by Ali Vali
“I’m all ears.”
“If that’s true, you’d know we aren’t the only ones up anymore. You’ll have to be happy being surprised when we move out later,” she said, laughing as she stood up.
Aubrey was in the kitchen rolling out biscuits when Wiley got downstairs, Tanith standing next to her with flour-covered hands. “I might have to buy a treadmill if this keeps up,” she said, putting her hand on Tanith’s shoulder. “Did you drug my mother to keep her away?”
“She’s not up yet,” Tanith said. “Her door’s still closed.”
“We wanted to thank you for not kicking us out last night,” Aubrey said.
The light coming from the top-floor windows highlighted the subtle differences in Aubrey’s hair from the way she remembered it, even though it was pulled into a tight ponytail. She lifted her fingers but not her hand off the island, having to force herself not to touch Aubrey’s head.
“Let me see what’s keeping her,” Buck said, a foot already on the stairs. “Tanith, you want to come with me?”
“That’s one of the slick moves he learned from my mother,” Wiley joked when Tanith ran to keep up with him.
“I’m surprised you noticed.” Aubrey wiped her hands.
“Them leaving or that my dad was trying to be smooth?”
Aubrey shook her head and rolled her eyes hard enough that she figured it’d make her dizzy if she tried it. “You’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever known, but sometimes you need a hard blow to the head, Gremillion. They left because they know what your next move should be.”
Aubrey stepped around the island and waited. The rest she figured was up to her. “Tell me why first.”
“Why what?”
“You may want to gloss over what happened to the team I went to Colombia with, and ignore the danger of starting over with me, but why put Tanith in that spot?” Aubrey exhaled at her question and pressed her fist to her forehead. “I’m not asking you to blow you off.”
“I need to give her as full a life as I can. As her mother I owe her that. In my heart, if I show her even a sliver of such a treat, it’d be enough. If I decide to walk away from you, I’d be safe, but I’d have the questions that the what-ifs would raise.” Aubrey took a small step toward her as if to encourage her to close the gap. “A day of happiness is worth an eternity of misery to me.”
“You always were a little on the syrupy side,” Wiley said, taking Aubrey’s hand and kissing it. “I’m not saying no, but we have a ways to go before I say yes.”
“You always were practical,” Aubrey said, pressing her body to Wiley’s. “Right this minute you don’t need to be. We’ve been apart a long while, but I haven’t forgotten that tactician’s mind of yours. It’s an important part, but not the sum of who you are.”
She couldn’t stand it anymore. Not the indecision in Aubrey’s voice, not the need, and certainly not the desire. When she put her arms around Aubrey’s waist and lowered her head to kiss her, Aubrey’s arms flew up and wrapped around her shoulders. She came close to laughing at every single cliché that momentarily flitted through her head about coming home, but Aubrey’s insistent lips quieted her thoughts.
“Promise me you’ll fight for this, that you won’t chicken out because you can’t guarantee the outcome,” Aubrey said as she framed her face with her hands. Aubrey was crying again, but this time she had a smile so wide it made her laugh. As if to make her not overthink the situation Aubrey kissed her again. This time, though, the kiss was full of the passion she’d always experienced with Aubrey. She opened her mouth slightly and Aubrey took the invitation. The last time she’d been in this position she’d fallen into an abyss alone right after.
“My God,” Aubrey said when their lips parted.
She rested her forehead against Aubrey’s and closed her eyes. “You make me crazy.”
“Someone has to,” Aubrey said as she laid her head on her shoulder. “You need some craziness, and someone to have fun with. Do you remember how?”
“We’ve got some stuff to get through before we can think about fun.” Aubrey kissed her again, quickly. “I’m not pushing you away,” she said, following Aubrey as she tried to retreat.
“I know, but I’m tired of losing out to what needs to be done. What I want is for you—” Aubrey stopped and lowered her head. “I’m sorry, I’m not being fair.”
It was time to quit running. Slowly she slid her hand around the side of Aubrey’s neck under her hair. Aubrey didn’t raise her head so she bent until she could reach her lips, knowing full well the message she was sending and what Aubrey would think if she pulled back again.
“You don’t get to leave again without consequences,” Aubrey said, tugging on her hair. “Not again.”
“I know, but you still have to be patient. I shoved my emotions in a closet after I had to go, so it might take a while to brush the dust and wrinkles out.”
“No one paints like that,” Aubrey cocked her head toward the large canvas, “being emotionally numb.”
“The memories—the legacy of that time with you kept me sane. Thanks,” she said, before enjoying one last kiss.
“No need for gratitude, Major, but I’m getting antsy already for this to be over, so do what you need to finish.”
“We have to find a few people so we can fill in the blanks. Once we have answers it’s a matter of lining up the tin cans so we can knock them down.”
“Can you do that now that you’re a civilian?”
“The Black Dragon might be hibernating, but she’s not completely asleep,” she said, picking up the phone. “We need permission to let me huff and puff a little.” She dialed the number from memory and waited. “Don, how about a trip down South?”
“Will he mind that I’m here?” Aubrey asked, finishing her biscuits, her tone uncertain again.
“He gave me your message in person, and he called when he saw you and your dad on the news.”
“Did you get a lecture?” Aubrey asked, laughing.
“No, Don’s my friend and I trust him because he knows me.” She held her hand out to Aubrey, smiling when she didn’t hesitate to take it. “He not only knew I’d call, but that I’d help you.”
“Did you have to think about it? Are you sorry?”
“I did think about it,” she said, and Aubrey let her go. “Not because I didn’t care, but because I knew I couldn’t turn away from you twice in my life. Twice wasn’t in me.”
“And all your fears?”
“I’ll have to learn to live with them.”
“And if you don’t?”
She kissed Aubrey’s knuckles when she offered her hand again. “Then I’d have to let you go.”
“Learn to accept them and remember what I said. A day of happiness is better than a life without you. If I get that day, and all of you, then all this time without you won’t have been for nothing because now we know how precious this is.” Aubrey smiled as she kissed her palm. “But I know you. You’ll fight whoever and whatever to get what you want. A long time ago you forgot that, but I have faith you’re smart enough to learn from your mistakes.”
“I can’t fight logic like that.”
“No wonder you were promoted so much.”
*
The chance that Walter still had the authority to have anyone watch her house was slim, but Wiley didn’t take any chances when she pulled out late that afternoon. After breakfast, the day had been both familiar and bizarre. Sitting and spending time with Aubrey and her family had been familiar, but bizarre in that she’d figured she’d never do it again.
Aside from getting reacquainted with Aubrey she enjoyed her long conversation with Tanith the most. She’d taken Tanith into her studio and talked to her while she started a new piece. The exercise had calmed her, and Tanith had opened up since she wasn’t staring at her. Tanith was incredibly bright, but after a few hours with her, she picked up on some of her fears and a subtle shyness that’d disappear one day when Tanith grasped how
special she was.
“You sure about this?” Buckston asked when they turned toward St. Charles Avenue. “If anyone with a bit of talent is watching, you’re an easy shot.”
He was right, but what choice did she have? She’d thought Don would’ve gotten here in time to send someone who wouldn’t be a known entity in this game, but that was out. The homeless guy with the WILL WORK FOR FOOD sign gave her an idea. He hustled over when she rolled her window down.
“How about an easy hundred?”
The guy looked at her, then Buck before he shook his head. “I’m not into anything kinky.”
“Good to know since we want you to keep your pants on at all times. I need you to take this and head over to Lee Circle.” She handed him a phone and the hundred. “If you take my call and hand the phone off to whoever I tell you to, I’ll give you a couple more of those.”
After he accepted, she drove to the World War II Museum to park and shouldered her backpack. She and Buck crossed the street to the Ogden Museum but walked through the tight space alongside the building to reach the hotel that overlooked the circle. A few minutes later after she’d picked the lock they were on the roof with a good view of a few city blocks.
Their friend had left his sign behind and grasped the cell she’d given him tightly in his hand. From what she could see through her scope, no one around him appeared to be waiting. Twelve other men were sitting around, so she widened her search.
“Call him and tell him to say he has a call for Roth. He doesn’t need to shout,” she said to her dad as she emptied her pack. The rifle it contained wasn’t her favorite, but in such an open area she had no choice because the gun broke down into four pieces, fitting easily in the small pack. Its scope was much more powerful than her binoculars.
Three blocks down she spotted a familiar car, and after adjusting the scope for distance she saw fake cop sitting with his head reclined, smoking a cigarette. He lifted his head and scanned his mirrors and the area in front of him every few minutes. “What are you doing here?” she said softly, watching how he massaged the scar on his face.
“We got a taker, but if his name’s Amber, he must have mommy issues,” her father said.
“You know Roth?” the man in shorts and dark polo shirt said to her on the phone. The outfit was touristy, but the powerful scope let her see the logos. If he was Amber’s stand-in, she didn’t find him on a street corner.
“I spoke to him recently,” she said to the guy in the polo shirt, but watched fake cop.
“Bullshit.”
“You don’t believe me, call his lawyer, Mr. Hernandez, and ask, but careful before you take the chance. Roth didn’t sound like he wanted anyone but me to know about this meeting.” Fake cop lifted binoculars and pointed them toward the circle. He was obviously looking for someone or had a real interest in Confederate military losers.
“What did he say?”
“In a roundabout way he gave me this location and Amber Willows’s name. I’d like to know if you know how to get in touch with her. Roth wanted us to have a conversation.”
“Nowhere in the open.”
The binoculars were still up to fake cop’s eyes, and his movements showed that he’d started his car. “Your friend on the phone is on the move,” her dad said. If fake cop was ready to go, that meant he knew who Amber’s friend was.
“Does anyone know you’re here?” she asked as she released the safety. The shot, if she had to take it, was over five hundred yards.
“No, and I’m going to keep it that way by not meeting anywhere in public. If you can’t agree to that we don’t have anything else to talk about.”
“Name the place, and I need you to stay calm. There’s a guy close to the television-station building and he’s made you. I need you to get going and keep the phone. Give my messenger a couple hundred, but that’s the only person you should talk to on your way out.”
“Where do you want to meet?” The guy sounded like he was trying to keep it together, but his breathing was starting to change.
“Walk away and wait for my call. I promise it’ll be as soon as I make sure you leave alone.”
She adjusted her angle to compensate for the slight breeze and moved her fingers to the side of the trigger. Fake cop glanced into his side mirror, getting ready to move, but before he merged into traffic, she took her shot. The expression of shock, then horror on fake cop’s face was almost funny when his engine shot a line of steam from the hole she’d made in the hood. He went from gripping the steering wheel to diving under the dash in a heartbeat.
“You can’t be dumb enough to think I missed, can you?” she said to fake cop, sweeping the area again to see if she could spot who she now knew was Mitch Surpass. “Anyone else look interesting?”
“No one stands out, and I don’t see the guy whose picture you showed me.”
The silencer did its job since she’d shot fake cop’s car in front of the NBC affiliate and no one came rushing out, so after a few minutes, she dismantled the rifle and motioned her father to the door.
“I need you to drive back with one stop on the way. After this, whoever that guy was on the phone is spooked, so we don’t need a crowd scaring him underground and taking Amber with him.”
Buck didn’t appear thrilled with her plan but relented, heading toward the shopping center next to the aquarium. He drove in and out, not stopping or phoning her until he reached her place. “Thanks, Dad, and I’ll call you when I’m done.”
“Hello.” The man sounded out of breath.
“Where do you feel the most comfortable for a talk?” She rode the elevator up to the Westin lobby on the twelfth floor and walked into the bar. The man on the line was silent. “I know you said not public, but how about the Westin?”
“That’s pretty crowded since it’s packed with workers.”
“You’ve obviously done a great job keeping Amber safe, but after having to take a shot at the location Roth gave me, someone else knows she’s here. Someone who knows who you are too.”
“Roth wouldn’t have given us up, so why wouldn’t I believe it’s you laying the trap?”
“I can’t convince you. The decision to talk to me is your choice, but I’m not out to hurt you.” She pointed to the club soda as she picked a bar stool.
“Roth told us whoever showed up would be the person sent to kill him.” The slam of a car door meant the mystery man had arrived somewhere. “He said to stop going to the meet point if the news reported him dead.”
“He was more persuasive than the guy who sent me to put a bullet in his head. Roth Pombo was simply a job, and I didn’t complete it. Now the guy who ordered the hit is no longer in a position to make anyone finish it, but that doesn’t mean he won’t end up dead.” She looked intently but briefly at everyone sitting in the bar. “In my talk with Roth, I got the impression him giving up his secrets had to do with payback more than anything. I’ll be here for thirty minutes if you want to give him that.”
“How will I know you?”
“I’ll know you, so be careful on the way over.”
*
“Nothing?” Nunzio said when the new guards he’d flown in entered his suite. He’d stayed overnight in Biloxi searching for Tracy, but she’d disappeared so effectively he hadn’t found any sign of her.
“We looked at every hotel and talked to the few cabs in the area, boss,” the taller of the men said. “She either walked or caught a ride with someone to somewhere out of Biloxi. We spread around enough cash to flush her out if she was still here.”
Her cell was also off and not accepting any other messages. The temper he’d displayed toward her had backfired, and he was the one learning a valuable lesson. He’d pushed away the one person aside from his grandfather who gave a fuck about him. All he could do was write her off or wait until she was ready to come back.
“Call the guys back,” he said, dismissing everyone from the room. Not only had Tracy not called, but Miguel had vanished, not answerin
g any of the three messages he’d left. His patience for this place and the supposed suppliers he was trying to cut a deal with was about to snap.
He wanted a deal so he could get back to New York and concentrate on building his business. The next time he came to Louisiana it’d be with an army of men who’d plow down anyone who’d fucked him over. There were plenty of names on that list, but to make sure no one escaped what he owed them, he’d bide his time to do it right.
The loud ring of his cell made him flinch, but he smiled when he saw the Mississippi area code. Tracy hadn’t lasted on her own as long as he thought, so he gave his anger permission to bleed into his voice. “Where the fuck are you?”
“That’s not important, Mr. Luca,” Miguel Gonzalez, or who he assumed to be Miguel, said. “Do you have a problem?”
“Nothing important.” He wiped his brow and stood, not knowing what to do with himself. “Do I get my meeting with Mr. Delarosa?”
“Even better, he offered to do business with you.” Wherever Miguel was, it was windy. “All the product you can handle, delivered to New York, only the charge will be two thousand more a kilo.”
“That’s cutting a lot off the top.”
“The offer is nonnegotiable and on the table for the length of this call.”
“I don’t get to meet with Mr. Delarosa either? That was the problem with Emray.” He mouthed the word fuck three times, the sensation of having his short hairs and balls caught in a vise all too real. “The amount we’re talking about isn’t a few kilos.”
“Your worry with Emray Gillis is understandable, but Mr. Delarosa should be known to you. His reputation is sound. If you do not know this, then perhaps you should return to the casino business.” Miguel’s breathing was steady and deep. “Do you wish to withdraw your request?”
Fuck, he mouthed again, not wanting to be rushed, so he took the chance. “I’d at least want his word he’ll be willing to talk price after a few shipments.”