Cleo Hart: Intelligence by Default

Plans

We hunched around a slightly sticky table at the back of a dimly lit cafe, people pushing past us to get into the kitchen every few minutes. It was overly crowded and too warm, but I was content that I could look across the table and see Luke again, even if he was too preoccupied glaring at John to notice me.

"Remind me again why he's here?" He spat, gripping his mug of coffee with such aggression that I half thought it going to crumble in his hand.

Jason shook his head, rolling his eyes slightly. "John doesn't have any reason to hurt us apart from money, and money isn't very useful when you're dead, which he would be if he tried to kill us." He gave John a pointed look, obviously also cautious.

John moulded his face into mock hurt. "Feel free to leave me here,  just make sure you give me the Audi when you go, it's worth more than any hit I've ever been given." He tried to hide a smirk with his coke glass, obviously enjoying the drama.

"So we're going back for Linda then?" I asked, glancing back towards Alice, having a cigarette outside in the rain.

Luke gave a skeptical look, before shaking his head. I bit my lip, unsure myself. It had seemed like a good idea when we were fuelled on adrenaline, but now all I could think of was the word 'trap'.

"We don't actually... have a choice." Jason muttered, staring at his coffee like he wanted to drown in it.

"What?" I asked, my heart beat quickening.

"I called Alec last night... He claims that you two can't go back for as long as you pose a threat to the ISS, which he thinks is as long as Linda stays alive. He said that with all these hit men tailing you there's no point in you coming back at this time anyway because you couldn't go on any undercover missions with targets on your backs."

Luke made an inhuman noise and gripped the table, his knuckles turning white. He glared at the wall for a few seconds before jerkily standing up and storming outside. I looked to Jason who avoided my eye contact and instead excused himself to go to the toilet.

"I have weapons..." John murmured, looking up at me, "if you need some."

-

It took three hours of jittering driving, staring out of the windows in case of another hit, before we reached John's apartment. It was in the town next to where Linda lived, and looked like an IKEA showroom, with perfectly creased curtains, leather sofas and clean surfaces everywhere. He opened a high kitchen cabinet to reveal an array of guns and knives, before turning and smirking to the four of us like a proud child.

Luke stepped forwards and inspected the collection, picking out weapons and throwing them in a black sports bag. He cleared out the entire cabinet before curtly thanking John, grabbing my hand and pulling me into a bathroom.

"How are we going to get rid of Alice?" He whispered, loosening his grip on my hand slightly, but not letting go.
I swore, realising that the thought hadn't even crossed my mind.

"If we ditch her she could find Linda and warn her that we're around," I paused, flicking through ideas in my head, "we could leave her here?"

Luke nodded. "But we'd have to leave her with John, who I don't trust. At all."

I looked up at his autumn eyes, which were searching mine as if looking for an answer. His brow was furrowed in concern, but his look was soft, and comforting. I put my arms around his neck and pulled him into an embrace. His warm, safe smell drifted around me as he slid his arms around my waist.

"We could take the risk," he mumbled into my neck, "I don't think we have a lot of choice, maybe if we promise the Audi to him he'll stay put."

I stepped back. "That sounds like our only option."

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sorry its short i've just hated writing this whole chapter and want to get on to the next one.