Chapter Twenty-One

The symphony of movement made Ronald realize me was in the company of a strategic professional; and it scared him to think William was so good at his job. It was a matter of keeping up with the developing situations that had Ronald tense and overwhelmed. William just kept moving, a high-quality, well-oiled machine, William was fast and efficient. Thinking two steps ahead of whoever they tracked wasn’t enough because the stranger in Bautista’s house was an element he hadn’t anticipated. There were more layers to William than Ronald ever knew. It was possible their three years apart was enough for his lover to perfect his crafts. He felt honored by William’s presence. While Ronald was white knuckled and jittery, William had a unruffled exterior.

“I don’t know if he was there for Bautista or us,” William said when they finally stopped driving.

They were south of Richmond. After leaving the house, William called 911 and reported the break-in at Bautista’s residence. He used one of the few burner phones he purchased at the department store. Ronald just listened quietly, trying to show a collected mask draped over the quivering innards that kept his appetite away.

“I’m going to call Renee.”

“That’s good, right?”

“I don’t know yet.” He gave Ronald a look that suggested he did something naughty. “I might be in a lot of trouble. I’ve been out of the loop since I came back to the States.”

“She doesn’t know where you are?” Ronald asked.

“It was necessary. I made a mistake when I turned my back on you the first time. I’m not going to do it again. Especially now that we don’t know what’s going on.”

They had thrown away the clothes from the burglary in some random dumpster stops, spreading the items out to different locations. Food was necessary, but neither of them had appetites for the drive-thru. Ronald thought he’d have an article for losing weight while evading contract killers. He reserved himself to wait until it was all over before he started the commentary.

“I’ll be back in an hour. I’m going to use a burner phone to call Renee.”

“You don’t trust her?” Ronald asked.

William shook his head. “You learn not to trust anything out there.” He saw the look on Ronald’s crestfallen face. He embraced Ronald, held him tight for a long time. “I trust you. You’re the only thing in this world I can count on. That’s why it’s so important to find out what’s going on.”

“Okay.” Ronald felt William kiss his cheek before he left.

“That feels funny,” William said of Ronald’s newly growing beard.

***

He found a spot at the technology limit of the cell tower. A point on the road where he had the touch of service for the phone before he made the call, William wanted to make it harder to trace him. In a pinch, the limited connectivity was a great start.

“Where the hell are you?” Renee demanded as soon as William gave her the secret oral message once the line connected. A spy code to let her know he was safe and secure.

“I’m on the run now.” William sent the digital photograph he took of the assailant in Bautista’s house. “I want to know if you have data on this guy.”

“Who is he?” Renee asked with no emotion.

“I think he’s the guy who killed Edward Goldberg. But I’m not sure. There’s an asset dead at Ron’s apartment. Someone wanted him dead, and I want to know why.”

“You’re in the US?” Renee shouted. “What the hell, Bill. You can’t just leave in the middle of an assignment. We have orders to follow.”

“I’m not going just to stand by while someone’s trying to kill someone I love, Renee. Not when I can do something about it.”

After a long pause, William heard Renee sigh loudly. “Did you get a picture of the assassin?”

William sent the photo he took of the assassin after he fought and killed the man.

“Well, he’s European.” Renee waited a moment before she said, “I just sent the pictures through the database. If they’re on file, I’ll let you know. Can you give me something, at least?”

“I think there’s a group that’s after Ron because they see him as a loose end. I was lucky enough to get to the guy that took a shot at him. But they killed Goldberg who was washing money for some friends overseas. Ron had a lead on Goldberg’s partner. We visited him. It went better than before.”

“You left the asset alive?” Renee sounded surprised.

“I’m done with this, Renee. It’s not what I do.”

“But you’re so good at it.”

“It’s not me, though. I don’t want to do this the rest of my life.”

“You're planning on retiring?” she asked hesitantly.

“I think right now I want to figure out what the hell is going on before I can do anything else.”

“We taught you well, didn’t we?” She sounded defeated. “I’ll get the information out. Keep your head down. Can I call you back on this line?”

“I’ll call you.” William ended the call.

He wrapped the phone in a towel he took from the motel. He wanted to make sure the phone was protected from the elements and had a full charge. He chose a spot that was easy to locate from a distance. If he came back and found evidence of other people looking for him, he’d knew whoever was tracking him wasn’t necessarily from a foreign agency.

Back at the motel, Ronald had showered and watched the news on the television without the sound. He sat on the bed in a t-shirt and boxer shorts. The relief on his face when William returned was palpable.

He stood at the edge of the bed and undressed. Ronald turned off the TV.

“There’s nothing in the news about Bautista.”

William nodded after he took off his shirt. Ronald had redressed the knife wound, and it was healing again. William managed to tear open the steri-strips when he fought the intruder. So far, it was still clean and didn’t give him a lot of pain.

He slipped off his pants and climbed into bed. Ronald was there, waiting for him. They held each other in the dark. The fear of Ronald saturated his skin, but William didn’t have anything to say that would calm him. He didn’t want to tell Ronald it was going to be okay, because William didn’t want to lie to him again.