Chapter 29
Somehow, it was still light out. Lynn didn’t know how that could be. It felt like she’d been with Lenny for twelve hours.
He wasn’t very good company, so maybe that was it. And there was the pesky fact that she was scared for her life. That made time drag.
What if these moments really were the last few hours of her life, though? Shouldn’t she enjoy it? The idea was laughable, as there was nothing to enjoy.
Or was there? The cabin was rustic, sure, but it was cozy. The trees surrounding it were tall and magnificent; she could catch a glimpse of them through the windows. If she closed her eyes, she could pretend that she was here for a different reason – a weekend getaway, perhaps?
What if, in another life, she had told Mike how she felt? He might’ve left the mob case behind him. Perhaps, after her show, he would’ve whisked her away on his plane, off to a romantic getaway in the mountains, just like this cabin…
Lenny coughed, then hocked up the phlegm. He spit it out, hitting the rustic wooden floor with a loud splat.
That brought her back to reality. This was not a romantic getaway. She had never told Mike how she felt. And she might never get the chance to, since surviving the night seemed less and less likely.
For a while, she’d had a good conversation going with Lenny. She thought that she might actually be making progress, forcing a sort of friendship between them.
That was what Mike always told her about undercover work – the key was to first befriend, then betray. Lynn understood the concept, but she was in no place to befriend Lenny at this point. She had nothing to offer him, and she didn’t know what he wanted from her.
Mike said Lenny liked to talk. She’d started with a weak introduction.
“So…come here often?” she asked with a nervous laugh.
He shot her an annoyed look. “No. This is a first for me.”
“Me too,” she said brightly, trying to sit casually on the couch despite her ankles still being taped. “This is my first kidnapping.”
He scoffed, eyes focused on his phone. “Well, not mine.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Who else have you kidnapped?”And what happened to them?
“Don’t worry about it, princess.”
What was it that Mike was always saying about Lenny? He was insecure – but how would Lynn use that against him?
She decided to go the route of stroking his ego. “So, are you like, CIA?”
A smile spread across his face. “What? What makes you think I’m CIA?”
“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. “You’re just so scary.”
He didn’t react and she rushed to correct herself. “You easily tricked me into getting into the car. I had no idea what was going on.”
He smiled again. “Yeah, that was pretty good.”
All right, this was working. “Is it true, then? Are you CIA? Former KGB?”
Lenny laughed. “What would the CIA or KGB want to do with you?”
“I have no idea. I have no idea what anyone would want to do with me. I’ve never broken a law in my life.”
“Yeah, because you are the law.”
Ah, that was something. If he didn’t know who Mike was, somehow he knew her history. “You mean FBI?”
He stared at her but didn’t respond.
“I retired five years ago. Listen, I have nothing to do with them anymore. I was a nobody. I made counterfeit documents and replicated paintings. It was an office job.”
