Page 57 of Count Down
“How’d you sleep?” I ask.
She drops down in the chair and picks up the coffee. She takes a sip and holds it up to me in thanks. “Better than I thought I would, but…” she shrugs and takes another drink of the coffee.
“I’m just cooking some breakfast,” I say as I head back to the kitchen. “I’ll be done in a few minutes. We can have it up on the rooftop.”
“The rooftop…” Lexi says quietly to herself.
The three servings of breakfast require two trays. As I’m setting them up, Lexi comes in. She’s looking more awake now. I refill her coffee and she puts it on one of the trays.
“Lead the way,” she says, picking it up.
It’s a nice, sunny day. There isn’t a cloud in the sky. It’s still early enough that it’s not too hot to sit out here.
“Damn,” Lexi says eyeing the pool as we set the trays on the table by the outdoor couches. “This place is nice.”
“Thanks,” I say.
Gina comes out of the bedroom and joins us. She’s not as sleepy as Lexi was, but she still looks like she needs the coffee.
She grabs a piece of toast and drops onto the couch next to me. “How the hell are you two so awake already?”
“This is my second cup of coffee,” Lexi says.
“There’s a lot to do today,” I say. “I might be able to rest after that. Do you have anything you need to do before you go to the theater?” I ask Gina.
“No,” she takes a long drink of coffee. “I grabbed everything I needed last night.”
“I was thinking we should just stay here until you need to be at the theater.”
Gina nods. “Lexi, do you have anything you have to do today?”
Lexi shakes her head, “Day off. I was just going to go to your showcase tonight.”
“We’ll stay here until it’s time to go to the theater then,” I say. “We can all head there together.”
Gina nods in agreement. Lexi looks around the rooftop at the pool. I don’t think she minds having to hide out here.
I wish I could make plans for after tonight. I wish I were confident it would be safe for Lexi to go back to their apartment after the show. That Gina and I could come back here and celebrate. But I can’t plan that far ahead. Too much could go wrong between now and then.
As I finish my breakfast, I mentally run through the list of things I need to accomplish today. Bust the Russians, assassinate the head of the Irish, get Gina’s father to step down, catch Gina’s performance.
It’s going to be a busy fucking night.
* * *
Early in the evening, we all get ready to go to the theater. Gina goes to my room to shower and get dressed, and Lexi does the same in the studio. I head to my shop to pack.
I grab a medium-sized duffle bag off the shelf and head to my workbench. I drag one side of the workbench away from the wall, then press against one of the drywall panels. It clicks and releases, swinging away from the wall to reveal a vault door. Behind it is my main weapons stash. I spin the combination and it opens to a small 6’ by 8’ storage room.
This is where I keep the weapons for special occasions. Ones I don’t need to access quickly and easily. I already know what I’m going with for tonight’s mission. I lift my VSS Vintorez off the shelf and check it over. It’s a Russian-designed sniper rifle, but this one was manufactured in the US. Even thought it’s small, with the scope I can still accurately hit a target 400 yards away in most conditions. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get closer than that.
I break down the rifle and put it in my bag. I toss in a few cartridges of amor-piercing bullets. I’ve only got one target tonight. And hopefully I can get by with one bullet. But another nice thing about this gun is that it can be used as an automatic weapon as well. If I need to blast off 20 rounds and clear my way out of trouble, it’ll do it.
I toss in my rangefinder, some gloves, a knife, a black ball cap, and a pair of black running shoes. I zip up the duffle bag, close the armory, and slide the workbench back into place.
When I get up to my room on the roof, Gina is putting on her makeup in the bathroom. She’s already dressed in a pair of ripped black jeans and a loose, silvery tank top. I set my duffle bag in the corner and go kiss her on the top of her head.
“You look like a choreographer,” I say.