Page 15 of Kept By The Agents

I found a few bags inside the bedroom closet and tossed them to the guys. Using the one I'd kept, I opened the dresser drawer and started stuffing clothes into the bag. When I got to the top shelf, I hesitated. When I'd taken the dresser I hadn't thought about her underwear drawer. Yet, here I was, faced with thongs, lacy panties, and bras. I picked up a lace thong and frowned at it. "That can't be comfortable."

Suave chuckled as he stuck his head out of the bathroom to see what I was talking about. "Sexy as fuck, though."

A dull heat spread over my skin as I crammed her underwear into the bag. Between Suave and Brando, women rarely paid attention to me. That was just fine. I didn't like to sleep around the way they did. I rarely found women interesting enough to hold my attention. When one did catch my attention, though, she got all of it. That hadn't happened in a very long time. Long before I'd met these two.

That didn't mean I didn't scratch the itch when it popped up, it just wasn't every weekend like the others. Though, lately, Brando hadn't been indulging as often either. Suave always seemed to have some kind of demon he was trying to combat with sex and booze. When we weren't working, he was indulging.

I moved out into the living room and started grabbing all of the random papers that were scattered on the small tables. She'd mentioned that the apartment had come furnished, which I was glad for because I wasn't carrying all this shit through the streets of Moscow.

My head shot up when I heard something out in the hallway. The sound was muffled, which made me even more alert. Why would neighbors be trying to hide any noise they made?

Moving backward, keeping an eye on the door, I snapped my fingers until the two behind me looked up. I pointed to the door and motioned for them to wait. They didn't move a muscle as we all strained to listen.

As soon as the doorknob started turning, we broke into motion and dove into the bedroom. Gun fire split the air, drowning out the sound of the door slamming into the wall. My pistol was in my hand as I waited for the shooters to pause. Brando and Suave were on the other side of the doorway. We all waited there, behind cover until silence descended.

Brando nodded and I positioned myself so my upper body was exposed and started shooting. The others were doing the same on the opposite side, Brando standing, while Suave knelt so they could use the door frame for cover, but not get in each other's way.

Cursing rang out as someone grazed one of the unknown assailants. I ducked back behind the wall right as a barrage of bullets flew our way, grateful for the solid construction common in Russia. One glance over showed that Brando and Suave were behind cover again. The men out in the living room didn't have an advantage because there was no cover out there. All we had to do was wait them out. The couch wasn't going to stop our rounds, so that left them the choice of retreating, or dying. They just hadn't figured it out yet.

I moved back into position and aimed. The gun kicked in my hand and a grim smile spread over my face as one man fell. My firearms instructors at the academy had taken one look at me and expected me to fail. People often underestimated me. I was shy, nerdy, and though I had muscle—thanks to the grueling workouts Suave put us through weekly—I had a thinner build than most. I was used to being overlooked. But I'd proved myself and becoming an expert level sharp shooter had been easy. I had a knack for it.

There were four men, three trying to hide anywhere they could and the one I shot lying motionless on the floor, and they were packed into the area like sardines. This apartment wasn't big enough for all of us. Aiming at the leg that was sticking out from behind the couch, I pulled the trigger.

The man cursed and jumped to his feet. A gunshot sounded next to me as Brando took the man out. The other two wisened up and bolted for the exit. We shot as they moved, managing to catch one between the shoulder blades. He fell like a sack of potatoes, but the last man darted out the door.

"Should I go after him?" Suave asked.

"No. Leave him. They didn't get a good look at us. Maybe it'll make Semyon think twice before sending his men after Cat again."

I sighed at the reminder that Cat was in trouble. It should be irritating me that she was delaying our mission. Only…it was more than that. I hated that she was herself in danger. She shouldn't matter to me. She was Suave's ex. Off limits. Shaking my head, as though I could extract my thoughts of her that way, I tried to focus on what needed to be done now. Putting a fresh magazine inside the gun, I stuck it back into the holster. "Guess there's no question about it anymore. They know about Cat."

Both men gave me grim looks, but didn't say anything. I bent to pick up the bag I'd dropped.

"Let's get out of here before they come back," Brando told us.

We were careful as we left the apartment building, watching closely to see if anyone paid too much attention to us as we walked. We seemed to be in the clear, but someone had warned the Raleka that we'd gone into that building.

Nerves skittered up my spine. I didn't like being surrounded by people without knowing who the enemy was. Made me jumpy. I slung the bag over my shoulder, keeping my head down as we walked back to the safe house.

Brando was actively scanning around us as we moved, making sure we weren't being followed. Just in case, we took a longer route back. The relief on his face was evident as the door to the safe house came into view.

I pulled open the door and the first thing I saw was Cat's anxious face. She studied us as we came inside, but stayed quiet. Her eyes locked onto me as I dropped her bag at her feet and went over to my laptop. I pulled up the feed for the security cameras I'd installed around our place on the first day we'd gotten to Moscow.

"What happened?"

Looking up, I saw Cat still watching me. Both Brando and Suave were at the windows, bags still over their shoulders while they watched to see if anyone suspicious went past our door. Shaking my head, I looked back down at the live feeds. People were coming and going as they normally did, but something caught my eye.

I didn't answer Cat's question, instead, I pulled up the recordings for the last twenty-four hours and started searching. The man I'd spotted passing by on the main street only began showing up recently. Around the time those bastards were shooting at us inside Catalina's apartment. He wasn't on any of the previous feeds.

"We have to move," I told the others.

Brando looked over his shoulder at me, a furious expression on his face. "You sure?" He wasn't pissed at me, but at the situation.

"Yeah. Someone's staking out the place. Started about an hour ago."

"So they didn't follow us," Suave said, a frown of confusion on his face.

"No. He showed up on the cameras before we got back."

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