Page 117 of Coup De Grâce
“Ivan!” FNG ran at him, leaping into his arms for a big Russian hug. It was weird. I would never understand their relationship. How did an ex-KGB agent develop a friendship with FNG of all people? It didn’t make sense.
“Man, it’s so good to see you. How’s Marta?”
“She is good. Very, very good,” he laughed uproariously. “But that is story for another time. Come, come. We drink.”
“Ah, actually, I need a favor, and time is of the essence.”
“Is good favor, no?”
“No.”
“Then we drink,” Ivan grinned. “Come. We discuss over vodka.”
I rolled my eyes as Ivan waved us all inside. We didn’t need to get drunk. We needed to get out of Europe and back to the United States.
“Relax, boss. You know Rae’s on it. She won’t let us down,” IRIS said.
“Yeah, but we have no idea when this is going down. We have to find the four linchpins, take them out, and prevent a world war. It’s not exactly a small ask.”
“Well, your old man definitely wasn’t one for doing things the easy way,” Kavanaugh chuckled.
“It’s fucking cold over here,” Knight muttered, his eyes searching the tree line for any threats. “Who lives like this?”
“I believe you did for a while,” I pointed out.
“Not in fucking Russia.”
We stepped into the house and kicked the snow from our boots. FNG was already by the fire, downing shots with the mad Russian. There was no way we were getting out of here if they hit the vodka too hard.
“Come, come,” he waved us over. “We drink. Then we save the world.”
I shot daggers at FNG for daring to tell him anything. He might trust Ivan, but I sure as hell didn’t.
But I walked over to him and took a seat, ignoring the twinges of pain in my body. I was loaded up on more drugs than I ever thought possible, and they were doing the job reasonably well.
“So, is good job, no?”
“Oh, it’s so good, Ivan. You’d love it.”
“Come, tell me.”
“Well—”
“Hey!” I snapped, narrowing my eyes at FNG.
“What? He’s trying to help us out.”
“And you don’t think this information might be a little too tempting to someone like him?”
Ivan chuckled as he took another shot. “I like you. Very untrusting. Is good in our line of work.”
“My line of work isn’t the same as yours,” I pointed out.
“No?” He looked at me like he knew exactly what I had been up to, and the longer he stared at me, the more I realized the “ex” in ex-KGB might very well just be for show.
“What exactly do you know?”
He shrugged, grinning at me. “Is good to have friends.” He raised his shot glass and looked me dead in the eye. “To the end of the world.”
