Animals

Day 21 Part 1

Wednesday, May 30th

Wesley lifted his hand towards me, a forlorn gaze in his eyes. The edges of his body flowed gently like waves sneaking up to kiss the sand. Something kept tickling the back of my neck—a certain feeling that wouldn't go away. I reached for him, but my hand went straight through his. Water trickled down my arm where our hands had met.

Cold water surrounded my feet, crawling up my body like a bunch of insects. When I looked up towards Wesley again, I realized I was the one under water. Whatever was encasing my body below was thicker like syrup.

The more I kicked up to the surface, the lower I seemed to sink. Wesley watched me from the edge, but his face was no longer my brother's. I couldn't tell who it was. The syrup was covering my chin when I heard a high-pitched ringing. It was too clear to be under water, but all I could focus on was my own suffocation as the thick liquid flowed over my nose and mouth.

My eyes popped open, but the ringing didn't stop. Heavy breaths made my chest hurt like I had held my breath for too long. The room was dimly lit from the first peak of sunlight, and all blankets had been kicked to the end of the bed.

I cursed when I realized it was my phone that was ringing. Rolling over, I pressed answer on the unknown number and rested the phone on my cheek.

"Hello?" I said. Immediately, I felt Mitch stir behind me. I would've been startled if my heart wasn't already racing. His trailed his fingers up my arm as he kissed my shoulder. My stomach fluttered as last night was refreshed by his touch.

"Elle?" the phone said. The accent told me instantly who I was talking to, and I sat up on my elbow, my heart now pounding for a different reason.

"Evanoff?" Mitch adjusted, his lips leaving my skin as he listened in. I put the phone on speaker as I sat up, pulling the sheet from the end of the bed around my naked body.

"You remember what I said?" he asked, but my silence told him I didn't. "Lester have not pay me. You pay me, I will tell you plan. How to stop it."

He was risking his life to tell me this.

No. He was risking his life to get a paycheck. Then again, how much money was worth the life of millions? I was sure the CIA would help.

"Yeah, okay. How much?" I finally said.

"38 million rubles."

I didn't know how much that converted to in American dollars, but it sounded like it would break the bank. Hopefully I wasn't getting the US into even more debt by agreeing to this. I looked at Mitch and he nodded his approval, though his brows pinched with uncertainty.

"I'll get it for you. Tell me what I need to know about SHE."

"National Archives Building. 31st, 1400. Warhead the decoy. Real bomb will leave in vents. Will be hard to find, is tiny." The click on the other end said he hung up.

I set my phone back on the bedside table and rested up on my elbows. I understood what the first part meant, but his explanation left something to be desired. Once look at Mitch said he thought the same thing.

"Should we call in a bomb threat? Evacuate the city?" I asked.

Mitch shook his head. "We wouldn't catch them if we did that. An evacuation would mean Lester doesn't release the bomb. He wants attention, notoriety. Without deaths, that can't happen."

"Lester doesn't want attention. He wants justice."

"Either way, we can't evacuate."

I got out of bed, wrapping the sheet around my naked body. "So you'd risk millions of lives to make sure Lester doesn't get his fucking face on the news?" Shaking my head, I grabbed my clothes from the floor and headed for the door to the bathroom. "That's fucked up, Mitch."