Read Online Running Blind by Cindy Gerard - Free Book Online Page A

involved.”
    â€œBesides, you need to be exactly where you are.” Rhonda touched a hand to Mike’s arm. “With her.”
    â€œAnd you will be,” Cooper cut in. “Right after I take you home for a shower and a shave and a few hours of shut-eye.”
    â€œI’m not leaving her yet,” Mike said. “You two get going. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. In the meantime, Rhonda, would you call Peter so he can let everyone know Eva’s going to be okay?”
    â€œAbsolutely.” Rhonda dug into her bag for her phone. “I’ll be happy to deliver the news.”

10

    She sat in the dark, smoke-stale room with the curtains pulled shut. A flashing motel vacancy sign bled through the thin drapes. The only other light in the room was a tiny red dot from the fire alarm mounted above the door.
    A fire could only improve this dump, she thought darkly.
    She longed for the luxury and comfort of Ray’s Ontario penthouse. She longed for Ray.
    She felt so very tired.
    And so very defeated after this morning’s debacle.
    Her mole in the CIA had called three hours ago. Not only was Eva Salinas Brown alive, but Taggart and Cooper had escaped the booby trap with only minor injuries.
    Fail, fail, fail.
    She sat on a bed covered in a gaudy floral-print bedspread that smelled as if it hadn’t been laundered in this decade. Her phone sat on the bedside table; it should ring again very soon. She was more than twelve hours overdue in making her after-action report to the Russians. But she’d needed time to think. To season the shooting debacle into something palatable that the Russians would swallow. Something she could turn to her advantage.
    Repetition always helped her think, so she’d cleaned the Ruger while running damage-control scenarios through her mind. She disassembled, oiled, and reassembled it over and over again, until she was satisfied the gun was spotless—and she was content with the new version of her story.
    I do so love that OCD quality of yours, my dear.
    Ray’s voice was as clear as if he were beside her, and a tear escaped and trickled down her face.
    â€œWhy did you have to leave me?” she asked the dark, empty room. “Why did you have to go? You were the only one to ever see me as a person. I need you to help me finish this.”
    You’re very strong, dear heart. What you’ve suffered—­­at the hands of your parents, at the hands of others who should have protected you—has made you strong. You’ve always had to be. You can do this without me.
    Another tear had her pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes. “I don’t want to be strong anymore. I want to be with you.”
    The Ruger was loaded. She’d practiced placing the end of the barrel in her mouth to see if she could reach the trigger—and she could.
    But Ray had stopped her. Not yet, love. You have much work to do. You have debts to collect. And when this job is finished, not only will you have exacted our revenge, but you will also have the means to live like a queen for the rest of your life. I want that for you, darling. There’s time enough to come to me. I’ll always be waiting.
    She didn’t want to wait. He’d been the only thing in her life worth living for. But she owed him to finish what he had started.
    She startled when her phone rang, then settled herself with a deep breath.
    â€œBLOCKED NUMBER” showed on the screen. The Russian. Again. She couldn’t ignore his calls any longer.
    She answered using the code name he would recognize. “Anya.”
    â€œVadar. Where have you been?” he demanded in a high, nasal tone.
    â€œLying low,” she said. “Getting as far away from the target as possible.”
    â€œYour report was due hours ago.”
    â€œAs I said, I’ve been a little busy.” He wouldn’t like it, but what could he do about it?
    â€œReport,” he