Agent 57 (Book 2)

Chapter 6

Thirteen's POV

"Not another damn word." I hiss at Devin through gritted teeth.

He sticks his fist in his mouth to contain his laughter. Tears spilling out the sides of his eyes and his face has turned red.

I shove open the door to the restaurant.

Henri thought it would be a brilliant idea to toss us all out of the house and get us to go to a restaurant for dinner. He said it would give us a chance to dissolve the obvious tension while he got the guest bedrooms ready for their use.

In truth, I think he's was just getting sick of us since none of us, except me and Chase, could actually have a civilized conversation that lasted more than thirty seconds.

Especially not after I descended the stairs wearing that damn sling Henri forced on me.

Devin couldn't keep his mouth shut then, and was barely containing himself now.

"Leave her alone," Chase says right as Devin opens his mouth to make another smart ass remark.

I pull the hood of my sweater lower over my head. The boys think it's so that I can hide the bruise covering the side of the face from Garrett slamming my head down on the car...that's only half the reason.

Real reason...I have a higher chance of being recognized in this city than anywhere else in the world. Where it's by Garrett or...anyone else.

I'm not ready for the boys to know those details just yet.

I'll tell them...eventually.

"How many?" The waiter asks.

"Five," Chase replies. The waiter grabs five menus and leads us to a booth in the back.

This time I'm ahead of Devin as I shove Chase in the booth first and slide in next to him. Staying as close to the edge of the booth as possible. Chase rolls his eyes and picks up one of the menus. Jason, Devin, and Cody slide into the other side.

I pick up the menu and glance over it. None of it sounding particularly appetizing at the moment. I unconsciously pull the hood even lower as the waitress approaches.

"Hi. My name's Elaine, I'll be taking care of you guys today. Can I get you guys started off with something to drink?"

I glance up at her from under my hood as she talks, mentally profiling her. Her hair is a golden blonde and pulled up into a messy bun. Her eyes are a normal brown, her skin tanned and her face absolutely spotless. She's wearing only enough makeup to accent her looks, coupled with the truly hideous uniform all the waiters are supposed to wear.

She's just an average everyday person...so why are there warning bells going off in my head.

Something about her is unsettling. But at the moment I can't put my finger on it.

I sneak a glance at the guys, wondering if they noticed it as well. But as usual, none of them are actually paying any attention to anything other than the menu in front of them. I'm not entirely sure they even heard her.

"I'll have a water," I reply to her and wait for the boys to actually speak, but they're all still consumed in their menus. I kick Devin in the shins.

He lets out a yelp and swings his leg up, bumping his knee on the table and bringing everyone back to the present. He glares at me.

I gesture to the waitress. "Drinks?"

They all ramble off their drink orders and the waitress walks off, my eyes following her. Something wasn't sitting right with me.

"Do you guys know what you're going to order?" I question with a sigh as I lean back in my seat, drumming my fingers against the edge of the table with my right hand considering my left is currently trapped in a sling and pinned against my torso.

Thanks Henri.

They just nod. I notice Devin giving me a quizzical look.

"What?" I snap at him, but it doesn't faze him as he leans on the table.

"Who's Henri anyway?"

"My house sitter."

"Your house sitter?" He questions, the same confused look on his face.

I let out a resigned sigh. "I'm never home and needed someone to watch the house for me. Originally he only came up whenever I was gone but..." I trail off slightly, not sure how to proceed.

"But what?" Cody asks, his eyes focused on me.

I shrug. "His wife died of cancer a couple years back. He had no one else so I invited him to come live in the house with me. He felt he needed to repay me in some way so he cleans up the house and cooks occasionally." I shrug again. "I keep telling him not to. That he doesn't have to but he's a stubborn old man."

"Why do you even have that house if you're never actually using it?" Chase asks curiously.

"To keep up a cover," I mutter quietly.

Before anyone else can pester me with questions Elaine comes walking up with our drinks. Placing them down on the table.

"Are you guys ready to order?" She questions, pulling out a pad of paper and a pen.

I order and so does Chase, Cody, and Jason. I turn towards Devin when he says nothing.

He's asleep.

I roll my eyes and swing my foot forwards into his shins again. I realize a moment too late that I shouldn't have done that. He jerks up quickly and same as before his knee slams into the bottom of the table.

The table jerks up and of course the drinks spill, all over me and Chase.

"Devin!" Chase growls and Devin looks around confused for a second, clearly still trying to wake up.

I don't even know how he fell asleep in the first place.

Elaine gasps and I glare threateningly at Devin. I'm really going to kill him now.

I slide out of the booth followed closely by Chase.

"Restrooms?" I ask Elaine as she just stands there in open mouth shock, raising her hand and pointing towards the back.

"Thanks." Both me and Chase reply quickly and make our way towards the restroom.

I shove open the door to the woman's restroom and walk up to the sinks taking a handful of paper towels from the countertop.

"Great," I mutter as I begin to soak up the sticky liquid from the sodas.

I reach my hand forwards to grab another stack of paper towels. I freeze when I hear a familiar hissing noise behind me.

I whirl around quickly but before I can make any move, my free arm is grabbed roughly by the wrist and pinned to my side as I'm pulled forwards and pressed against the wall.

I feel the heat of the familiar dagger inches from the side of my face as I glare harshly at Garrett. Trying my best to get free.

"Don't make a sound." He whispers, moving the dagger into my line of sight tauntingly. He tugs on the straps of the sling with his other hand, letting go of my wrist. "These things are so useless." He mutters, "They make it nearly impossible for any movement."

I glare harshly at him as he simply smirks, twirling the dagger in my face, daring me to make a move. I clench my jaw and curl my free hand into a fist. He notices rather quickly and his hand wraps around my wrist once again.

"Do you know how I found you so quickly?"

"I have a feeling you're going to tell me either way." I scoff.

"It wasn't that hard. All I had to do was think like you. Know what I mean by that?"

"I thought it was pretty clear."

"I asked myself, not where would you go. But where would you take them?" He twists my wrist in his hands, anger flashing in his eyes. "The only place in the freaking world you know I'd never be able to touch them. Your damn house."

I pretend to look confused. "And why is that?" He twists my wrist harder and I wince slightly.

"We made a deal," I growl out. "I give you what you wanted and you give us three weeks without your presence."

"Huh. I guess I did make that deal with you." He exclaims thoughtfully. "But the terms of that agreement were quite clear, and you did not give me everything I wanted. Therefore no deal."

I glare harshly at him and he just smirks in response. "However," he starts. "If you were to hand over Nicky like per the deal, I would still honor it and leave you alone."

"Nicky who?" I question, playing dumb. I notice the muscles in his jaw tick as he clenches and unclenches it.

He moves the dagger increasingly closer to my face and his hand tightens around my wrist.

"You know this has been a truly lovely conversation," I start. "But I'd like to retain the use of at least one of my arms at the moment, and I'd really appreciate not being stabbed again. With that being said...why don't we test that dagger on someone else...you."

I slam my foot down on his and for a brief second, he loosens his hold on my wrist. I yank it free quickly and grab hold of his wrist holding the dagger. I headbutt him and then swing his arm towards him, digging the dagger into his arm.

He lets out a string of curses and I bring my leg up into his chest, kicking him back into the bathroom stalls. Before he can get up and recover I book it out the bathroom door.

Damn Henri to hell for forcing us out the door so damn fast, I didn't have the chance to grab any weapons.

He is so never going to hear the end of this.

I race towards the table the boys are at. "Come on get up we're going. Now." I state.

"What why? Our food just got here." Devin whines, crossing his arms over his chest like a child. Normally this would be hilarious but at the moment, I'd rather get out of this restaurant.

"If you want to live to ever eat another meal then I suggest you-"

"Look out!" Chase shouts as he grabs hold of my arm and yanks me down into the seat next to him just as a gunshot buries itself into the wall above me.

"Ooooh. That's why." Devin says before grabbing the edge of the table and flipping it on to its side. We all duck behind it.

"What is this guy's problem?" Jason growls.

"Me," I answer honestly.

"How did he find us so quickly?"

"Well everyone knows where my house is. It's not exactly the best-kept secret in the world."

"Then why the hell would you bring us here?" Cody hisses.

"Because it's also the most secure place in the world. Not even Garrett could get in if he tried...he wouldn't make it within a mile of the edge of the property line."

"Why are we having a conversation right now?" Chase growls.

"Well do you have any weapons?" I ask him, he glares at me.

"No. Your roommate kicked us out too quickly."

"Then that's why we're talking. It's not like there's much you can do when you're pinned down with no gun."

"We could throw things," Devin suggests.

"All the things we could've thrown are on the other side of this table Devin." Jason grumbles.

"At least it can't get any worse."

The door behind us is suddenly thrown open with a bang, and several armed men and women come running in, guns aimed at us.

"You were saying?" I snap at Devin. He laughs nervously.

"I may have spoken too soon."

"Ya think?" The rest of us chorus in unison.