From Russia Without Love

7

Xander’s servant led Animus through the house to the master bedroom, where the walls were as white as the exterior of the mansion. The swinging windowed doors to his veranda were locked, but the curtains were open, displaying the Aegean Sea as it reflected the sapphire sky.

“I’m checking my bug-out bag to make sure I have everything needed to sustain myself until we reach London and our mission cache there,” Xander said. “The Americans will be looking for us here. The Hellenic Police will be looking for us, too.” He took a look around. “I’m going to miss this house.” He peered out the window. “And the view.” His eyes returned to his bug-out bag. “But in this job, adapting is the key to survival, and adapt we must.”

“Yes, sir.” Animus was going to miss Athens, too. He was born here, and although he thought he’d die in Athens, it now occurred to him he might die in London. Even if he survived, he might very well be the lone survivor. But dying was something Xander never talked about, and Animus didn’t dare to mention it for fear of crossing some unmarked line.

“Is Evelina packed?” Xander asked.

“Almost,” Animus said. “That’s what I came to talk to you about.”

Xander stopped what he was doing. “My bag was all packed a minute ago, and I guess it will all still be there no matter how many times I check.” He turned to Animus. “Is there a problem?”

“Evelina doesn’t seem sure she wants to go with us on this mission.”

“Does not seem sure?” Xander said with disbelief in his tone.

“She said she doesn’t feel she has enough training or experience.”

“What do you think?” Xander asked.

“I agree. But I didn’t tell her that. I didn’t tell her anything. I just listened.”

“Do you think she should come with us?”

Animus looked him in the eye. “I think she’s right.”

“I agree,” Xander said. “She should stay here.”

“You do?”

“Yes, I think she is no match for the people we are dealing with…” Xander glanced at his watch.

“But…?”

“But she told me something different. She told me she still blames the West for December twenty-first when her mother was killed. It is why we still call ourselves 21D in the first place. Evelina wants revenge. More than ever. She told me she wants to go with us no matter what.”

Animus was puzzled at the contradiction. “Why would she tell me she’s not sure and tell you she’s going no matter what?”

Xander shrugged. “She probably does not want you to know these demands she is placing on me and the mission.”

“She’s afraid I’ll be angry,” Animus said.

“While she is not prepared, I am afraid she will take off like a loose cannon if we leave her here. She will do her own thing and interfere with Phase Two. We will not be able to protect her. It will be better for her, and us, if we go to London together.”

Animus nodded sadly. “I just don’t want anything to happen to her.”

“Nor do I.”

“She’s the love of my life,” Animus said.

“Me, too. But if we let her go off on her own, she will be in more danger and more likely to disrupt our mission.”

Animus swallowed. “Yes, sir.”

“Did you reserve the hotel rooms?”

He cleared his throat. “There is a symposium in London and most of the hotels were booked. The closest to our target was the Sofitel St. James, but there weren’t enough vacancies for our whole team so I also reserved rooms at the Grosvenor House.”

“It is probably better that way. If one hotel is compromised, the whole team won’t be compromised. And we’ll be less suspicious if we’re not all in the same building. Top-notch work.”

Animus smiled.

“I will stay in the Sofitel with some of the men,” Xander went on, “and you and Evelina can stay in the Grosvenor House with the rest of the team.” He looked at his watch again. “It is time.”