The Silenced (26 page)

“I KNOW,” NATE SAID. “TAKE CARE OF LIZ.”

Quinn hesitated. “Yes. But also yourself.”

Then the line went dead.

Nate stared at his cell. His boss didn’t sound quite like the Quinn he knew. But, of course, Quinn had never been in a situation like this before. Nate had no idea how he would handle it if it was happening to him.

“What’s wrong?”

Liz was standing in the doorway to the tiny bathroom. She wore a baggy T-shirt they’d purchased that afternoon and was drying her hair with one of the thin hotel towels.

Nate slipped his cell into this pocket. “Everything’s fine.”

“Were you on the phone?”

He hesitated.
No lies
. “Yes. I was talking to Quinn.”

“I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that name.”

“I could try to call him Jake if that helps.”

“That would be just as odd for you. Call him Quinn.” She let out a humorless laugh, then said “Quinn” again as if she was trying it out.

She shook her head, and rubbed the towel across her hair one last time before tossing it on the floor in the corner.

The room was barely big enough for the full-size bed that dominated it. There was no dresser, no desk, no table, no chairs. Just the bed. But the clerk downstairs had taken cash and had asked no questions, so the room was perfect.

“How was the water?”

“Started hot,” she said, then added, “but more lukewarm by the end.”

“No worries. I’m fine with lukewarm.”

The truth was he was glad she’d used up the hot water. The rain had stopped around four, so by the time they found the hotel their clothes were no longer soaking wet, only damp. But Liz had continued to shiver.

That would be ironic
, Nate thought.
Save her from whoever it was who was trying to kill her, only for her to die of pneumonia
.

They did an awkward dance around the end of the bed. His hand accidently brushed against her stomach, but she showed no signs of noticing. Nate entered the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He put the lid down on the toilet, then sat down so he could remove his prosthetic leg. As he did, he could feel his stump sigh in relief.

Even on the most strenuous jobs with Quinn, he’d seldom had to push his leg as much as he had escaping with Liz. So it wasn’t surprising that his thigh muscles ached.

There was a knock at the bathroom door.

“I’m sorry,” Liz said from the other side. “I meant to grab my jeans so I could dry them on the heater.”

“Hold on,” Nate said.

He spotted them on the floor, picked them up, then opened the door just enough to slip them through.

“Thanks,” she said, then added, “My purse is in there, too.”

The smile she gave him made him forget for a moment about the pain in his leg.

“Sure,” he said.

He found her purse and gave it to her.

“Anything else?”

“No,” she said, again with the smile. “Enjoy your shower. Maybe it’s hot by now.”

As he closed the door he couldn’t help thinking that maybe he needed a cold shower more than a hot one. What he got was the lukewarm one he’d said earlier would be okay, but turned out to be as unsatisfying as it sounded. He spent the whole time alternating between praying to the water gods for hot and trying not to think about Liz. He was unsuccessful on both fronts.

Oh, no
, he thought as the realization struck him. He’d been so focused on getting Liz to safety, he hadn’t thought about their sleeping arrangements. They were going to have to share a bed.

What if he reached out and put an arm around her in his sleep? How would she react to that? Perhaps he should suggest that he sleep on the top of the covers while she slept beneath. That would put a nice, physical barrier between them, and lessen the chance that Quinn would kill him and drop his body in the middle of the ocean later.

When he finished showering, he dried off and pulled on a T-shirt and clean pair of boxer briefs from his backpack.

He was still thinking about the potential pitfalls of who slept where as he opened the door and hopped into the bedroom. “Do you have a side of the bed you prefer?”

Liz was sitting at the end of the mattress, holding a small brush in midair, but she was staring at Nate, a look of confusion on her face.

“What happened?” she stuttered.

“I’m sorry?”

“Your … your leg.”

His brow furrowed momentarily, then he realized he’d never said anything about his missing leg.
Like that would have been an easy topic to bring up
. “I was … in an …”
No lies
. “I got hit by a car.”

“Oh, my God. When?”

“A little over a year ago.”

“But you were running today.”

“Prosthetics have come a long way,” Nate said, echoing one of his doctors.

She moved around the bed to get a better look.

“Does it hurt?”

“Just sore. Like anyone would be after the day we had.” Perhaps not like anyone, but it was more the truth stretched than a lie.

“Do you want to sit down?” She moved out of his way so he could get to the bed.

“I’m not an invalid,” he said.

“I didn’t mean to—I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s okay.” He pivoted around, then sat on the bed and smiled at her. “Thanks.”

She sat next to him.

“Were you in the car when it happened?”

“I’d rather not talk about it,” he said. “You didn’t answer my question. Which side of the bed do you want?”

She was silent for several seconds. “This happened because you were working for my brother, didn’t it?”

“Liz, please. I don’t want to get into—”

“What is he?” she asked. “An assassin? Is that what it is? He kills people for a living?”

“No,” he said, knowing he was walking a fine line. “That’s not his job.”

“Then, what is it? What could he do that would make those men come after me? That would cause you to lose your leg?”

“I really think this is something you should hear from him.”

“He’s. Not. Here,” she said. “And I need to know. I want to understand.”

He thought for a moment, then took each of her hands in his. She didn’t fight it. “I’m not going to tell you everything,” Nate said. “I don’t think that’s my place.”

She started to pull away, but he held on.

“I will, however, try to tell you what I can. Okay?”

She bit her lower lip, then nodded. “Okay.”

“Your brother doesn’t work for a bank.”

Liz snorted. Then they both laughed.

“He’s also not an assassin. He’s hired by certain agencies and governments to provide a very specific service.”

“He’s a spy?”

Nate tilted his head to the side as he raised his shoulders a few inches. “Not exactly. But I think it would be fair to say that’s the world that he plays in.”

“So he doesn’t kill people,” she said.

“That’s not what he’s hired to do.”

“Then, what
does
he do?”

Nate hesitated. “That’s where I’m going to have to stop.”

She looked away. “And you? What do you do?”

“I’m his apprentice.”

“His apprentice?”

“He’s been training me to be—” He paused. “To do what he does.”

The corner of her mouth rose. “I almost got it out of you, didn’t I?”

“Almost.”

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful or anything, but he left his apprentice to take care of me? If he was really concerned, wouldn’t he have stayed himself?”

“Three things,” Nate said. “One, thanks for the confidence.” He smiled so she’d know he was giving her a hard time. “Two, I’ve been his apprentice for several years now. I know what I’m doing. And three, I’ve never seen him act the way he has since he found out you might be in danger. He’s usually one of the most calm, patient people I know. At the moment, he’s scared and pissed. And the only reason he’s not here now is because he’s trying to find the source to stop this.” He paused. “Liz, I don’t know exactly what happened between the two of you, but I can tell you one thing. I don’t think he cares for anyone more than he cares for you.”

He’d expected her to laugh that idea off, but she remained silent, her gaze fixed on a point on the floor in front of the bathroom.

“Look, we should get some sleep while we can,” he said. “I’m probably going to have to run out for a little while at some point between now and the morning.”

She looked scared again. “Why?”

“I need to pick up something that will help us get someplace safe. It won’t be for long.”

“Out of Paris?”

Nate nodded. “We need to leave town as soon as we can. So we’ll get up pretty early.”

“What are you getting?”

Keeping the promise to himself, he said, “A false ID for you. So we can travel anonymously.”

“Are you kidding?”

“Not kidding at all.”

She was silent for a moment. “Then where are we going?”

“Someplace safe.”

“That’s the best you can do?”

“For now.”

She thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Good,” Nate said, pushing himself off the bed. “Now pick a side. I’ll be right out.”

“Where are you going?”

He hopped to the bathroom door. “Forgot to brush my teeth.”

Once inside, he shut the door and turned on the water. He then picked his pants up off the floor and got his phone out of the front pocket. He shot off a quick text to Julien.

Status?

While he was waiting, he decided to go ahead and brush his teeth again, anyway.
No lies
.

His phone vibrated. Julien had responded.

Active search still on. R u safe?

Nate typed:

Safe. But need car. Can u help?

Twenty seconds later, from Julien:

Think so. When?

Nate thought for a moment, then texted:

5:30 a.m.

It was almost a minute before Julien responded.

Ok. Will text meeting place once arranged.

Nate sent a confirmation, then put the phone back in his pants pocket. When he opened the door, the bedroom was dark. He flipped off the bathroom light, but he’d seen enough to know Liz had taken the far side of the bed. She had also folded back the covers on his side so he could get in.

“I was thinking,” he said. “I mean if it makes you feel more comfortable, I could sleep on top of the blankets.”

“You’d get too cold,” she said.

“It’s fine. I can put on some of my clothes.”

“No,” she said. “Please just get in.”

He stood by the bed, paralyzed.

“Nate, please,” she said. It was the first time she’d called him by that name. “It’s okay.”

He lay down on his back and pulled the covers over him. He and Liz weren’t touching, but he could feel her warmth only inches away. He could also sense that her eyes were open. He was about to tell her to go to sleep, but she spoke first.

“Tell me that I have nothing to be worried about, and it will all be okay.”

“It
will
all be okay,” he said. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Silence.

“Why are they coming after me?”

“They think they can control Quinn if they have you.”

“But they can’t?”

“No.”

“He’d just let them have me?”

“That’s not what I meant,” Nate said. “They wouldn’t be able to control him, because if they did somehow take you he would come after them and get you back. And if that happened, they wouldn’t know what hit them.”

“He could do that?”