Boulder (Riders of Apollo #5)

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Riley Everett

Absolute knobhead.

I can't really put it passed him though to be honest, I can't give him what he wants so why should he stick around? "You better not have done what I think you did." Lexie growls the minute Boulder steps into the building.

I'm quite happy snuggled into the couch with Rubble, eating donuts and drinking tea. I stayed in the pink room last night so I didn't need to book a hotel and I never heard Boulder come back in. By the ruffled look he's sporting and the massive hickey on his neck that I definitely didn't leave, I'd assume he's been busy.

"Stand down, Lex. It doesn't matter." Lexie turns her glare on me and I raise my hands in surrender. "It's not like we were exclusive, you nutcase. It's been two weeks, I don't take it to heart so you shouldn't either."

Weirdly, I am a little upset but really there is no reason to be, we had only been seeing each other for a fortnight. Besides, he wants something I can't give so it's only fair that he goes looking for a woman that can give him everything he needs. "I better head off or I'm gonna miss my plane. Chief would have my ass in a cinch if I do. I'll see you all in a few weeks, do try not to die."

I hug Rubble and the girls tightly before shaking Bear's hand and nodding at Boulder. I throw my suitcase into the UBER and head to the airport. I had to use one of my alias' so that MI6 don't know I'm returning and I'm taking two flights to get back home so I can't be tracked. Thankfully, I made Johnson make me one that MI6 don't know about as I am taking no risks.

Sadly, I can't get drunk in the airport as I have to work as soon as I land. By work I mean manage to get back to my safe house without getting caught, seen or shot. It's gonna be difficult, but hey, I took over an entire boat of enemies on my own so I'm sure this'll be a piece of piss.

------

I lied.

I was so wrong.

Somehow the group have figured out I'm coming back and they are at every port of entry into London. I don't recognise any of the agents which I suppose is a good thing, at least I haven't been betrayed by people I consider friends or at least acquaintances.

My safe house is on the other side of the city and it looks like I can't take the tube so I'll have to walk fifteen miles at two in the fucking morning. I won't have to worry about agents if I'm being attacked by drunk idiots and other fun criminals that hang out around this time. I groan quietly and curse the sky before heading off, dragging my suitcase behind me.

That's gonna be the problem, taking off with a massive suitcase that is. I duck behind a wall as two agents pass with a soft breath, this is gonna be crap. "He's got all of us out looking for some bitch, what kind of mission is this?" The heftier one growls. I can't really see him in dark but he's big with a heavy, Yorkshire accent and a moustache.

I don't like him.

"She's apparently the biggest threat to the organisation. Besides, you know you wouldn't have qualified for MI6 if he hadn't had helped you out. Just do what he says." I roll my eyes and put my suitcase down. I need to interrogate these two, which means knocking them out, dragging them somewhere and then turning them against each other.

We're in the bad part of the city and a lot of the houses are unused and filthy. I sneak forward to check through the glass of the closest house and the entire thing looks ready to fall down. Perfect.

I creep towards the idiots and manage to disable both of them swiftly. I wait for a minute or two for someone to come running but hear nothing. Good, I'm too tired for this bullshit. I take two trips to drag the idiots into the building and drop them on the floor of what I assume was the lounge.

I find a wooden chair in the kitchen and tie big boy to it. He can be tortured first because he called me a bitch. I tie the other to the radiator. "Wakey wakey, bastards! Looks like you found me!"

Big boy startles and begins to fight the binds, cutting into his skin and freaking him out even more. He calls out to his friend who looks just as scared and pissed, amusing me to the max.

"Look guys, I get it. Boss man sent you out to find little ol' me, you figure out that I am more dangerous than you first thought and now you're with me. Ironically, not in the position you wanted but still, with me all the same. So, I have a lot of pent up anger since the guy I was seeing slept with some other woman and naturally I'm an angry human. I figure you're the perfect thing to take it out on, so you're in for a fun ride. Unless, you just wanna fess up now, tell me everything you know about boss man?"

"Shut the fuck up, bitch." Big boy shouts and spits in my face.

Rude.

I roll my eyes and bring one of my ceramic blades from the boning in my jacket and immediately drive it in his knee. Covering his screams with my hand. "I just want to know who he is, you don't tell me, I pop you fucking knee cap off."

"This is illegal." He pants and I laugh heavily.

"You're lecturing me on illegal? Your fucking boss is planning to blow up the palace, trading weapons and C4 with the French underground and hiring dickheads like you into military intelligence, even though you have no intelligence at all. I think that's pretty illegal."

"Look, he-he doesn't take to betrayal well." The other guy says with a shiver and I groan.

"What do you think I'm gonna do? Braid your fucking hair and swap war stories? I'm the more present threat, don't you think?"

"Fine! Fine! He's the commander, okay? Commander Farris! He's been working on this for years, he sent you to America because you're the biggest threat to his plan."

"What's his plan?" I twist the blade in Big Boy's knee to get the other guy to talk.

"You already know his plan! Take over MI6, recruit people loyal to him, murder the royal family and parliament then become King!"

"Wait, seriously?" I pull my blade out with a chuckle. The fuck? Does he really think he'll be King if he murders everyone above him? They'd choose a thousand different people before him. IF anything, he should've gone into politics, I'm sure the Prime Minister could take power over the country if every single member of the Royal Family was assassinated.

"Yes! Please let us go!"

"No." I kill them and grab my shit so I can finish the trek to my house. When I get there, all the lights are off so I assume all three of them are asleep. I obviously turn around and find a gun pointed straight at the middle of my forehead with Chief on the other side of it. "Hey."

"Riley! Thank God!" He squeezes me into a hug and I collapse into his arms. He's basically my father at this point and I've missed him so much that I find myself on the verge of tears. "I was so worried." He kisses my head and leads me into the other room where mum and Johnson are hiding.

I hug both of them just as tightly before resting on the sofa next to them. I tell them everything I know and they look as freaked out as I feel.

"We're fucked."