The Gambit (36 page)

“This is unbelievable,” I mumbled. No matter which room you were in everything was floor-to-ceiling glass.

“You guys! Get your asses out here!” Vinny’s scream echoed throughout the penthouse. We hurried through the many rooms, and Rachel pulled open the door first. I followed through.

The terrace was so gargantuan it was dizzying. I could have almost passed out. The view was breathtaking. In the distance was the Miami skyline. The sun was setting, and the MacArthur Causeway glowed in deep purple lights.

“Look!” Rachel shouted.

I turned to my left to see an infinity pool. It must have been over fifteen feet long. I walked around the terrace to get a feel for things and saw couches that lined the half-wall balcony. There were also sunbathing chairs in the middle between the couches and infinity pool. The Atlantic Ocean was on our left, and Downtown Miami was on our right.

“Briana, how much was this a night?”

“Thirty-two
thousand
dollars,” she said. “It’s the most expensive room in all of Miami. Four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and a private rooftop terrace. Ten-thousand square feet.”

“It’s fucking unreal,” Luke said with a laugh as he sat on the couch in the corner.

She nodded, and her curls bounced around.

“Not bad for a sending off, right Owen?” she asked.

“Not bad, I’d say.”

“It’s time to start the party!” Vinny shouted. “I’m going to the liquor store!”

“Cheers to a safe flight tomorrow for Owen,” Luke announced, raising his shot glass to meet our own.

“Cheers!” the glasses clung together as they hit.

The vodka burned my throat as it slid down, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as my college days drinking cheap liquor. Vinny had bought Grey Goose and other top-shelf brands. We were partying like celebrities do, celebrating in style.

All for
me
…

Maybe a fourth shot would help numb the pain I felt. As the liquor burned my stomach, I figured I should slow down. The thought that I would be leaving my home country indefinitely tomorrow made me sick to my stomach. What were we even
celebrating?
The fact I would no longer have to run from anyone? No longer hide?

I wiped the back of my hand across my lips to dry them from the little bit of liquor that still wet the corner of my mouth. Vinny and Luke had taken out their iPods to use on the Bose surround-sound system that was installed throughout the penthouse. They were playing some rap music, and I didn’t mind. Briana had gone with them on their liquor run and she bought bathing suits for Rachel and her. After our toast, she ran to the bathroom to change. She had been dying to try out the infinity pool.

I heard movement in the water and then a splash.

“Wow! It’s heated, too!” Briana chirped. She swam to the far edge and propped her arms up on the ledge, looking out over the Atlantic Ocean.

We were all having fun, but I wasn’t. Tomorrow was approaching and I couldn’t have been more anxious about leaving. I poured myself another shot and downed it.

Hours passed. I was buzzed to the point where my situation seemed a little less dismal. I was lying on my back on one of the lounge chairs, staring into the night. Large and fluffy cumulus clouds hung low in the sky. It almost looked like I could reach up and touch them. There was only a handful of stars that I could see. Everything else was eclipsed by the city lights.

The weather had cooled down, but it was still in the low seventies. I was in a pair of board shorts, and I had been meaning to swim…but the alcohol kept me seated. Briana was inside with Vinny and Luke cooking something. They walked to a local market and bought a ton of food. I was sure I would be hungry soon too when the drunk munchies kicked in. Rachel was leaning against the railing of the far side of the terrace, just gazing out at the ocean. Her hair flowed at the edges from the steady ocean breeze. She had removed her disguise long ago and now wore a peach-colored sundress. Grey was to my right, in the opposite corner of the terrace, typing away on his laptop. I saw his ticket lying on the oversized beige ottoman that was in front of the L-shaped couch he was sitting on. He had drunk a little, but it was a sip compared to what we have drunk. He was so focused and had been for quite some time. The moment we all settled in, he began working.

I took another swig of whatever I was drinking. I had lost track. With every breath I took of the moist, warm air—reality continued crushing in around me. My rent was due next week, my bike was probably confiscated by the FBI, Alexis and the others were probably wondering if I was all right back at the office. I wondered if my dad was okay. Was he still being detained? Would I get to talk to him before I left? Probably not. His home and cell phones were almost certainly tapped. My old life felt like a memory, a dream I could revisit…but only when I closed my eyes. It was pointless for me to think of the mundane tasks that used to be a part of my routine. It was all
gone
. The Convergence Party was on a downhill slide, and I was the reason why. My dream of celebrating on election night was but a fantasy. With Cole gone, it wouldn’t be the same. Nothing would
ever
be the same…

I swallowed and closed my eyes. I tried to hold back the urge to cry, and it worked. When I opened them, I saw Grey typing away. His focus and dedication to our plan was visible in his incessant efforts, and it gave me an idea. It was something I knew for certain he would be able to carry out when the time came.

Owen was leaving tomorrow. I tried to hold myself steady against the railing, but my world was still spinning. Part of me just wanted to yak over the edge and laugh as it fell forty stories down. I wasn’t sick from the alcohol…it was just all of this. I’ve had a knot in my gut since the day I met him. That was the day I realized that the only way I would be able to keep him safe was to get him out of the country before it was too late…before
they
got him.

My eyes began watering, and I inhaled deeply to stop from crying. My breath shuddered as it came out. I let out a cough, and I glanced over my shoulder to see if Grey or Owen had noticed—I hoped they hadn’t. I wouldn’t want Owen seeing me all choked up. He would be concerned. Was it selfish to want him to stay? Was it hypocritical that my heart ached from the realization that
my
plan was going to take place tomorrow? The only person I had to blame was myself. I created it. I was the one who took the leap of faith and approached him that day at the coffee shop. It was me. Who knows where he would have wound up if we wouldn’t have met? Maybe he wouldn’t have even made it out of Raleigh. I didn’t know. It was grueling just imagining that tomorrow I would walk out of the airport alone. Sure, I would have my cousins, Briana, and Grey…but not
him
. Beneath his sarcastic shell was a guy that I wanted to get to know better. We had only known each other for days. Just shy of a week. Half of that time was spent planning, every word spoke and action took revolved around
my
idea.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him, nor the courage to admit it. I couldn’t put that burden on him. It would have been foolish to give into my desires. I was the definition of a hopeless romantic, and I knew that the words I wished to say so desperately would only hurt him. I didn’t want to leave him with that. I could have just imagined him on an eleven-hour flight with those words swimming around his head. I fantasized about what his reaction would be like when I said it. What would I wear? How would it sound when the words left my lips?

Lately, I had caught myself rehearsing the moment. When I was alone, away from all of them, I would practice in front of the bathroom mirror saying those three words.

I…love…you. I love you. I
love
you.

Even in the wide array of tones I had said it in, it didn’t make any difference. I was in a mental tug-of-war between my desire to say it before he left and my guilt of not wanting him to know…in light of the fact he may never see me again. My gut wrenched from the thought. My breath was shuddering with every inhale, and I tried to steady it.

Why was I getting so worked up over nothing? In reality, it didn’t even matter. Regardless of if I uttered those three words or not, he would still be gone. I didn’t even know if he would say it back, or if he even felt the same way. Maybe I was just another one of his flings. He could have just used me to get off that night on the train. My mother always told me I was too naïve for this dog-eat-dog world.

No—that wasn’t it. That didn’t sound right. I knew it was completely idiotic for me to expect anything from a man I met just days ago, but when I gazed into the depths of his turquoise-blue eyes, I
felt
something. Inside, I knew he felt it too. He asked me to be his
‘Bonnie’
. He wanted me to be his partner in crime, and I had, willingly. I seized the moment from the very get-go.

I just prayed that everything worked out. I wished every night that perhaps one day we might be able to see each other again when all of this was over. Given my profession, I knew the chances were slim to none. It reminded me of the movie
Jaws
. Owen was the Great White and the town sheriff was after him. Except it wasn’t just the town sheriff…it was the behemoth of an entity we referred to as the federal government.

I turned around to look at them. Owen was sitting in front of Grey, talking animatedly. He moved his hands around as if he was cooking an invisible meal, and the look on his face was intense. Although every hair on his face and head was so blond that he was unrecognizable to a stranger, I saw the same Owen. His strong jawline and wide smile—his features were so handsome, but that wasn’t the only reason I stared. I couldn’t turn away because I was getting a glimpse of something I had only seen a few times since I had met him. There was
passion
in his eyes, a restlessness about his body language. I tried to take a mental image of that moment. I felt as if I were looking at a ghost. Here today. Gone tomorrow.