In Love and Diplomacy

Chapter Eleven: Nothing Good Starts in a Getaway Car

"Maybe I was foolish, I guess I was naive
I didn't know what I had, and I thought I had to leave
I wish that I was homeward bound
I wish that I was homeward bound
I'm searching for a signal, holding out my phone
Have I gone too far, am I on my own?"

- Alec Benjamin, "Oh My God"

Chapter Eleven

"Are you here to take me back? Or is this to make sure I'm not sharing state secrets?"

My voice broke the heavy summer silence that'd settled over us like a profuse smog. Birds rustled in the trees, and bugs mightily hummed in the thick air, but neither could distract us from the watchful, echoing quiet. Sterling's lips twitched. Before, his eyes had carefully scanned our surroundings. Right then, they seemed to be stuck on me.

"Both," he answered.

Everything in my body felt tense. Everything ached, a penetrating pulse that ate my bones and spat out dust. It was a reminder; fight or flight, and it turned out I was a flight risk after all.

"What happens now?"

Sterling's voice was strong and steady as he slipped into tactical mode. "Well, your boss and his wife are in a secure location, and we'll need to find one for you as well. We don't know if you were followed."

Gone was the peace that'd fluttered around us just moments before, the stillness he'd occupied for the first time since we'd met. His walls, which earlier had begun to quietly slip in the stillness, slammed back with a force I could feel in my chest. I almost regretted asking.

"Why can't I go to the one they're at?"

"They'll be moved soon," he informed. "And you would've eventually been put in separate safe houses, anyway."

"Am I going back in that direction? Is the safehouse near the city?"

"I can't disclose safehouse locations out here. Let's just say the further away you are, the better." He stood and did another scan of the empty park, his stiff posture giving nothing away to my uneasy gaze.

"So... I guess it wasn't so bad I came out here, after all, right?" I asked hopefully. "Distance and all that."

Embarrassment had started to creep in; Sterling had been forced to chase after me like kids on a playground. But his face darkened as he looked down at me, and his voice was cold in his response.

"I wouldn't say that."

I felt my face fall, berating myself for my stupidity. I'd made a dangerous mistake, and we both knew it. In a moment of pure panic, I'd put myself at risk.

"It's better we shake any tails you might have, then head to a safehouse."

I nodded.

Sterling offered his hand, and I allowed him to pull me up, clipping the leash on Rolo in preparation to leave. My brain was too addled to do any in-depth analysis of his plan, and even if I could, I was sure I'd end up agreeing with him. Sterling's mind obviously whirred and clicked with plans and analytics all day, and my mind was more vulnerable to emotion than I'd thought.

We headed to the exit of the tiny dog park, leaving the place where I'd relinquished the last pieces of my freedom to the man beside me.

"We're taking my car," Sterling said, jolting me out of wherever my brain had ended up. He was looking at the keys in my palm, holding his hand out expectantly.

"What'll happen to my car?"

"Someone will get it for you." His fingers bent towards his palm, and his chin jutted out again towards the keys.