Away From the Sun - Part 7
Brian looked up when the ‘seat belt’ sign came on. It seemed like ages ago that he was getting on the plane to Ukraine, thinking only of the mission ahead. It amazed him how quickly everything changed. Now, all he could think about was being back in that cottage with Justin by his side.
His thoughts kept wandering between the memories of the two days they spent together to the rescue – whatever he could remember, to how they would celebrate both of them being back home – safe and sound. Then there was another thought, one that Brian tried to dismiss at first. He wondered what it would be like not to be doing this anymore – the late night flights to all parts of the world, not lying to his closest friends all the time. For a moment he let himself imagine what his life would be like if he’d left the CIA.
The plane landed on time. Having only a carry-on, Brian quickly made his way through immigration and customs and headed toward the exit, wondering if Ben would be there. Sure enough, before Brian reached the door he heard a familiar voice calling his name. Brian turned, waiting for Ben to make his way toward him, the other man’s face split into the widest smile Brian had ever seen on Ben’s face. Then Ben did something Brian did not expect – he hugged him.
“Welcome back,” Ben said, releasing him.
Speechless, Brian only nodded in response and followed Ben outside.
“Is Justin’s plane on time?” Brian asked when they got the Ben’s car.
Brian wasn’t sure what to make of the look that briefly
appeared on the other man’s face.
“I’m not sure,” he said, looking away.
Brian’s stomach dropped. “What do you mean, you’re not sure?”
Ben exhaled sharply. “Justin never got back to us with the information about his flight.”
Brian wasn’t sure what to make of this information. He wasn’t prepared to deal with the news that Justin might be in danger once again.
Ben seemed to read his mind. “I’m sure it’s nothing, Brian. There was so much going on. It probably just slipped his mind.”
Brian nodded, although he wasn’t close to being convinced.
“I’m sure he’s crossing the Atlantic as we speak,” Ben continued. He got in on the driver’s seat and started the car.
There wasn’t much Brian could do standing in the parking garage of the airport. With lack of options, Brian got in the car as well.
The ride to Justin’s townhouse was quiet and tense. It was all Brian could do not to roll down the window and scream at the top of his lungs in frustration. Instead, he kept tapping his feet against the floor of the car.
As soon as Ben pulled into the driveway, Brian was out of the car. He ran up the flight of stairs leading to the front door of the townhouse. Turning the knob, Brian walked inside.
“Anything?” he asked before Daphne had a chance to greet him.
She shook her head. “I’m still searching the airlines’ databases.”
“We’ll need to get images from the surveillance cameras at the airport to make sure he wasn’t taken,” Brian told her.
Her expression became alarmed, for the first time considering the possibility of Justin being in trouble. “You don’t think…” She didn’t finish the question.
“Why didn’t I listen to him? I knew he was worried about us being followed.” Brian let out a loud sigh and ran his hands through his hair. He needed to switch gears, needed to focus right now. “Okay, what do we have so far?”
“We have you going to see Lindsay,” Ben said, coming up behind him.
Brian turned to him, glaring. If Ben thought it was funny, he wasn’t amused. His lover was missing. The last thing Brian needed was to waste time in a meaningless meeting.
Ben, of course, saw it differently. “We can’t let them know that something’s wrong. Not until we know ourselves what’s going on.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to tell them?” Daphne chimed in. “It would be easier to find Justin with the Agency’s resources.”
Ben shook his head. “Justin’s not an agent anymore, remember? Besides, his actions to rescue Brian weren’t sanctioned. I say, we wait and see what we can find out before we get him in even more trouble.”
As much as he wanted to tell Ben to go fuck himself, Brian couldn’t argue with the fact that if the United States government knew what Justin had done, he might have a lot to explain.
“Fine,” he conceded. Turning to Daphne, he added, “Try getting the images from the surrounding areas as well. He might have been grabbed after he left the airport.”
Waiting just long enough to get Daphne’s acknowledgement, Brian grabbed the keys that Ben held out for him and headed out.
~~~***~~~***~~~
The moment he walked out of the elevator, Brian became the subject of surprised, almost shocked looks. Some looked at him as if they’d seen a ghost, not that Brian could blame them. It was obvious that few expected to ever see him alive.
But he couldn’t care less about it – not about the shocked gasps or cheers from people he’d worked with for years. His only concern now was for Justin and the faster he got done with this charade, the faster he would get back to the house.
“Brian?”
He stopped and turned in the direction Lindsay’s voice came from. Her expression mirrored the expressions of the rest of the people surrounding him.
Lindsay rushed toward him, hugging him tightly.
“Careful, Linds,” he said, pulling away. “You don’t wanna show any emotions in the workplace, do you?”
She didn’t respond, instead looking him over from head to toe. “I can’t believe you’re here,” she said, finally letting go of him.
“Yeah, well, it’ll take a lot more to get rid of me,” Brian tried his hand at acting as normal as possible, something that, as Ben insisted, was imperative for making sure the CIA knew nothing about Justin’s current situation.
Lindsay smiled as she led him to her office.
Closing the door behind them, Lindsay walked around the desk and settled down in her seat, leaving Brian to sit across from her.
“So, tell me,” she said as soon as they were both seating down. “What happened?”
“You know what happened,” Brian replied. “I’m sure the CIA got full account of exactly what happened from the Ukrainian government.”
Lindsay’s features darkened. “Brian, you know that if there was something that I could have…”
“Forget it,” he quickly cut her off. The last thing he needed right now was her meaningless apologies. “I’m fine now, that’s all that matters, right?”
“Right.” She smiled once again. “Oh, I was so worried, Brian.”
He nodded, glancing up at the clock on wall. He was wasting precious minutes sitting here making small talk instead of searching for Justin.
“Why didn’t Justin come?”
Brian focused his attention back on his friend. “Uh…he’s…he’s not an agent anymore, remember?”
“Well, we could have taken care of security issues. After what he’d done, it’d be the least we could do.”
Brian sneered. “Take care of security issues? Is that why we have constant security breaches and information leaks?”
Lindsay wasn’t amused by his comments.
“Besides, he’s done with this life,” he added. “He deserves better than this.”
The blonde woman studied him quietly for a few seconds. “Is everything ok, Brian?” she finally asked, concern evident in her voice.
“Fine,” he lied, rising from his chair. “I gotta go.”
“Yes, of course,” Lindsay said, rising as well. “I’m sure you’re tired. Well, get some rest. You deserve it.”
Brian nodded and turned to leave, sliding his right hand in the pocket of his jacket while opening the door with his left. He stopped dead in his tracks when his fingers came in contact with something metal at the bottom of his pocket – something that didn’t belong there.
He felt like his heart had stopped beating when he pulled out a golden chain with a small cross hanging on it. The only way it could have gotten into Brian’s coat would be if Justin had put it there himself. And the only reason Justin would put it there…
“I still can’t believe Justin pulled it off. He’s really something,” he heard Lindsay say behind him.
Brian attempted to swallow an enormous lump that had formed in his throat as he stared at the cross in his hand. “Yeah…something.”
~~~***~~~***~~~
He wasn’t entirely sure how he made it back to the townhouse. It felt like the car drove itself on autopilot. His mind was thousands and thousands of miles away, back in the cottage right outside of Paris.
He knew something was wrong. From the very first moment Justin showed up at the cottage he knew that there was something that his lover was hiding from him. But he was so relieved that both of them were alive and together, Brian shrugged it off to being paranoid. All he wanted was to relish their time together. He thought they’d have all the time in the world to talk about what had happened, what was bothering Justin. He knew now that he was wrong.
Brian pulled the car into the driveway and turned off the ignition. He stayed in the car for quite some time, unsure of how to break the news to Ben and especially Daphne. A part of him felt like he was stuck in some horrible nightmare and it would be over as soon as he woke up. But as much as he tried to break out of the daze that he had been in since he found the necklace in his jacket, Brian couldn’t make the horrible truth go away.
Pulling the keys out of the ignition, Brian climbed out of the car and slowly made his way toward the house.
Daphne stood up from the desk and moved toward him as soon as Brian walked into the room. “We found something strange,” she informed him. “Remember one of the aliases Justin used when he was working in Ukraine? Roman Baranov? Well, a Roman Baranov got on a plane to Kiev four hours after…” Her voice trailed off when she noticed the object Brian was holding in his hand – her cross. She recognized it right away.
Daphne’s eyes widened, darting from Brian to the cross, then back to Brian. “How…how did you…” She took a step back and dropped heavily in the chair.
Brian was partly grateful that she grasped the situation so quickly, because he wasn’t sure he could even make a sound at this moment.
Ben, however, was another matter. “I don’t understand,” he said, moving to take a closer look at the necklace. “What’s going on?”
“He’s not coming back, is he?” Daphne said, her voice heavy with the tears that were threatening to come. She met Brian’s gaze, her eyes glistening.
Unable to speak, Brian shook his head.
~~~***~~~***~~~
Justin looked out the window of the car, studying the building in front of him. The driver walked around the car and held the door open for him. He took a deep breath in and climbed out of the back seat. This was it.
He followed his father’s men inside the two-story building. It used to contain commune apartments that after the fall of the Soviet Union, had been converted to luxury condominiums by those who were lucky enough to steal as much as they could as the entire system fell apart.
Going up the stairs to the second floor, Justin was stopped at the entrance into a long hall. The guard quickly checked him for weapons before letting him through and Justin found himself walking through large doors. The inside of the apartment was so completely different from the outside of it, Justin couldn’t hide his surprise at how glamorous it looked, taking in the artwork and decorative accents surrounding him.
“This way,” Anton told him, pointing to the left.
Justin didn’t respond, but followed the other man nonetheless.
Anton knocked on the door and opened it, letting Justin in.
Before he even stepped inside, Justin could see his father reading something at his desk.
Craig Taylor looked up. “Well,” he said, putting the document down on the desk and leaning back in his chair. “You’re here.”
Justin walked over to the desk and sat down across from his father. “You sound surprised.”
“I am,” Craig admitted. “I expected you to do something stupid, like go away with…with that man.” He cringed at the thought of Brian.
Justin pretended he hadn’t noticed. “I’ve been taught to keep my promises.”
Craig treated him to a satisfied smile. “I guess you’re finally growing up.”
“I grew up a long time ago,” Justin shot back. “You weren’t there.”
His father’s smirk had dissipated immediately. “Is this what it’s going to be like from now on? You’re going to behave like a spoiled teenager? Act out, try to defy me? Because, if I recall correctly, I’m not the one who came to me asking for help.”
“I remember,” Justin replied through gritted teeth. “You don’t have to remind me.”
“I’m glad.” Craig stood up, looking pleased once again. “Then, we can begin.”
Go to Part 8