Hotel Six: A Call of Duty Fanfiction

Chapter 37: Escape

She shut the trunk with her last bag packed into it and walked around to the driver's side. Jessica could feel Makarov's gaze on her, but she refused to look back at him. She shut the door and started the car, bristling when there was a knock on the window. She rolled it down, but still didn't make eye contact with him.

There was a beat of quiet between them until he spoke. "I still love you," he said softly. 

Jessica didn't respond at first, only staring ahead of her blankly. "I don't have an answer for you right now," she rumbled. 

"Please just give me a call or a text from time to time? So I know you're okay?"

She made a stiff nod, though whether that was a "yes" or simply a frustrated movement was anyone's guess. He couldn't say another word before she rolled up the window and pulled away. In the rearview, she could see him watching her go, and then turned around with his hands on his head in clear distress. Though a small part of her sympathized with the loss of a lover who wasn't dead, a greater part of her relished in his pain. 

Far down the road, she put the car in neutral and bailed out, leaving the door open as she ran to the bird waiting for her. It crashed into the ditch, but she didn't care; she wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible before someone got the idea to check on her. 

Gal leaped into the door, sliding to a halt against the seat. Inside, Ghost was waiting for her, and he wrapped her neck in a hug, flopping her ears.

"Hey, you dumb mutt," he sang. "Long time no see. I hope you got something for all this effort?"

"You could say that." She opened up her phone and showed him the photos she took. "Look at these."

He looked at the blueprints and tilted his head. "That's... That's the airport lay out! Holy shit, Lone, where'd you find this?!"

"Vladimir's office."

Ghost jerked his head up at her. "Whose office?"

"I also found a file full of his top-priority targets." She wiped through some photos. "I'm sure you already know that Allen is dead, but look here: Shepherd, Bravo Team, a guy on Makarov's team named  Yuri, though something tells me he's dead, too, since he and Makarov haven't been on good terms lately..." She cleared her throat. "And there's a couple more blueprints back heeeeere... Ah! It's untitled, but look, it's a world map with all kinds of marks on it. I can't tell if they're ops, or safehouses, or what, but-"

"Lone." Ghost grabbed her phone away. "Do you mean Vladimir as in Vladimir Makarov?"

She swallowed uncomfortably, her eyes wide. 

"You were with Makarov this whole time?"

"... Perhaps..."

"Shepherd lost a man getting him close to Makarov; how did you get in there without getting killed, and why didn't you tell anyone?"

She grimaced. "First, I got close to him because I'm a girl, and apparently guys kinda lose their mind when they get good pussy," she grumbled. "And second..." She dropped her gaze, nervous. "I don't know, I guess I was afraid MacTavish would be mad at me when I didn't kill him at the first chance."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because he's protected by guards 24/7. I don't think the man takes a piss without someone guarding the door. If I killed him I couldn't just slip out without someone noticing. They know all of his habits, and he made sure every time I came or went, he was with me, so if I left without him it would arouse suspicion. I had to play it safe so I could get out of there."

Ghost was dumbfounded, "Goddamn..." he muttered. "... Did he tell you anything else?"

"He told me that he intentionally killed Allen."

"Shut up."

"He did," she replied. "My guess is that he was trying to use terror acts to strongarm Russia into following his lead to attack America, but when Shepherd put Allen in the mix, it just worked perfectly in Makarov's favor."

The Lieutenant leaned back and pulled the mask off his head. "Fuck..." he sighed. "So what now?"

Jess shook her head in dismay. "I don't know. Makarov was intentionally cryptic with his intel and it was hard to connect with his men. I think he was trying to keep us separated in case someone talked."

"Fair," he replied.

"I guess the next best thing would be to somehow decipher the map and maybe connect with anyone else he was close to."

Ghost folded his arms, looking out at the landscape below. "Who else do you know?"

"He was previously talking to someone on his computer by the screen name Alex the Red," she said. "And I know he's got a former field medic working for him named Kiev... But hell if I remember what his last name is... Those two are the only ones I met who were close to him, and are currently still alive."

He groaned. This was going to be a pain in the ass to figure out where to go next. "Well, hopefully, we can get in contact with at least one of them somehow." He turned his gaze to her. "Maybe you could do it?"

She shook her head. "Not yet, at least. If Makarov gets wind that I've been talking to his friends and not him, he'll get suspicious. That would shut down any communication we have with any of them."

"How'd you not raise suspicion when you left this time?"

Jess made a twisted grin. "When we talked about what he did at the airport, I told him I needed to leave and 'reconsider the relationship.' And then he gave me a car so I could leave."

Ghost cocked a brow. "Well, if your pussy was that good, I can't imagine he'd let you go that easily," he chuckled.

"He didn't," she replied. "He fought hard to keep me from walking away, but when he saw that he wasn't convincing me, he let me go." She sighed. "Though, thinking about it now, it tells me he's likely going to abandon this safehouse and go somewhere else in case I talk. If I ever reach out to him again to meet him, I won't be able to just show up at the front door."

"True," he said. "But hey, if things go well, you may never have to talk to him again."

She smiled at the thought, but somehow, she had a bad feeling about all of it.