Apoidea

And Then There Were Two

Chapter 2

Les Vaughn sat on his couch with a glass of straight vodka in one hand and the TV remote in the other. He flicked through the Russian channels only hearing bits and pieces of what was on the screen. After hiding out in a rundown apartment for nearly a year, his regular routine was starting to get old. If only it wasn’t for the fact that the Russian mafia didn’t want him dead, he might actually have someone other than his bottle of vodka for company.

He was getting tired of sitting in his apartment, drinking and watching the same old Russian TV shows. He wanted action, but he was forced to hide so he wouldn’t be killed. He raised his glass to his lips and took a sip of the vodka. There was a hardly noticeable sting as it went down his throat. He was used to the burn of straight vodka by now. As he enjoyed the liquid in his glass, he heard the click of the lock and his body froze. In the blink of an eye, his glass was on the table and he had his gun pointed between the eyes of the person who stood in his now open doorway.

His eyes narrowed at the figure. Standing before him was a girl of about nineteen, wearing a light gray parka and a black tuque. It had been almost three years since they had last spoken and he was hoping it would be longer still before they spoke again. He had left on good terms with Mel, though it had been Rowan that he had left on bad terms. He glanced behind Mel, who stood unfazed by having a gun pointed between her eyes, searching for the other criminal that was usually always with her.

“Long time no see, Les.” She grinned up at him, though it didn’t fully meet her eyes. It was obvious that there was something on her mind. Les sighed, lowered the gun and headed back to his couch.

“Lock the door behind you.”

Mel did as instructed and went to join him on the couch. As she did, she let her eye drift around the apartment. She still considered Les her friend though she wouldn’t put it past him to try and shoot her. She glanced at the now locked door, that meant her only escape route would be the window, and Les’s apartment was on the third floor of the building. When she sat down she studied him.

“You let your hair grow out. Long hair suits you.”

Les raised an eyebrow at her as he took another drink from his glass. His other hand still held his gun, which was still pointed at the girl sitting only a few feet away from him. Mel was still the same as she had been three years ago, though she had changed her appearance, like he had. He had let his hair grow and it was now nearly to his shoulders. He was hoping the longer hair would help him be less recognizable to the Russian mafia.

“What do you want Melanie?” Melanie looked away from him and out the window, where snow was beginning to fall.

“What makes you think I want something? Maybe I just came by to visit an old friend.” She was still avoiding having to look at him.

“We haven’t talked for three years and you went out of your way to find where I was. You want something, the question is what.”

“Rowan is missing.”

Les let his eyes widen. For Mel not to know where her partner in crime was was shocking. The two always worked together and always knew where one another were in case something happened. Now, Mel didn’t know where Rowan was and it surprised Les greatly.

“I know that the two of you didn’t want to have anything to do with each other anymore, but you’re the only one I could think of that would want to help, even if you don’t love her anymore.”

“You decided that her ex-boyfriend would be the only one willing to help you find her?” Les asked in disbelief. Had Mel actually even thought this out?

“Considering my other “friends”, yeah you’re the only one I thought of, and you’re the only one who I actually knew where you were.”

“What happened then?”

“So you’ll help?” The spark that was always usually in Mel’s eyes was there again.

“I never said that,” Les noticed the spark disappear just as quickly as it had come, “but I’ll see after I know what I’ll be getting into.” Mel grinned a bit, it reaching her eyes now. Les was glad to see her happy, being upset did not suit her in the least bit. As she began to speak however, she turned seriously again.

“She went to the States for a job. She told me she had to acquire some research that Walter Goodman working on.” Mel noticed how Les tensed up at the name but continued. “She didn’t tell me who hired her though. What I’ve been trying to figure out is why they asked her to complete the job and not me. I’m a professional thief while Rowan is an assassin. She doesn’t steal things and Goodman has the best security system that money can buy. It’s almost as if whoever hired her wanted her to be caught.”

“You shouldn’t have bothered coming to ask for my help Melanie. You know I don’t deal with anything that has to do with Walter Goodman.”

“Les I know you don’t, but can’t you make an exception this once? I need your help, you know more people in the underground than I do and I have a feeling that I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

Les had his eyes narrowed at her. Since his last failed attempt on getting to Walter Goodman, he had sworn that he would ignore the man’s existence. Now it seemed he was going to once again become involved with the man.

“What’s in it for me if I decide to help you?”

“You’ll finally be able to get back at him like you’ve always wanted to.” Les had to agree, with Mel’s help, he might just be able to get back at the scientist.

“Fine I’ll help, but I’m going to need more details then what you’ve given me.”

“I don’t know much else; all I’ve been able to find is the name of the research Goodman in working on. He’s working on something called Apoidea. I have no idea what it does or what it is. I just know that he’s been working on it for nearly a year at MIT.”

“So he’s in Boston?”

“Cambridge actually, but it’s only a few minutes away from Boston. I was thinking we’d be staying in Boston though, not far from the airport. That way we can make a quick get away.”

“You probably have this all planned out don’t you?”

“Not yet, but I have two plane tickets booked for Boston. The plane leaves at 6:30 in the morning.”

“You knew I was going to say yes I take it?” Mel just grinned at him.

“Actually I didn’t, but I was counting on the fact that you would.”

“Fine I’ll meet you at the airport at five o’clock sharp, and if you aren’t there I’m staying right here in Russia, understood?”

“Got it! Thank you for helping me with this Les, I owe you one.” Mel jumped off the couch and gave him a hug. “I’ll see you in the morning.” With that, Mel was already heading out the door and away from the apartment, leaving a rather stunned Les in her wake.

***

The next morning both Mel and Les were sitting in their seats on the airplane waiting to leave the cold of Russia. Les stared out the window while Mel pulled out her iPod and places headphones over her ears. It was going to be a long twelve hours, especially as it would be spent with Mel… Les closed his eyes, asking himself why he had actually agreed to this. He was perfectly content with staying in his apartment and hiding from the lovely Russian Mafia, though he had wanted some action and that’s what he was now getting. Just hopefully the two of them weren’t getting in over their heads like Rowan had.