“You and Kierra really are the same person,” Lane chuckled.
Just before the door opened on the main floor Kenny handed the gun back to Maya and hauled Mehmeti over his shoulders again.
Lane’s gun was aimed high, unsure of what to expect. But when the door opened all they encountered was the thumping bass of an EDM song and a packed dance floor in front of them.
“Does no one hear the fucking fire alarm?” Kenny hissed.
“Is that the name of this song?” Lane laughed as he lowered his gun to his side and led the way.
Kenny motioned for Maya to go before him so he could keep an eye on her.
He kept waiting for someone to realize that he was carrying a bloody, near-unconscious man on his shoulder, but no one did. The lights were low and the intermittent spotlights that moved around the space made it harder for him to see much beyond Maya’s frame in front of him. So he guessed that worked in their favor.
When they entered the back hallway, he was even more alert. The line to the restrooms was long and he held his breath, but again no one noticed them. In what felt like less than a minute but also an hour, they were pushing out of the emergency exit and there was the rest of their team. They hustled down the stairs in relief.
“I said report,” Monica yelled at Lane, rushing toward him and pushing against his chest.
“We were in a hairy situation,” Lane said with a laugh, grabbing his wife’s wrists.
“I don’t give a fuck if there’s a gun to your head. When I say report, you better at least cough.”
Kenny could see the shine of tears in her eyes and he got it. For the first time, he got it.
His eyes shifted to Maya who was hugging Kierra tightly. The two of them clutching at one another.
“Are you all always this emotional in the middle of an op?” Lamont asked.
“Yes,” Asif said. “They are.” And then he shifted, looking deeper into the alleyway. A dark van Kenny hadn’t noticed was idling there. The passenger door opened. “Carlisle,” he said in a hard tone at the man who stepped from the vehicle.
Kenny recognized the black ops agent he’d seen exactly once, when a job in Italy had gone really fucking wrong.
Qualifying for the black ops division of The Agency was near impossible. Or at least it was shrouded in the kind of mystery that made it seem near impossible. Because the goal for that division was to be nearly invisible. If black ops showed up, something was very wrong, you were very much fired, or they were taking someone some place where they would never be seen again.
“Asif,” Carlisle said with a grin on his face. “How’s the shoulder?”
Asif scoffed, which made Carlisle smile. He turned to Kenny and his face sobered into clear professionalism; all business. “That my transpo?”
Kenny nodded. “He’s got a few holes?”
Carlisle nodded, “I’ll alert the medic.”
He turned with a tilt of his head. Kenny followed. The back of the van opened up, another agent who Kenny didn’t recognize jumped to the ground and helped him toss Mehmeti inside. The other man jumped back into the van and pulled the doors closed behind him. Quick. Easy. Professional.
Carlisle turned toward them with a smile. They all stopped as the sound of police sirens and the horn of a fire truck sounded. “Looks like it’s time for us to get the fuck outta here.” He saluted them, Asif scoffed, Carlisle laughed, and he jumped into the van, which was already moving.
“He’s right,” Monica said. “Let’s go.”
They all crawled into their own cargo van with Asif at the wheel.
“I’m sorry, who the fuck is this?” Maya asked, looking down at Keeler.
“He’s mine,” Lamont said.
“Your what? And also who the fuck are you?”
“He’s Kenny’s old partner,” Kierra said helpfully.
“And this guy is going to jail for a very long time,” Lamont said not helpfully.
Maya stared at all of them before turning to the front passenger seat where Monica was sitting.
“So what’s-”
“Yes, I know you want more money. It’ll be in your account in three to five business days,” Monica said, cutting her off. She turned to the back of the van and eyed Kierra. “They’re going to audit us after this mission. I don’t think anyone has ever managed to so effectively shake The Agency down.” And then she smiled.
Kenny turned as Lane pressed a gentle kiss to Kierra’s temple, “That’s our girl.”
Maya nodded and turned to Kenny. They locked eyes but didn’t speak. The ride in the back of the van was bumpy and uncomfortable, especially with an unconscious Keeler between them. But Kenny had had worse rides in worse transportation. This trip felt like a limousine ride in comparison, especially when Maya curled herself against his side and laid her head on his shoulder.
“Thank you for not dying,” she whispered eventually.
He brushed his lips against her forehead in answer.
scatter
Lamont always preferred to work alone. Especially in the last few years. But as the van pulled into a remote cargo hangar, he was willing to agree that maybe this one time, not working alone had been worth it. But that didn’t mean that he wanted to prolong this mission any longer than necessary. As soon as the van pulled to a stop, Lamont pushed the back door open and hopped out.
He turned around and offered his hand to Kierra who smiled down at him and took his hand gently. He blinked as she hopped delicately to the ground.
Lane followed her. “Don’t mind our sweet girl. She gets a little keyed up when the mission is over and we’re all safe.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and picked her up, whispering into her ear.
“So we’re pretending like this only happens when the mission is over?” Asif asked from the driver’s seat.
Lamont shook his head and turned to offer his hand to Maya, the last person in the back of the van. But Kenny slapped his hand out of the way and reached up to lift Maya down himself.
“I was just being a gentleman,” Lamont said with a roll of his eyes.
“Be a gentleman with him,” Kenny said, gesturing toward Keeler who seemed to be coming back to consciousness.
“Fuck,” Lamont breathed and reached quickly for the man’s legs before he was awake enough to start kicking.
“Can I get a gag or something?” He yelled.
Before he could get the sentence out completely, Monica had crawled into the back of the van to shove a piece of cloth into Keeler’s mouth to muffle his screams. The man’s eyes went wide with fear. They settled on Lamont and he began to buck, trying to free himself. He thought he’d escaped and would get away scot-free after years of infiltrating the ATF and a year sabotaging Lamont’s case against his white supremacist gang. Lamont felt a deep sense of relief and satisfaction that he was wrong. And he looked forward to being able to finally close the Pendleton Patriots case as soon as he made it back to Columbus.
“So how are we doing this?” He asked no one in particular.
He was surprised when Asif came around the side of the van and answered. “We’ve got a cargo plane in the next hangar that’ll take us to Columbus.”
“Us?” Lamont said.
“I’m following a lead.” Asif turned to Kenny, “So you got the hard drive?”
Kenny’s jaw ticked, “We did.”
“Who hacked it?”
Kenny pressed his lips shut, refusing to answer.
Asif laughed and pulled his phone from his pocket. He pressed a few buttons and they stood there as the line on the other end rang.
“Mabel’s Pies,” a voice Lamont didn’t recognize said. Kenny’s hands flexed.
Asif smiled wider with every word, “Thank you for picking up this time.”
“Well, I mostly wanted to confirm that you were alive,” the woman said.
“I am and so is everyone else.”
“Well now that we’ve handled that, take care of yourself, Asif.”
> Lamont wondered if he was imagining the sadness in Asif’s eyes.
“Where are you?” Asif asked in a soft voice, his eyes dipping for the first time to stare at the phone in his hand as if he could see her through it.
She didn’t answer.
“Chanté,” he breathed as the call disconnected.
Lamont’s entire body went rigid at the name. “Chanté?” He asked looking around. “That was Chanté?” He looked at Asif but the man was still staring despondently at his phone. He turned to Kenny.
“It’s a long story,” Kenny said.
“Caleb’s Chanté?” Lamont asked.
“The one and only,” Lane said, coming around the van flanked by Monica and Kierra.
“What am I missing?” Kenny asked.
Lamont wouldn’t have told him if he could have found the words. He pressed his lips shut.
“We had our own adventure if you must know,” Lane said. “And as dramatic as it was, we’ve all gotta get a fucking move on.”
That snapped Asif back to reality. He turned away from them without a word and crawled back into the van.
Lamont turned to Kenny.
“You alright?” Kenny asked.
He wasn’t. Maybe he would be some day, but he wasn’t right now. He shrugged and stuck out his hand. “I guess this makes us even,” he said.
Kenny’s mouth tipped up into a smile. “I am sorry about last time.”
Lamont huffed out a laugh, “And it only took you three years to apologize.” He squeezed the other man’s hand firmly. “Water under the bridge.” And then he turned to Lane, “Thanks for the assist.”
Lane’s eyebrows lifted in shock. “There are direct flights from here to Hong Kong, fyi.”
Something deep in Lamont’s chest came to life at those words. He smothered it. “Got a prisoner to transport. I’ve got a job to do.”
Lane shook his head. “Job can’t be all there is.”
Lamont took a deep breath into his nose and exhaled from his mouth. He nodded at Monica, Kierra and turned to do the same to Maya before walking to the passenger side of the van.
Mercifully Asif didn’t speak to him on the ride to the other hangar or on the flight halfway across the country. They traveled in near silence; both men somewhere else, with someone else. People they felt certain they could never have.
***
“Alright let’s get the hell out of here,” Lane said, turning toward the jet.
“We’re not going with you,” Kenny said.
“We’re not,” Maya said.
“You’re not,” Kierra echoed.
Kenny turned to Monica, “I know I just started working with you and you might not even want to work with me after…” his eyes darted to Maya, “Everything. But I’ve never taken one day of vacation in almost six years with The Agency.”
Maya gasped. Kierra’s eyes bounced between them. Kenny’s red face and Maya’s shocked smile were all she needed to know that whatever was happening here was special.
“If it’s alright with you,” Kenny continued, “I’m requesting three weeks of vacation starting right now.”
When he stopped talking they all turned to Monica. She was eyeing Kenny with a shrewd stare. “No,” she said, and Kierra’s mouth fell open.
“Now hold the fuck up,” Maya said.
Monica’s eyes were trained on Kenny, “Your personnel records indicate that you have almost four months of vacation time. And since we’re probably going to be audited soon, you should use your time before they take it. I don’t want to see you before the new year.”
Kierra felt herself smiling as a warm feeling of love spread through her veins.
“Does that… does that mean that you still want me to work with you?”
Monica almost smiled, “We could have gotten Mehmeti without you. I offered you the job because you’re a good agent. And I can make you better.”
Monica nodded and turned toward the plane. Their eyes met briefly and the right side of her mouth lifted up just a fraction of an inch. She enjoyed ruffling all their feathers sometimes.
Lane’s smile as he watched Monica walk onto the jet was a pure and unceasing adoration. Kierra could absolutely relate. When he turned to Kierra, his eyes were dancing. “Say your goodbyes. And you two have fun,” he said to Maya and Kenny, handing over the other man’s phone before he followed Monica onto the plane.
Kierra turned to Maya, a smug smile on her face.
Maya rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Don’t.”
“So you Pretty Woman’d your life, huh?”
“I said don’t.”
“When have I ever listened to you?”
Monica huffed a laugh and she stepped toward her. “Great point, tiny Tim.”
Kierra smirked, “Technically in my heels we’re almost the same height.”
“You’re like a baby giraffe,” Maya said.
“A baby giraffe with a great ass.”
Maya burst into laughter, “What does that even mean?”
Kierra laughed and shook her head, “No idea.”
They grabbed each other then, pressing their bodies together in a tight hug. “I’m glad you’re okay,” Kierra whispered. “I was worried for a few minutes there.”
“I was worried for hours,” Maya laughed. “I’m glad you didn’t die, short stack. You still owe me a month’s rent.”
Kierra laughed, and they squeezed each other tight before pulling away. She moved her hand to grasp Maya’s and they both turned to Kenny. “If anything happens to her annoying ass, I’ll kill you.”
He nodded gravely but smiled, “That sounds fair.”
Kierra lifted her eyebrows at Maya, “When you get back we’ll have a very long and thorough discussion about you two in the salon.”
Maya gasped, “Jesus you saw that?”
Kierra turned to her and smiled, “I tried to record it for your channel but Lane wouldn’t let me.”
Maya rolled her eyes, “There is truly something wrong with you.”
Kierra lifted on the balls of her feet and brushed her mouth along Maya’s cheek. “Truly. Have fun, babe. You deserve this and more.” With a final wink at Kenny, she turned and walked up the stairs onto the jet.
She found Lane and Monica sitting in their normal seats and she sat across from them, crossing her legs slowly. The cabin door closed and the skeleton crew began to prepare to taxi out of the hangar.
She locked eyes with Lane and then Monica, a slow smile forming on her lips.
She uncrossed her legs and their eyes settled on the crease of her thighs. “Is there anything I can get you two before takeoff?”
There was barely a moment of silence before Lane launched himself at her, pulling her across the aisle to settle between them.
The sound of Kierra’s laughter mixed with Monica’s sighs and Lane’s grunts as their plane moved slowly toward the queue of departing planes.
***
Maya turned to Kenny as Kierra disappeared into the jet. It was odd to feel shy after all they’d been through, but she did. And then she felt tired, so tired all of a sudden. “Are we going back to the hotel for our stuff?”
Kenny shook his head, “That would not be smart. Besides, I asked the porter to send our stuff to the airport just as soon as we left.”
Maya’s eyes widened, “That’s not suspicious at all? Won’t Mehmeti’s men look for us?”
Kenny shrugged. He walked toward her and gently grabbed her hand, “Eventually. Once they realize that their boss is gone and contact his family. But when they go looking, they’ll discover that our bags were rerouted through Oregon and Alaska but lost somewhere in Iceland. I hope there was nothing in those bags you needed urgently.”
“I mean a change of clothes and some tennis shoes would be great right now,” she said gesturing to her bare feet with their joined hands, her heels and purse clutched in her free hand. She did not relish having to put those heels back on.
“Let’s get to the ma
in terminal and I’ll buy you the best this airport has to offer,” he said. Maya wanted to tell him that that sounded like a terrible fashion look in the making. But she didn’t. She was too distracted by the smile on his face, the way the dim light in the hangar danced in his eyes, which seemed light and playful for the first time since they’d met in person.
She could hardly believe that that had only been a couple of weeks ago. It felt as if they’d lived a lifetime since then. And she guessed on some level – with all of the strange things that had happened since he’d strolled into her apartment, ashamed and nervous – they had.
“I have big feet. You better pray they have something in my size or I’m never going to let you forget this.”
They walked to a golf cart at the back of the hangar and he helped her in. “You can needle me about this for as long as you want. Forever even.”
Maya gasped and Kenny took the opportunity to brush his mouth against hers, his tongue swept inside and coaxed hers forward.
When he pulled back she felt as if she was still in a daze. They were driving across the airport before her brain rebooted enough to form a full sentence. “Fuck that was smooth,” she said.
His laughter was music to her ears.
nineteen
“Are you sure you’re not mad?” Jerome asked. Again.
“She said she’s not. Chill dude. You get to hang out with your boyfriend with no beakers involved. Don’t ruin it,” Kaya huffed.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Jerome corrected. Maya could hear Jerome’s blush in his voice.
“Leave him alone,” she breathed. “We don’t tease you about being in a full-on relationship, so don’t tease him.”
“I’m not teasing him,” Kaya said, sounding to Maya like she used to when she was a pre-teen and their mother told her to clean her room. “I just want to get to the good stuff.”
Maya frowned. “What good stuff?”
“Whatever it is that has you so deliriously happy that you’re apparently just fine with the three of us not spending Thanksgiving together for the first time since mom.”
Maya had her siblings on speaker phone so she could lotion her body while they talked. The way Kaya said “since mom,” but not “since mom died,” stilled her hands. She wondered if she was making the right decision.
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