Alfonso pulled his arm away and walked out of the bar. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared straight ahead.
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Theron Techcropolis Gateway Building, L45, Theron Techcropolis, Armaros
Jayne stared out her office window, absently watching the pedestrians on elevated conveyer-ways. She was running on physical and emotional fumes, but there was an undercurrent of punch-drunk energy and restlessness. Her mind was racing, yet desperate to wind down.
She plopped into her desk chair, not even caring that it rolled backwards into the wall. Her arms hung limply at her sides. Jayne could still feel splatters of dried blood bunched on her hands and chin. The hospital’s schematics still hovered above her desk.
Jayne propelled herself forward and peeled her back off the chair.
“I should call him,” she muttered to herself. She dragged her comm out of her pocket and stared at it for several seconds before opening a conversation with Wilson.
His voice sounded grasping and frantic. “Hello? Jayne?”
She sighed, trying to sound upbeat. She failed. “Hi, Gerald.”
Wilson paused. “Yes… Jayne?
She continued to stare straight ahead, through the holographic hospital layout. “She’s safe. We, uh…” She had to keep it professional. “We neutralized the threat.”
Wilson exhaled an expansive, grateful sigh. “Oh, thank you so much!” He paused. “Where is she?”
Jayne rubbed her clavicle, which felt hot and swollen. “Still at the hospital. I don’t even think she woke up.”
Wilson’s laugh sounded like a nervous release. “That’s probably for the best. I can’t thank you enough. I mean it.”
Jayne noticed an acute pain in the tissue surrounding her ribs when she moved her torso. “Ow! It was all in a day’s work.”
Wilson chuckled. “And you’re very good at your job. I’m just curious…”
“Ask me anything.”
Now it was Wilson’s turn to sigh. “Was it… did anyone get hurt?”
Jayne did her best to sound understated. “No, not anyone that wasn’t involved. There was one fatality, though. Chamberlain. The blackmailer. I didn’t intend for that.”
“Oh… I’m sorry you… had to kill him.”
Jayne forced herself to speak around the tightness in her throat. “As a spy, I am trained to expect these things to happen sometimes… Besides, he had it coming.”
“I know,” Gerald answered quietly. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, the fee is already in your account, plus the 10% for early closure.”
Jayne smiled. “Thank you for trusting us with your case, Gerald.”
He laughed gently. “I’ll be sure to refer a friend. I just won’t mention how I know about you.”
She smirked. “I’ll be discreet.”
“I’ll count on it. Thanks again, Jayne. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, my family, and national security.”
Jayne felt her face flush. “Like I said, it’s part of the job.”
“I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances, but it was great doing business with you.”
Jayne smiled and disconnected the conversation. She checked her account. The funds were there, just as Gerald had promised. Jayne felt a sense of emptiness and uncertainty, which was interrupted by the sharp pain in her hands and around her ribs.
She was barely able to lift herself out of her chair and fell forward on her way to standing. She used the desk to prop herself up, feeling splintering pain in her wrists and forearms. Jayne ambled toward the kitchen area, stumbling when she noticed how swollen her ankle had become.
She rolled her shoulders back, trying to work out some deep knots on her way to the freezer. Jayne scooped ice into plastic bags until it was all gone. She shuffled back to the sofa. She laughed to herself. “Well, that’s one way to get combat training.”
Lowering herself onto the sofa proved more difficult than she anticipated. Jayne felt every creak, pop, dull ache, and stabbing pain on the way. She situated the ice bags on every surface where she felt pain, wincing at the cold.
Jayne closed her eyes and acclimated herself to the ice bags until some of the pain surrendered to the cold. She heard her comm fall out of her pocket, but the gentle thud on the floor sounded like it was miles away.
+++
Alfonso’s Quarters, Espionage Academy, Avalon Space Station
Alfonso repeatedly glanced at the case file as he paced. He wondered what was taking Jayne so long to answer. He closed the conversation and tried again, falling backwards onto his bed.
Jayne answered in a stammering rasp. “Hello?”
“You sound like hell,” Alfonso blurted. “Did I wake you up?”
Jayne laughed, instantly sounding more alert. “Hello to you too, Alfonso. I feel like hell, thanks. What’s up?”
He gesticulated towards his open laptop, as if she could see Burrett’s file. “This Burrett guy is way too dangerous to be walking around. He was tried and disappeared for very good reasons.” Alfonso took a deep breath. “We don’t just arbitrarily do that to our own, you know.”
Jayne laughed. “Oh, I know. Is that all you wanted to talk about?”
Alfonso shifted on his bed. “What do you mean ‘is that all’? I think that’s important enough. You don’t know what this Burrett guy is capable of. His delusions are off the charts. Did you know he kept calling the prison shrink to talk about a parole hearing that was never going to happen?”
Jayne sighed. “Yeah, I heard something about that.”
Alfonso continued, practically tripping over his words. “And then, as if his delusions weren’t enough, then there’s his prison disciplinary record. Do you have any idea why he was in solitary for decades?”
“No, but it probably wasn’t good?”
Alfonso was speechless for several seconds. “How can you be so flippant? But yes, I mean, you have to do something ultra bad to get thrown in there. Your fugitive consultant is violence personified. There are no discernable triggers, either. He’s highly volatile.”
Jayne groaned in pain. “I think I read something about that.”
“And that doesn’t concern you in the slightest?” Alfonso exclaimed. “Nothing—and I mean nothing—he did makes Chamberlain right or correct. He was just as crazy. But there’s a lot more method to Chamberlain’s madness. He has a cause. But that just makes Burrett more ruthless, deadly and cunning than Chamberlain. Burrett is-”
Jayne raised an eyebrow. Even that was exhausting. Her facial muscles hurt like hell. “—pure chaos? Yeah, I’m pretty aware of how illogical he is.”
Alfonso sounded almost rabid with zeal. “Illogical is the understatement of the century. How can you be so calm about this when you have two psychos looking to duke it out?”
Jayne breathed deeply. “Because one of those psychos is dead.”
Alfonso felt the blood drain out of his face. “What?”
“Yeah. One of them is dead.” She shifted on the sofa, trying not to disrupt the ice bags. “I accidentally killed Chamberlain when we fought.”
Alfonso sat up straight. “That… That’s what I thought you meant. What happened to Burrett?”
Jayne turned her head, grimacing from the effort. “Burrett escaped. He deactivated the chip Merry put in him and ran during all the commotion.”
“Oh man…”
Jayne attempted to sit up, but the pain shooting through her ribs and lower back were too much to bare. “Ow! Is that all you called about, buddy?”
Alfonso’s energy settled somewhat. “No, of course not. I’m not sure how to say this, but…”
Jayne laboriously maneuvered a pillow under her back. “Yes…?”
He exhaled apologetically. “I, uh, met up with Professor Levitsky.”
“Oh, how’s the lecherous bitch doing?”
Alfonso laughed. “Jayne! Be serious.” He took the thumb drive out of his pocket and spun it with the index finger of
his other hand. “She had a proposition for me.”
“I bet she did!” Jayne teased. “Did you take one for the team? Or tell her she’s the wrong sex to be your type?”
Alfonso shook his head. “No, no. Not like that. She is asking for something almost as bad, though.”
Jayne shifted one of her ice bags from her ribs to her swollen ankle. “How could it be any worse than that?” The ice was doing its work. She made a mental note to keep a bag of frozen peas in the freezer at all times.
He exhaled roughly, as if he couldn’t get the words out any other way. “She wants me to spy on you. She handed me this thumb drive and said she was giving me intel in good faith.”
Jayne fell silent. The energy that was building in their banter crashed. “I understand.” She shifted her torso to a slightly less painful position. “What sort of intel?”
Alfonso twirled the thumb drive with his fingers. “I don’t know. I haven’t looked yet. The whole thing makes me uncomfortable.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“I mean, what does she have against you?”
Jayne rearranged the ice bag on her clavicle. “Who knows?” She thought for a second. “What are you going to do?”
Alfonso held the thumb drive in front of his face and examined it, as if he could read the contents externally. “I don’t know. I’m leaning towards not doing it. I just thought I’d talk to you first.”
Jayne stared at the faded peach walls of her apartment and office. She exhaled raggedly. “I think you should do it.”
“You can’t be serious.”
She attempted to sit up, once again reminding herself that it was a painful mistake. “No, I’m totally serious. Think about it: you can tell me what that witch is planning, and we can feed her whatever we want. Plus, we can always do with an inside track.”
“I don’t know…”
“This is a good thing,” Jayne insisted.
Alfonso frowned and scratched his head. “I don’t know how I feel about being her asset.”
Jayne smiled knowingly. “You’re not her asset. You’re mine.”
Alfonso chuckled, “Okay, if you put it like that… I’ll let her know.”
“Okay. Then it’s decided then,” Jayne smiled, wincing again at the pain.
+++
Theron Techcropolis Gateway Building, L45, Theron Techcropolis, Armaros
Jayne stood under the warm shower, watching the flakes of blood dissolve and swirl down the drain before she attempted to shampoo her hair. She winced whenever she tried to raise her arms to shoulder level. Looking down at her body, Jayne relived each punch, kick, and body slam while examining her bruises and cuts.
Like a leopard who earned her black and blue spots.
Her coconut body wash felt like the only anchor Jayne had to the real world. Jayne did her best to imagine the events of the day—the fight with Chamberlain, learning Levitsky had it in for her in a real way, losing Burrett, saving Celia—dissolving and circling the drain, but her mind kept returning to all the forms of torment Burrett could unleash. She lightly rubbed her bath pouf over the bruised areas of her skin, bracing herself for the sting each time.
After her shower she somehow managed to twist her way into her pajamas. Jayne sprawled out on her bed in a starfish pose. The sheets felt cool and soothing against her bruised skin. She sighed to herself.
Jayne turned off her tech devices and let herself melt into sleep. She ran through her plans to sort out the events of the day tomorrow. Pushing Burrett out of her mind seemed almost possible as her eyelids got heavier. She felt her breathing slow to an almost-snore and focused on all the random images in her mind.
Diiiing donnnnng…
Jayne bolted straight up. Her eyes darted wildly around the room before she remembered she was in her own bed. Jayne’s chest was heaving and her first thought was, Where is he?
Diiiing donnnnng…
Jayne smoothed her hair and threw on a robe. On the way to the door, she muttered to herself, “I have to get that damn bell fixed.”
She unlocked the door and let it slide open. Jayne’s eyes flew wide. “Hey!” she exclaimed.
Cameron Stafford smiled sheepishly, his blue eyes sparkling. He looked at her attire. “Did I wake you?”
Jayne nodded. “It’s been quite a day.” She tugged her robe closed. “Um, please, come in.”
Cameron casually surveyed the office as he sauntered through the entry way. “Is this where you work, or where you live?”
Jayne shrugged. “Both.” She cleared her throat. “Do you, um, want anything to drink?”
Cameron shook his head. “I shouldn’t—I can’t. I can’t stay. It’s late and…”
Jayne bobbed her head. She felt herself drifting again. “Yeah, it’s been a long day.”
He looked around, minimizing eye contact with Jayne. “Anyway, I just thought I’d swing by and let you know how things are panning out with the investigation.”
“Okay.”
Cameron smiled. “It really helped your case that you called the police and the evidence matched up to your story. We were able to verify the victim as one Robert Chamberlain. And we learned he hasn’t exactly been a member of society for a while, but I think you knew that.”
Jayne nodded. “Yeah.” She internally kicked herself for being so tongue-tied.
Cameron continued. “Your wounds were consistent with self-defense wounds and there was clearly a fight. There was no way this was a calculated murder. The department isn’t going to prosecute you for Chamberlain, in light of how you saved us.”
Jayne stared at him, cringing inside when he used the word ‘saved.’
Cameron intertwined his fingers awkwardly. “I just thought I’d swing by after work. To let you know. Personally, and all.”
Jayne smiled in acknowledgement. She looked down at her feet as she started blushing.
Cameron crossed the office, back to the door. “I should get going. It’s late.”
Jayne followed him, speechless. She felt incredibly lightheaded and flustered.
Cameron paused in the doorway, taking a long look at Jayne. Jayne returned his gaze. The air between them felt purposeful and electrically charged. He said softly, “I’ll… see you around?”
Jayne watched Cameron walk through the door, pausing to look over his shoulder at Jayne. The door closed behind him. Through the peephole, Jayne watched him head down the walk way.
“Yeah. I’ll see you around.”
+++
Berty’s Beer Bar, Theron Techcropolis, Armaros
Merry threw a jubilant arm around Jayne. “Nicky!” she called, slurring slightly, to grab the bartender’s attention.
Jayne winced, evading her touch. “Ow! Still painful.”
Merry gingerly took her hand back. “Sorry.” She turned back to the wizened old bartender. “Nicky, another round for my girl here! She just saved humanity and looked fucking hot doing it!”
The old, bearded bartender laughed as he drew another glass of honey stout. “Is that so?”
Merry’s eyes grew wide. “It is indeed so.”
Jayne laughed and took the beer from Berty. “She exaggerates a bit.”
Merry leaned sideways. “No, I don’t! Jayne Fucking Austin is fucking amazing!”
Vlad laughed loudly as he lifted his pint glass in the air. “I’ll drink to that! To Jayne Fucking Austin!”
Merry and Fred lifted their glasses and declared in unison. “To Jayne Fucking Austin!”
Jayne blushed as the gang clapped and cheered. She wondered if they knew no member of ISA was at liberty to tell anyone why they were cheering. Jayne felt warm and happy watching the gang let loose, but she also felt like something was missing. She began to zone out, but Fred nudged her elbow.
“Still with us, Jayne?”
Jayne smiled. “Yeah. Just tired, thanks.”
Fred narrowed his eyes suspiciously for a few seconds, then turned his attention back to his comm. Merry and Vlad we
re engaged in their usual banter. Jayne sat back and watched their body language. She rubbed her swollen ankle and felt her mind wander.
Merry put one hand on her hip and pointed at Vlad. “You are one fucked up dude!”
Vlad laughed uproariously, his face turning a beet red. “Why don’t you spank me then?”
Both Merry and Vlad doubled over with laughter. They caught each other before they fell on the bar, which made them laugh even harder.
Fred glanced up at them. “Get a room!”
Merry looked at Vlad and stepped away from him. “Not unless this is Purgatory or something because that… that just sounds like fucking god damned hell.”
Vlad and Merry glared hatefully at each other for a few seconds, then burst with laughter again. Merry downed her beer and ordered shots of whiskey for the crew.
Berty nodded towards the group. “It’s good to see you all happy.”
Jayne smiled weakly. “Yeah, it’s great.” She went back to the gnawing, acidic feeling in her stomach.
Jayne caught sight of an older gentleman in the mirror behind the bar. He was turned away from the bar and Jayne couldn’t discern his features, but the shaggy gray hair and faded blue jacket wailed like an alarm inside her head. She felt to make sure her gun was in her pocket. “Fucking Burrett,” she muttered to herself, careful not to draw the attention of the others. The last thing she wanted was to put them in danger.
Jayne continued to watch the hunched man. He appeared to be engaged in an arm wrestling match with a friend across the table, laughing gruffly. His laugh even sounded evil and grating to Jayne. She readied her weapon, her chest tightening and her heart pounding.
The man pounded his free hand on the table, making Jayne’s heart jump. She started to slide off her stool, plotting the best trajectory to apprehend him.
The man shouted, his voice filling that corner of the bar. “That’s three for three, Tony! Pay up!”
Jayne felt like she could jump out of her skin when the man yelled. It took her a few seconds to register that he was not Burrett.
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