Two Evils Read Online Free Page A

shoot him.
    After what seemed like forever, she reset the hammer on the Sig and returned it to her waistband. Without a word, Billie simply turned around and started walking again. John blew out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding and followed.
    Nearly fifteen minutes later—after having walked at least half a mile—they came to a door. Billie punched buttons on a numerical keypad too fast for his eyes to catch the combination, and a light flashed green on the panel at the same time as he heard a sharp click. She opened the door and walked through it. John was quick to follow lest she’d given up shooting him in favor of blowing him up along with her escape tunnel. He closed the door behind him and turned around to find that he was in a cellar. Billie was already across the room and headed up a set of wooden stairs.
    As he joined her he asked, “Is this your house?”
    “No, it was Sergei’s. You can thank the dead man later,” she replied. “We need to leave.”
    “Aren’t we safe here for the moment?” John pressed as they climbed the stairs and walked through another door into the kitchen.
    Billie turned to him, though she reached past him to push the basement door closed. He moved aside and she keyed a series of numbers into yet another control pad, then looked back at him. “We need to leave,” she repeated. “That tunnel will be collapsing in about a minute, and this house is set to go up in flames in about two.”
    She took his flashlight from him and set it beside hers on the small dining table to the left of the basement door, then turned and started through the house. John followed. “Won’t all the fire and explosions alert the local LEOs?”
    “Of course they will,” Billie said as she unlocked and walked out the front door. “The point is to get a lot of cops asking questions. If the locals are asking questions, it means the guys who shot up the bar will have to lay low until the hoopla dies down, unless they want to draw attention to themselves. Gives me time to pack up and leave.”
    John looked around. They were in a quiet neighborhood with cars in driveways and kids’ toys in the front yards. He smelled more than saw the smoke that was most likely coming from the bar, which he knew wasn’t far away.
    “So have you decided to come back with me?” he asked her.
    “I didn’t say that.” Billie gathered the jacket around her to keep all her weapons concealed and started to button it as she walked away. John jogged to catch up.
    “Billie, please reconsider. Maybe if you come back with me, we can find out who’s behind the shooting at the bar,” he suggested.
    “But only after I help you with whatever little problem you came down here to get my help with, right? No thank you.”
    “Look, Billie—”
    She stopped and turned toward him, slapping a hand against his mouth. Strangely, he was tempted to kiss her palm in order to get her to drop it. But as soon as John had the thought it became unnecessary, as his silence was enough to get her to do so.
    “I am tired. I just worked half the night away slinging swill and lost all that mo ney when the damn bar blew up. I just lost my bar because I had to blow it up to cover our escape. And I lost one of the best friends I’ve ever had because some random fuckhead shot him, so you’ll have to excuse me if I just don’t give a shit about your problem, Agent Courtney,” Billie said tiredly. “I’m going to go home. I’m going to take a long, hot shower. And then I am going to go to bed.”
    John stifled a groan and was about to launch into another attempt to sway her when the smell of smoke got stronger. He looked over his shoulder and saw that indeed, the house they’d just exited was on fire. He looked back at Billie, and in silent agreement the two of them started walking again.
    “Billie, what can I say to change your mind?” he asked after a moment.
    “Right now, nothing,” she replied succinctly. “But since