by K. T. Lee
“Wow.” Stefanie drew out the word. “Fastidious is a pretty big word for a guy who is trying to pass himself off as a regular Joe…y.”
“Just a regular guy in consulting. Very boring. I travel a lot.” Joey reclined his seat a little.
“Do you have somewhere in mind or should I just take you to where I normally go?” Stefanie paused to look at him before turning onto the main road.
Joey showed her a map app on his phone. “I think we should go at least an hour out of town. I don’t want to run into any of your coworkers.”
“At the gun range?” Stefanie eyed him incredulously.
“Well, if any of them are working for Dmitri, it would only take running into the wrong one.”
Stefanie tapped the steering wheel. “Are you worried about them seeing you at my house?”
“Not really.” Joey shrugged. “We’re going to have to form a believable friendship. If anyone asks, you’re mentoring me.”
Stefanie cleared her throat. “Do you mean mentoring you or,” she lowered her voice, “mentoring you? Because I definitely don’t need the reputation that comes with the second one.”
Joey coughed to cover a laugh. “The first one. I also don’t need to explain why neither of us could control ourselves for three weeks while I’m here on an internship.”
“But you have thought about it?” Stefanie’s eyes were firmly on the road but she began to tap a finger on the steering wheel.
“If anyone assumes, we’ll just say we met at a conference and I used the internship as an excuse to get close to you. Put it on me. Tell them you just thought I was being nice and you put up walls when you figured out what was going on. That’ll keep you out of hot water.”
Stefanie smiled. “Are you always that generous at taking the blame in your relationships?” As soon as the words were out, Stefanie wished she could take them back. Or the ground would swallow her whole. She was flexible.
Joey, to his credit, kept his cool. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone. But yeah, I don’t like it when couples snipe at each other over every little thing. I’ll own it if I make a mistake.” He looked out of the passenger’s side window. “How about you? It wasn’t in your file, but, I mean, I should know if you have a boyfriend, girlfriend, or are dating so I can change my backup story.”
“No significant others.” Stefanie turned onto the highway. “I prefer the company of men. Man! Just one. At a time.” Her face flushed. “What I mean to say is, I’ve had a hard time finding the right guy. Not everyone wants to date someone who wants to be the boss. Or they think they do, but then have second thoughts when they find out I make more money than they do.”
Joey shook his head. “Their loss.” The moment hung in the air, heavy between them. Then Joey cleared his throat. “So. When we get to the range, I’ll probably let you set up, show me how you shoot, then we’ll start timing it and see how you do under pressure.”
Stefanie managed to hold back a smile. No one had told Joey about her family. Or maybe they did, but he didn’t believe it. To be fair, not every scientist had a protective dad who wanted to make sure his daughters could kick ass and take names if the need arose. Joey had been polite and concerned this evening, which would make it a little less satisfying than if he’d been rude about it. Still, this was going to be fun.
When they finally reached the shooting range far enough out of town to satisfy the CIA operative in her passenger’s seat, Stefanie was ready. On their way in the door, Joey’s fingers brushed her own. A little shock of electricity ran up her arm, and she turned to him, surprised. He stilled for a moment, then she felt him slip a little card into her hand. She glanced down. It was a new ID. She checked in first, showing her weapon. The clerk scanned the new ID into his electronic system and she put it in her back pocket when he gave it, and her gun, back.
On the way to their lane, Stefanie whispered, “Rita Lewis? Did you have that made special for me? Do I need to remember that?”
Joey leaned in conspiratorially. “Actually, we had it on hand from one of your sister’s operations. The FBI sent it to me just in case.” Joey glanced up at the numbered booth. “I think this is our lane.” The range had predefined areas for each person to stand in, and Joey joined her. “Ladies first?”
Stefanie shook her head, getting back in the zone. “No, I’m rusty. You go.”
Joey shrugged and pulled out his weapon. Stefanie took a step back and watched him shift from playful to serious. Stefanie’s cheeks warmed at the shift. Whoa. Where had that come from? Stefanie cleared her throat. Joey turned to face her. “You okay?”
Stefanie rubbed the back of her neck. “Yep. Just fine.”
Joey grinned and her cheeks warmed further. Fortunately, he turned around to aim at the target. A minute later, his target had a respectable grouping around the X. What was she planning to do again? Oh, yes. She was planning to show him what she was made of. Stefanie placed a new target, then gave Joey a cheeky smile. She only saw a puzzled look for a second before she focused on the target and began taking her shots. Her grouping was nearly as good as his. See? She was fine not being the best. She just wanted to give him a run for his money.
She turned around to see his reaction. Instead of annoyance over her competence, however, Joey met her with a raised hand for a high five, admiration on his face. “Nice work. Where’d you learn to do that? From the Army dad?”
Stefanie slapped his hand and shrugged. “Yeah. And Ree’s into it too. I can’t exactly let my big sister show me up.”
“So, you come out to the gun range, on a regular basis, for the sole purpose of making sure you can still shoot better than your sister?” Joey snorted.
Stefanie grinned. “You say that like it’s a bad thing. Want to go a few more rounds?”
Joey smiled and his eyes crinkled at the corners. “Yeah, actually. I really do.”
She met his eyes and for a moment, he didn’t move. He swallowed and a shiver ran up her spine. Nope. Nope, nope, nope. They were here to work, and that was it. She put her hands on her hips. “Well, you better get ready, then. Because I was just warming up.” Stefanie placed another target and took aim.
On the way home from their impromptu team-building event, Stefanie took a slight detour to get milkshakes at a cute roadside food truck advertising everything a weary traveler could want in any combination. Fortunately, they were open late. Stefanie took a sip of her non-dairy vanilla bean “milk” shake and stared at Joey. “The only reason, and I mean the only reason, you beat me on the last round is because I let you.”
Joey took a sip of his chocolate milkshake. “Hey, whatever lets you sleep at night.”
“You didn’t even ask about my comfort with self-defense.” Stefanie took a look around them. The cute, hand-painted food truck was starting to close up shop for the night, and they were the only ones left at the group of picnic tables.
“I sparred with you, remember? I’m not especially worried about it. How much spare time do you have?”
“Not as much as I’d like.” Stefanie studied her nails. “I just have a few hobbies. I haven’t made art in a long time – prototyping at work scratches the same itch and makes me just as happy. I still make time for karate, though. I earned my black belt in high school and have been slowly adding stripes as the years go by. I don’t go as quickly as others who can devote more time to it, but I’m pretty stubborn.”
“You don’t say.” Joey chuckled.
Stefanie smiled. “I help out occasionally at the local place, but I slow down if work gets too crazy. I must have gotten overconfident because when I went to Chicago, Alexis introduced me to a guy called Sensei John. The dude is a legend. He’s my dad’s age with gray hair and seems super laid back. Totally fooled me for about five seconds until I realized he could kick my butt into next Tuesday. Then, he did kick my butt into next Tuesday.”
Joey studied her. “You respect him.”
“Of course I do. I love it when people surp
rise me.” Stefanie finished up her milkshake. “Jury is still out on you.” She grinned at him. “For the record, you won some bonus points for not getting upset when you got beat out in the second round.”
“First of all, I already told you I don’t sulk and I’m a man of my word. Second of all, you beat me fair and square on that one. You did good, rookie.” Joey’s eyes twinkled.
“So close to earning another completely valueless bonus point, then you had to go and call me a rookie.” Stefanie shook her head.
Joey looked up from his milkshake. “Have you done anything like this before? I thought it was your first time.”
Stefanie startled at the question. She had just been focused on the thrill of winning a round against someone she respected. “Oh. No. I mean, this is my first time. I didn’t even know anything at all about Ree’s…hobby until last week. I guess I’m just really good at looking more comfortable than I feel.”
Joey looked around to make sure they were still alone. “Well, I shouldn’t have been surprised that you did so well. Being a badass must run in the family.” He nudged her with his shoulder.
Stefanie laughed. “I’m so going to paint that on one of those inspirational boards for my parents to hang up in the foyer. They’d love it. For the record, you just scored one more valueless bonus point.”
“It’s getting late. Want to head back?” Joey stood and reached out a hand. She took it, holding it for a few beats longer than she really needed to, and rose.
Stefanie nodded. “Yeah, it’s getting late.”
“We’ll work on some more self-defense techniques you might not have learned in karate class later this week. However, if tonight is any indication, I might get my butt kicked.”
Stefanie chuckled. “We can only hope.”
14
Dmitri Yeninov snapped awake in the middle of the night. As he always did when sleep eluded him, he started his computer to check the results of his ongoing searches. It was as much a compulsion as it was an expectation he would uncover new information. His searches weren’t as advanced as he would like, but to get more entrenched in the work would require engaging experts. If his country’s leadership knew how much he still cared about his own special projects, he might be punished further.
He pulled up a private browsing window and keyed in his password. A series of reports began to load, and he skimmed through them quickly. He smiled. Their little experiment had gone undetected so far and the next phase of his plan was in progress. He skimmed further and froze. The trip on his automatic systems was a gift he didn’t expect. An ID card from an old mission had just been used for the first time in months. Apparently, the CIA was paying attention. Good. It would be so much more satisfying to get his revenge while they were watching and powerless to stop him.
He may have been demoted, but his importance had not diminished. Dmitri leaned into his computer and searched for another half an hour but found no further information. Still, for the first time in a long time, he now had the information he needed to deal with his own problems in his own way.
* * *
Alexis parked her car in front of a cute little house halfway between Chicago and Enterprise, Indiana. It was a perfect blend of her two friends. The outside was a mix of brick and wood, and if she knew Ree and Parker at all, the perimeter would be nearly as secure as the FBI building itself. It was the perfect place to have their meeting. She opened the backseat to let her furry partner out. Waffle stretched, did his business, and then sniffed around the yard. He must have picked up on the familiar scent of his friends because his tail wagged more furiously than usual while he worked. Once Alexis was content Waffle wasn’t going to raise an alarm, she rang the doorbell. The door opened and, to her surprise, the man she loved answered it. She jumped into Matt’s arms and gave him a kiss.
“Never change, sweetheart.” Matt Brown laughed and nuzzled her neck. “I’ve missed you.” Alexis lowered herself down but reached for his hand. Waffle nudged Matt’s leg, then his free hand, unable to believe his friend could possibly ignore him when he was clearly just as important as his mistress. Matt scratched Waffle behind the ears. “And it’s nice to see you too, boy.”
“It’s so good to see you. How is work? Have you seen anyone sniffing around Ree on campus?” Alexis slipped her arm around his waist.
Matt shook his head. “Thankfully, no.” Matt leaned in to give her one more kiss. “Last one, then let’s go talk to your friends. They’re probably wondering what’s taking so long.”
Alexis, Matt, and Waffle entered the small house and Ree fanned her face when Matt wasn’t looking. Alexis felt her cheeks heat and Ree laughed. Just because Ree was giving the new couple space didn’t mean she wouldn’t give Alexis a healthy amount of grief about it along the way. Waffle trotted ahead of them, sniffing everything in his path and greeting all of his friends. Soon, they were gathered in Parker and Ree’s living room. Waffle settled by Ree and rested his chin on her knee. Ah, Ree still wasn’t feeling well. She was putting on a good show, but Waffle had a good sense for when people needed him. Alexis eyed Ree, who shook her head slightly. Alexis sighed. She’d leave it. They had bigger fish to fry if Ree didn’t want to talk about it. Technically, it was poker night. Before that, however, they had some FBI business to attend to. Alexis cleared her throat. “I assume everyone here read Quinn’s update?”
Parker nodded. “The CIA officer Cam and Quinn sent, Joey, believes the customers coming to visit have a high probability of being Dmitri’s associates. Email traffic intercepted by the NSA backs up his assessment.”
Alexis tipped her head towards her dog. “If Dmitri is making his move, I’d feel better if Waffle was a little closer. We still don’t have any idea what he’s planning, and Waffle can sniff out trouble faster than we can.” Waffle’s ears perked up at his name.
Matt nudged her. “You just don’t like being left out.”
Alexis lifted an eyebrow. “Neither do you. You and Ree volunteered to look at Stef’s prototypes. Still, it could be nothing. But if it isn’t – why wait? No one suspects Waffle of being a cop.” Waffle thumped his tail by way of reply. “What if we sent along some earpieces and Matt and I provided support close by? Not in the room, maybe just the parking lot.”
Matt nodded. “I’ve got a buddy with a research lab out there. We could just be in the area for a visit. He’d corroborate my story without asking too many questions if I needed him to.”
Ree tapped a finger against her lips. “That still doesn’t help us with getting Waffle close. Could Alexis bring him in as some kind of employee benefit? Waffle could be part of a service that rents out dogs to businesses for employee morale. Then, he could check for explosives before and after the team arrives. Alexis cleverly used some old evidence to train him on Dmitri’s scent. If Dmitri is physically interfacing with these guys, Waffle is the only one in the room who can figure it out.”
Waffle’s tail thumped and Alexis smiled. “That sounds perfect.”
“Okay.” Ree picked up a tablet. “Let’s call them and let them know it’s an option. Stefanie likes to be in charge, so it’d be nice to ease her into it.” Alexis snickered and Ree narrowed her eyes. “I’m aware that we may have that personality trait in common. After we get that sorted, we can get back to poker night. Matt, I don’t know if anyone warned you about your girlfriend. She’s ruthless.” Matt gave Alexis an adoring look. “Alright, that’s enough of that. Now let’s get this over with and everyone, be on your best behavior. I don’t want it to sound like we’re meddling.”
Ree dialed Stefanie’s number and Alexis and Matt moved behind the couch so they could lean into the video when they needed to talk. They didn’t look unlike a family all trying to squeeze in frame to say hello to a distant relative on a holiday. Stefanie answered right away with Joey next to her. Stefanie smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Evening…everyone.”
Matt’s mouth twitched. He whispered to Alexis, “Can’t she only see Ree and
Parker?” The little picture at the bottom of the screen showed only the two of them.
“The Ryland sisters are nothing if not observant.” Ree grinned.
“Correct.” Stefanie pointed at the screen. “I spy Waffle’s head, so Alex can’t be far away. Hi, Alex!”
“Hey, Stef! How are you holding up?” Alexis ducked her head so she was in frame.
Stefanie twisted her hands in her lap. “Great!” Alexis eyed her skeptically and Stefanie raised her hands in defense. “Okay, it’s going great considering that I have a protective new best friend–” she turned to Joey, “–no offense, and I guess we’re meeting some customers that are reluctant to share many details about themselves. I mean, it’s probably nothing. I feel silly even bothering you with it. But if it’s not nothing…”
Before Stefanie could spiral, Ree cleared her throat. “Yeah, about that, Stef. I – we – don’t like the idea of you both meeting them alone.”
Joey looked at Stefanie for a brief moment before looking back at the team on the screen. “I think it’d be a good idea if we had some help. Just in case.”
Parker nodded. “Alexis and Matt have offered to come. They can’t be in the meeting, but Waffle can sniff around the office. We’ll have Alexis and Matt waiting nearby in a surveillance van.”
Stefanie turned to Joey with an amused smile. “You were right. They couldn’t stay out of it.” She turned back to the camera. “I mean, it sounds like it’s already decided. When will you get here?”
Alexis exchanged a look with Matt. “We can fly out Saturday and get you guys up to speed.”
“Sure.” Stefanie shrugged. “The more the merrier. The real question is, how are the rest of you guys going to handle being benched? Sis, this can’t be easy for you. Are you okay?”
“No. Not at all.” Ree laughed. “We all got together to play poker and exchange information tonight. Seriously, Stef, I know you feel foolish for suspecting everyone, but this guy is dangerous. If either of you even catch a whiff of Dmitri or something seems off, raise the alarm. You’ve got a whole team ready to jump in if needed, not just the bomb-sniffing dog.”