Chapter 3

Sharp needed to get a free moment to send a note to his commanding officer and tell him what had gone down. They probably already knew since he'd used the credit card again. Also, they would have been keeping track of the train he was supposed to take and see that it had been canceled.

Air traffic, highways, and now trains were shut down. This level of snow didn't happen often in London, maybe once five years ago. He would be stuck here for a few days while the city dug itself out.

He'd completed his mission very successfully, and the military already had all the data, but he knew they wanted all the information he had. They also wanted to get him home safely. The last thing any of them needed was for Russia to realize he was an American and send someone after him. If something bad went down on British soil, it would open them all to questions no one wanted to answer.

Could he trust Danika? He thought so but wasn't positive. The last time he'd seen her, he'd been seventeen, and she'd just told him to leave her alone forever. So much had changed since then. He would watch her and make sure she didn't do anything to put him in danger.

She spun, and he saw the fear on her face as she took a step back. He realized a little too late his thoughts were dark. He'd been wondering if she could be a plant, and he hadn't schooled his expression. He needed to do better around her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm just worried about travel plans. I need to make a call. I'll be back in a moment." He turned to leave the room, then spun around to face her. "Don't open the door for anyone, even if they say they are employees."

Her eyes narrowed, but he didn't have time to explain. He left the room and put in a call to the secure line he'd been communicating through. He walked to the other end of the hall, closer to the elevator, trying to get some privacy.

"Go," the person on the other end said.

"My ride out was canceled."

"We knew."

"Unless I receive word, I'll try again in a few days."

"Confirmed."

He ended the call and pocketed his phone. Now, what to do with Danika? If she spilled his secrets…she didn't know they were secrets. All hell could break loose if it got out that he'd been in Russia. Not that people in their old hometown were associated with Russian agents, but he didn't want anyone to know he'd been in Europe.

Running into Danika had been a surprise. He hadn't been thinking straight when he'd suggested she come with him. But letting her walk away would have been worse. There was no official record of him being in England. Someone with the last name Johnson had come into the country and would leave via the British Royal Navy. Maybe he should have taken a different exit path, but he'd wanted to put distance between himself and anyone who could have followed him.

The information he'd gathered had been good. He knew so much more now and had gained access to critical systems that even the most experienced hackers in the USA couldn't touch. Because of him, they had insider information that could quite possibly save millions of lives.

He unlocked the door to the room and stepped in. Danika's head whipped up, fear shining in her eyes. She'd been sitting at the desk, examining her phone.

"Oh shit, I didn't hear you. I was so busy trying to figure out my next move, and I…" She trailed off like she was guilty of something.

A warning went off in his head. He had to figure out what she felt guilty about.

He moved closer and let the door shut behind him. She wasn't covering up whatever she was currently doing, so whatever that look in her eye was about, he didn't think it involved him.

"Next move?"

Danika closed her eyes and a look of pain flicked over her face. He saw anguish in her expression, maybe fear, too. She was hiding something.

He stepped even closer and saw she had hotel information up on her phone. Maybe she didn't feel comfortable staying in the room with him. He wasn't going to do anything to her, but she didn't know him. Back when they'd been younger, neither of them had really had an understanding of what sex really meant. It had been physical, maybe a bit of soul involved, but mostly they'd wanted to get off, so at first, they'd rubbed up against each other, then explored everything else, not even once understanding the ramifications of what they were doing.

She'd been his first real experience, and he thought he'd been hers. They had said the words love to each other, but what could he have known about love back then? His family had been abusive, and he'd needed any connection that felt good. But like most teenagers, he'd blown it.

Age and the Navy had matured him. He'd learned that his hand was just as good of a lover as any woman could be. Sure, he had a string of women he'd slept with when he'd first joined up, but he didn't need a woman in his bed like some guys thought they did.

"Do you want to get another room?"

She shook her head, then slowly opened her eyes. "No. I'm safer with you here, even though I don't really know you. I mean, I did, but that was before…" She trailed off, and he wondered what she was thinking about.

His thoughts stalled on one word. Worry ramped up. He moved closer, then knelt in front of her. "Safer? What danger are you in?"

Her expression went blank like she thought she'd said too much. Maybe she had. He needed to figure her out fast.

"What danger are you in?" he asked again, this time slower.

She huffed out a breath, and more pain twisted up her face. "I did something stupid."

"How stupid?"

She looked around, searching for what he didn't know. "I guess this place doesn't have a minibar."

He shook his head without looking around. It wasn't that type of place, and he'd checked the first night he'd stayed here. "No, it doesn't. "

"Can we go down to the lobby and get a drink? I noticed that the bar was opening."

He felt that if she was an agent for a foreign power, she wouldn't want to head to the lobby where other people could see her. It was more likely she felt vulnerable talking about the situation and needed more control. He nodded and hopped up, holding out his hand for her to take.

"Let's go."

They both grabbed a keycard and headed down to the lobby. When the elevator opened, he heard someone screaming, and his senses went on high alert. He pushed Danika behind him and took a few steps so he could see around the corner.

A woman who was about thirty was yelling at the top of her lungs, demanding a room. It seemed like she was being pushed to the end of her rope. Sharp assessed the situation and wondered if he should send Danika back up to the room. He didn't want to be separated from her, not after she'd indicated that she'd done something stupid. How stupid could it have been?

He needed to get back to the USA where he would feel safe, or at least a little safer. The connection between his current identity and the part he'd played in Russia was mostly erased, or at least thin as ice, but if someone put a lot of effort into looking, they might find him. His hair might have changed, and he wasn't shaving any longer, but it was still him. It would be terrible if anyone in Russian intelligence figured out that he'd been acting as a secret agent.

Russians poisoned people all the time. Danika could have been sent here to take him out. Was the woman throwing a fit in the lobby a distraction, or was she really this stupid? The hotel would call the police. Sure, it would take them a while to respond, but they would eventually get here and arrest her.

The woman yelling lifted her arms and shook them, making her shirt pull up enough that he could see her waistband. There was something tucked in the back of her pants. He focused on that spot, trying to determine what he'd caught a glimpse of.

He turned and met Danika's gaze. "Stay here." He wasn't sure if she would stay or follow, but he had to get closer to that woman and make sure she didn't do something irrational.

As he stepped around the corner and came into full view of Monica, she glanced at him and sighed. The complaining woman turned his way and frowned before turning back to the hotel check-in desk.

"He was at the train station at the same time I was. Why did you give him a room? I need a room!" the woman screamed.

Sharp went on high alert at her words. He hated being paranoid, but too much weird stuff was happening with Danika showing back up in his life, and now this. He paused, taking in the situation. There were people staring, but no one had their phone out recording. He didn't want a piece of this action because it was stupid. Nothing could be gained from this woman acting like an idiot. Why had she recognized him? Had she been following him?

Monica was trying to placate the woman, but she was having none of it. Sharp saw her reach for whatever was tucked into her pants. He didn't hesitate and dashed over, stopping the woman from raising her hand to take aim. He knocked the device from the woman's hand, and it clattered on the desk, then fell to the floor on the other side of the desk next to Monica.

"Don't touch it," Sharp barked as Monica moved to pick it up. She jerked up and stared at him wide-eyed as he twisted the woman's arm behind her back.

She was screaming, but she wasn't saying anything at all that made him think she knew who he was or suspected he'd been in Russia. He leaned in, getting close enough she could hear him.

"Shut up. The police are on their way." He glanced over and saw Danika watching him from the elevator lobby. He hated that she'd had to see him like this. The less she knew about him, the better. He didn't want her to be impressed with him because impressed people remembered things and talked about them.

One of the male hotel employees came over and flashed a set of handcuffs. "I can take over from here."

Sharp guessed the guy was a security guard, so he let up and backed away. His gaze flitted to Danika, and he tried for a reassuring smile but wasn't sure he achieved it.

"What was that thing that she pulled from the back of her jeans?" Danika asked as she moved closer.

Monica's face distorted in a grimace. "It looks like pepper spray. That would have pissed me right off."

Sharp moved and looked over the counter. "Yep, that's pepper spray. I don't know what she was planning on doing after she pepper sprayed you, but I'm glad I was down here to stop her."

Monica pulled something out from a drawer and scribbled her name on the card. "Here, this will get you two a free dinner tonight."

"Oh, we don't?—"

"I insist. You saved me. That spray could have really messed with my asthma, and ambulances are backed up terribly. You literally saved my life."

"I'm putting her in the office until the police show up," the other employee said as he led the now defeated-looking woman away.

"I can't believe she attacked you," Danika said.

Monica shook her head. "People are crazy. They do dumb stuff all the time. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff we deal with."

"That really sucks," Danika said.

"How about that drink?" Sharp suggested. He would have been pissed if that woman had sprayed the pepper spray and forced at least a partial evacuation of the building. It was cold outside, and an evacuation would have been disastrous for many.

Danika flashed him a smile. "Sure. I could use something hard."

Sharp studied Danika. Based on her reaction, she was either a great actor or she wasn't a double agent. He was being paranoid. He had little doubt now that their running into each other was just a coincidence.

They ordered their drinks, which the bartender refused to charge him for, and sat at a table away from everyone else. The excitement had died down. Thankfully, very few people were downstairs when the action happened, so no one was trying to talk to them or thank him.

"Tell me what you think you messed up?" Sharp wanted to know what bad thing Danika thought she'd done.

She took a long drink from her glass and then leaned in. "I should have waited to run, and now I'm stuck here in London, and I'm afraid he'll find me."

Her words cut through his thoughts. Fear filled her eyes. The panic he saw in the depths explained some of her actions. Now, he just needed to figure out who this guy was that she was so afraid of and if he really would be an issue.