The Fugitive

The Offer

Nick Sievers' POV

"So this is the man that replaced me?" I stalked in a circle around Aldridge's new husband. I snarled, and the man stepped back cautiously. "That was a pretty horrible reason, you know. Now I just want to kill him even more."

Aldridge shook her head. "Ah, that's not all!"

I cocked my head. "What other reason could you possibly have?"

The ex-FBI director glanced around. "I'll tell you, I swear, but we have to get out of here. Anderson is here with the rest of the FBI, and unless you want to end up as a corpse, I would suggest coming with me."

My eyes darted from Aldridge to her husband. To Aldridge. To her husband. To the gun in my hand.

"This man. He hurt Aly."

Aldridge waved her hand dismissively. "Please, Sievers. I payed her to act the part. And clearly, she did it well." She smirked. "You really do have a habit for falling for the worst of actors."

I nodded. "Yourself included, apparently. I thought what we had was real. I knew it." My knuckles whitened as I squeezed the gun. "But he got in the way." I jabbed the gun in her husband's direction. To my satisfaction, he winced.

"Sievers," Aldridge said, "trust me. Please."

I walked toward Aldridge's husband. Slowly, I lifted the gun and pressed it to his temple. My gaze was cool, unwavering.

"Sievers." That time, Aldridge wasn't asking. She was warning.

I shook my head. "Relax. I won't shoot unless either of you get any bright ideas."

Aldridge opened her mouth as if she was going to protest, but then closed it at the look of sheer determination on my face.

"Lead the way," I said.

Time Skip

Aldridge locked the door behind us, and I instantly slid into the only chair in the sparse room. I propped my feet up on the table in front of me.

The man opened his mouth. "That's-"

"Derek," Aldridge warned, "leave him be."

I smirked and tossed the gun up in the air, catching it by the handle. "Ah. So he has a name. Derek," I spat out.

Aldridge cleared her throat. "We need to talk."

"What do you think we're doing, sweetheart?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "No, I mean about something else."

I shrugged and lifted the gun. "Shoot." Derek winced and I chuckled.

"And you married this guy?" he shot back.

Suddenly, I was on my feet, standing in front of Derek. We stared directly into each other's eyes, a silent challenge.

And one I certainly would have won if Aldridge hadn't have interrupted us. "Guys, cut it out!"

"Women's tastes never change," I said before sitting back down. Derek clenched his fists, but managed not to say anything.

Aldridge shifted uncomfortably. "As I was saying, I'm afraid we need your help."

"We?" I asked. "Who's we? Because last I checked, the U.S. government was trying to kill me."

"Not everyone is as corrupt as you," she said.

I laughed. "It's almost as if you were waiting to find a place to insert that insult. You didn't even answer my question with it."

Derek sighed. "Look, I'm part of a Special Ops team." He paused. "We're part of the government, but they aren't willing to take responsibility for our actions. No one on the team even exists, technically."

"You do the dirty work," I said. "What the government is too scared to do."

Derek nodded. "Exactly."

I shrugged. "What does that have to do with me?"

"Well," he said, "everyone has grudges they want to bury. And-"

"Vincent Huxley escaped," Aldridge said.

I sat there in silence for a few moments. The sentence hit me like a bomb.

Vincent Huxley escaped.

Vincent Huxley escaped.

I exhaled heavily. "The two of us definitely don't like each other, but you can't expect me to just go around poking in everyone else's business."

"Isn't that basically the definition of a hitman?" Aldridge asked.

I stood up. "If you want to taunt me, fine. But unless your next sentence is a real good reason why I should help, I'm leaving."

"The government has offered to drop your charges," she said.

I sighed and walked to the door. "Isn't that what the deal was last time? If I helped you take down Vincent, I was free to go." I gestured around. "And look how that turned out."

"Nick, that-"

"Sievers," I said.

Aldridge huffed. "Sievers, that wasn't my fault. You know that was Anderson."

"And who's to say the same thing won't happen this time?"

"That's the thing," Derek said. "Not only is this team top-secret from the public, but from most of the government as well. The FBI has no idea."

I shook my head. "Not good enough." I unlocked the door and turned the handle, but paused.  "And, Aldridge? Say hi to the kids for me."

"Wait," Aldridge said. Exasperated, I sighed and turned around.

"Brook, no," Derek warned. "Don't." I looked between the two as a silent argument took place.

Aldridge shook her head. "He deserves to know." She exhaled.

"We....we have reasons to believe that Jay is still alive."