It's a promise

Chapter 26

Rylee's POV

When I came home to Washington I directly had a meeting with my task force. The body in my apartment was identified through his fingerprints as Jim. I read the coroner's report and they couldn't identify him over his teeth because Walker pulled them all out. He was tortured for hours. We didn't know if he was tortured to tell him things about us or just because Walker wanted to make him suffer. He didn't deserve this. We needed to find Walker as soon as possible.

I also told them about Wakanda. We took down the main facility in Johannesburg and we had all of his Vibranium. It was good but nearly three months later we didn't have any hint where Walker was. He just disappeared.

The task force was on hold until we would find new clues so I was working with Chad on different cases. He was surprisingly a good partner and he toned down his sexual comments. He said something then and now but it seemed more like he loved to get on my nerves. I also heard some rumors about him and the daughter of the director of the FBI and also another female agent. I didn't care as long as he kept his hands to himself when he was with me. I already gave up to stop him from calling me Sugar. Just a bullet would stop him or the director when he would find out about Chad and his only daughter.

Independence Day would be in two days and Chad and I closed our last case. That meant days off for us until Monday. I would fly to Missouri to look after the Barton Farm. A neighbor already stopped by from time to time to look if everything was okay from the outside but I wanted to see it. I wasn't there since last year in August and it was time to check by myself. Steve would join me and we would spend his birthday together. No other people, no fireworks, no party. Just us in the middle of nowhere.

I moved into a new apartment in the last months which was even smaller than the last one. Just one living/bedroom with a little kitchenette and a tiny bath. The only things I kept were the photos, the drawing from Steve and a few other things which meant something to me. The rest went straight into the garbage. The only people who knew where I currently lived were Nat, Steve and Chad. Not even the FBI knew where my new apartment was because I trusted nobody anymore. I didn't trust Chad completely but he helped me to find this card box apartment. It was his which surprised me. He bought it under a false name years ago and I rented it under a false name myself. He got me a new fake ID which not even Adam knew about.

Every night when I came home from work or the gym I searched for cameras or bugs. I also continued to go to the psychologist after finding Jim. It helped me a lot with my anxiety and my nightmares. I still had them but not every night and I realized that going to therapy wasn't a sign of weakness. It just showed that you are strong enough to fight and accept the fact that not everything went right.

I looked down at the duffle bag I packed and asked myself If I had everything. I had the most important things already packed, Steve's birthday presents and the new lingerie I bought a few days ago which could also be considered as another present for him. I smiled at the thought of him. I drove the four hours to the compound where I would spend the evening with Nat before Steve and I would fly to Missouri tomorrow morning.

'Who are you? I don't think I know you'

'Very funny, Nat. You saw me a few weeks ago' I rolled my eyes at her.

'Two months. It was Tony's birthday party in May.' Was it already that long?

'I'm sorry but I brought cake. Russian honey cake.'

'From this little Russian bakery on the other side of Washington?' I just nodded. It took me an extra hour to go there but I knew that Nat loved this cake and it was worth it.

'You're forgiven' She took the cake out of my hands and we walked into the kitchen. She made us coffee and we went over to the living room, making ourselves comfortable on the couch with cake and coffee. I packed my plush socks which were knitted by Laura. We got them every Christmas and every year they had a different color except the ones for Clint. His socks were always purple. The ones I was wearing were from the last year we celebrated together. They were a peach tone and Nat got the same in dark green. Mine already had a little hole at my heel but I loved them too much to throw them away. Even if it was July I wore them because the compound always seemed to be cold and they gave me a feeling of comfort.