Where the Ghosts Lie

Chapter Sixteen

"You can still go home." Nolan said, taking a drink from his water bottle. "You said it yourself; you're not up for another mission, and I don't blame you."

Grace broke off a piece of crust from her sandwich and rolled it into a tiny ball between her fingers. "This is what I do, and I've been doing it for almost ten years now. I'm exhausted, drained, and my brain feels like pudding, but I know the weight of this operation." She tossed the little bread ball back onto her plate. "Toby was right; if we fail and mess up the CIA's plan, we wreck everything. It'll be our fault."

Nolan nodded. "True." He waited a few moments before asking, "So you've been held hostage three times?"

She looked up at him sharply and then shrugged. "Yeah. The first time was just political. In fact, it was the Bolsheviks that captured us. But it wasn't too bad, we were all held in a room for five days until the U.S. sent over some troops to make negotiations." She took in a long breath and relaxed into her seat. "And the second time was when we found information about Bin Laden, which no one seemed happy about. That was rough. Almost none of us made it out of that. Then, of course, you know about the third time. It wasn't bad physically...until they started shooting everyone." Her tone was dry and lifeless as if she'd taken these events as a fact of living.

"I take you to the finest deli in all of Austria and it turns out you're the most depressing company I've ever had." Nolan remarked.

Grace looked up at the broken pipes on the ceiling and the floor that was slick with grease. "Mmm, "finest" isn't exactly the word I would use, and you were the one who wanted to know. And just for future reference, guys can't just ask a lady about their hostage situations."

Nolan laughed. "Oh really? Well, do forgive me. It's been a while since I've talked to a lady."

"What? Seriously?"

"Pretty much, actually. The women in jail weren't exactly...ladylike, if you know what I mean. They were pretty terrifying. Have you ever seen two serial-killer women fight? The MMA has nothing on something like that."

Grace's eyes widened. "So there weren't any nice ones? Like, at all?"

Nolan raised an eyebrow. "Mentally unstable isn't exactly my type, if that's what you're asking."

Grace tried to suppress it for a brief second, but a laugh escaped nonetheless. When she laughed, it was like her whole face was affected by it and Nolan found himself chuckling too.

"That's not what I was asking." She said, wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye. After a few more slight giggles, she'd calmed herself.

"Come on." Nolan said, a grin still lingering on his face. "We'd better get moving."

She nodded and got up. "You're right."