Nowhere to Run - Chapter 5
“I’m not starting a new life. My old one is just fine, thank you.” Evie used a napkin to mop up the spilled soda.
“Why were you living in that boarding house? It doesn’t seem like you’d be giving up that much.” Michael asked, trying to change the subject before she got too upset. He watched her scrub at the rug with a vengeance. As if getting the stain out would change things. “Evie, stop. Don’t worry about the rug.”
He took the napkins from her hand and Evie stared at him as if he was crazy.
“I like my life. I like my room and I like my job.” Evie said, “And it’s none of your business where I live. I don’t even know you. You’re just some crazy man that gets shot at by-by who knows who!”
“I know it’s hard to believe, Evie. But there is no way either of us can go back. Ever.”
Evie stood up. “Maybe you’re just some psycho and they were coming to take you back to the loony bin. I don’t care.”
She should have run. When he left her here, she should have taken that chance to escape. In one breath he tells her she can’t go back to her life, a life she worked so hard to build, and in the next he asks why she was living there. Like that the life she worked so hard to build was nothing worth losing.
Michael ignored her rant, “Don’t you have any family nearby?”
“None of your business.”
“Evie, I know this isn’t easy to accept, but—“
“I’m accepting nothing you have to say. You still haven’t explained yourself.”
“Evie.” Michael took a deep breath. “I’m trying to understand what you have to lose. Who your next of kin is, so I’ll know where the Team could be searching next. Once they tracked down who you are, they’ll go to your family to find you.”
They had left the boarding house so quickly, he knew she had no money or identification with her, but it would just be a matter of time before the Team knew everything about her.
“Look, I know what its like to lose everything. Right now it seems incomprehensible, but it will all work out.”
The look of fear in her eyes stabbed him. Michael would give anything not to have to tell her the ugly facts.
“You can’t tell me what to do.”
“Where are you from originally?” Michael asked. “Just a little down on your luck? Why are you living in a boarding house? Where’s your family?”
It took Evie a moment to regain her senses. Just what the heck was this guy talking about? Asking about her family? Did he think she’d take him to her family? If she had any around here, which she did not, she wouldn’t take him there anyway. She had been on her own since she left crazy Scott six months ago.
“The boarding house might not be a palace, but it was cozy and all I can afford.” She started to pace. “Besides, I like it there.”
Evie thought she was doing all right. After all she kept a roof over her head, had a few hundred in the bank for a rainy day and soon she would be going to school. She had a job she liked and had made a few friends along the way. But why should she explain anything to him? Especially, about her ex-boy friend, the part of her life that she wanted to forget. He was the one with some explaining to do.
“Who...is...trying ...to ...kill...us?” She said each word slowly and succinctly. Doing her best to remain calm. The only evidence of her frustration was her fists, clenched at her sides.
“I told you. The government.” Michael explained calmly. “That's why we can’t trust anyone. Not the police, the FBI or anyone.”
“Who!” Evie shouted, she had enough of his evasive answers and innuendoes about the government. “And don’t tell me it’s the government. I need more than that. It’s not enough. What part of the government exactly? And don’t give me any half-assed, smooshie answers either. Give me complete answers. I won’t settle for less.”
She punctuated the last sentence by facing him with hands on hips.
Michael was surprised. This was not the timid creature he had been dragging about town. The one who begged him to stop and had all but collapsed when he bought her here. There was a fierce determination in her now that he had not seen before. He remembered how she dived for the gun back when he tossed it on the bed. Had he underestimated this woman? Amusement settled over him as he realized he kind of liked this side of her. This feistiness was intriguing. And it was something she would need in the coming weeks.
He pointed to the windows. “You want to sit down?”
Evie sank to the floor.
“I’m sorry to do this to you. If there was any other way to get you out of this mess, I’d do it in a minute.” Michael sighed. “And I have to hope you’re strong enough to face building a new life.”
Daggers flew from her eyes as she glared at him. “Stop saying that.”
“Okay, I owe you the truth. Maybe then you’ll understand.”
Evie crossed her arms over her chest and waited.
“They were originally a branch of the defense department. Their purpose was to seek out terrorism within the US and stop it before---well, you know. It was a grand concept. Highly trained professionals, the best in their fields were brought together for the good of the country. It was a totally noble gesture on the part of the defense department. One more war launched against terrorism.
Except that no one knew about it. It was a covert operation. Special teams would go out, locate the problem and eliminate it. Simple, no fuss, no muss and especially no press.”
Michael paused to take a sip of his Pepsi and let her digest what he had told her. He watched her reaction carefully.
“So, you were a like an in-house spy?” Evie asked apprehensively. Trickles of fear danced their way down her spine and caused the lo-mien she had just consumed to go sour in her stomach.
“God, no!” Michael laughed mirthlessly, “I was a Navy Seal when they approached me. Weapon’s expert, bombs a specialty.”
“So, you worked for them?" Evie said, slightly relieved and trying to understand. "Like a cop or something?”
“Well, we kind of worked outside the normal versions of law enforcement. We had an open ticket. No one could get in our way. And in the beginning, we did a good job. Stopped a few that could have been real nasty.”
He paused for a moment as he thought back to the days with the Team. It had been a noble cause. One he had been very proud to be part of. Then his lips tightened into a thin line as he remembered how it had changed.
“Why haven’t I heard anything about this group? On the TV news or in the papers?"
“We were totally covert, secret. If one of our jobs made the news it was blamed on the F.B.I. Our existence was on a need to know basis. Like Special forces, the best of the best.”
“The best of the best.” Evie echoed, letting it all sink in, feeling a little better. He was some kind of military police type person. Like an MP or something. Navy Seals were supposed to be an elite group. Highly trained. Which explained why he could come down off that roof unfazed and run all day without stopping. She looked over at him, but she could see he was now lost in thought as he continued to talk. Recalling a past that seemed to have more ghosts than she cared to guess. He stared into space now, and continued his story, taking her back in time with him.
“For the most part we did a good thing. It was a dirty job with a lot of gray areas, but not without its rewards.
That’s why I accepted the offer when they came to me about the group being formed. What red-blooded American boy could refuse? To put an end to terrorism? Protect the good old U.S.A."
“And you did?”
“Yeah, we would investigate, target and take down. Some of it was real ugly, like I said, but if we hadn’t been there to stop it—“ He glanced at her then and something in her eyes made him want to stop. She had innocence about her and he wasn't sure he wanted to tell her all the sordid details. So, he finished it simply, "It just got different after awhile and I wanted out.”
“So you quit?”
“Ha! No one quits The Team.”
“Why were you living in that boarding house? It doesn’t seem like you’d be giving up that much.” Michael asked, trying to change the subject before she got too upset. He watched her scrub at the rug with a vengeance. As if getting the stain out would change things. “Evie, stop. Don’t worry about the rug.”
He took the napkins from her hand and Evie stared at him as if he was crazy.
“I like my life. I like my room and I like my job.” Evie said, “And it’s none of your business where I live. I don’t even know you. You’re just some crazy man that gets shot at by-by who knows who!”
“I know it’s hard to believe, Evie. But there is no way either of us can go back. Ever.”
Evie stood up. “Maybe you’re just some psycho and they were coming to take you back to the loony bin. I don’t care.”
She should have run. When he left her here, she should have taken that chance to escape. In one breath he tells her she can’t go back to her life, a life she worked so hard to build, and in the next he asks why she was living there. Like that the life she worked so hard to build was nothing worth losing.
Michael ignored her rant, “Don’t you have any family nearby?”
“None of your business.”
“Evie, I know this isn’t easy to accept, but—“
“I’m accepting nothing you have to say. You still haven’t explained yourself.”
“Evie.” Michael took a deep breath. “I’m trying to understand what you have to lose. Who your next of kin is, so I’ll know where the Team could be searching next. Once they tracked down who you are, they’ll go to your family to find you.”
They had left the boarding house so quickly, he knew she had no money or identification with her, but it would just be a matter of time before the Team knew everything about her.
“Look, I know what its like to lose everything. Right now it seems incomprehensible, but it will all work out.”
The look of fear in her eyes stabbed him. Michael would give anything not to have to tell her the ugly facts.
“You can’t tell me what to do.”
“Where are you from originally?” Michael asked. “Just a little down on your luck? Why are you living in a boarding house? Where’s your family?”
It took Evie a moment to regain her senses. Just what the heck was this guy talking about? Asking about her family? Did he think she’d take him to her family? If she had any around here, which she did not, she wouldn’t take him there anyway. She had been on her own since she left crazy Scott six months ago.
“The boarding house might not be a palace, but it was cozy and all I can afford.” She started to pace. “Besides, I like it there.”
Evie thought she was doing all right. After all she kept a roof over her head, had a few hundred in the bank for a rainy day and soon she would be going to school. She had a job she liked and had made a few friends along the way. But why should she explain anything to him? Especially, about her ex-boy friend, the part of her life that she wanted to forget. He was the one with some explaining to do.
“Who...is...trying ...to ...kill...us?” She said each word slowly and succinctly. Doing her best to remain calm. The only evidence of her frustration was her fists, clenched at her sides.
“I told you. The government.” Michael explained calmly. “That's why we can’t trust anyone. Not the police, the FBI or anyone.”
“Who!” Evie shouted, she had enough of his evasive answers and innuendoes about the government. “And don’t tell me it’s the government. I need more than that. It’s not enough. What part of the government exactly? And don’t give me any half-assed, smooshie answers either. Give me complete answers. I won’t settle for less.”
She punctuated the last sentence by facing him with hands on hips.
Michael was surprised. This was not the timid creature he had been dragging about town. The one who begged him to stop and had all but collapsed when he bought her here. There was a fierce determination in her now that he had not seen before. He remembered how she dived for the gun back when he tossed it on the bed. Had he underestimated this woman? Amusement settled over him as he realized he kind of liked this side of her. This feistiness was intriguing. And it was something she would need in the coming weeks.
He pointed to the windows. “You want to sit down?”
Evie sank to the floor.
“I’m sorry to do this to you. If there was any other way to get you out of this mess, I’d do it in a minute.” Michael sighed. “And I have to hope you’re strong enough to face building a new life.”
Daggers flew from her eyes as she glared at him. “Stop saying that.”
“Okay, I owe you the truth. Maybe then you’ll understand.”
Evie crossed her arms over her chest and waited.
“They were originally a branch of the defense department. Their purpose was to seek out terrorism within the US and stop it before---well, you know. It was a grand concept. Highly trained professionals, the best in their fields were brought together for the good of the country. It was a totally noble gesture on the part of the defense department. One more war launched against terrorism.
Except that no one knew about it. It was a covert operation. Special teams would go out, locate the problem and eliminate it. Simple, no fuss, no muss and especially no press.”
Michael paused to take a sip of his Pepsi and let her digest what he had told her. He watched her reaction carefully.
“So, you were a like an in-house spy?” Evie asked apprehensively. Trickles of fear danced their way down her spine and caused the lo-mien she had just consumed to go sour in her stomach.
“God, no!” Michael laughed mirthlessly, “I was a Navy Seal when they approached me. Weapon’s expert, bombs a specialty.”
“So, you worked for them?" Evie said, slightly relieved and trying to understand. "Like a cop or something?”
“Well, we kind of worked outside the normal versions of law enforcement. We had an open ticket. No one could get in our way. And in the beginning, we did a good job. Stopped a few that could have been real nasty.”
He paused for a moment as he thought back to the days with the Team. It had been a noble cause. One he had been very proud to be part of. Then his lips tightened into a thin line as he remembered how it had changed.
“Why haven’t I heard anything about this group? On the TV news or in the papers?"
“We were totally covert, secret. If one of our jobs made the news it was blamed on the F.B.I. Our existence was on a need to know basis. Like Special forces, the best of the best.”
“The best of the best.” Evie echoed, letting it all sink in, feeling a little better. He was some kind of military police type person. Like an MP or something. Navy Seals were supposed to be an elite group. Highly trained. Which explained why he could come down off that roof unfazed and run all day without stopping. She looked over at him, but she could see he was now lost in thought as he continued to talk. Recalling a past that seemed to have more ghosts than she cared to guess. He stared into space now, and continued his story, taking her back in time with him.
“For the most part we did a good thing. It was a dirty job with a lot of gray areas, but not without its rewards.
That’s why I accepted the offer when they came to me about the group being formed. What red-blooded American boy could refuse? To put an end to terrorism? Protect the good old U.S.A."
“And you did?”
“Yeah, we would investigate, target and take down. Some of it was real ugly, like I said, but if we hadn’t been there to stop it—“ He glanced at her then and something in her eyes made him want to stop. She had innocence about her and he wasn't sure he wanted to tell her all the sordid details. So, he finished it simply, "It just got different after awhile and I wanted out.”
“So you quit?”
“Ha! No one quits The Team.”
Comments
Post a Comment