“I don’t laugh. I mean, I do, now, but not usually.”
Gunner nodded. “I’m the same way.”
“Do you ever wish we could just stay here forever?”
Her question stunned him. “All the time.”
“Me too. I can’t, though. Not until…”
“Does that mean you’ll want to come back?”
He couldn’t read the look in her eyes. Was she waiting for him to tell her she could, or that he wanted her to? “I’d love it if you’d stay here with me forever.”
“After.”
“I understand.”
* * *
Raketa didn’t bring up the conversation they’d had about meeting Ava at all that afternoon, so he didn’t either. When she was ready to talk about it, she would.
In the meantime, he was anxiously waiting for word from either Doc or Shiv. They needed to talk about what their plan of action would be once they did.
“We should get ready to leave the island.”
Raketa looked startled. “Have they found Petrov?”
“Not yet, but we should be ready to go at a moment’s notice. It’ll take time for us to arrange transport to Iran if your theory proves correct.”
“Do you want to leave now?”
“I don’t. I just want to make a plan.”
She bit her lower lip and looked away from him.
“Talk to me, Zary.”
She turned back and smiled at his use of the name. “Has Doc said anything about UR?”
Gunner shook his head. “Listen, you don’t have to go with me. I can have Monk come back, or…”
“She’s my mother.”
Gunner shifted closer to her on the sofa and put his arm around her shoulders. “I can’t read your mind, sweetheart. Tell me what’s going on in that beautiful head of yours.”
“I’m wondering who they’ll send.”
“Is there anyone you’re more concerned about than others?”
Raketa shrugged.
Knowing that anyone—from UR or Petrov—was on the hunt for Raketa filled him with a sense of dread unlike any he’d felt before. It drove home, in a very direct way, why getting involved with someone else in their line of work was a very bad idea. When it was personal, mistakes came by way of emotion. It occurred to him that Raketa knew this as well as anyone.
“Tell me what happened in Washington.”
“Why?”
“How was Topor able to get to you?”