Trust No-one.
Dan sat waiting in the taxi, as Patrick ran up the steps to his apartment to fetch some cash to pay the cab driver. Of course, neither of them had any cash, and Dan had insisted upon not using credit cards, for fear of being traced.
"Sooo...." began Dan, to the cabby. As he looked at the cabby's ID card, he tried to make light conversation and wondered what on earth was taking Patrick so long. Perhaps the cab driver would let him run up and check on his new friend. By the look of his gruff face, hardened by years of being harassed, he doubted it. R. Raskol, the ID card said. Dan thought it somewhat peculiar that his first name was simply an initial.
"So Mr. Raskol, what do they call you at home?" asked Dan in as friendly a tone as he could muster.
"Vat do you mean," replied the Russian cabby in a low voice, full of needless aggression and authority.
"Oh, you know..." Dan drifted off as he finally saw Patrick jogging down the steps with a twenty pound note in his fist.
As they passed the fare to the large Russian, he nodded gruffly and stuffed it away. Just before the cab door shut, he said "They call me Rodion," then chuckled to himself as Dan and Patrick jogged up the steps.
Patrick lived on the 2nd story, and unlocked the front door to his flat and let Dan in. They both walked in and moved towards the couch in the corner of the room, and slumped down onto it. Dan breathed a sigh of relief - he was grateful to finally be somewhere where nobody knew where he was. Despite the fact that Pat's apartment left much to be desired, and needed a good tidying up, Dan knew he could relax - for a bit. As Patrick dialed Phoenix from his landline, Dan looked around the room. Books, paper, dirty coffee mugs, and assorted wrappers littered the floor and tabletops.
After Patrick got off the phone, Dan asked to use the phone. Not meaning to sound as official as he did, he said, "I need to call my organization and meet up with them. I need to inform them of the events that transpired tonight."
"Why not we rest here for now. I'm so tired Dan. You kin call your M16 buddies first thing tomorrow morning. I'd like to meet up with the girls tomorrow morning too, I reckon they're worried sick by now."
Exhausted, Dan reluctantly agreed and tilted his body on the couch until he was horizontal. Patrick swiveled around in his lazy boy and picked up a bag of coco pops, offering some to Dan, who shook his head no.
Outside, Rodion's dark gaze had followed Patrick and Dan up the steps and into the flat. As they disappeared into Patrick's flat, he pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number.
"Drejna... I have located them."
Stay tuned next week, for Part 8 of the all-new series, The Spy Who Called Bingo.
Read previous episodes of The Spy Who Called Bingo:
The Spy Who Called Bingo: Part 1
The Spy Who Called Bingo: Part 2
The Spy Who Called Bingo: Part 3
The Spy Who Called Bingo: Part 4
The Spy Who Called Bingo: Part 5
The Spy Who Called Bingo: Part 6
Read the finale of A Bingo Romance:
Bingo My Heart Out: Finale
