Hunting Her

Chapter 17

I thought the escape had gone perfectly, as I strolled aimlessly down a random street of London. When I began to notice a strange man trailing me. He kept back a fair few paces, but turned every way I turned and stopped every time I stopped. 

Picking up my pace ever so slightly, I took a sharp turn into a dark back alley. A few minutes went by and the man followed. I was waiting for him, and grabbed the collar of his white shirt, throwing him against the wall. With a knife to his throat I had him pinned in place. "What do you want?"

He swallowed nervously, his eyes wide enough that I thought they'd fall out. He was young and his poor trailing skills showed as much. I leaned closer to his face, "I asked you a question."

"M-" Was all he could stutter out. 

"I don't have the time for this." I seethed, slamming him into the wall again. "Spit it out."

"Mila." He finally whispered. 

I pushed the knife down against his skin, pressing hard enough that it started to draw blood. I was almost snarling as I hissed, "What about her?"

His whole body trembled. "Sh-She sent me."

"What?" I said, loosening my grip on the knife.

"Mila. Mila Belova. She sent me." He said with more urgency. "She said I should be careful because you'd be on edge. That you would do something like, well, this." He said glancing down at the knife. "She told me if you did do something like this, to tell you to calm down зайка." -bunny- 

I signed at the name. That was Mila alright. I dropped the knife from his neck and stepped back. Instantly he bent over and let out a deep breath. "Thank you, I was hoping I pronounced that right." 

His pronunciation was awful. "I'm not apologising."

He looked up at me, a small smile plastered on his lips as though he was amused. "I wouldn't expect you too." He caught his breath and then held his hand out for me to shake, "The name is James and may I say you are quite gorgeous." He flashed his teeth in a handsome smile and I grimaced, ignoring his outstretched hand. 

"You want to slow down there hotshot and tell me what's going on." I said, running my finger along the blade of my knife.

"Ah yes, right." He played off my rejection of his handshake offer by brushing his hand on his jeans. "I once did a job with Mila and we became close. Two nights ago, she and a man called Oscar arrived at my brother's house saying they needed a place to stay."

"Is she okay?"

"They are fine, they are safe for now but she asked for me to find you. She said she knew you'd come to the funeral."

I smiled at my friend. She knew me better than I thought. "So what now?" I waited for a reply but he only stared at me, a blank expression on his face.

I waved my hand in front of his face, "James?"

He shook himself out of whatever daydream he was having, "Right, yes." I watched as he reached into the front pocket of his trousers and pull out the oldest phone I'd ever seen. He held it out for me to take, "She told me to give you this and to tell you that she'll contact you on this soon."

Grabbing the phone, I brushed my fingers over it lightly. A deeply precious gift in a time like this. I place it securely in my pocket and gave him a nod of thanks. "Well if that's everything?" I said, making a move to leave.

James scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Did you want to get a drink?" 

I looked him up and down. "No James. I don't." His shoulders slumped and I gave his shoulder a light pat. "Thanks for the phone though. Mila is lucky to have you."

He gave me a grin and I walked away, feeling his eyes upon me as I did. 

I made my way to another motel, paying a higher price for a better room than last night's. My stomach started to rumble as I searched through the motel's minifridge for something to eat. As is the reoccurring theme for recently, I was disappointed. 

I flopped down onto the bed and my back pocket started to vibrate. I pulled out the phone James had so kindly given to me and accepted the call. "Hello?" I asked softly.  

"зайка, is that you?" Mila's warm-toned voice tumbled through the phone, and the sound almost brought me to tears.

"Yeah it's me," I replied, with a deep breath. 

"Are you okay?" She asked carefully. 

"No." 

I heard Mila sigh and she sounded like she was holding back a cry of her own. "I'm so sorry, зайка." 

I scoffed. "No. I'm sorry. I dragged you both into this. Are you guys okay?" 

"Oscar and I are fine, we're safe. It was pretty easy to escape those people, they had no clue what they were doing." She said and I heard Oscar in the background muttering words I could not hear.

"And are you guys hurt at all?"

"A few scratches and bruises but nothing we can't handle." 

I could tell she was trying to make me feel better. "It's my fault, Mi."

"Stop that! It is not your fault, it's their fault, they did this."

I couldn't bring myself to respond. 

Mila spoke softly, her voice like a light melody. "We heard about your family. I am so sorry, Lex. I know there's nothing I can say that makes this better but I am here. Oscar and I are not going anywhere. 

"Thank you." My voice came out even softer, my heart swelling at the fact that despite everything I had caused for them, they still wanted to be there for me. "Stay alive, okay?"

"Love you." She responded sincerely.

I smiled at the phone. "I love you too and give my love to Oscar."

I heard the slight murmur of Oscar's voice in the background and the call ended. I knew I wouldn't see either of them for a while and they'd be safer for it. 

Justina was dead. I had done as I set out to do but the anger was still there. And I knew Justina was only the beginning. I had a whole list of people I could hunt down, just waiting for me to access. I had a whole organisation to crumble to the ground. Tomorrow, I'd find a computer and really look through this microchip to search through everything I had stolen.