Chapter Text
When I wake up, Pepper’s not in her usual spot at the end of my bed. “Pep?” In response to my lazy shout, my dog lets out a happy bark from the living room. Huh. Is someone here? Jake might be. Once he cleaned my entire kitchen while I was out cold after a case. He could very well have grabbed my spare-
“Morning, Sleeping Beauty.” Oh, I’m still not used to this. Kai Holman stands in my living room, Pepper’s chewed-up tennis ball in hand. She barks again, and he grins. “Okay, okay, chill out, Pep.”
“Didn’t think you’d be using the spare key any time soon, Holman.” He shrugs, gestures over to the counter.
“Pop insisted on me bringing you some breakfast before we head out.” Kai frowns, and I immediately want to make him smile again. “You should really think about making your text tone something loud and obnoxious so it gets you up.”
“Oh, like you?” His jaw drops, but then he grins, and I smile back.
It’s been about three months since he’d asked me out, and since then, it’s been nothing but absolute fucking bliss. He’s shown me what it means to be loved for something other than my body, has treated me like the princess he so often teasingly calls me. (And best of all, neither Tennant nor Jesse has killed us, even though we have broken one of the infamous Gibbs’ Rules.)
“You’re insufferable.”
I poke his chest gently. “You love it.”
His grin instantly softens into a warm smile. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.” His lips on mine are perfect, and I nearly melt into his arms. Safe. Gentle. My Kai.
The one I still haven’t told about what I’m going to do to keep him, and everyone else, safe. He lets out a soft sigh into my mouth, and I reach up, cupping his face in a hand.
For now, though, it’s us, alone. And I need to treasure these moments before they’re gone. Kai presses me against the counter, lips traveling down to my neck, and- My phone rings, loud and obnoxious. Jesse’s ringtone.
Kai groans, pulling away. I scramble for my phone in the pocket of my sweatpants, pick it up just in time for the seventh ring. “Hi, Jess-”
“ You two better not be playing-”
“Bye, Jess!”
The pilot rolls down his window at Jesse’s gesture. “Gonna need your license and registration.”
Kai scoffs.
“Really?”
I rest a hand on Jesse’s shoulder. “Sorry about him.” Jesse Boone. My godfather. The one the anonymous organization I moonlight for had in mind when they killed Jewel. Or at least that’s what I’ve gathered from the little information they’ve given me.
The more files I feed them, the more I’ll rise up the ranks, the closer I’ll be to figuring out what happened to my sister. The more files I feed them, the safer all the people I care about will be, and the closer I will be to dismantling the organization once and for all.
“We do need you to open the main cabin door and let us in,” Kai adds. I can’t look at him without feeling guilty. Hopefully he can’t tell. Hopefully he’ll understand why I’m doing what I’m doing later. The pilot glances over his shoulder.
“You don’t want me to do that.”
A few minutes, and a few gas masks, later, we’re entering the main cabin. Each of the passengers are slumped over, and I bend down next to one, an older Caucasian man with a slight beard. No breath. Jesse glances up at me, and I shake my head.
Kai checks the back of the plane while Jesse and I survey the interior. There’s not much to see, and the bodies kind of take up most of my attention. The device my partner pulls out lets out a beep. “The air is clean.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, check for yourself.”
I jerk a thumb over my shoulder. “Not to mention, the pilot was healthy enough to put up with your jokes.” Jesse rolls his eyes.
“Okay. But for safety, you take your mask off first.” Kai glances back, stunned, and I glare. “Just kidding, bud.” When we’d made it official, no one on the team was surprised. Lucy had the biggest smile I’ve ever seen from her, Tennant clapped her hands and let out a squeal (one which she’ll probably never give again), and Jesse crossed his arms and harrumphed. Then he smiled.
I will have to betray these people, and I will hate every moment of it . But for now, we take off our masks and breathe in the non-lethal air. “Passengers got dosed with something.”
“Probably these.” Jesse holds up an empty bottle.
“Poisoned drink, just like back in D.C. I mean, it fits Maxwell’s MO.”
“Especially considering he’s not here.”
The lie I’d told Jesse as to why Jewel’s case is once again a dead end is pretty solid. At least, in the standards of a Navy cop: Spencer made a move on me, then dipped. Spencer, the “only” source I had on her death. Both my biological dad and my god-dad looked as if they were ready to fight an FBI agent (only one of my dads would win). I’d stopped them by saying I’d tried to find him, and he’d run.
That’s true: I’d, uh, borrowed one of Ernie’s encrypted tablets to search up the loft a few weeks after Tennant’s party. Vacant. Kobayashi’s number was disconnected, too. The part of me that’d been attracted to him breathed a sigh of relief. The other part of me, the part that literally joined NCIS to close Jewel’s case, cried.
“... hung up on me?”
Uh, yes. I’d done that earlier, but for good reason. “Kai and I were not playing anything. He just brought me some breakfast from Uncle Wally’s.”
Jesse glances down at me, then nods slowly, not believing a word I’m saying. At least we made it to AFMES without any further mortifying conversation. I shove open the door a little harder than is necessary. “Afternoon, Commander Chase.”
“How you doing?” “Well, better than these poor souls.”
“Sucking down a bottle full of poison is a nasty way to go.”
I let out a breath as I stare down at the bodies. “Could say that-”
“ That it’s maybe the seventeenth worst way to go .” I don’t recognize the man on the screen, so I start paying attention.
Not that I wasn’t before. Just need to remember what I’m about to hear. “Special Agents Jesse Boone and Sage Chang, meet ME Dr. Jimmy Palmer.”
“Jimmy Palmer. Name sounds familiar.”
“ Yeah, I’m one of the folks that inhaled The Raven’s biotoxin here at HQ.” Yikes.
“No, that’s not ringing a bell.”
“ Maybe you heard about the time where I helped jury-rig a body to explode? ”
Maybe I should keep in contact with someone from the other teams. “Nope, but that sounds dope.”
Hm. Palmer. Glasses, doctor, biotoxin… oh . “Special Agent Knight’s told me all about you.” Kai and I shared as much as we felt comfortable with while Knight had been helping us out. In return, she’d told us about her relationship with Palmer. Cute. Unexpected, but cute nonetheless.
Jesse gapes at me. “ All good things I hope?”
“Of course.”
“Are… are you sure it wasn’t the-”
“Okay, people. Three victims. Mysterious toxin. Madman fugitive on the loose.” Thank god for women.
“ Right. As I was just saying to Dr. Chase, we don’t know much about the biotoxin that Maxwell dosed us with, but it’s definitely different than the nerve agent you’re dealing with.”
“And I suggested it could be VX, since we know it responds to atropine.”
“ And that’s when I said that VX evaporates too slowly. It doesn’t create the kind of vapor that you would’ve been dealing with on that plane, and then I made this little vapor pun…” No, yeah. Unexpected to the fucking max . “ It was funny .”
“Can you guys, uh, speak to us like we’re very interested, but don’t understand?” Jesse nods.
“Yeah, maybe bottom-line it?”
Commander Chase stares at us as if we should understand. “We’re dealing with soman.” Doctor Palmer nods.
“I’m… assuming it’s not the salad.”
“ Uh, soman was developed by Germany as a pesticide during World War II.”
“Similar to organophosphates, but much more potent.”
“ And it’s highly volatile. Even a fraction of an ounce on your skin can be fatal.”
“So all you’d need is about a pint to cause mass casualties.” I swear I’ve enough highly volatile materials to last a goddamn lifetime.
“How hard is it to come by?”
“Uh, well, for you and me, impossible, but for someone as versed in the dark web as your suspect…”
Commander Chase doesn’t even need to finish that sentence.
“ Herman Maxwell wormed his way into Lieutenant Shay’s head. He convinced him that he was the key to freeing the common man from the shackles of big government.” I’ve met Agent Parker exactly once: right now. And considering what he’s just gone through, the man is a force to be reckoned with.
Dangerous. Need to steer clear. “Used him to gain access to the Internet. Communicate instructions to his followers. Plan his attacks.” Yet another force: Jane Tennant. I was terrified of her the first time we met. And while that hasn’t changed, I’ve gone from fearing for my job if I messed up to fearing for my humanity. My morals, or what’s left of them.
I’ve refused to give the organization, whatever their name is, information on Tennant’s kids, Alex and Julie. Been holding out hope that they won’t need that sort of thing. They haven’t, at least, not yet.
It terrifies me to think of when the day might come when they do need their information. “ Including framing me .”
“So Shay was practically his right-hand man. He must know where Maxwell is now.” I shake my head.
“From what Agent Parker’s saying, the Lieutenant thought himself far more important than he actually is.”
“ Correct. He’s a glorified errand boy. No actionable intel.”
“But we do have the servers from Shay’s basement.”
Tennant glances over at us, that familiar smirk on her face. “We have something else, too: the element of surprise. Maxwell has no idea we found the servers. Probably contain messages, transactions. Potentially every move he’s made or will make.”
“ Kasie has the servers now. Analyzing them with Ernie.”
Besides for my second job, all I’ve been thinking about is the BAU’s offer. Boy Genius is still out of pocket, and getting away right now sounds… nice. And if anyone would be able to help me dismantle the organization, it’d be the B-A-motherfucking-U.
As usual, Kai and I walk side by side, careful not to get close enough for our hands to brush. Then we’ll just be holding hands on the job. Embarrassing. Also extremely inefficient. “Thinkin’ about the offer again?”
Our gazes continue to scan the stream of tourists, but out of the corner of my eye, I see him glance down at me. I smile up at him. “Nah,” I murmur, “Just about how difficult this will be.”
Kai shakes his head, grins, and glances away. So far, nothing has happened that put either of us at a crossroads: each other or the team, each other or the case. I hope it never happens, but I know it’s wishful thinking. “ All four pings are converging on the Missouri.”
“We have nothing. There’s too many tourists.
“ Okay, according to GPS, they’re on the stair landing. Jesse, go.”
At this, we split, and I circle around to the other staircase, coming up just as Kate and Lucy rush past me. Honestly, even Lucy’s girlfriend has no idea what happened to Kobayashi. (I hope he’s okay. As far as I know, he’s an innocent man drawn into the same deal that I’m in now.) But now’s no time to think about it.
Especially as we rush up to the area the pings are coming from and hold our guns in the faces of a bunch of old tourists.
Kai rests his hands on my shoulders, momentarily stopping me from following after Knight. We’re at the Marquess Hotel, ready to face down The Raven. That is, if my boyfriend will let me do so. “Holman-”
“Yeah, yeah, this is what you do best.” His gaze pierces through my own, holding me in place as effectively as his touch is. “Come back.”
“Always.”
It started a week after I’d left Spencer’s apartment. Anonymous notes in my mailbox that led to an arbitrary spam email with specific instructions: provide the organization information on each of my teammates, lest they suffer.
That, along with photos of Jewel’s death that I’ve never once seen, was enough.
It’s been three months. No one’s caught a hint of what I’ve been doing. Each time the info-dumps are slightly different. Similar, maybe, but still varied, with the organization masquerading with the power of anonymity on their side.
“Federal agents. Let me see your hands.” Agent Nick Torres. Who could forget his announcement of TNT? I sure haven’t. Neither have Jesse, Lucy. Kai, or especially my boss herself. There’s something with Tennant none of us have been able to put our fingers on. But let’s be real, she kind of has that effect on men.
I’d given the organization that harmless nickname as part of the information on Agent Torres. The man who’d picked up the folder from the coffee shop hadn’t looked any more suspicious than anyone else walking in or out .
“Might as well mix a couple more of these.” Herman Maxwell is your run-of-the-mill criminal mastermind. I used to be scared of men like him. Not so much anymore, seeing as I’m practically on their side. It comes down to motive, what someone will do to protect what means the most to them.
Maxwell doesn’t seem like the protecting type.
Okay, maybe a little scared.
“Need to see those hands.” I hope I don’t live to see the day I’m on the other side of the table from Jane Tennant.
I’d rather die than see that pained betrayal flash in her gaze, the same one I saw as she looked at Maggie Shaw one last time -
Maxwell has something in his hand. “He’s holding something!” Knight beats me to it. Of course, being the legend of the REACT team (according to Ernie) that she is-
Oh, shit.
Where’s Boom-Boom when you need him?
“Alright, let’s remain calm…” If calm means keeping my gun level at Maxwell’s foot, where if I have to shoot, it won’t result in him letting go of the detonator… “and no one gets hurt. Okay, Mr. Maxwell?”
He smiles. “Well, I’m not the one whose bloodstream’s coursing with adrenaline, Special Agent…”
“Tennant.”
“Or pointing a gun.” Maxwell glances over his shoulder. “Or four.”
My biggest fear going into this case wasn’t death. After stepping on that pressure plate, death is hardly an afterthought. My fear is that one of these days, the jig will be up, and my operation will be revealed by none other than the people we try to take down.
I don’t think it’ll be today, but that’s just what I’ve been telling myself these past few months.
I need to get out of here. The BAU’s offer doesn’t sound so bad .
“We’ll put our weapons down if you put whatever that is down,” Agent Torres reassures.
“I’m sorry, Special Agent Torres.” I can’t breathe, but I try my best to do so as Knight and I edge forward. “Oh, my God, yes. I know who you are. I know all of Parker’s friends, but if I let go of this button, it goes boom- they should stop walking this way . You don’t want me to get fidgety.”
What was it that Boom-Boom said? Pink mist? It’s just like the bank, too: our only job here is to keep that bomb a problem.
I lift my hands, fully displaying my gun. “Mr. Maxwell, my name is-”
“Special Agent Chang.” He tilts his head without looking at me. “Soon to be Supervisory Special Agent, if the chatter holds any water.” Wow. Imagine that. (With a force like JJ, a leader like Prentiss, a brain like Reid’s, and a tech wizard like Garcia, of course the criminals would talk.)
“Mr. Maxwell, I’m going to put my gun away.” As I speak, I follow through with my words. “As far as I know, you aren’t carrying any more weapons besides for that detonator.” Once my gun is safely in its holster, I gesture to the device in his hand. “So, I trust you won’t pull a quick one on us and end my life here and now. And if you do…”
Tenant smiles. Knight scoffs. Torres still looks like he wants to bite Maxwell’s head off. “I don’t need to keep talking, do I?” Play his game, or get played. Simple. Effective. Nice way to not turn into pink mist.
“I can’t help but think this has gotten off to a far more adversarial start than it needs to.” Shit. When will I be that good? “So why don’t we just order some food, have a chat?” Knight lowers her gun.
Unfortunately, two pistols against a bomb won’t do much good. (Maybe Gates was right about that pink mist thing and wasn’t just overexaggerating to freak Kai and I out.) “Oh, I’m not hungry. Uh, you?” Maxwell glances over at Tennant and Torres and actually laughs.
“Look, why don’t we let all these tourists go, so no one else makes you fidgety?”
“Sure.” His smile is too easy, too relaxed, considering he holds all of our lives in his hands. Including his own.
Something’s not right.
“Knight should escort them out.” I almost reach for my gun again.
“I’ll do it.”
“No, let’s eat, let’s talk , she oozes hostage negotiator.” He gestures to me. “You deduced all of that about me, including the fact that I am nearly unarmed, in a matter of a few minutes. You’re a smart one. Fun, too. Stick around.” I want to projectile vomit. Now he turns to Tennant. “You didn’t volunteer to escort the patrons out, so you’re the boss. You did volunteer, so you know the Parker connection will exasperate me, and you want to eliminate that issue. Very smart, all of you.”
“Get them out of here, Knight.”
“Tennant…”
“We’ll be fine.”
“We’ll see.”
Kai doesn’t know whether he wants to scream or cry. They’ve both gotten into far more situations like this than he would like. (A part of him wants it all to be over. For them to take it easy, grow old together. But it’s been three months, and he’s pretty sure he’s delusional.)
“Just spoke to Lucy. She says EOD’s on their way.” At least seeing Boom-Boom will offer a little bit of a distraction, albeit one that pushes him around any chance it gets-
“Already here.” No getting pushed around today. Nice .
“Uh… where’s Boom-Boom?”
“He’s TDY. I’m Bam-Bam.” O… kay. He can’t help but laugh a little.
“Seriously? Or…”
“Does it look like I’m kidding?” Yikes. Where is his psychiatrist girlfriend when he needs her? (Facing down a homicidal maniac. Yep. Fun. Great. Wonderful.) “I heard there was a hostage situation and an explosive device that needs some disarming. Would anyone like to focus on that?”
“Device is not in the bar, as far as we can tell.” Special Agent Jessica Knight deduced Kai and Sage’s relationship in the first few moments she’d driven up to them earlier in the day. Crazy.
“We’re doing a room-to-room search, checking the hotel’s security cameras, but, honestly, Maxwell has a bigger problem with the government than he does the hospitality industry, so…”
“We’re guessing the bomb’s off-site. Did you get a look at the detonator?”
“Briefly. No wires from what I could see.”
“So, if the device is outside of the hotel, the detonator’s talking to it.”
Bam-Bam looks surprised that he knows that much. Kai’s deciding to take it as an insult. “Yeah, which means we might be able to triangulate the signal.” And get Sage, Tennant, and Agent Torres out of there.
“Look, with RIMPAC going on, there’s a lot of possible targets. How about we find the device, disable it before he loses interest in my team and decides it’s game over?”
“Okay,” Tennant begins, “We’re unarmed.” My gun sits next to my boss’ and Agent Torres’ weapons. “No comms. Just the four of us. Now what?” My brain’s running in overdrive right now, not just because of the situation I’ve yet again found myself in, but because it’s working double duty.
So far what I’ve been able to gather about the organization is… not the most substantial. Haven’t even gotten a name. Just that their MO is always indirect and always based on knowledge giving them the upper hand. As far as I can tell, the one and only time they’ve killed was when they’d murdered my little sister. And that was only done to get to Jesse.
But even that much I doubt. Spencer thought that’d been the case, but I realized that I’m not sure he knew about my aunty and uncle. Both NCIS agents, up until my aunt was murdered and my uncle ran for the hills. I think they were about to uncover the organization for themselves.
And what better way to stay under the radar than to not commit another crime since the one that brought me here?
“We wait.” Oh, if only Maxwell knew.
“Look, neither Agent Chang or I know you. Torres didn’t work the case that got you arrested. So while it seems like you’re waiting for someone, it doesn’t seem to be us.” I can only hope Tennant’s right.
“Well, I’d love to see Agent Parker, but with him on the verge of losing his job and going to prison…”
Agent Torres’ head snaps around so fast I’m afraid he’ll strain his neck. But as it does so, his hand snatches up the empty glass next to him. “He’s not going anywhere.” Loyal to the very core of his being. And either very smart or very suicidal, depending on what he’s going to do with that potential weapon.
“What about dead man’s switch do you not understand? The glass that was on the table that you just palmed.”
“Oh, yeah, this glass?” Torres gestures to it. “I wasn’t gonna throw it. I’m… I’m just bored.” Poor choice of words. For all we know, Maxwell could just decide to liven things up, take his hand off that switch. “Talking to psychopaths just make me thirsty.”
“Looking at you, I’d say you’re here to be the muscle, but boredom as a negative transference? A subconscious attempt to lead me to believe that this isn’t worthwhile.”
Tennant glances over. “Did it work?”
“No, not at all, but if we’re gonna be waiting together, I’m glad to have interesting people to talk to.”
Interesting indeed. I crack my neck and straighten up from where I’ve been leaning against the wall. “Personally, I think it’s very worthwhile.” Tennant doesn’t move an inch. Torres’ head snaps in my direction now. At least one of TNT is used to my weirdness. “The situation you’ve put us in is…” The breath I let out hurts my pride a little. “A stroke of genius, really. You’re playing on each of our good intent, to not let whoever’s in the path of your nerve gas come to harm.” I tilt my head ever so slightly. “And you’re right. We won’t let that happen.” I’m not about to tell him we’ll give him what he wants. He already knows we’ll do that.
“So you’ll give me what I want.”
“If you’d like to tell us what it is.”
Maxwell sips at his drink. “I don’t think I will.”
“Hey, Bam-Bam?” Kai’d really like to know how long this whole defusing situation is going to take. Not just because Jesse’s just asked him to ask her, but because the longer he goes without hearing from Sage, the worse he starts to feel. “How long do you think this is going to take?”
She stares daggers into him. Or maybe that’s just the way she looks. Kai’s not sure. “Not long, if you want me to rush it and possibly activate the bomb. So, it depends.” She sniffs and mutters something like This is why you never date your coworkers under her breath. Yikes.
“No, that’s- that’s the opposite of what we want. The, uh, bomb… going off… thing. Not the, uh, me regretting dating my girlfriend thing.”
Bam-Bam’s gaze is absolutely murderous now. “Do you?”
Um… “No, no! I was just… you just… what you said-”
Hand to the face. Nice.
“You know, typically at this point in a hostage situation, we are negotiating a deal.” I love Tennant. I really do, for many reasons, including not murdering Kai and I when we’d made it official, and officially broken one of Gibbs’ rules. But any wrong word, any slip in tone and we’re fucked.
What’s key here isn’t urgency, it’s actually- “Patience.” Well. Leave it to the literal psychopath to finish my thought for me. Lovely. “Something you learn sitting in a cell for years on end. You also hear lots and lots of fun things from your neighbors. Including your possible stint with the folks over at Quantico. Isn’t that right, Agent Chang?”
My eyes have been closed the past few minutes. Not much to do anyway. But try as I might, I can’t come up with a response, except to ask for how he knew. To threaten him to stay away from my mentors, from Prentiss and Rossi and Garcia and-
“I wouldn’t know a thing about patience.” Torres to the rescue.
“No, you wouldn’t do well, Nick Torres. All those years undercover, then running around D.C. with your gun a-waving.”
“You don’t know who I am.”
“Sadly, I do.” This, out of everything he’s said in the past few minutes, has been the most alarming. My eyes peel open just in time to see the screen behind Maxwell flicker and change its image. Ernie. Interesting. “You wear your personality on your sleeve, and it’s not particularly interesting.”
His real name is Jason Hearns. He changed it after being fired from a PSYOPS program eighteen years ago. This reminds me too much of the bank. I can’t believe that was a year ago. I can’t believe the lengths I’d go to to become that person again.
“Yeah, Torres,” Tennant starts up, “you need to find a better hobby than brooding.”
“I have a tragic backstory. What can you do?” Oh.
Woodrow Staggs, his mentor here on island. Says brilliant. But psychologically unfit .
“Deep dark secrets, using your mask of pain to cover up… what? An undercover operation?” Okay. No fucking way. “A smuggling ring? The list could go on and on and on-”
“Or a whole identity.” Tennant smirks wryly. “Hi, Mr. Hearns.”
My boss glances up. “Masks, Jason.”
“Wow. You know my name. Took you long enough to use it.”
“You’re wearing a mask. We needed to know what you’re trying to protect in order to know what you’re trying to protect.” Hm. Kinda reminds me of Hotch. Wonder where he’s at.
“Phrasing. I like it. Honestly, though, you couldn’t even begin to understand…” The sunglasses on the counter. Ernie’s expression reflected back at us.
Oh, hell.
I don’t move a muscle, but let my mind run haywire. There’s no grabbing my gun. And unless the others have already disabled the bomb… no. Hearns hasn’t let go of the detonator. He could’ve a few seconds ago, and is just choosing not to. Hm. “And I thought you three were being smart on your own. You think finding Professor Staggs changes things here? I have half the military on this island waiting to see if I kill the three of you. I am still in control.”
There are a few moves here, including- “What the hell’s the rest of your team doing, Tennant?” There we go.
“Hm?”
“Escalating this when we need solutions.”
“Kinda hard to think of any when we’re trapped in here with a guy who holds our lives in his hands,” I retort. Torres spins towards me, mouth opening and closing as he struggles for words.
“Besides, we’re just trying to clean up the mess that you brought onto our shores.”
“Well, it’s your brilliant leadership that got us here-”
“And kept us alive,” I bite back, pushing myself off of the wall. “Don’t know if you could do the same, Agent Torres.”
His jaw drops. “Are you calling me incapable?”
“Okay, you three, stand down-”
“Screw you, Torres!” Something else I’ve picked up over these past few months is lip reading. It’s fun. Useful, too. Need time to disarm the bomb .
“Oh, you’d like that.”
I let out a groan, roll my eyes. “God, can’t you get any more insufferable?”
Torres scoffs. “Try me, kid.”
“I mean it,” Hearns warns. “Back off.”
Too dangerous . I can’t see nor hear Torres from where I’m at, but I can infer what he said based on Tennant’s words. The professor, probably. That’s our only leverage here, anyway. “I wouldn’t fuck you if you were the last man alive.”
“Okay, you know what, I’m done. I’m done talking to him, I’m done talking to you,” here he waves a finger at me as Hearns steps over to the counter and shuts off the television and grabs my gun and points it to my chest , “and I sure as hell can’t talk to you.”
“Move away from each other, or I will shoot your agent.”
“Yeah, I know you guys love each other so much, but please listen.” I let the smallest hint of fear seep into my voice. I’m reminded of Holland’s Peter Parker. (Sad.)
Torres inches away from Tennant. Perfect. Still playing the role of someone who thinks he’s leagues better than me. (Not sure if he’s playing…) Tennant, however, fills her role perfectly, eyes widening as she glances over at me, skittering away from Torres, hands raised. “Looks like our little dialogue here has broken down. You are useless to me.” The weapon drops, but in its place is the detonator. “So, maybe I will just release this button and end it now.”
“Maybe we can bring your friend, the professor, let him talk to you.”
Tennant’s breath is shaky. Maybe she should consider acting if this whole NCIS agent thing doesn’t work out. “We could just… just start from the beginning-”
“No.” Deadly calm. Either about to unleash hell or- “Bring the professor.”
“Jason,” Professor Staggs murmurs as he steps into the bar, “This is a no-win situation.” Heather studied game theory in school, has talked to me about this sort of thing over drinks one night: the prisoners dilemma. Where neither option is viable for either party involved. “How can I help you see that?”
If this is a set-up, it’s an odd one: he didn’t automatically shoot the professor the moment he got here. Unless Hearns is planning for a long painful death. “Well, it was a no-win situation the minute you cut me loose-”
“That was twenty years ago -”
“Professor,” Tennant interjects, giving me time to think. What’s so weird about all of this? Hm. The minute you cut me loose. “I think it’s best if you don’t engage in conversation with Mr. Hearns.”
I dare to take a step forward, but Hearns no longer cares about me. Nice. “Tennant,” I warn.
“All due respect, please listen to your agent and shut up .” My blood churns like lava in my veins but I don’t let that show. “This is my moment.” There it is. Of course it is.
If we’re already in a dilemma, I might as well play it out until the end. “And we won’t get in the way of that,” I soothe, “Will we, Agents?”
Torres scoffs, but I think I can sense a hint of awe in his tone. “Unbelievable. You let your subordinates get away with talking to you like that?”
Tennant doesn’t look away from Hearns, not for a second. “I’ll let it slide for now.”
“Smart ladies-”
“Hey, look, we get it.” The real Torres shines through for a moment, “You did all this so we’d bring Staggs to you. You’re going through your list of grievances. You take down Parker, you take down the mean man who fired you…”
“You have something you want to say?”
“I don’t want to say anything.”
When Lucy and I went into that poker game undercover, one of the things I’d resorted to when we got cornered was breaking down. So as Hearns drags Professor Staggs over to the window, overlooking one of the busiest parks on the island, I know what’s going to happen. I know my team is down there right now.
I let go. “Please.”
“What did you say?” Mad that I’m interrupting his moment . But morbidly curious to know why I’m starting to beg.
Real tears flood my eyes, my vision blurring so badly that I actually trip and disturb a table. A glass tilts and breaks against the floor. “My… my boyfriend is down there,” I whisper, “I’ll do anything-”
“Take me instead,” Professor Staggs whimpers the thoughts that flood my mind, “Just leave my son alone…”
“Too late. Let’s watch.”
Kai Kai Kai Kai Kai Kai Kai Kai
Nothing happens. “Um… I think I blinked. Did something happen?”
The laugh I let out is strained, choked. “If you don’t shut up right now Torres…”
“What did you do?” He tries the button over and over again. Out of the corner of my eye I see Jesse and the soldiers outside rush into action.
Devolving, as evidenced by the gun in Hearns’ hand. “Torres!” I knew that glass would come in handy. The material shatters, breaking his concentration, and I help Professor Staggs to safety, letting Tennant do her thing.
And the instant Hearns tries to get up, our guns are back in our hands and in his face.
TROPICAL VACATION PARADISE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS!
Next info-drop is tonight, Barefoot Beach Cafe. Come prepared.
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“C’mon, girl, let’s get a move on!” Now Lucy’s the one waiting for me in my living room, and I take a steadying breath before opening the first image. Torres and Tennant, gazing at the piece of magic that is Cinderella’s Castle. Tennant has a pair of Minnie Mouse ears. Torres has Donald Duck ones. I want to cry and never stop .
The second is of a familiar street corner: Whistler’s, and bile churns in my stomach. “Sage?”
“Sorry, gimme a sec!”
The third image is
I barely make it to the trash can before retching up the contents of my lunch as quietly as I can manage. My phone clatters to the ground, screen up, and I get one last glimpse of Alex grinning from ear to ear at his baseball game. Spitting to rid my mouth of that horrible taste, I pick up my phone, examine it for damage, and send a hasty reply.
I’ll give you what you want.
I would add As usual, but the last time I gave them sass, I couldn’t walk correctly for a few weeks. The person who’d picked up the information from me broke my ankle. Once I’m sure the email sent, I drop the flash drive full of information into my purse and walk out my bedroom door, ready to once again pretend like I’ve done no wrong.