Chapter 28: Emerald and Ruby

I'm just about to say more when Joe knocks on the window. "Does she drive well enough for you?" he asks.

"She's perfect," I reply, acting as normal as I can, "How much?"

"You want documents to make this all look legit?"

"Obviously. Register the car under 'Megan Wilson.' And two extra sets of license plates that are also assigned to this car."

Joe looks bemused. "What kind of trouble do you plan on finding yourself in?"

"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, Joe. That's what I always say."

"You're a weird kid, Bella," Joe shifts his unlit cigarette around in his mouth.

"Right back at you, Joe."

"Three," he declares, "For the car, documents, and three legally registered license plates."

"C'mon, Joe, doesn't this fine establishment offer a family discount?"

Joe chortles. "You ain't family."

"And this ain't a fine establishment. 'Sides, Oliver is basically my brother and you're kind of his Uncle. Sounds like family to me."

"Try again," Joe shakes his head.

"Two-three plus a fake ID and birth certificate from whatever state you want. Hand-delivered tomorrow, and they'll be so legit that you can search them up on a government database."

Joe raises an eyebrow. "You can do that?"

"I have my ways."

"You able to delete any criminal records?"

"Depends on what you did," I shrug. I do not know Joe well enough to even guess what this could be. If this is assault or murder or something my answer will be a resounding no.

"Punching a cop, stealing cars, some slight fraud…" Joe lists, "Marijuana possession. Oh! I once stole two purebred French Bulldogs."

I bust out laughing. "No shit?"

"No shit," Joe confirms, "You can seriously delete my record?"

"I've got friends in high places."

"I'm starting to think you are family, Bella York." I grin at him. "One-five and proof of a cleared criminal record for everything. Consider it a family discount."

"Joe, you're a good man," I reach out and shake his hand.

"I know," he grins, "Now get the hell out of here. I'll see you at noon tomorrow. Bring proof of my record or $3,000. Up to you."

"Where are we going now?" Alex hisses as we speed walk back to the Metro stop.

"Well, he won't have the documents until tomorrow. We have a place to stay tonight, but we're getting the hell out of DC as soon as humanly possible tomorrow morning."

"Ella, wait," Alex stops me in my tracks, "You promised we would communicate before we did anything."

I sigh. "Yes, right. I have a safe house and would really like to get there before we say anything more. Are you okay with that? It's not far, I promise. Just about an hour by train."

Alex nods. "Yeah. I guess that's fine."

After an hour and a half of uneventful, silent train travel, we get back to the safe house. I pull the key back out of my sock and the feeling of being back here is almost overwhelming. I take a deep breath and take off my backpack and hoodie.

"Make yourself comfortable. I'm happy to answer whatever questions you have, but I have to do one thing first."

I race into the bedroom and pull my laptop back out. Thankfully, it still has some charge from earlier, so I'm able to get on immediately. I pull up this messaging site, Emerald, that Yuri had created for the renters of this apartment (me, him, Oliver, Fenna, Sem, and the Yaron siblings). Oliver named it after my eyes (and yes, the Fleetwood Mac song was playing during that decision). It has, like, a dozen encryptions and firewalls, or whatever Yuri told me a few years back. Suffice it to say, it's secure.

It's actually Yuri's name that I type into the message bar (he goes by Ruby). I know him the least well of everyone, but he's not Piper, and so he should be in DC right now.

Emerald:

Hey, Ruby. Sorry this is out of the ordinary, but I need your help here. Not an emergency, but ASAP, please.

I wait a moment for him to get the message and log on. Computer-Whiz Yuri rigged Emerald so that whenever someone was messaged, a severe weather alert went to every one of their devices. The kicker is, that no matter where in the world the person was, the location always defaulted to thunderstorms in Akron, Ohio to eliminate any confusion.

I pace around the room for a few moments before his message finally pops up.

Ruby:

Be there in 25.

-R

"So, Alex," I say as I re-enter the living room, "You remember Yuri?" He nods. "He will be over in 25 minutes to help us with some stuff, so your question time is until you hear a key in that door. Okay?" Alex is sitting on the couch staring at a blank television. I walk over and sit on the cushion next to him. "To answer the basics, this is a safehouse I share with some of the friends you met in The Hague. It's supplied with almost anything you could need to dress a wound, change your identity, kill a man, and more. We're staying here one night to get our acts together before we start the drive up to Maine to get the passports. I've just messaged Yuri to come over to help me with a couple of things including deleting Joe's criminal history."

"You live an insane life. Even to me."

"Isn't that a tragedy," I remark, "So how are you doing anyway?" I nudge his arm.

"Yeah, Ella, I'm trying really hard to be cool with all of this, but it isn't easy. The CIA is trying to permanently injure me because one of the men in charge thinks I might charm his daughter out of his grasp," he shakes his head.

"Welcome to my world. Hello, Alex," I reach a hand out for him to shake, "Been that daughter for nineteen years. How have your first three hours been?"

He shakes my hand. "Ella, as somebody who grew up desperately wanting parents and has never really understood the whole 'no-contact' thing on a personal level, why the fuck do you still talk to him? My best mate had a horrible home life growing up and never looked back the moment he graduated from school."

"It's not that simple," I whisper, looking at my shoes, "Or, it wasn't that simple. Yes, he put me through way too much as a child and teenager, but he's still my Dad, you know?" I look up at Alex. "Today has been different. I think I've reached the point of no return."

"Because of how he treated me?" Alex raises both of his eyebrows.

"Yes. No. Somewhat," I stutter.

"Yeah, those are the three options," Alex smirks at me. In spite of it all, it's good to see him smile again.

"Partly for what he's attempting to do to you, partly for some family stuff I learned today and am not ready to talk about, and partly because I am finally ready to take my destiny into my own hands."

"What do you mean by that last part? Change your identity and escape?"

"Hell no. I'm going to fight back and take down any fucker in a position of power who has ever wronged me."

Alex's eyes widen. "And how do you plan to do that?"

"Not sure yet. The idea just came to me today, but I think we were meant to do it together."

"Together?"

"I don't believe that everything happens for a reason, but, I do believe that everyone who comes into your life serves a purpose. Alex, we have incredibly similar backgrounds. I think we met at eighteen so that we could finally get the revenge our child-selves deserve."

"Go on," Alex is nearly silent.

"I know a lot of young people in this business, and besides my older brother to a very limited degree, not a single person has been through what we have. Manipulated by our families and governments essentially since birth to go on suicide missions; denied a childhood; and basically left to die. We were both dealt the worst hand of cards and if we don't take back some of the power now, it's going to kill us for real. The best part is that we're not kids anymore. Because of their training, we actually have some cards of our own."

"How do you know about my family?" Alex looks over at me, finally saying more than a word or two.

Realizing I had jumped the gun, I open my mouth to backtrack when I hear a noise coming from outside.

Alex and I jump when a key enters the lock on the door. "It's me," I hear a familiar vaguely Russian accent call through the door, "I come bearing Pirozhki!"

"Later," I mouth to Alex, who still looks concerned, "Hey, Yuri." I greet him from the couch. He's wearing black track pants and a black hoodie. While I appreciate he left the camo jacket at home, it's weird to see him without it.

"Elsje, you are American today," he notes, placing a wrapped tray of Pirozhki on the coffee table. He sits across from Alex and I.

"Oh, yeah," I say, forgetting that Yuri and I have only spoken in person in the Hague, "Gotta stay in character," I smile weakly. He nods.

"Alex, is that you? You are not blonde."

"Elsje dyed my hair," he replies in his normal accent.

"Well, now that that's all squared away," I begin, "Yuri, I'm sorry to bother you, but we need help and I don't know who else to turn to. Alex and I are in a bit of trouble with the US government and need your help escaping back to England unnoticed. Oliver said that I could trust you," I give him my most helpless look.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course," he says quickly, "Oliver is my brother, and any friend of his is a friend of mine."

"Oliver is like my brother too," I smile.

Yuri nods. "Well then, you're family. So how can I help?"

"You can delete someone's criminal record, right?"

"Yeah, easily," he replies, "Did you get into trouble, Elsje?" He raises an eyebrow.

"No, not me. It's a weird situation. To make a long story very short, Alex and I need to go off-grid and sneak back to England. I'm buying a used car from someone, and he offered us half-price if we deleted his criminal history."

Yuri nods, and it's nice to finally have someone who just listens without questioning me. "Sure thing, let me get my laptop."

He leaves and just Alex and I remain. "I'm really sorry," I whisper to him, "I know this is a lot." Alex just nods, not saying anything more. Great. All of this drama and now I have to walk on eggshells too.

Yuri walks back in and plugs in his laptop. "You look skinny," he remarks at me, "When was the last time you ate something?"

I think back for a moment. "Dinner last night? Or wait, I had a hotdog bun before I went to bed."

Yuri's eyes widen and Alex suppresses a smile. "That will not do," he shakes his head, "Eat up." He hands me a Pirozhki. I bite into the meat-filled dough pocket and it's still warm.

"This is really good," I say with a bite of Pirozhki in my mouth.

"Chew with your mouth closed," Yuri reprimands me and Alex laughs for real this time.

"What's so funny?" I take another bite and nudge his arm, "It's good."

"Elsje, you have meat in your teeth," Yuri notes and powers up his computer. Alex smirks at me and I ignore them both.

"Иди в баню," I mumble. Get lost. Both men laugh.

"Alex, you speak Russian?" Yuri and I ask simultaneously.

He finally perks up. "Yeah. I've been self-teaching it since I was sixteen."

"That is great news," Yuri replies in Russian with the biggest smile I've ever seen on him, "Now let us speak this beautiful language. What is the name of the man whose record I'm erasing?"

"Joseph Baker Stafford," I reply and Yuri begins typing something, "Out of curiosity," I say in Russian this time, "What exactly is listed?"

Yuri begins reading off of his screen in English. "Twelve parking tickets, two stolen cars, three speeding tickets, possession of marijuana and cocaine, fraud surrounding sales of vehicles, underage drinking citation from when he was nineteen, assault of one police officer, public intoxication in the Reflecting Pool, and robbery of two French Bulldogs."

"Who among us hasn't been drunk in the Reflecting Pool," I note. Alex and Yuri give me very judgmental looks, "Sorry you guys aren't true DC kids like I am."

"Aren't you from the Netherlands?" Yuri asks at the same time Alex asks "Aren't you from Virginia?"

"Details, details," I brush them off, "Anything else on that list?"

"No," Yuri skims the list again, "Why would someone steal…dogs? I'm not misunderstanding?"

I grin. "Stealing fancy, expensive dogs is a newer trend. People steal them and resell them."

"This is why I'm a cat person," Yuri says stoically, returning to Russian. He's quiet for a few more minutes while I finish my Pirozhki. "Eat another," he commands without looking my way, "I don't know who raised you, but you look hungry."

"I'm fine, Yuri," I protest in his language, but grab a second one anyway. "Did you make these?"

"My Babushka's recipe," he says thoughtfully before returning to typing, "Elsje how do you know this man?"

"Ask Oliver," I brush him off.

"Of course," he rolls his eyes, "Never a real answer from either of you."

"Yuri, I need to remain mysterious or I will die," I reply. Alex laughs and Yuri just shakes his head.

"You need to eat more Pirozhki or you will die," he counters. I make the difficult decision to be quiet for a few minutes and eat my dinner.

"Okay, done," Yuri says, finally breaking the silence, "Mr. Joseph Baker Stafford is now an innocent man. I left three parking tickets and one speeding ticket just to not be too suspicious."

"Thanks, Yuri," I smile, "Would you be able to print this out for me? The man wants proof." Yuri nods and I hear the printer begin to churn.

We're interrupted by a phone call, and it takes me a second to realize that it's mine–the phone my Uncle Johannes gave me. It's from an unknown number. Who is this? Did my Dad find me? Did Uncle betray me? My hands are shaking as I stare at the tiny screen of the flip phone.

The phone beeps and the caller leaves a message. I stand up to walk to the bedroom to listen.

"Elsje, who is that?" Alex furrows his brow, "I thought you gave up your phone." I brush him off and leave the room.

I walk over and face the bed. My hands are still shaking as I pull up the voicemail box. With tears in my eyes threatening to spill over, I click the singular message.

"Hey, Elsje," I hear my Uncle's voice and almost start sobbing in relief, "I know you probably don't recognize this number, but it's me, I'm safe, and you should call me back." I dial his number as fast as I can.

"Uncle?" I say as soon as the phone clicks.

"Elsje! Sorry if I scared you. I bought a new phone at Walmart. It's a wonderful place! Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that it's getting dark and I was about to begin the drive back and call your mom," he pauses, "Do you still want me to do that?"

I swallow. "Yes."

"You're sure? This is probably the last time we can speak until you're safely back in Europe."

"Yeah, I know. I'll be okay. I've found Alex and have a plan."

"Okay. I'm going to call your mom in twenty minutes to give you a little bit more time. Do you have a CIA credit card?"

"I do."

"Do you pay for it?"

"No."

"Then might I recommend you find a store as far away as possible in the next 20 minutes and max out the credit card by purchasing those prepaid VISA gift cards? Untraceable, and they'll let you stretch Mrs. Jones' cash a little further."

"You're a genius. I'll do that as soon as we hang up."

"Good. You have exactly 20 minutes after we hang up to use that credit card," he pauses, "One more thing: have you told Alex about Piper? Or what I said about your parents? Because, Elsje, I think we should keep all of that secret for right now. I don't want anything to get in the way of you getting home safely."

"No, I have not told Alex. That's not for him to know right now, if ever. And yes, I'll tread lightly."

"Good. Tot ziens, Elsje."

"Bye," I whisper and hang up.

When I turn around, I see Alex leaning against the doorframe with his head tilted. "Who was that?"

"Personal call," I reply, walking towards the doorway. Alex blocks my exit with his body and I bump into his arm. "What are you doing?" I exclaim.

"I don't trust you."

"Then get out of my safehouse and try your own luck." I do not have time for his cold feet.

"I heard you say my name on the phone. I think I have a right to know who you're speaking about me with. And, I thought we both gave up our phones."

"Alex, please let me through. This is time-sensitive." I'm breathing heavier now. I try to duck under his arm to get through the door but he grabs my wrist. Without even a second of hesitation, I twist my arm quickly and deliver a roundhouse kick to the side of his knee, causing him to fall to the floor and release my arm. I will not be anybody's punching bag. I ignore him calling to me as I make a run for the front door.

"Woah, Elsje, what is up?" Yuri looks very concerned.

"Time-sensitive. I'll be back in 40 minutes," I pant.

Yuri looked between me and Alex. "Let me drive you. My car is a block away. Alex," he turns to the ground, "There's ice in the fridge. Stay here."

"What was that all about?" Yuri asks me in concerned Russian once we're sitting in his car.

"Drive towards Georgetown," I instruct in the same language, "There's a Wawa on Wisconsin Avenue." There is a pair of sunglasses resting on his center console and I put them on my face. I forgot my hoodie in a panic, so these will have to be good enough.

"Okay," he nods. He is quiet for a moment as I try to slow down my breathing. Thoughts ping around the inside of my skull like pinballs. Alex wouldn't try to hurt me, right? I must have misread this situation. Why doesn't he trust me? He never should have grabbed me. I am no one's punching bag. I rub my eyes so hard I see those little stars. "Elsje, we may not know each other very well, but you can talk to me. I promise I can keep a secret, and I might be able to help," Yuri says thoughtfully.

"Nothing is wrong! It was all a misunderstanding."

"How did I misunderstand?"

"You just don't know the whole story. Everything is perfectly fine."

"Do you need me to get rid of this boy for you?"

"What? Yuri, no. He and I just had a misunderstanding."

"You're using that word a lot. Are you sure you're okay?" He raises an eyebrow at me.

"I will be," I pause. Thanks for driving me."

"Anytime," he nods, "You're family."

We pull up to the Wawa and I tell him to circle the block until I'm back. I make a beeline for the rack of gift cards towards the front of the store. My CIA credit card has a $50,000 limit and I'll never be able to spend that all in 12 more minutes. I see $500 worth of the VISA gift cards and I take them all. I take another $500 worth of Wawa ones to potentially use for gas later. There are a few different chain restaurants: McDonald's, Popeye's, Dunkin, Pizza Hut, Waffle House, and Hooters (okay, I skip that one) and add them to my pile.

Last, I grab a pair of scissors and as many family-size bags of chips as I can carry and race over to the self-checkout. Baruch Hashem, this place is busy enough that no one is looking at me.

I scan the six bags of chips, and the self-checkout machine reminds me of something spectacular: the cash-back feature. I hit the highest choice, $100, and it's like I've found the Fountain of Youth. Each individual transaction is basically a free $100. I speed through the next few transactions–five gift cards at a time–and by the time everything is checked out, I'm $1,000 richer. Two grocery bags in hand, I pocket the money when I see something even more beautiful: an ATM at the front of the store.

I check my phone: 2 minutes left. Decision made. I insert my card and am able to get out another $2,000 before time is up and I get too scared to push my luck any longer.

I begin to stuff the bills into my bra when I realize I've made a terrible miscalculation.

There are three very drunk, presumably college guys jeering at me. The first is of average height, maybe 5'10, with close-cropped blonde hair. He's wearing khakis and an ill-fitting Georgetown t-shirt. He reeks of booze and his fingernails are stained a very permanent yellow. "Excuse me miss, I'll take that extra cash off your hands," he says to me.

"Messing with me is a very bad idea," I snarl, taking one step backward. His friends flank him from behind.

"Anyone intimidated by the girl?" he asks his buddies. I change my mind. Where the fuck is everyone else in this Wawa? His friends' answer is a resounding no. This might as well happen.

He takes one step closer to me and grabs me by the collar of my shirt. "Hand it over," he demands. I place my free hand onto his forehead and perfectly execute a Krav Maga leg sweep, making the man a heap on the floor.

"Anyone else?" I challenge his friends. The one on the left takes a step towards me, and I deliver an uppercut punch into his jaw, causing him to stumble backward into a shelf of plasticware and sauce packets. The third friend stares at me dumbfounded, and he gets a quick elbow to the side of the head. "Told you," I mumble.

Ira would be so proud of me, I think to myself as I hop over their bodies. I exit the Wawa immediately, ignoring cries and calls from back inside.

I thank my lucky stars when I see Yuri's car waiting right in front of the door. "Drive, drive, drive!" I exclaim.

Yuri peels off and begins driving in the opposite direction of Glover Park.

"Yuri, where are we going?" I am nervous, "The house is in the other direction."

"I'm taking you back to my apartment. Better to have an indirect route back to the safe house."

"That's smart," I say, still trying to catch my breath.

"You sure you're okay?" he asks, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Fine," I reply.

"Alright," he considers and we're silent for the next 20 minutes. We get out of his car and enter Yuri's apartment. It's a two-bedroom unit in Navy Yard, and I can finally catch my breath.

Yuri leaves and returns several moments later with a mug of hot tea and a napkin containing two warmed-up Syrniki. I nibble one of the cheesy pancakes and look up from the couch at Yuri. "You don't have to keep feeding me, you know."

"I do. It's how I'm wired. I still don't know what she means, but Fenna calls it my love language."

"Wait, Yuri, that's actually really sweet," I consider, taking a sip of my tea, "I love you too."

"You hardly even know me."

"Yeah, but you're Oliver's best friend. And Noa really likes you as well."

"She does?" Yuri smiles slightly, "I like her too."

"Good. And if my two favorite people in this whole world love you, then so do I."

Yuri smiles. "Then I guess I love you too," he thinks for a minute, "I do feel the urge to just keep feeding you," he chuckles.

"Then it's definitely love," I smile back.

"Yes," Yuri shifts awkwardly on his chair across from me, "Now, will you please talk to me? I know we have only just declared our love for one another, but I need to make sure you're safe with Alex."

"Yeah. You caught us at a bad moment there," I admit.

"I'm a good listener."

"We're both really stressed out right now. The government is on our tails, and I've had some family stuff come to light recently. We're both behaving badly and are both a little too stubborn to talk about it, I think." I don't know why I'm confessing all of this to Yuri. I really need to squash this new 'honesty' thing and stop spilling my guts the second a nice Russian boy makes me pancakes.

"Talking is good," he nods, "But I must ask: why did you kick him?"

My fists clench. "I was wrong for that, but my reasoning was that he grabbed my wrist first and I have a lot of personal stuff going on."

"I see," Yuri replies noncommittally, "Do you feel safe around him?"

"Woah, way to get to the hard-hitting questions, Yuri," I try to laugh it off.

"Seriously, Elsje."

I make eye contact with him. "I do, seriously. He and I will be okay. We're both just going through a lot and handling it very poorly."

"Okay," Yuri finally concedes, "Finish your food and then I'll take you back."

"Thanks, Yuri," I reply, finishing off the first Syrniki, "And thanks for being the first person not to ask if we're dating."

"I don't ask people about their romantic lives. You can always tell me, but it's not my place to ask," he says quickly.

I nod. "Respectable."

I am sitting on the Metro with Yuri acting as normal as possible. I am not on the run from the United States Government. My family is loving and my Dad has never laid hands on my mother. Alex and I are so normal right now. The number of fake DC, Virginia, and Maryland driver's licenses I have on my person does not constitute decades of jail time. I did not just lie to my only ally in this whole city.

As much as Oliver and now Noa like Yuri, it's still not my place to trust him completely. He's a good guy and a great cook, sure, but I still don't really know him. Yes, I feel safe around Alex, but he has a lot of explaining and apologizing to do if he doesn't want to get left in this safe house.

I adjust the hat on my head. Back at his apartment, Yuri had given me a purple Nike ball cap and a pair of fake glasses with thick black frames. It's good to have an ever-changing appearance while on the run.

It's nearly an hour and a half before we get back to the safehouse, because Yuri and I missed a couple of trains and took a few detours on purpose. You can never be too careful.

We open the door to find Alex lying on the couch with a bag of frozen peas on his knee.

Alex and I lock eyes. "Where the hell were you?"

AN: In which egos make the whole operation go awry...