"Alright," Ryder says as he tosses his jacket onto the couch of the hotel room. "We'll hole up here for a while. I used the hotel phone in the lobby, Damien's supposed to be meeting us here in about . . ." He looks down at his watch. "three hours. So, as soon as he gets here we'll figure what we do next in this . . . mess."

He stops and takes a second to look around the room. He looks back at Quinn since she's the one who booked the room.

"Why do we need a room this big?" He asks her. "For that matter, this is a fancy hotel, why are we here?"

"It has a refrigerator . . . and a ceiling fan," She replies.

I successfully manage to turn my laugh into a cough.

Quinn tosses her duffle bag on a second couch. "I didn't feel like going to a ratty motel. And since I was driving, I decided this would be a nice alternative. Besides, it's under my name. So Volkov can't find us here."

Ryder gives her a flat look. "Chances are Volkov already knows your name."

Quinn shakes her head. "Not my birth name."

Ryder gives her a look that says she should explain further.

She smiles at him, waves, and then heads for the door. "I'm going out to get some . . ." Her eyes connect with mine. "things. I'll be back in a little while. Anything ya need me to pick up?" She asks.

"Some new clothes would be great," I tell her. I nod in Ryder's direction. "For him too."

She nods. "Will do," She calls over her shoulder as she walks out the door.

Ryder lets out a long breath before pinning me with a stare. "Are you going to explain what she meant by that?"

I shrug and set my backpack down by the door before walking further into the room. "She wanted a name change after getting her divorce. You know, so that she wouldn't be found. So, I created a new identity for her, but she kept all her old IDs. Her first name's still the same, it's her last that's different."

Ryder looks at me with concern. "So instead of catching Volkov's attention, she decided to put herself in danger by attracting her ex-husband's attention?"

I shrug again. "That's Quinn for you," I reply simply. I look down at my phone briefly. "Don't worry," I tell him as I slide my phone back into my pocket. "I took care of it."

Ryder looks at me blankly. "You took care of it?"

I push open one of the four adjoining bedroom doors. "I got bored in the lobby," I say as I admire the huge room. "So, I may or may not have edited a few details about who the room has been rented out to on the hotel website."

"We were in the lobby for less than five minutes."

"I'm surprised you think it took me that long."

Ryder pinches the bridge of his nose before looking down at his shoes and muttering something along the lines of, I'm not hearing this.

He shakes his head. "I'm going to go clean up," He looks down at the dirt and blood on his skin and clothes. "Probably shower."

"You don't have any clean clothes," I remind him.

He walks over to my backpack and pulls out a set of clean clothes from one of the pockets.

I glare at him. "Are you serious? You've just been using me as your pack mule?"

"How do you not notice what else is in your backpack, I mean seriously? And," Ryder says as he starts off to one of the bedrooms. "this was because you kept running off on me and I never had enough time to gather anything except what I was wearing." He smiles at me. "Seems I no longer have to worry about that now."

I have to turn away from him to keep him from seeing the expression that crosses my face.

Yes, I think. You should worry. Because I'm going to run. One last time.

I hear the door shut as Ryder goes into the bedroom he's chosen for himself. I walk into the one across from his and close the door behind me as well. I lean back against it, letting it support my weight as the reality of what I intend to do crashes over.

Leave.

I'm going to leave . . . him.

"It's for his own safety," I mutter quietly to myself. "It's what's best for everyone."

I dig the phone back out of my pocket and dial a number I took the time to memorize not too long ago.

I hear the telltale click of someone answering, but there's no sound. No one speaks.

I frown. "John?" I question, waiting for a reply.

"Oh," He speaks up. "It's you."

I roll my eyes. "Don't sound so enthused," I say sarcastically.

"Have you watched the news recently?" He asks me.

"Yes," I reply.

"Then we have nothing to discuss."

"I disagree," I tell him. "I think we have a lot to discuss. You still haven't got Volkov."

"I'm working on tracking him down. He'll be dead as soon as I find him."

I start to pace around the room. "I can tell you exactly where he's going to be in say, three hours."

John's quiet for a long time. So long, in fact, I think he's hung up.

"Going to hang yourself out as bait?" He asks. "This will be fun to watch. Like leading a lamb to the slaughter."

I feel like strangling him. Lucky thing he's not actually in front of me or I'd probably end up dead for trying.

"I'm choosing the location. I'm setting everything up," I state. "I need you to be there."

"To try and bail you out before it's too late?" He questions.

"To take out Volkov," I tell him firmly.

"Oh that I'll do," He says. "But if I can't get to him before he gets to you . . . well, I won't lose any sleep."

I close my eyes and lean back against the door once again. "Just promise me one thing," I start. "Promise me Volkov doesn't leave that building alive."

It's silent for a long time.

"I can promise that," He says simply. "Send me the address for wherever you'll be. And I'll take care of the rest. Though, I can't tell you how long it'll take me to get there."

He doesn't have to tell me how long it'll take him to get there. I already know. I already did the math. Already looked at the maps.

He'd be there in time to end Volkov. But only if I bought him enough time. He'd be there in time to end it all.

But he wouldn't make it in time . . . to save me.

I slide down the door to sit on the floor. "I know," I reply simply. I end the call and slip the phone back into my pocket.

***

"Hey, matchstick!"

I nearly jump out of my skin when I hear Ryder calling. I can't tell how long I've been sitting on the floor. How long I've been lost in my own thoughts, in my own planning.

I push to my feet and try my best to school my face into a normal look. Try not to think of everything that's been running through my head as I open the door to the bedroom and walk out.

Ryder stands by the dining table, facing me, wearing a white t-shirt and jeans. He's barefoot and his hair still wet from his shower. And looking like he just stepped out of a catalog. Whereas when I step out of the shower I look like a drowned rat. It's completely unfair.

Ryder glances up at me briefly before putting his attention back on the room service menu in his hands. "Quinn come back yet?" He asks me.

"No," I reply.

He must have heard something in my tone of voice because he turns to look at me. To study me. "You okay? Everything alright?" He asks me.

I turn away so he can't see my face. "Yeah, just tired is all." I can still feel his gaze on me. Can hear his footsteps as he walks up to me.

He holds his hand out to me. I look down at it and then back up at him. "What?" I ask him.

"I need your phone," He says simply.

"Oh, of course, since you asked so nicely," I respond sarcastically. "Is there anything else of mine you'd like as well?"

He smiles his mischievous smile and my heart aches. "At the moment, no. But given enough time I could come up with a list of demands."

I play the part and roll my eyes before glaring at him and then typing in the password and handing him my phone.

He takes it. "I've got to make a call to Damien again, and then my father." He grimaces. "Neither one is bound to be a pleasant conversation. I'll be back in a bit." He steps out into the hallway to make his calls.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and turn to look in any direction other than the door he just walked out of. My gaze settles on the open door of the room he's chosen as his. And I notice something.

I look back to the door, making sure he's not coming through it right at this moment before moving into his room, toward the bed. Because he's laid out every single one of his guns on the bed. Quite frankly, I didn't even realize he'd been carrying this many guns on him at a time.

There's the one he keeps in his waistband. One for the holster on his side, another in an ankle holster and another two that he keeps I don't even know where.

I pick up the one he keeps in his waistband. I turn it over in my hands a few times before checking the number of bullets left in it.

I hear the door to the room open and I quickly slip the gun into the waistband at the small of my back, pulling my shirt down over it. I grab the blanket on the end of the bed and throw it over the guns, this way, hopefully, he won't realize it's missing until later. I just have to keep him out of the room until then.

"Have you been listening to a damn word I say?" I hear a familiar voice growl. I feel myself letting out a breath of relief when I realize it's Quinn and not Ryder. I walk quickly out of his room to see her set down several bags on the table, a phone pressed to her ear.

"So help me, Sean," She hisses between her teeth. "you call me one more time and you and I are going have some serious problems." She hangs up and slams the phone down on the table.

She looks up at me. "Men are idiots," She says.

I raise an eyebrow with her and let out an amused smile. I nod at the phone on the table. "Where'd that come from?"

She scowls at it. "It's mine. It's for work only. The other one I tossed in the river was my personal one." She glares down at the phone. "How he managed to get this number, I don't even want to know." She holds out a small black case to me.

I take it and flip it open, taking out the black rimmed glasses inside and replacing them with the ones I'm currently wearing. I slide the new pair over my eyes. I had her back the black case.

"I'm leaving," I tell her simply. "Within the next ten minutes."

She takes the case and sets it down on the table. She blows out a long sigh. "Nicolette," She says.

I wait for her finish. To say something else, but she doesn't. Instead, she closes the distance between us and throws her arms around me in a bone-crushing hug.

"I'd tell you to be safe," She whispers. "But I know you won't. So, I just have one question." She pulls away from me. "Am I going to see my best friend again?"

I stare at her before letting out a shaky breath and running a hand through my hair. "I just . . . I don't know."

She nods and turns away from me, biting her lip. I can see the tears in her eyes that she's refusing to let out and feel my own eyes start to water up. I blink back the tears.

She shakes her head. "All of this isn't worth it if you don't come back in one piece," She says.

I just smile sadly. "My family wouldn't have to run any longer. Volkov won't be hunting Ryder anymore, or you. I'd say that's worth it."

She shakes her head again. "You can't beat him if you're dead," She whispers before letting out a shaky laugh. "You know I abhor violence and I would never wish it upon another." She meets my eyes and there's a steely kind of determination in them. "But for everything's he's done to you and put you through . . . I wish him dead."

I smile at her. "I can promise you this, I'll either be coming back, or neither of us will, but Volkov will not be leaving alive. I've made sure it."

She nods slowly before gesturing to the door. "Ryder has your phone," She says simply. "Are you going to wait for it?"

I nod. "As soon as he's finished on the phone, I'll be taking it, making one last call and text and then ditching it."

As if on cue Ryder comes walking back into the room and hands me back my phone. "Damien's still a couple of hours out. As soon as he gets here we're probably going to be moving," He announces.

He frowns as he looks between the two of us. "Is something wrong?"

I feel like I can't speak. Like any words I say are going to choke me. Quinn's the one to speak.

"Nah," She says. "Nothing's wrong. Just reminiscing over the past is all." She starts making a show of going through the bags on the table before turning to Ryder. "Actually, if you've got nothing else to do, I could use some help preparing food." She locks eyes with me briefly. "Nicolette was going to help, but she's exhausted and going to take a nap instead."

Ryder glances at me and something flashes across his eyes before it's gone. He turns back to Quinn with a smile. "No problem," He replies. "What do you need me to do?"

I turn and head back toward the room I was using, but I don't go in it. I pause outside of it for a moment before focusing on the door leading out of here. Before I can take a step in that direction however, I'm stopped by an arm on my shoulder.

I feel myself tense up before whirling around to face Ryder. He tilts his head as he stares at me. "You okay there carrot top?" He asks me. "You looked about ready to take my head off."

I brush his arm off my shoulder. "Just a little jumpy," I reply.

He studies me for a long moment before shrugging and handing me a bottle of water and an apple. I give him a questioning look.

He shrugs. "You haven't had anything to eat or drink since we got out of the forest."

"I'm not hungry or thirsty," I tell him as I push both back in his direction.

He doesn't take either of them back. "Humor me," Is all he says before turning and heading back to the kitchen area to help Quinn.

I wait until he's out sight before ducking into the room I was using, arranging the pillows on the bed to look like a sleeping form and then covering them with the sheets. As soon as I've finished with that, I make my way out of the room, closing the door behind me and back to the front of the hotel room.

I pick my backpack up off the floor and slip the apple and water bottle inside before slowly and quietly easing open the door and then shutting it just as quietly.

I only let out a breath of relief after I'm safely in the elevator and heading for the ground floor.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and after a quick scan and search, I find the number I'm looking for it. I press the phone to my ear and wait while it rings.

"Well, well, well," Volkov's cold voice answers. "Isn't this a surprise."

"I want this to end, Volkov," I state. "You want me, come get me," I tell him before rattling off the address. "I'll be there in three hours." I hang up.

Reality is I'll actually be there in one hour. But I need some time to set things up so that hopefully, everything goes my way. Though, if I'm being honest, I'm not betting on it.