She watched me, searching my face for a hint of deception. She wouldn’t find any. I’d long ago managed to control my outward emotions, so even though I wasn’t nearly as confident as I wanted her to think, she’d never see it. Never know how much the thought of coming back to her propelled me, how the thought of not scared me.
“Don’t open this door for anyone,” I said.
“No shit,” she replied.
I smiled again, my face muscles straining under the weight of the unfamiliar expression.
Then, as I left, I had to push all thoughts of Milan aside. Where I was going, there was no room for her, no room for anything but focus.
I wouldn’t have done this if there had been another way, but there wasn’t. I had to go and face my past.
Priest
“Priest.”
The voice was one I hadn’t heard in years, one I would never forget. That voice had shaped me, made me what I was, affected me more than any other until I had heard hers.
We were in what appeared to be an abandoned parking garage downtown, not a single car or person in sight, even the sounds of the city quiet in these concrete walls. But with him, I knew not to be fooled by appearances, just as I knew there was no way he was alone.
“Maxim,” I said, my voice echoing in the empty-seeming space.
Finding him had been easy, so easy, I knew I had only because he had wanted to be found. That was Maxim’s way. He always gave the illusion of choice, let people think they were acting of their own will, while all the while he moved the pieces.
“Things have changed,” I said, looking at the expensive vehicle, the four men that flanked him.
“You think so?” he said.
Not really. There was more money, even more power, but one look at Maxim and I knew nothing had changed, knew that he hadn’t changed.
“Why didn’t you come get me?” I asked.
Maxim hadn’t implanted the transponder; it was a relic from a much older time, but he knew about them, watched them. When I’d removed it, I’d expected Maxim or someone under his command to arrive in less than an hour. After two had passed, I knew that they wouldn’t.
He had wanted me to come to him.
“I was debating,” he said.
“Debating what?”
“Whether your naked ploy was reason enough to have you and your companion killed,” he said.
I wanted to recoil, wanted to react, but I couldn’t.
Maxim was testing me, probing, searching for a weakness. He probably wasn’t even aware he was doing it, but he was, and if I gave anything away, he would use it against me. I didn’t know how, but he’d find a way.
He always did.
When I said nothing, he narrowed his eyes, a sign of anger in most, but from him, I knew, almost approval.
“I see the years have kept you sharp even though you’ve been occupying yourself with banal concerns. Such a shame you’ve let your talent go to waste,” he said.
“Isn’t that what we do, Maxim? Banal crime for banal criminals?” I said.
“You were destined for more,” he said.
“No, I wasn’t,” I said.
We’d had a version of this conversation before, and Maxim was apparently not intent on having it again.
“You didn’t come here to discuss the past. Your transponder was removed. Did you take it out yourself?”
“I did.”
That got as close to a smile as anything would from him.
“An attempt to get my attention, I presume?” he asked.
“It was.”
“How could you be sure that I’d notice? What made you think I’d care?” he said.
“Of course you noticed. I know you’re always watching.” I said.
“Not me. Not always,” he said.
“I don’t think you care, but I was banking on your curiosity.”
“What do you want, Priest?” he said, voice deadly serious.
“Information. Who’s after me, Maxim?”
Twenty-Five
Priest
Maxim and I sat in the backseat in silence as his driver, Adrian, took us back to the hotel. He hadn’t yet given me an answer, but that he was in the vehicle with me was a positive sign.
Knowing him as I did, he was probably still trying to decide, but when the car stopped in front of the hotel, he retrieved and pen and piece of paper and quickly scribbled on it and then handed it to me, Maxim’s fanaticism about security making him writing something down a rarity.
I nodded, but didn’t otherwise thank him, knowing he wouldn’t appreciate the gesture. Then, moving as quickly as I could, I returned to the room.
When I opened the door, Milan was standing next to the window.
I smiled. “Were you watching for me?” I asked.