She was teaching Wanda how to be a spy, which wasn’t hard because Wanda was a natural.

“Anybody ever tell you you’re a little paranoid?” Sam teased from the comms. He was probably on a rooftop somewhere, with his cute little robot bird thing.

“Not to my face. Why? Did you hear something?” The sass in Tasha’s voice almost sent me into a fit of laughter, but because of my crippling depression I only cracked a tiny smile. Steve’s brow furrowed beside me.