by Tara Brown
He ran his hands through his hair. “That was graceful.” There was relief in his voice.
I groaned, still winded. “I hate you.”
He jumped over the railing on the deck and rushed to where I was, picking me up off the ground. I leaned forward, clutching the branch, and threw up everywhere.
“Also graceful.”
“Fuck.” I heaved. “Fuck—you.”
“Okay, you’re alive.” He rubbed my back. “Come on. We gotta go ‘round back. They’ve got eyes on the house. I’ll be stunned if they didn’t see that display.”
“No. I’m not walking anywhere. I need to lie down.” I wiped my face.
He gave me a horrified look as I lifted up my shirt to wipe my face again. He seemed confused. “You got blood everywhere.”
“I have a million slivers in my hands.” I stepped back and stared at the house in a panic. “The cat.”
“He’s fine. Ralph’s in my car. He was in the yard when I arrived. Luckily, they’ve got the sleepiest fucker ever on this place. I think he was actually napping when I arrived. Anyway, Ralph's safe but pissed.” He held his arm out, showing a huge scratch.
“He’s okay though?”
“Yeah, he’s fine. I might need stitches. You’re welcome.” He added, “And your house is screwed.”
The impact of everything hit, dropping me to my knees. My baby pictures and all my kids’ things were lost. The things we had accumulated as a family were burning. All that was left was the crackling sound of the flames and the wood. “My kids have officially lost everything. James has taken it all.”
“No.” Coop ran his hands over my shoulders. “Evie, they still have you.”
“Do they?” I sniffled and watched as it all burned up, a little disturbed by the fact I was meant to be in that house. One of the windows next to us burst, flames shooting out. I didn't scream or cry or shield myself from the glass. Instead, I growled and pulled his gun from the harness. He snatched it back. “We gotta go.”
“Not yet.” I limped around the side of the house. One of my socks was missing and my pajamas were torn and shredded. Leaves, bark, and blood covered me, and I felt like I needed an iron lung. But I wanted blood.
I hobbled to the front of the house, staying in the huge bushes that separated my yard from the one next door. No one in the neighborhood was awake. No one had noticed my house was in flames. Probably because none of my smoke alarms were going off. Something had killed them.
Fuckers.
With steam coming from both ears, I pointed to the car. “I’ll be right back.”
Coop grasped my arm. “Wait. They think you’re dead—let them.” I snarled and he let go, stepping back. “Or not.”
Determined to find some sort of revenge, I limped across the street and opened the driver-side door. The man in dark clothes looked up just in time. I punched as hard as I could, snatched his gun from his lap, and smashed him in the face with it. He cried out as I dragged him from his seat. He grabbed me, but I kicked him in the balls. We both screamed, my bare toes against his pelvis were a bad experience.
He bent over to throw up, but I pulled him across the street with his gun to his head. He fought back but my rage was far superior to his training. I smacked him in the head again and tossed him into a bush, holding his own gun on him. “WHAT THE FUCK?” He gaped at me. “How?”
“Forget how, you little dick. You lit my house on fire? My kids could’ve been in there.”
He gave me a slimy smile. I fired a bullet into his thigh. With the silencer the shot was almost inaudible. “You bitch!” he shouted as he clutched the wound, crying out, “You fucking bitch!”
“Why?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I can't tell you.”
I fired a bullet into his other thigh.
He screamed again.
“Why?”
His face was tight but he managed words, “It was just a job, lady. You were a mark. I can't tell you because I don't know. The message came through a couple of days ago.”
My body was vibrating as I saw Coop shaking his head. I ignored him. “Who hired you, dipshit?”
“I don’t know. Money was a wire transfer and the gun and phone were in a locker at a bus station for me.”
I swallowed and tapped my probably broken finger against the barrel of the gun. Before I chickened out, I fired a third shot. He didn’t cry out that time. Instead, I whispered as I fought the urge to throw up, “Dump his body in the fire.”
“Uhm, okay.” Coop’s face was grim. “You all right, Evie?”
“No, not even close. We’ll keep his gun and phone and steal his car. Fuck his house over, you know, the basics.”
“Welcome back. How was your week off?” He patronized me as he rifled the guy’s coat and lifted his wallet.
“Good. Got the house ready for the birthday party and shit. That, and the renovations I started so it would sell faster—you know, awesome.”
He laughed bitterly and turned back toward my house that was fully engulfed. “Yeah, the renos probably won’t help you sell the house now.”
“Ya think?” I started to laugh but mine was more maniacal as I collapsed onto the grass, taking a knee again. Coop grabbed the dead guy, tossed his phone and wallet at me, and carried his body to the rear of the house. He was back fast to help me up from the ground where I had sat staring at the bloodstains I had made.
I limped to the killer’s car, started it, and followed Coop’s car that had Ralph’s face staring back at me from the rear window. His little black lips were moving. He was no doubt driving Coop insane with the constant meowing. He was a terrible car cat.
Coop pulled over and walked back to where I’d parked the car behind him. “Give me his address from his wallet.”
I passed him the wallet. He checked it over. “I called in an anonymous 911 for your house. Your cat is fucking annoying.” He sighed, tossed the wallet back at me, and drove off again.
I followed him, blocking out the details of the night I’d just had. It was likely a bad sign that in my mind the worst part of the day was jumping from the roof to the tree. That didn’t say much for the side effects this life was having on my character.
He parked in front of what I assumed was the dead man's house. The sobering realization of seeing the dead man's house crept around inside me. The house made him a real man. A man I had taken the life of. A real man who someone loved, even if it was only a cat or dog or weird chat group on the internet.
Coop sat for a second before driving off again. He parked a few blocks away. I parked behind him.
He got out and came back to my window. “Get in the passenger seat. It’ll look like he came home with a chick.”
I nodded and moved over to the passenger seat.
He climbed in and turned us around. He parked the car and casually strolled up to the house with me following him inside. The house smelled like Mitch’s room.
“He’s single,” I whispered.
Coop gave me a funny look, putting his finger to his lips, and took the stairs. I stayed on the lower floor. There were pictures of the killer with different athletes. I started to choke up when I saw the pictures of him with a woman a few years older than me. She had curly hair and a big warm smile. I picked up the picture, dropping to my aching knees, clutching it to me. She was like me. He was like Mitch.
Blinded by the tears and guilt, I got a bit lost in my imaginations of the dead man’s life. Coop came up behind, wrapping an arm around me. “You’re sort of proving to be a shitty spy, Evie.”
“He could’ve been a nice boy. I could’ve let him live. I mean, besides drugging me, locking me in my attic, and lighting my house on fire, he might’ve been a nice guy. I was just a job.”
“He was a hit man. He wasn't nice.” He leaned his head against the side of mine, whispering in my ear, “He lit the house on fire. He drugged you and left you there to die. God knows what he did to you while you were out cold. Had you not shot him, I wa
s coming back for him when I got you safe.”
“Oh my God, you're right. I’m not safe. My kids aren’t safe! My house is burning! Coop, right now my house is burning! He could’ve touched me while I was sleeping!”
He hugged harder. “Your kids are safe right now. You’re dead, Evie. You can go back into the world and be a normal mom again.”
“I’m an assassin for the Key now too. There’s no normal. My kids have to be protected, Coop. How can I do that?”
“I don’t know. Whatever happens, I’ll help you.” His words were whispered. I held the picture of the mom for a moment longer before I passed it back to him. He wiped it down and continued checking around.
2
A jackass and a dildo
While I sat in the chair, I tried not to fidget as I waited for the commander. When he walked in, I cringed at the shitty expression on his face. He barked at Coop, “You wanna tell me what the fuck just happened?”
I straightened my back and waited for him to give me shit, as though my house burning was my fault.
“Well, sir, they came for Evie.” Coop tapped his fingers on his boots. Even with the commander there, he came off as relaxed and cool in his tee shirt and jeans. “They used a mini EMP on the house. Only works for the radius you give it. They did it for the quarter acre her house was on. My bugs and recorders were dead immediately, as well as the smoke alarm and security system. The only reason I got there was the cameras on the house next door. I could see the smoke, and when I scanned the neighborhood I noticed the typical sedan parked just down the road.”
The commander’s nostrils flared as he sat in the big chair. “Well, that’s some bullshit. Evie, why would they do that to you?”
“I don’t know, sir. At least they waited until my kids were gone.”
He drummed his fingers on the desk. “No, they got lucky your kids weren’t there. Where the hell are they?”
“Oh uhm”—I licked my lips—“Disney World with my mom.” We still believed there was a chance the commander was compromised in the whole Burrow plot. We trusted no one.
His eyes twitched when I said the word “Disney.”
“Is it possible this is a James situation? Something he brought about?” He sighed, making the thick nose hairs shudder. The same ones that had bothered me ten years ago were still somehow in the meeting with us today, living the dream.
“I believe that’s exactly what this is, but I have no proof.”
The commander appeared confused. “How did you get out of the burning house, Evie? That’s the question on my mind.”
“Oh.” I looked down. I couldn’t meet Coop’s stare. His amused face would break me as I shook my head with shame. “Well, sir, I climbed out the vent and jumped into a tree.”
He was silent. I glanced up. A grin crossed his mustached and wrinkled face. “Was it the training? Are you able to go back to full active duty?”
Coop coughed, fighting his laugh. I shot him a glare but answered the commander, “Maybe.”
“No.” Coop broke, laughing into his thick arm.
My gaze narrowed.
The commander seemed equally entertained at the notion.
“Fine, it was hard. I barely made it and was about to give up when this asshole here showed up. I’ve never had to do something like that.” The words were a bitter pill. Luce stood outside the window of the office I sat in, holding up my donut and coffee. I tilted my head toward the office I was using.
“Evie, if you want to come back and be part of the team, then you’re going to have to start getting back in shape.”
“Of course.” I nodded at him. “I intend to, sir.”
He continued drumming his fingers. “Where are you staying right now?”
I swallowed. “A hotel maybe or a friend's. I don’t know. My house only burned a couple of hours ago.” I didn’t want to tell him I was staying with Luce.
He chewed the inside of his lip. “I don’t get it. Are you guys holding out information on us? We need to know why you’d be the target of a hit.”
Coop got control of himself and folded his arms across his broad chest. “No, we aren’t. We know jack abut this. We think it’s leftovers from James and the Burrow. Like whoever the Burrow is, thinks she knows something because James told her shit.”
The commander groaned. “What a fiasco. Well, we think you should go deep cover, hunt whoever and whatever is coming after you, and find out what James knew. Whoever is doing this knows something about the Burrow. Your new identity is being created as we speak. No one will have access to it but Jack. We’re moving you to an undisclosed area. You’ll be set up there. Jack, Luce, and Coop will be moved there as well. The four of you will start working on this shit. I want that fucking Burrow before it ends up in the hands of the enemy.” He pointed a meaty finger at Coop. “I want this taken seriously. Your packages are being created by Jack right now. I don’t want to see you again until this is done. Deep cover. That means I don’t hear from you unless I need to, and only Jack contacts us through his channels.” He got up to leave.
I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to ask if my kids were part of my disguise as my panic began to build.
Deep cover. How deep?
He paused in the hall and glimpsed back at me. “No one is doubting your commitment to this country or your abilities or anything. We all know what you went through working with that arms dealer. We all know how committed you are to CI and your country, Evie. Your father is considered the greatest asset that ever worked CI, but you’re going back to basic. At least two or three weeks in basic to get some goddamned muscles back on you. Jesus, you remind me of those teenagers on the shows my kids watch.”
I froze.
Basic.
What did that even mean?
Wait—was he calling me skinny? Bless his heart and his nose hairs.
Still not certain of what he meant by basic, I made the mistake of glancing at Coop just as the evilest grin crossed his lips not stopping until it took over his whole face.
“Oh”—the commander paused in the doorway—“and Coop’s senior on this too. None of your ‘I’m older’ nonsense.”
And there went the compliment. Skinny and old equaled haggard. I stood and walked past Coop without saying anything. If I started talking, it would be with my hands.
I went into my office and closed the door. Luce stared at her open email on her computer screen. She didn’t look at me when she spoke but slid my donut and coffee at me. “Heard we’re going into deep cover?”
“Have you seen the package?” I inhaled the entire donut like a snake with a rodent.
“No.” She laughed and got up. “We won’t be briefed on it until we’re in the air, you know the rules. No one knows, not even the pilot. The packages in the emails are for the moles. The commander always likes to play like we have moles.” Neither of us added that chances were he was the mole. My dad and Servario had wiped out most of the team we'd worked with on the Burrow file, but there were still some leftovers sticking around.
I followed her to the car. She started it, glancing at me. “You okay?”
“No,” I confessed. “I want to lie and say I am but I’m not. I’m just not. School starts in a few weeks and my kids need a normal life. I need out of this. I need the emergency exit button.”
“He’s sending you to basic—you know that, right?”
“Yeah.” I cringed. “He’s an evil bastard. Basic is like torture.”
“Dude!” She looked at me as she drove. “I loved basic.”
“I know.” I gave her a deadpan stare. “I did too when I was a kid.”
She shrugged. “Hot guys everywhere. You can get laid at least.”
“Yes, nothing like sleeping with guys who are a few years older than my son.”
She snorted. “Girl, you could teach them some things.”
“Yeah, how to make a perfect latte and tie skates really fast.”
“What’s up with you and Servario
?”
“Nothing.” I paused. “’See you at Christmas,’ that’s it. That’s all I’ve gotten from him.”
“He’ll be around.”
“Oh.” I laughed bitterly. “I doubt that.”
Of course, I ate my words when we pulled up to her safe house to discover a gift at the front door. Luce got out of the car, pulling her gun and sneaking up to the mysterious box. She scanned around as she used her foot to lift the lid on the small wrapped box. She started to laugh and pointed. “It’s for you.”
I climbed out of the car, frowning and nervous. She passed me the box as she opened the door.
My jaw dropped open when I saw the contents of it. A huge black dildo with a small card.
Think of me while you are back at basic.
“He’s good.”
“No.” I shook my head. “He’s evil.”
She pointed. “You keeping that thing?”
“What?” I made a face. “No. I can buy my own vibrator.”
She snatched it out of the box. “I’ll take it. You toss it in the dishwasher and bam, clean as a whistle.”
I made a mental note to never eat at her house as I closed the box and peered out at the street. If Servario had found us there, someone else could too. I would never have my safety back.
3
B is for Basic, Bitch, and a Bottle of Wine
“How ya doing, champ?”
I thought I was dreaming as I gaped up from the infirmary bed. “Why are you here?”
“I missed you and I have good news.” Leaning against the frame with his arms crossed, Coop couldn’t have looked more casual. He was sporting faded jeans and a baby blue polo. He seemed clean and fresh, as if he’d showered ten minutes ago or just walked off the set of a photo shoot.
“Go away.” I stared down at my filth-covered fatigues and the dried throw up on my boots. “I’m never going to pass basic, ever. I’m dying. Doc says I might have an ulcer. How awesome is that? I'm too old for all this stress and running and jumping and people shooting at me and lighting my shit on fire. I'm tired, Coop. I want to go back to my house and hang out alone with my new coffeemaker.”