chapter 3
Noah
The car rounded a corner as I turned in my seat to face Jeanie.
“How did ‘Cerberus’ manage to get here before us?” I asked, curious. She shrugged and winked at me.
“Friends in high places,” she called over the roar of the wind around us, “our current employer had a private cargo plane for his own shenanigans, so I made one of the conditions of our contract that Cerberus would go wherever we go.”
I looked at her a little perplexed,
“But won’t the car attract attention?” I questioned, looking around at the beat up Ladas and old VWs that cruised the roads around us. She looked over at me and smiled, her hair whipping in the wind.
“So?” she asked coyly, “We’re not exactly planning on staying around for long.”
Slamming the butt of her hand onto the dashboard of the car she gritted her teeth in frustration. Roughly pulling at the wheel Jeanie hauled the car into a sharp turn.
“Does no one speak English around here?” she snarled, glaring daggers through the windscreen. I raised a finger, my mouth opening to answer her. But I lowered it, thinking again. Instead I pointed out a parking spot just ahead; she pulled into it, giving me a curious look. I gestured over a middle aged man who had been casually enjoying a cigarette, loitering in the entrance of an alley.
“Mё falni zotёri, por mund tё ju direkt mua hoteli mё I afёrt?” I asked him, as he sauntered over to lean on the side of the car.
“Vetёm tё marrё e majta e ardhahёm, hoteli I quajtur tij Gotrmund.” He said and gestured down the street. I nodded my thanks as he stepped back, giving our car a curious look.
“Take the next left.” I told Jeanie as she pulled back into the passing traffic. She nodded giving me a funny look.
“I didn’t know you spoke Albanian.” She said a little shocked.
“There’s a lot that you don’t know about me.” I countered slyly, winking ever so slightly.
I turned away from her; a sad look on my face, what I had said was true. She didn’t know much about me and I wasn’t about to start telling her. We had only been working together for a while and there are things that I just can’t tell her about me, about my past, my future and all the things in between.
I spotted Hotel Gotrmund, its fading and cracked visage adding to the run-down look of the neighborhood we were in. Pointing it out we pulled into the roundabout leading into the reception, car bouncing about on the uneven tarmac. Jeanie brought the car to a juddering stop. Jumping out, she loped into the hotel reception. I watched her with amusement as she gestured wildly, trying in vain to communicate with the receptionist. I sighed, a smile on my face and I opened the door of the car stepping out onto the road, making sure to close it behind me. Pushing open the door to the reception I put Jeanie out of her misery, quickly getting us a room.
Heaving the last bag into the room I dumped it on the ground before sprawling out across the bed. Jeanie wandered over to the door and looked out, checking for exits and structural integrity of the door. I watched her, fascinated by the way she moved, unconscious of how beautiful she was. She froze suddenly, and looked out the door again. She frowned and I saw a hand reach for the knife at her side. I stood and moved over next to her and peered over her shoulder.
“What is it?” I asked, whispering into her ear. She jumped and pushed me, a cute grin on her face.
“Nothing, just thought I saw something” she said, glancing towards the door again, a strange look on her face. I snickered a little and gently pulled her into my arms, falling backwards so that we both crashed onto the bed. I needed to distract her.
Across on the next building a sniper raised his rifle and peered down the sight. A vicious snarl ripped out from between his teeth. Noah still knew his stuff, it seemed, he couldn’t get a clear shot of the girl, the bed was strategically placed away from the windows and the walls were too thick to shoot through. He grimaced and pulled up the rifle, placing it next to him. He grabbed a pair of binoculars and raised them to his eyes. The orders were to injure her enough that they were frightened out of their rabbit hole, but he wanted to do more, so much more. His dirty green eyes scrunched up as the scar radiating from the corner of his mouth stretched. He raised a hand and ran it through the patchy stubble covering his face. Glaring through the binoculars he started a long night of watching, waiting for the sun to rise.
Leaning down I pulled on my socks, looking up as Jeanie wandered through the bathroom doorway into the room wrapped up in a towel. Running a hand through her damp hair she meandered across towards the chest of drawers. Suddenly the window shattered inwards, shards of glass flying like knives across the room. I tucked my head between my knees, covering it with my arms. The last tinkle of glass falling out of the frame sounded in the deafening silence. I slowly raised my head, looking out from between my fingers as I surveyed the room, taking in the damage. I saw Jeanie, slumped against the opposite wall from the windows, a thin stain of blood creeping across the carpet around her. I stood slowly and walked over to the window, being careful to stay concealed. Pressing my back against the wall next to the window I craned my neck and peered over to the building opposite, the sniper was still there, rifle trained on what remained of the window, on Jeanie. Spinning, I stood in front of the window, in plain sight. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the revolver that Jeanie had given me. Raising it I closed one eye, I squeezed the trigger, recoil kicking my arms back and I quickly spun back to press back against the wall again. Tucking the gun into the back of my pants I squared my shoulders and stepped out in front of the window again. I watched as he, the sniper, rolled around, writhing in pain, clutching a hand to his chest as blood bubbled out from between his fingers. Still got it, I thought with a sad grin. Turning, I crunched through the glass splinters over to where Jeanie was still slumped against the wall. She stared at me vacantly, here in body but not in mind. Her pain clouded eyes watched me as I moved towards her. Kneeling down I pulled the towel from her slack fingers. Pressing it against the wound on her thigh I wiped away the excess blood. Pulling it away I inspected the injury, it was only a scrape, a flesh would, the bullet hadn’t even entered into her flesh properly. Old Scarface always was too impatient.
I woke shrouded in darkness, my entire body aching, spears of pain shooting through my arms and legs. Bringing up a hand I ran it over my face, wincing as the lacerations covering my hand and face rubbed against one another. The sound of a zip being viciously ripped open filled the suffocating silence of the room. I lurched to my feet, stumbling under the fog of my sleep clouded mind. Noah looked up, startled
“What are you doing up? Lie back down; your leg must be killing you.” He said with concern, half rising off his knees. I stood, one hand bracing me on the edge of the bed, my knees shaking painfully. I shook my head, my lips squeezing together, my jaw tightening as I tried to contain the pain coursing through my body. He slowly stood and stepped towards me uncertainly, hand outstretched. I swayed, my head pounding to the frantic beat of my heart. He tilted towards me, catching me just as my knees gave way, catching me just before I hit the ground. Swooning against him my head lolled back in his arms as I fought to stay conscious. I heard him sigh tiredly as the blackness encroached into my vision, as it pulled me deeper and deeper into the murky, painless depths of oblivion.
Stirring, I used all my senses to pinpoint where I was. I felt the thin layer of blankets covering my body, the musky smell of sweat and blood mixing in the stale air. The thin sounds of feet scuffing through carpet merged with the noises of beating hearts and heaving lungs. I swallowed dryly trying to get the taste of blood out of my mouth. My eyes flickered open yet I saw nothing but darkness. Shapes slowly emerging as my eyes adjusted to the gloom. A body slumped in a chair, its flaccid arms cradling a rifle. A door, curtains covering a window, a boarded up gap where the other window used to be, a dresser, a bedside table, all these things slowly but surely taking shape amongst the dark. I heaved myself up onto one elbow, letting out a gasp of air as old wounds tingled. The body in the chair slowly stirred, muscles clenching and shifting as Noah gradually rose out of the chair and slowly moved across the room towards me.
“And this time stay down.” He said with a weary sigh. He fell across the bed next to me his eyes sunken and dark. His mouth was drawn tight, lines made up of days of worrying surrounding it. I saw him, I saw his own pain and suffering written all over his face and body.
“You know what? We’ve got a couple of days before the job. Let’s go down to the beach.” I said with a kind of forced enthusiasm. He looked at me a little strangely as I painted pictures in the air with my hands.
“We’ll drive down to Durrёs and spend the night before travelling to Elbasan to finish the job.” I muttered the last part, staring blankly at the ceiling, my mind miles away. He rolled onto his side a hand supporting his head as he stared at me, confused.
“Alright then,” he said, shrugging his shoulders, “I guess I’ll go and pack the stuff then.”
I raised my arms into the air, letting my hair flow behind me as it whipped through the wind. I allowed my mouth to fall open in a silent whoop of pure joy, the wind stealing my breath away. He looked over at me and smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. A strange expression flickered across his features and he twisted to face the road again, jaw clenching and unclenching.
I checked the rear view mirror again; the white SUV was still there, following us as it had since when we had left the hotel. I clenched the erupting growl between my teeth. It’s too soon, too fast. I needed time, much, much more time.
She pranced in front of me, squealing as the wet sand squished between her toes. Dancing about on the balls of her feet she looked over at me with delight, loose shirt swinging, and the bottom of her jeans growing damp. Leaning down she rolled them up, giggling a little. She loved the beach, yet with our work we never got the chance to go often enough. A sad little grin crept onto my face as I felt the presences behind me close in. Jeanie skipped forward into the surf, blessedly out of earshot.
“Here already? That was fast.” I said sarcastically, letting my words hang in the air. She approached, standing behind me as she crossed her arms with a short burst of condescending laughter.
“You always were our best agent, Noah.” She said, her voice slithering into my ear, promising secret knowledge and unknown desires. I felt another shape move to stand on my left, and a shadow was cast over us.
“Ah Smith, still accompanying Eden I see.” I said, a patronizing tone entering my voice as I glanced over my shoulder, to see him snarl down at me, “You know I could take the both of you with my hands tied behind my back, right?” I smirked up at them. Eden snorted and Smith just looked at me incredulously, we all knew that they had at least ten other men strategically placed around. I turned and crossed my arms to match theirs.
“So what is the director of Wolvesbane and her ‘lackey’ doing here?” I asked sarcastically.
“We’re here for the girl, you know that.” Smith put in, looking at me with a menacing gleam in his eyes. I sighed, that was something I did know.