Dancing With The Devil

Chapter 19

I woke up after what felt like days, but I knew it had only been about an hour. My head snapped up the moment my eyes were open. I sat up, pulling my upper body off the lumpy bed as I surveyed my surroundings rapidly. My mind was filled with the vision of Smith splayed out against the steering wheel, his eyes open and locked on me. And the dark figure stalking towards me in the darkness.

But the man who had been the dark figure was now curled up awkwardly on the small armchair. It looked like he had been trying to fall asleep, but his eyes were set on me and I could tell his mind was working hard despite the dark circles around his eyes and the paleness of his skin. Though his body needed it badly, rest was not his priority at this point.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I demanded, pulling up the duvet to cover my body. Not that my body needed any more coverage. I was still wearing the clothes that Smith had originally found me in.

"You changed your hair." He replied simply, cocking his head to one side. A surprisingly boyish gesture for someone in the same line of work as Josh and Smith.

"I thought if I looked like an angry teen no one would recognize me." I admitted, blushing. I hadn't wanted to dye my hair originally, but now that I had I kind of enjoyed it. however, I knew a lot of people from my previous life would be less than delighted with my colour choice.

"You don't look like an angry teen." Alistair laughed. I couldn't tell if he was trying to make the conversation lighter or if he was completely exhausted.

"Did you sleep at all?" I asked carefully.

"No, but come on," He stood up suddenly, almost startling me; "we shouldn't stay in Holland just yet. It'll be the first place they look when they find his body and figure out his access card was stolen for the sole purpose of getting us on a plane. If you're feeling well enough I think it's time we go down and buy clothes and toiletries."

"We are in possibly one of the most fucked up situations ever and you're worried about having a change of clean clothes and mouthwash?" I sputtered out.

Alistair gave me a disapproving look but his eyes were too tired for the expression to be sharp. "My only concern is looking like a normal tourist because that is what we are going to be until we figure out an answer to this whole mess. Now, are you ready to go to the shopping center or do you want me to pick out your clothes?"

"I don't have any money." I denied. I also didn't have a driver's license or a passport any more.

"Neither do I, but Alistair O'Connor does." He responded with a devilish grin. In his hands were a brand new debit card and a sparkling credit card.

"Where did you get those?" I demanded.

"From your technologically inclined friend, of course. She is the master of her trade, you know. I've never seen anyone who could tangle such crazy webs with fraudulent info and I've been around all kinds of agents for years." Alistair stated, his eyes glimmering with appreciation. "Honestly, I'm just lucky that I convinced her to talk to me because I would've never been able to catch you otherwise. So, while we're out here keeping you out of harm's way and trying to figure out a way to get Josh taken care of Sophie will be making sure we have enough funds and that no one is able to trace our spending."

I knew that Sophie wouldn't have given me up easily. And I knew that when she had decided to tell Alistair the truth it had been because she trusted him to take care of me. But hearing that she had given me up again made me a little somber. Still, above anything, I was just thankful that she was okay.