Page 53 of How Much For a Life of Lies?

Hours passed in silence, the only sound the occasional drip of water from the faucet in the bathroom, or me humming Iron Maiden or grunting as I did pushups. I hated inactivity, and I’d lost all sense of time, my singular frame of reference the arrival of food—or what passed for it—because there was no freaking window.

Eventually, the lock jangled and the door creaked open once more, and this time it was Yuri looming in the doorway, a tray of food in each hand.

“Yurinator! Glad to see a not-so-friendly face,” I added.

He entered the room without a word, as Abel shut the door closed on us both. Yuri’s expression was unreadable as he set the trays down on the bunk opposite mine.

“Sit,” he grunted, gesturing for me to join him.

I hesitated for a moment, studying the big Russian warily before obeying his command with exaggerated reluctance. The silence wasn’t tense as we were eating and lost in our own thoughts.

“What’s going on, Yuri?” I asked, unable to contain my curiosity any longer. “Why did they lock me in here?”

Yuri remained silent for a moment, his focus on the wall across from us, then flicking toward me as he frowned. “You stay,” he said, his voice gruff. “You wait.”

I frowned, frustration bubbling up inside me. “Wait for what?” I demanded, but Yuri shrugged, refusing to meet my eyes.

Frustration turned to anger as I realized the futility of trying to get answers out of him. “Fuck this,” I muttered, pushing the tray away from me. “I’m not going to sit here and rot while you assholes play your games.”

With that, I stood, determined to find a way out of this place, whatever the cost. But as I moved towards the door, Yuri’s hand shot out, gripping my arm.

“You stay safe,” he growled, his eyes flashing with warning.

I met his gaze defiantly, refusing to back down. “Try and stop me,” I challenged, but Yuri’s grip tightened, his expression darkening with anger.

Locked in a battle of wills, we refused to give an inch. But then, with a frustrated grunt, Yuri released his hold on me, allowing me to step back.

I shot him one last glare before trying the handle of the door, kind of shocked when it opened and I could step through. The fuck?

As I stormed out of the room, my heart pounding with adrenalin-fueled determination, I half expected Yuri to grab me and drag me back inside. But to my surprise, he fell into step beside me, his heavy footsteps echoing in the empty hallway.

I shot him a sideways glance, confused. “What are you doing?” I demanded, my voice laced with suspicion.

Yuri’s expression remained impassive as he replied, “We get your weapon.”

I paused mid-stride, taken aback by his unexpected offer. “What the fuck was I locked up for then?” I asked.

Yuri grunted in response, his stoic demeanor giving nothing away. But as he turned and headed left at the end of the corridor, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

“Wait,” I called out after him, my instincts kicking into overdrive. “Was this some kind of test?”

Yuri paused for a moment, his back still turned to me. “I don’t know,” he replied cryptically before disappearing into a room.

I watched him go, my mind racing with a million different possibilities. If Yuri didn’t know, was this Kozlov or Indigo testing me? Seeing if I’d try to get out? Or was Yuri now handing me my gun some trap designed to lure me into a false sense of security? I hated being undercover, even if I got to fly.

With a shake of my head, I pushed aside my doubts and focused on the task. Whatever Yuri’s motives, I couldn’t afford to waste this opportunity.

I clenched my jaw in frustration, but I refused to let his stoicism deter me. “Fine,” I muttered under my breath, my tone clipped. “I’ll do it myself.”

To my surprise, Yuri turned up next to me and followed like my shadow as I walked down the hallway. Though he remained silent, his presence was a silent acknowledgment of my decision.

I retraced my steps to the comm room I’d glimpsed earlier. With determination, I pushed it open, revealing the same rows of monitors and computer screens flickering with activity.

“A lot of computers, right?” I said to Yuri as if I wasn’t scanning the equipment with a practiced eye, ready to tell Zach what I’d seen in better detail. I stopped and crouched, Yuri scowling at me when I stopped. “Lace,” I said, and messed with the lace I’d loosened when back in my room.

I slipped the small chip free and palmed it, making a show of double knotting my laces. It was a delicate operation to plant this, requiring precision and finesse to avoid detection, but somehow I needed to get this small chip near the main server. Not that this place was structured, more a random network of four laptops plus the three screens. With a steady hand, I walked closer to the screens, all casual, and leaned in to check out the first screen—security footage from the main road. Then I turned away without bothering to check the other screens as if I didn’t care what they showed.

I attached the chip under the desk, hoping to hell it stuck. Glancing up, I caught Yuri’s gaze on me for a moment. His attention slipped from me to the door, and he gestured we needed to leave. I resumed my facade of casual indifference, my mind already racing ahead to gettting back to town. Shadow Team would dial in, or whatever the computer eggheads did, and they’d have all the intel they needed, and all I had to do was wait for exfil.

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