“Wayland?” Kierra snickered.
“Real name, Jeremy Porter,” Kenny continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted.
“You mean he chose the name Wayland?” Kierra screamed and then put her hands up in apology when Monica glared at her. “Sorry. But Wayland.”
Kenny blew out a frustrated breath of air. “Can I continue?”
Monica sat back in her chair and nodded.
“Anyway, the Green Dawn leader was also running the Midwestern leg of a human trafficking ring.”
“From the Mediterranean,” Monica said, remembering this particular op.
Kenny nodded. “So, we were working the human trafficking angle as part of a multi-agency task force and the ATF were pursuing firearms charges since the group had been stockpiling weapons for years. But like I said, Agent White doesn’t share and kept dribbling information to us as if he didn’t doesn’t understand what a task force means,” Kenny said with a chuckle. “In the end, the only way to get what we needed reliably was to embed me as his new partner. We worked together for six months. The DEA took down the meth ring, ATF got their firearms cache, FBI closed down the human trafficking pipeline and Jeremy Porter went into hiding. But by then we had one of our agents in his inner circle and a few months later we took Porter down, dismantling what was left of Green Dawn.”
Monica nodded. Yes, there was so much more to Kenny than met the eye.
“So your former partner has intel we need. How do we get it?”
Kenny shrugged, “Lamont didn’t take my transfer well.”
“Explain,” Lane said.
“I’d worked it so that after the meth bust I’d be transferred. But Lamont and I had become friends and he called and emailed me. I couldn’t respond. My silence made him suspicious and he got nosy.” Kenny smiled and shook his head. “It took a few months, but he figured out that I work for The Agency.”
Monica raised an eyebrow. “That’s interesting.”
“Very,” Lane echoed.
“I can go to Columbus, but it’s probably a sixty percent chance that he’ll shoot me and a ninety percent chance he’ll ice me out.”
“We can’t send you anyway,” Monica said, bringing her hand to her chin. “We need you with Maya.”
Monica appreciated the effort Kenny took to keep his body still. His reddened face, however, betrayed that struggle.
“What about Asif?” Kenny offered.
Monica shook her head and turned in her chair to face Lane. Her husband exhaled loudly.
“Of fucking course. I always get the goddamn white supremacists,” he breathed.
“We can send you in as a… Marshal?” Monica asked.
“FBI would be better,” Lane corrected.
“Agreed,” Kenny said, surely reluctantly.
“What’s our goal here, boss?” Lane asked. “Am I just getting the intel or do I have expanded parameters?”
Monica considered Lane’s question. As his wife, she wanted to say that this was just an info grab. As the person who would have to deal with Kierra when he left and, god forbid, in the event that an elegantly gray hair on his head was harmed, she wanted to send Asif instead. But as his supervisor, the person directing this mission, and the person who understood Lane’s strengths and weaknesses and desire for action, she knew the answer.
Monica sat up straight, her eyes on his and nodded. “If you see an opening, I’m authorizing a full-scale dismantling of the Pendleton Patriots, retrieval of anything having to do with the Mehmeti family and any other domestic and international partnerships.”
The smile that spread across Lane’s face was almost feral. He looked like that tanned, sweaty college junior all over again. A bit grayer, but no less devastating.
“Not to interrupt this moment, or whatever,” Kenny said. “But what’s the point of taking down the Patriots if Mehmeti is still out there?”
Monica turned to him with a frown, “Mehmeti is still our main objective. We need to get him into a private session with Maya so Chanté can try and hack his computer and we can finally trace his IP address.”
“So what are you gonna do to make that happen?” Lane asked smugly.
Kierra’s muffled laughter filled the quiet room as Kenny’s blush spread across his cheeks and ears.
“Go home and get ready,” Monica said to Kenny. “Meeting adjourned.”
eight
“Mmmhmmm,” Maya mumbled into her cell phone. “For real?”
She was talking to her little sister about… well she wasn’t actually sure. The phone call had started as their weekly check-in, which Kaya preferred to terminate after about twenty minutes. Jerome liked to tell Maya nearly every detail about his life – although recently their hours long conversations tended to revolve almost exclusively around his Chem I lab partner. Jerome clearly had a crush on him, but he had yet to name it as such. But Kaya liked to give Maya the quick and dirty run down on her classes, the professors she hated (“all of ‘em”) and any notable highlights from her dating life (“the dude was trash but the wings at the dive bar downtown are the best I’ve ever had”).
That was Kaya’s usual pattern, but for some reason she wasn’t sticking to it today. Their check-in was nearing an hour. Maya was trying to figure out how to gently nudge her sister toward getting to whatever she was tiptoeing around so she could get ready for tonight’s broadcast before Kenny showed up. She exhaled a soft breath, her body beginning to warm just from thinking his name.
“What?”
“Hmmm? Nothing. Nothing,” Maya said hastily, embarrassed that she’d actually given herself away so easily. “Girl, just say what you’re trying not to say, please.” She blurted the words out partially to change the subject, but also because she really did have a schedule to keep.
Kaya took a deep breath and exhaled right into the phone. Maya rolled her eyes.
“Okay, so I’m dating someone,” Kaya said in a rushed whisper that Maya almost didn’t hear.
“Huh?” Maya said and turned the volume up on her phone. “Speak louder.”
“Ugh,” Kaya huffed. “I said I’m dating someone.” She yelled the sentence directly into the phone. Maya pulled her own phone away from her ear and turned the volume back down.
“Why is that news? When aren’t you dating someone?”
“Are you calling me a ho?”
Maya laughed. “The irony,” she mumbled. “No, dumbass. I’m saying that your motto since you were seventeen and mom finally let you date was ‘never waste a Friday night alone or pay for a meal’.”
“My wisdom,” Kaya deadpanned.
“So, what’s special this time around?” Maya asked. There was a pause, the silence on the other end of the phone stretching and stretching. Maya pushed her worry about her schedule to the side, sat up in her bed and really focused on her sister.
“I don’t know, I just… like them,” Kaya finally replied in a soft voice. Maya knew she was smiling.
“Okay, that’s good.” Maya used her gentlest, encouraging voice, which was a poor mimicry of her mother. “Is there something else you want to tell me?”
Maya was chewing on her bottom lip and she assumed her sister was doing the same. It was a family habit.
“Nope,” Kaya said definitively. “That’s it. Just… I like them, okay?” She tried to imbue her voice with its normal attitude, but Maya knew her sister’s voice well enough to know that what she was actually asking was, “Are you going to judge me?”
“It’s perfectly okay. I’m happy you’re happy. And I look forward to meeting your bae.”
Maya pressed her lips shut and hoped that Kaya absorbed those words.
“Ugh, you’re old. ‘Bae’ is washed. Keep up,” Kaya said, all traces of her previous vulnerability gone. “You’re on the internet way too much to not know the terminology.”
Maya rolled her eyes, “Shut up. But anyway, speaking of the internet, I have a broadcast I need to prepare for.”
“Oh shit, my bad.”
“Don’t apologize. I always have time for you to tell me how played out I am.”
“Washed,” Kaya screeched. “Do I need to start sending you updates?”
Maya laughed. “Please do! Love you, Kai.”
“Love you too, Mai.”
Maya hung up the phone and fell back onto her bed. She tried not to wonder what her mother would have said to her little sister in this situation. She’d spent the first six months after her death second-guessing every decision she made – every hug, every dinner – because she knew her mother would have done it better. It had pushed her to the brink of a nervous breakdown. She tried instead to focus on what she thought she’d done right. She’d listened to Kaya. She made sure she understood that she loved her unconditionally. She left the door open for the future. That had to be enough.
Her phone beeped. It was a text message from Kierra.
Sleep over at Command.
Maya smiled.
Sounds dirty.
You and your boos back on the same page?
Kierra sent her a winky emoji.
We’re gonna be.
Maya sent her an eye rolling emoji.
Don’t rub it in, tiny terror.
The chat bubbles popped up and disappeared twice before Kierra finally sent a message.
Ok don’t kill me, but maybe give Kenny a chance?
Maya typed ‘no’ but her thumb hesitated before she could send it. Kierra sent another series of texts in the meantime.
He likes you.
You like him.
Maya blew out a frustrated breath as she typed.
That’s not enough. Doesn’t fix anything.
Kierra had clearly been expecting that response.
Well whatever he did to you in his office had you smiling like the Cheshire cat on the way home so…
Maya responded with her own winky emoji.
The man gives great head.
She was trying to change the subject. Again. But Kierra wasn’t nearly as suggestible as Kaya.
I bet he does.
So was it just head or could there be something between you two?
Maya chewed on her lip.
idk
I really liked him when we were chatting online. But it was all lies.
I don’t really know him.
Kierra’s response was quick. Maya just knew she’d been waiting for the right opening to give her two cents. She was actually surprised Kierra had been able to wait almost a week. It had to be a record for her.
Then get to know him.
You already have to get... close for the mission.
Maya rolled her eyes she typed.
Now is not the time for your corny jokes.
Kierra sent back a laughing emoji.
You right. My bad.
Look I’m just saying, get to know him.
Maybe you like him.
Maybe you don’t.
Maybe he has terrible taste in music.
Maybe he has a big dick.
Give love a chance.
Maya scraped her teeth along her lip.
I’m ignoring give love a chance.
You’re compromised.
Kierra typed.
Fair.
Maya sent a thinking emoji.
Alright.
I’ll give him a shot.
lbr I’ve been wanting to do that anyway.
Even when I was really pissed.
Kierra sent a toothy smile emoji.
Really happy you’re finally admitting that to yourself.
Kierra sent a brown fingers-crossed emoji.
Really hoping he likes to read and has a big dick.
Maya sent some laugh cry emojis.
He absolutely has a big dick.
Kierra’s response was immediate.
WHAT?!!
Maya laughed to herself as she sent a brown peace sign before turning her phone off. She stood from her bed and walked into the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror and realized that corny as she was, Kierra was right. Even though he’d lied to her, directly and by omission, she could tell that what little he’d revealed about his personality had been the real deal. And while she had no idea if they had anything more than a few months of pent up sexual energy between them, she owed it to herself to find out for sure, because it had been years since anyone made her feel the way Kenny did. And she knew she’d regret it if she didn’t see this through.
After two years as a cam model, Maya didn’t get butterflies in her stomach much anymore since she’d discovered that so many men were terrifying. So when she felt the flurry of nerves hit her as she stepped out of the shower, she knew that it was all Kenny. And she decided to let herself lean into those feelings for once.
***
Kenny came home from Command and jumped straight into the shower. He wrapped his towel around his waist and walked back into his bedroom. His steps faltered when he noticed the clothes laid out on his bed.
He texted Chanté.
I don’t need your help.
It took her a few minutes to respond. He assumed she was at the club, although he wasn’t sure when her shift started. Or maybe it already had.
Yeah. You do.
He was pacing the full length of their living room by this point, his stomach in knots.
It’s not a date.
Chanté sent him an eye roll emoji.
Duh.
That’s why I went for casual.
Don’t forget cologne.
He typed, deleted, and then typed a few replies, but didn’t send any of them. He couldn’t figure out how to express that this was business – for Maya and Lane and Monica, who he knew would be watching tonight’s broadcast from Command. But he had finally admitted to himself while Maya was coming and shuddering on his tongue that he actually didn’t give a shit about the mission. If it came down to having a real shot with Maya or keeping his career, she won.
He’d gone through the motions the rest of the day, touched base with his ATF contact, and even sat through another strategy session with Lane and Monica – with Kierra taking notes – for when Joseph finally made contact. But he’d done it all while wishing he was still back in his office on his knees for Maya. And how was he supposed to tell his best friend that? Apparently he’d waited so long Chanté figured it out on her own. She was good at that.
Too much silence.
Overthinking?
Kenny nodded and then remembered to type.
Yes.
Chanté called him and he exhaled. This would be easier over the phone.
He accepted her call and put the phone to his ear. “Hello.”
“Alright, so here’s what I need you to do for me, Ken Doll. You’re freaking out ‘cause freaking out is what you do best.”
“Chanté-”
“Shh, we don’t have a lot of time. Accept that I’m right and let’s move on.”
Kenny gave her an angry grunt, but kept his mouth shut.
“You fucked yourself by lying to her. The only way to make this right is to demonstrate that you want to start over. You’ve gotta convince her that from here on out, you’ll tell her nothing but the truth.”
“And you think that’ll work?”
There was a longer pause before Chanté answered him. He could tell by the sadness in her voice that she’d been thinking of Asif. “Positive.”
“Chanté-,” he started, but she cut him off again.
“Not right now, Kenny,” she said in a weary voice that made him want to fly to wherever the fuck Asif was and shoot him in the arm. “Let’s just focus on you, okay?”
He scrubbed a hand over his face and exhaled. “For now.”
“Okay great,” Chanté said, her bright tone returning. “So, put on the tank top, gray sweatpants and no underwear. And spray on that cologne I like, byeeee.” She hung up before he could respond.
As Kenny walked back into his room he tried to clear his mind. He pulled deep breaths in through hi
s mouth and expelled air out of his nose as he pulled on a pair of briefs, regardless of what Chanté recommended, and sprayed himself lightly with the cologne Chanté liked – which was actually a scent that Maya once told him she’d smelled in a store and loved.
He turned at a knock at his front door.
He should have taken the time to pull on at least a pair of pants. But he grabbed his gun from atop the dresser in his room instead and walked cautiously toward the door. When he looked through the peephole, Maya’s face took his breath away. And then he realized that she was in her robe.
He wrenched open the door and pulled her inside.
“Hey,” she whined.
He poked his head out and checked the hallway.
He slammed the door and turned on her. “What are you doing in the hallway in your robe?” She didn’t answer him; her eyes were glued on the gun in his left hand, which was aimed safely at the floor. “Oh, sorry. I wasn’t sure who was knocking,” he said. He walked to the cheap dining table to his right and put the gun down carefully.
“And it might have been someone that you’d need a gun for.” It wasn’t a question. He could see her putting all of this together in her head. He liked to watch her think, he always had, even before their first private session. He knew that she’d agreed to help them with this mission much too quickly; surely faster than he liked. There were things she wouldn’t have had time to consider. And clearly the reality that there might be guns involved was one of them.
“I’ve never been around guns much,” she admitted in a small voice.
He nodded. “I’ll do my best to keep them away from you as much as I can.”
She looked up at him and nodded, a ghost of a smile touching her lips.
“Why are you in the hallway in your robe, Maya?” He asked again in a gentler voice.
“I was getting ready. But I wanted to talk to you before the broadcast and I didn’t have your number.”
“Technically it’s classified.”
Her eyes widened. She opened her mouth, closed it and nodded.
“What do you need to talk about?”
She took a deep breath and shoved her hands into her robe’s pockets. “About this afternoon. Well…” she started chewing her bottom lip and all he could feel was terror that she regretted it and the intense need to throw on his workout clothes and go for the longest run he could manage. “I don’t know if I can forgive you for lying to me. But there’s clearly something between us.”
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