Netminder

by Jeff Adams

  “More of a challenge for me, then. I’ll see if I can leave his key card on the floor or something.” Coach pulled me into an awkward half hug. “Stay as safe as you can. Okay?”

  I nodded. “You too.”

  There were so many ways for this to go wrong.

  He released me and gave one final nod before he pushed open the door. I watched the monitor as he approached the guard….

  He strode right up to the guard as if he had a purpose, and they talked rather animatedly. The longer they talked the more anxious I became, even though the guard didn’t look suspicious at all. Maybe it helped Coach was dressed in dark clothes, similar to the guard. I wasn’t dressed for the part in blue jeans, hoodie, and backpack. I’d left all my black clothes at home.

  Another clank from the door on the first floor.

  Shit.

  I couldn’t leave this door. I’d need to get in fast if Coach cleared the way. Unless this person went to the basement, they would see me. There’s no way I’d convince them I belonged here.

  Someone moved light and fast on the stairs.

  Coach continued to talk.

  I couldn’t enter the floor yet.

  Backing up four steps into the shadows should keep me out of sight—unless they were going up to three.

  I gasped as the person pushed on the bar to go through the door.

  “Theo?” Eddie asked, looking right at me.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  ANGRY. FREAKED out. Sad. Relieved.

  All those feelings jumbled together.

  Just one would’ve been too much, but the combination threatened to short-circuit me.

  Pain throbbed behind my eyes as a result.

  “You came for Mitch.” Eddie wasn’t asking.

  He knew.

  He knew because he knew me.

  He’d changed since I’d seen him last. Gone was the poufy Afro, and in its place, he had a very short cut that looked really good. He’d switched to contacts too. I knew from having tried on his glasses that they’d been real. He’d never have been able to stand wearing them otherwise….

  As we stared at each other, I wanted to hug and punch him.

  So many questions. Had he always been this close to home? Why turn up now? What would he do now that he’d discovered me?

  I needed to get to Mitch and make sure he got out.

  Instead, the person who ripped out my heart stood in front of me, and I couldn’t stop looking at how he’d changed.

  The job needed my attention.

  But he looked good. He was less lean and more muscular, meaning he likely wasn’t swimming much. Even in the low light, the tight black long-sleeve shirt he wore couldn’t conceal the ripples of muscle in his arms that weren’t there before.

  He raised an eyebrow—the usual move when he was waiting on me.

  “Yeah,” I finally answered. “He shouldn’t be mixed up in this. I can’t believe you went after Mitch and Iris.” Fury at dragging our friends into this flared.

  I came down the stairs and closed the space between us.

  “That’s why I’m here too.” His voice didn’t have the angry tinge mine did. “I heard that Mitch was brought in to force you to surrender. That was wrong.” He looked away and down to the floor. “It’s bad enough they came between us.”

  I grunted. I’d made sure never to involve Eddie in the TOS part of me. While I had no idea how I’d react if TOS had asked me to make a target out of him, I’d like to think I wouldn’t have betrayed him.

  “What was your plan to get him?” he asked.

  “We’re kind of flying by the seat of our pants.”

  “We?” That eyebrow went up again.

  God, I missed him.

  Breaching protocol, I showed him my phone where Coach continued chatting with the guard. I couldn’t imagine what they were talking about all this time, but at least nothing bad was happening.

  “Coach Daly too? How many of you guys were there?”

  “I could ask you the same question.”

  “Right. Sorry.”

  I had a hard time reading him. That didn’t use to be a problem.

  “I’ll take care of this,” he said, moving for the door.

  He produced two protein bars from his pants. They were chocolate mint—his favorite.

  “Keep an eye on the screen, and once I’m in the room get yourself to the door.”

  He was through the door before I could say anything.

  Insane.

  How was I supposed to trust him? Who was to say he wouldn’t betray Mitch?

  Eddie strode down the hallway with the same confident walk I’d seen hundreds of times at school. It was disconcerting.

  He walked right up to Coach and the guard. If Coach was shocked, I couldn’t see it.

  Eddie showed the bars and said something that made the guard and Coach walk away. Eddie watched for a moment and because I looked at the one screen, I couldn’t see where they went. After a few beats, he turned and looked directly into the camera before swiping a key card and going inside.

  So far he’d done exactly what he said he would. Without a moment’s pause, I emerged from the stairwell, went quickly to the room, and through the door Eddie’d left ajar.

  “…you do that to him? How are you even here?”

  Eddie was on the floor with Mitch on top throwing punches as Eddie kept his head covered. I’d never seen Mitch like this, not even in the most physical games.

  The door closed behind me, and I quickly tapped on the phone to force this room’s feed to a freeze frame of Mitch that I’d captured earlier. It wasn’t perfect by a long shot, but hopefully it would hold off from anyone coming to look.

  “Mitch, stop. This isn’t the time.”

  He stopped and looked my direction.

  “Theo. Oh my God. How are you here?”

  He scrambled off Eddie and threw himself around me. We held each other tight. He vibrated in my arms. I couldn’t tell if it was anger, fear, or both.

  “Theo, what’s happening?”

  “The less you know, the better,” Eddie said.

  Mitch clapped my back and stepped away. “I wasn’t asking you.” He whirled around and tensed up so fast I thought he might attack Eddie again. “I don’t need to hear anything you have to say. You nearly destroyed Theo.”

  The door beeped, a green light flashing on the panel. Eddie stepped away before it opened. Coach slipped inside.

  Mitch looked even more confused. I worried that he might shut down from shock.

  “Coach?”

  “Mitch.” He nodded and then turned to Eddie. “I have no idea why you’re here, but that was a good save. Thanks.”

  Eddie finally relaxed a little. Maybe he thought Coach was going to go after him too.

  “I’m so confused,” Mitch wavered, and I caught him before his legs gave out.

  “Take it easy, man,” I said, keeping him steady. “We’re here to rescue you.”

  Mitch looked at me like I’d lost my marbles. “Be straight with me. Why am I here?”

  I looked between Coach and Mitch. Coach eventually shrugged, which didn’t help me out all.

  “Eddie’s right. The less you know the safer you’ll be.” I decided on as much truth as he’d get later. “The people who took you did it to get to me.”

  “It doesn’t make sense. You know that, right?” Many times I’d wished I could get back to that state that Mitch lived—a place where teenagers didn’t do the things Eddie and I did.

  “No, it doesn’t. But it’s true. We need to get you out—now.” I turned my attention to Coach. “How do we want to do this?”

  “The plan was to go back the way we came. Is that good?” Coach looked to Eddie.

  “Depends on how you got here.”

  We related how we got in, and Mitch stared at us while we talked. If this wasn’t such a dangerous situation, I would’ve been amused by his look as he tried to process everything.

  “That’s proba
bly best. You’re not going out the front door even if I went with you. No one knows, unless they’re actually watching the cameras, that I’m in here.”

  If they were watching the cameras?

  “Stole my dad’s key card,” Eddie continued, holding it up. “I hadn’t perfected how I was getting us out. You solved that problem.” He looked a Coach.

  “You expect me to jump between buildings?” Mitch asked, sounding alarmed.

  “I did it,” I said. “It’s not that far.”

  Mitch threw his hands up and paced across the room and back. I felt bad. This kind of agitation was so far from his norm.

  “Come on, Mitch,” Coach said. “We need to go.” Coach put his hand on Mitch’s shoulder, and guided him toward the door. “In the hall we go to the left. The staircase is at the end of the hall and then up to the roof. I’ll keep my hand on your shoulder so we stay close.”

  Just as Mitch was about to walk out, he looked to me and frowned. “Wait.” He shrugged out of Coach’s grip and came back inside. “What about you?”

  Coach pulled Mitch back toward him.

  “I’m not going,” I said trying to sound confident in the decision. “They wanted me to come here—”

  “You’re okay with this?” Mitch looked back to Coach.

  He nodded without hesitation.

  “How can you stay here? We should call the police or… something.”

  “I’ve got no choice.” Out of the corner of my eye I caught Eddie’s concerned look as if he didn’t like the plan. Would he actually let me walk out of here? Would he come with us?

  “We really need to go,” Coach said. “That guard is only gonna stay out so long.”

  “Go,” I said. “I’ll be fine.”

  “I wish I could believe that,” Mitch said, his voice cracking.

  I went and drew him into another hug. “This isn’t my first time,” I said, hoping to sell him on it. “I’ll be fine.” I tried to add more convincing emphasis.

  We held each other’s gaze, and I thought Mitch was going to argue more, but his look softened. “Take care of yourself, Theo.”

  “I’ll do my best. I promise.”

  I held out my fist, he bumped it, and we traded weak smiles. He allowed Coach to take him out, but he stared at me until the door shut.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  I WATCHED the security feed as Coach and Mitch quickly got to the stairway and went up. As long as they weren’t apprehended on the roof, they were safe.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t let Mitch wale on me,” Eddie said when I’d pocketed the phone.

  I took a breath and turned to fully face Eddie. While he sounded easygoing, his shoulders were tense. Shouldn’t I be the tense one here?

  The bright overhead fluorescent light made him look terrible as his dark skin took on a slightly yellowish tone. His eyes had no spark, no energy. I recognized the look—although it used to only surface when he had too many exams in a week.

  Punch him or hug him? The battle raged on.

  “There wasn’t time for that.”

  He nodded. “Why didn’t you go too?”

  “You’d just come after me again. And who knows who you’d hurt the next time.”

  He flinched.

  “It’s not like I’m the one who captured him.” His voice was low and frustrated. “Don’t I get some credit for showing up to get him out?”

  “And now he’s gone, so why are you still here? Shouldn’t you go before someone figures out you helped him?” I barely contained yelling at him, keeping my words clipped. In an effort to keep my simmering anger contained, I kept flexing my right hand into a fist.

  “It’s not like they won’t figure it out when they see my dad’s swipe on the door.”

  God, why couldn’t I focus on being upset with him. The desire to close the space between us was intense.

  “So what now? You get to finally turn me in?” The question wasn’t really fair. If I could force him to stop being so earnest, maybe my frustration could fully take over, and I’d stop wanting to kiss him.

  Eddie threw his hands up and made an exasperated sound. “Jesus, Theo. You think I like this? You’re my boyfriend and—”

  “I was your boyfriend. You don’t get to call me that after what you did.”

  He looked around the room before finally turning away from me. With no windows and little furniture in the room, there wasn’t much else to look at, though. “I had no choice. They threatened my mom. She has no idea what Dad’s involved in and didn’t deserve to get mixed up in it.”

  “And Mitch did?”

  “You say that like I’m the one in charge.” He stomped to the room’s single chair, gripping the back while refusing to look at me. It looked like he fought the same anger I did. The muscles in his shoulders flexed along with his biceps.

  He remained incredibly hot.

  The fact that he could pick up the chair and swing at me didn’t stop me from approaching.

  “How long did you know?” I asked quietly. We needed to talk—maybe then I’d understand.

  Releasing the chair, he turned with a defeated expression. “It wasn’t too long after we got back from Denver.” He shot a look up to the camera bubble on the ceiling.

  “I’m feeding a still image for this camera. It may not be the best idea since they’ll eventually notice and come investigate.”

  Eddie shrugged. “Depends on if the guy at the front desk is paying attention. More often than not he plays games on his phone. That’s why I thought I could get Mitch out on my own.”

  So that’s what he meant before.

  “So you knew for, like, eight or nine months and never let on? Never told me I was in danger?”

  “I didn’t know what to do,” he said, running a hand over his head. “It’s not like I could tell somebody that my dad revealed he was some secret agent asking me to spy on my boyfriend. He said it would be worse for you if I didn’t follow instructions. At first it was small stuff.” His voice cracked a little as he talked. “Try to bug your phone. Try to put a trojan on your computer. Which, by the way, I said would never work because you were the security ace.”

  A smile crept across my lips. “Yeah, that was a fail.” I smirked at him, feeling a few tendrils of our old energy coming back.

  “Anyway, when you ended up working at Glenwood, they were already talking about sending me up to surprise you. When Sofia made the invitation, it became the perfect scenario.” He rubbed his eyes, and I thought he might cry. “I don’t know how you stay cool doing this stuff. It was the hardest thing in the world to get through dinner with you and wait for the drug to kick in.”

  The more he explained, the sadder he looked and the more my heart said to comfort him. I fought the ingrained reflexes to reach out, hold his hand, rub his back, or pull him close. He was part of why we were in this situation.

  “Were you supposed to capture me that night? Melissa said—”

  “I got in so much trouble.” He winced. “I was supposed to leave the door unlocked when I left so they could take you. They wanted your parents asleep, and they planned to distract the guard. I couldn’t allow it to happen. I locked the door and, since I was staying in the house, I set the alarm since the Glenwoods told me how to do that.” He shrugged and looked back at the floor. “That blew their timeline. I couldn’t let them take you.”

  We stood silent for way longer than we should’ve. His gaze finally drifted back up, and he looked so vulnerable. It reminded me of the looks he’d give me on some of our first dates—back when we fumbled kisses, tentatively touching each other when we went beyond kissing, and the first time we’d said “I love you.”

  My heart ripped into shreds.

  Forced?

  What could I do with that information? What would I have done if TOS asked me to do something against Eddie?

  Eddie took a couple steps forward and instinctually I moved back. The hurt that crossed his face hurt my soul, but despite helping with
Mitch, I couldn’t trust him.

  He stopped but kept his focus on me. “Can’t I touch you?” The pleading in his voice didn’t help my resolve. “Please? The way we said goodbye was—”

  “The way you left things was fucked-up. There was no we.”

  “And I’ll regret that forever. Nothing’s been right since then. I had to protect Mom. I can’t even see her. He took me away after I… I did what I did. Blackbird thought I was the key to getting you on board. Dad sold them on that, and he’s made his disappointment clear that I failed. I think he keeps me close so I don’t try to warn you. Of course, that doesn’t matter now.”

  I had no words. If he was telling the truth, he was a pawn, which sucked.

  “Level with me, Theo. Did you want this life? Would you have ever told me? Or would I have always been in the dark until you needed to use me like my Dad did?”

  His body tensed, and I thought again he might lash out. At this point I had nothing to lose, so I told the truth.

  “I’ve been in this since I was eleven. Denver was the first time I was in the field. I hated the secrets I had to keep. Not so much missions specifically, but that I couldn’t tell you cool things I did or talk to you when things got difficult. I always had to hold back. It’s supposed to help keep you, my friends safe—”

  The catharsis of telling him just that little proved more powerful than I expected. I dabbed at my eyes before they overflowed. In the moment of vulnerability, Eddie closed the gap between us and drew me into a hug. He did what I couldn’t during his confession.

  I hugged him back—tight.

  The rush of relief from touching him was strong. I hadn’t realized how much I wanted it. I was scared to breathe for fear he’d disappear.

  Eventually, I pulled back just enough to look up into his sad brown eyes. “Could I have done what you did? I don’t know. If my mom was threatened… I’d like to think I’d have found another way, but….”

  I hated the answer and tried to back out of the hug, ashamed.

  He wouldn’t let go. “Not yet.”

  I laid my head back against his shoulder as we kept a tight hold on each other. He’d definitely worked out more. I knew his body, and he had much more muscle.