Netminder

by Jeff Adams

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  I STOOD at Eddie’s door shaking.

  The first time we met up for a date, I had the same nervous energy. We’d decided on an ice cream place he liked. I’d arrived early, and it gave me time to get super nervous—to the point that one of the other customers asked if I was okay.

  I knocked and waited. With no answer, I knocked again, and this time the door opened. After the slightest moment of confusion—maybe I should’ve told him I planned to stop by—Eddie offered a huge smile.

  “Oh my God, it’s so good to see you.” He stepped forward but then hesitated.

  “It’s okay, come here.” We moved together into an embrace.

  “They wouldn’t tell me anything about you.” His voice was muffled against the side of my head as we continued to embrace.

  “I know. It took a while before I heard anything other than you were okay.”

  “Is the crazy over?”

  I shrugged and adjusted so we could look at each other. “I’d say it’s a different crazy now.”

  He nodded slowly, but the smile didn’t leave his face. “You want to come in? It’s not much, but it’s okay.”

  He stepped aside and lightly took my hand so I’d follow him. The room looked a lot like mine. We both had ragtag furniture—he had a couple of chairs whereas I had a small couch. I liked his desk better—mine looked like a grade school teacher’s whereas Eddie’s looked like a basic IKEA model that had four legs that screwed into a top. Our TVs and twin beds were identical. He also had a refrigerator and microwave and some basic kitchen stuff like I did. No windows either, which was beginning to make me a little crazy. I made a point to get near a window at least once a day to remind my myself what outside looked like.

  Eddie looked outside before he closed the door. “No guard?”

  I shook my head. “We’re done with that. I’m here to talk about what happens next.”

  “Okay.” He drew that out a few extra syllables. “That sounds ominous. Are you here as Winger or Theo?”

  “Little bit of both, I guess.” I shrugged and brought him over to the chairs. They were set up like a talk show set—both angled toward each other a bit.

  I told him about the six-month plan that was in place for me. As I got closer to the rest of the conversation, though, I suddenly doubted if I was the right person to talk about this with him. I had a vested interest in what he’d say. My parents had decided, when it came to who had my heart, it was my choice.

  He reached across and grabbed my hand in his.

  “Just tell me whatever it is,” he said. So much for hiding my hesitation. “I don’t think anything can surprise me ever again.”

  I squeezed his hand and made sure to look him in the eye. “They want you to stay for at least six months too. Like me, you’d be restricted to this building and any other safe buildings on campus. We’re not the only ones that need to live here for a while, so they’re working on more comfortable accommodations.”

  “Okay, so far this doesn’t sound too bad.”

  “We’re going to have some minor plastic surgery done to alter our appearances, so we can adopt new identities.”

  Another nod and even a slight chuckle. “As long as I don’t look like one of those people who’s had too much surgery, I’m okay with that.”

  He laughed more, and I joined in. The same thought had crossed my mind when I heard about it.

  “I’m told it’ll only be what’s necessary to fool facial recognition.”

  He got up and paced across the room, running his hand over his still super short hair. “This is better than the alternatives I’ve thought up. Let’s face it, I wasn’t exactly TOS’s favorite person. It crossed my mind more than once that they might just eliminate me.”

  “Well, that’s not gonna happen. They want to keep track of you to know where you are and what you’re doing. You likely have to check in with someone from time to time.”

  “So, sort of like probation?”

  “I guess.” I wasn’t really sure that was the way to look at it, but it worked as an analogy.

  “What about us?” He looked down to the floor and then at a wall—anywhere but at me. It was cute when his shyness crept out, but this had a tinge of fear too.

  “I was going to ask you the same thing.” I went to him and gently forced him to look at me.

  “Do you…?” The battle raging inside him reflected in his eyes—he forced them back to mine each time they darted away. “Do you want there to be us? Can you even—”

  I took his hands in mine and stayed focused on him. “Yes. I want you. I want my boyfriend back. My heart says I can trust you. We’re both gonna have to learn how to keep each other safe while I keep the secrets I need to for TOS.”

  He pulled me in tight, almost making it hard for me to breathe.

  “Oh, Theo, I’d hoped we’d get a do-over.”

  “Me too. No matter how angry and hurt I was, a part of me wanted to work it out.”

  I craned my head up just in time for his lips to crash into mine. The kiss vibrated through my entire body. We’d kissed on and off since we’d reconnected, but I felt this in my chest and fingers and toes—as if every nerve fired off at once.

  I held him tight, which only amped the feelings more. We’d had some crazy good sex before, but it couldn’t compare to this kiss. I didn’t know feeling this happy and excited was possible. These feels confirmed my heart had given me the right answer about Eddie.

  “We should stop,” he said while he was still close enough that his lips moved against mine. “I can’t lock that door.”

  “It’s okay, my room has a lock. Your new one will too. You’ll be moving in the next couple of days.”

  He nodded and rested his forehead against mine. “Cool.” A sigh and shudder moved through him. “What happens if… you know… we don’t work out after all?”

  “Then we go our separate ways.” I used a free hand to gesture again to the room. “You’ll still be connected to the agency, but you won’t be forced back to isolation or anything. I made sure of that. You’ll get more official details on everything tomorrow.”

  He nodded and rested his head against mine again.

  “I love you, Theo.” His brow wrinkled. “Do I even call you Theo anymore?

  “For now you can. I have to pick a new name. You’ll need one too.”

  “That’s kinda cool, I guess.”

  “We can figure that out later. How about we go to my place, so we can lock ourselves in?” I asked, and his eyebrows raised. “You don’t have to stay here anymore. Your only restriction is to stay in civilian areas.”

  “Why are we even standing here, then?”

  We traded a quick kiss and went to my room for our first foray into being a couple again.

  EPILOGUE

  Nine months later

  I NEVER imagined my life would go in this direction.

  Last fall I was starting my senior year of high school. This summer I’m preparing to enter grad school at The University of Texas at Austin.

  I’m Maxwell Keller, or Max to my friends. I let my parents pick Maxwell, so I’d still have a name they gave me. Apparently, I was almost Maxwell instead of Theodore anyway. I chose Keller in honor of John, who I missed so much. There’s never a day that I don’t want to tell him about something or get some advice.

  Max still felt pretty new. Three months ago I walked out of TOS HQ with Eddie, and we played the role of a couple new to Austin looking for an apartment. We were supposed to do this in Boston, and it saddened me that Austin had become home. Memories of John, Mitch, Iris, and the rest of my friends could overwhelm me at times. I worked through those feelings with Shields, who encouraged me to try to have a good time finding a place to live.

  Eddie and I found a nice, two-bedroom house to rent. With TOS help I converted one of the rooms to a secure office. I actually enjoyed shopping with Eddie. Somehow one of my least favorite activities became fun as we set up
our house.

  According to my new identity, I’m nineteen, originally from Des Moines, Iowa where I’d graduated high school early and got my undergrad degree at Iowa State. I’d worked my way through school as a computer tech in campus IT. While I’d actually earned my GED while I’d been cooped up at TOS, I regretted not actually doing undergrad for many reasons. Teaching and research for my masters would be pretty awesome, though.

  The most difficult part of becoming Max was the physical transformation. Nearly half a year later, I still startled looking in a mirror. I had a wider nose, a more distinct jawline, and somehow they’d made my eyes wider apart.

  Gone, too, was the spiky red hair. It was now jet black and shoulder length. After playing around with a beard last year, I had goatee full-time now. The color change was maintained by a special pill TOS and other agencies had developed to aid in disguises. It modifies the hair color for the entire body. I had to take one every two weeks, or the red would return. My voice had a slightly deeper tone after some adjustment on the vocal cords.

  Eddie became Rodney Newell—Rodney was his mother’s father, and he wanted to keep something from her side of the family in his name. Newell he picked at random after going through a list of last names he’d googled. He simply liked how they sounded together.

  He thought his new face—which the surgeons made overall narrower while also making his nose and eyes somewhat larger—was better than what he’d had. I hated that he felt that way, but apparently he saw too much of his father in himself, and it made him happy that he didn’t have to see that anymore. I missed seeing Dad in me, though, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever get past that.

  We’d spent two weeks in bandages and had them taken off at the same time, facing each other. He smiled at me and, despite the changes, I recognized the wide grin.

  “Hi, Mr. Max Keller,” he said. “It’s good to see all of you again.”

  “Good to see you too, Mr. Rodney Newell.” I smiled right back at him.

  The doctor looked at us liked we’d lost our minds. We didn’t care. As soon as she was done checking us over, we went to my room, ordered pizza, and explored each other out to get used to each other again.

  Eddie went to the same school. He was now officially twenty and a premed transfer student. Our backstory stated that we’d met at Iowa and came here when I got accepted to grad school.

  The six months at Camp TOS, as Eddie called it, had been more difficult for him than me. I had agency work to keep me busy. Even though we ended up with a nice place to live in the TOS building—we’d moved in together about halfway through the six months—he got a little stir crazy. He finally dove into learning how to cook, and we both benefited from that. We discovered our connection to each other still ran deep. We talked a lot—sometimes with Shields—and worked out way back to solid ground.

  I was more in love than ever, and the future we’d discussed as regular high school students was mostly back on track.

  TOS work kept me busy as I trained new IT staff, worked on security projects and occasionally supported agents in the field. I officially became deputy director of IT security and special projects. That meant grad school might take a while, but that was okay.

  I saw Mom and Dad when they were in Austin. They stayed based in DC, with Dad in the field as much as ever. In Mom’s capacity as director, she oversaw the missions TOS decided to take and interfaced with the governments that used our services. As planned, Victor and Katherine Reese quietly disappeared, and they got new identities—Ronald and Kimberly Anderson.

  A month after my surgery, they were at HQ. While we’d talked routinely and they knew my voice was different, but we hadn’t had a video conversation because secure video wasn’t working as well as we wanted. They met up with Lorenzo and me in the cafeteria, and it was hilarious.

  “Doc, it’s good to see you,” Mom said as she and Dad came up to our table. “You’re looking well.”

  And he was. His bruises had faded and the patch was gone since he had a glass eye—though he had a side project to see if he could adapt the contact lenses to work in place of a real eye. The cane was still with him and likely always would be.

  “Forgive me,” she looked to me. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Director Snowbird.”

  Lorenzo and I traded looks, and he struggled not to laugh.

  I stood and managed to keep a straight face as I came around the table. “Pleasure to meet you, Director Snowbird. I’m Deputy Director of IT Winger.”

  “Oh my God,” Dad said, looking at me with wonder as Mom’s mouth dropped open. Lorenzo lost the battle to keep his laughter inside.

  Mom hugged me, and Dad came in too.

  “It’s amazing,” she said, lightly touching my face. “If your parents can’t recognize you, that ought to keep you safe.”

  Shortly after that I decided to put the Winger name to rest too. Theo Reese was gone, and it seemed right that Winger disappear too.

  I had Lorenzo to thank for suggesting my new, perfect codename—Netminder.

  More from Jeff Adams

  Codename: Winger: Book One

  High school student. Hockey player. Computer whiz kid. Covert agent?

  At sixteen Theo Reese is the youngest agent for Tactical Operational Support. His way with computers makes him invaluable. He designs new gadgets, helps agents (including his parents) in the field, and works to keep the TOS network safe. But when a hacker breaches the system TOS uses to track agents, Theo is put to the test like never before.

  Thrust from behind the safety of his desk, Theo must go into the field to put a stop to the hack. He’s scared but resolved because one of the missing agents is his father. And just to make it more interesting, he has to keep everything a secret from his boyfriend and teammates.

  Can Theo get the job done, save his dad, and make things good with his boyfriend?

  Codename: Winger: Book Two

  Secret agent and teenage computer genius Theo Reese lives in two separate worlds—and they’re about to collide.

  Theo’s high school computer science club is gearing up for a competition, and Theo agrees to lend his knowledge of cybersecurity to help them win. The covert agency he works for also needs his talents. An encrypted key that allows access to the nation’s electrical grid has been stolen. Theo’s skills are crucial in its recovery before disaster strikes.

  When the file shows up at the competition as one of those to be decoded, Theo must find a way to be both an average high school student and Winger, his secret identity. The file must be secured—all while protecting his teammates from those who will use any means necessary to get the file for themselves.

  Codename: Winger: Book Three

  Theo Reese is just like any other seventeen-year-old—with one small exception.

  This summer all he wants is to spend time with his boyfriend, Eddie, and work on his MIT research project. His parents have other plans.

  An old friend needs the help of Theo’s family. Oliver Glenwood is an ’80s music star who runs his own label. His wife and his daughter, Sofia, now a chart topper herself, are the targets of kidnappers. Oliver hopes they can eliminate whoever is behind the threat.

  When Theo uncovers an even more insidious plot, the covert agency the Reeses work for, Tactical Operational Support, swoops into action.

  Song files have been modified to steal personal data from devices and emit a tone that drives listeners into a homicidal rage. Theo and his parents race against the clock to stop this mysterious enemy from releasing the music on an unsuspecting populace and causing worldwide chaos.

  Just when Theo thinks the mission couldn’t be more complicated, Eddie shows up in New York looking to hang out with his boyfriend.

  No one ever said being a teenage secret agent would be easy.

  Readers love the Codename: Winger series by Jeff Adams

  Tracker Hacker

  “This was truly an incredible read. It is suspenseful. It is action packed. It is full of danger
and mystery.”

  —Gay Book Reviews

  “Wow! Talk about a wild ride from beginning to end! I could not stop reading and was completely enthralled from the first page until the last.”

  —Diverse Reader

  Schooled

  “Schooled was a fast paced story that I read in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down. I really enjoyed the writing style and loved Theo and how he grew throughout the book.”

  —Love Bytes

  Audio Assault

  “As far as I am concerned, they just keep getting better….”

  —Rainbow Book Reviews

  JEFF ADAMS has written stories since he was in middle school and became a gay romance writer in 2009 when his first short stories were published. Since then he’s continued to create, often with a hockey player at the center of the story.

  Jeff lives in northern California with his husband of more than twenty years, Will. Some of his favorite things include the musicals Rent and [title of show], the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins hockey teams, and the reality TV competition So You Think You Can Dance. If forced to pick his favorite book, it would be a tie between Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and David Levithan’s Every Day.

  Jeff is the co-host of the Big Gay Fiction Podcast, a weekly show devoted to gay romance as well as pop culture. New episodes come out every Monday at biggayfictionpodcast.com.

  You can learn more about Jeff at jeffadamswrites.com.

  By Jeff Adams

  CODENAME: WINGER

  Tracker Hacker

  Schooled

  Audio Assault

  Netminder

  Published by HARMONY INK PRESS