She’d warned Jia about the spice.
“You might be waiting for me for a long time,” Jia announced after the departure of the waitress. “I want to support you, but I need to make sure that if I leave Neo SoCal, it’s for my own reasons. I fought so hard to earn my position, and I’m guessing the new job might take us all over the UTC. I’d be leaving my family behind in a way I never have before. It’s not that I’m not willing to make the sacrifice, but like I said, it needs to be for me, not just for you.”
“That makes sense.” Erik downed a forkful of his pork with a thoughtful look on his face. “I guess I’m willing to wait longer. Maybe Alina’s wrong about what I can do as a cop, or you might change your mind.” He shrugged and took another bite of his food. “We’ll see where we are in a few months.”
“And if I haven’t changed my mind?” Jia gave him a probing look.
“Then you haven’t changed your mind.” Erik shrugged. “You never know where life is going to take you. If you’d asked me a couple of years ago if I’d retire and become a cop, I would have thought you were on drugs.”
Jia let out a sigh of relief.
The pressure inside her had built during the conversation. Erik had his duty to his soldiers who died at Molino, and she understood and respected that.
She didn’t want to stand in his way, but plunging into the deepest shadows of the UTC to help the Intelligence Directorate wasn’t something she could do without a lot more thought.
“It’s like you said. I need a vacation from our vacation.” She laughed. “I know you mentioned heading back to Earth, but we haven’t truly gotten a chance to relax since coming here. Even when we were wandering around, we still had the weight of the investigation hanging over us. We should go on a date.”
Jia kept a smile even though she was cringing inside. A date?
She’d just wanted to go and relax, but then the word had slipped out. All the talk of the future had pushed her attraction to her partner into stark relief. That was another thing she needed to keep in mind. She needed to make sure she wasn’t following him around like some lovestruck puppy.
“A date?” Erik stared at her, his expression unreadable. “Aren’t I a little old for you?”
Jia folded her arms. “Whatever and whoever I was when we first met, I’m not the same woman. In this last year, I’ve helped uncover corporate conspiracies, fought terrorists, killed yaoguai, and helped discover a changeling, along with a plot to make more. I don’t see the Earth as some perfect utopia, but for the flawed place it is. None of that means I stopped believing in the values I hold dear, but it does mean I can approach everything from my job to you realistically. Aren’t you the same man who said maturity was more important than age?”
“Ummm.” Erik scratched his ear. “There’s nothing worse than when a woman throws your own words back at you.”
She eyed him. “It’s not throwing your words back at you. It’s the truth.”
“We’re partners,” Erik insisted. “And we might end up partners in something far more dangerous. I don’t know if it’s a good idea. There’s a reason I didn’t end up with anyone long-term during my time on the frontier. I know how quickly a life can end.”
Jia laughed, a mocking quality to the sound. “I’m not asking you to marry me, Erik. I’m just thinking we try some dates. Nothing big. I’m tired of ignoring certain things because I’ve overthought them.”
“I get that, but I also want you to know that I might not be able to commit to anything until I finish what was started on Molino.” His expression turned grave.
“Then I can hope that will be sooner rather than later.”
Erik burst into laughter, loud enough that a few tables looked his way.
Jia’s brow lifted. “I didn’t think it was that funny.”
Erik quieted into a chuckle and shook his head. “It’s not that I think it’s funny.” He gestured to her and himself. “Role reversal?”
“Huh? You’ve lost me.”
He pointed to his chest before pointing at her. “I’m being the logical one, and you’re being impulsive.”
A warm smile lit Jia’s face. “I don’t think anyone has ever called me impulsive before, but what does that mean?”
“I think a lot of plates are spinning right now,” Erik observed. “And I don’t think we want to complicate things by spinning even more.”
Jia eyed her chicken. Her stomach and throat wouldn’t survive another bite. “How about I make the same offer you made me?”
“Meaning?”
“Let’s wait a few months and see what happens,” she replied.
Erik nodded slowly. “That sounds good.” Too damned good.
Jia raised a finger. “But I’m going to need a little something in return.”
“We’re negotiating now?” Erik grinned.
“I need my family off my back,” Jia commented. “I’ve accepted the wisdom of your fake boyfriend plan.”
On some level, she suspected it was a bad idea, but she didn’t even want to think about dating anyone else for the next few months. He was the one who had brought it up, and she didn’t believe he wasn’t just as attracted to her as she was to him. It might be delusion or arrogance, but she doubted it.
Erik picked up his beer and took a slow draw from it. “So, you agree we shouldn’t date, but you also think we should fake-date?”
“Yes. That seems to be the most logical path going forward.” Jia extended her hand. “Fake-dating is easy. The only people we have to fool are my family.”
Erik shook her hand. “They’re going to have their knives out for me now. The last thing the Lin women want is their little princess dating the help.”
Jia smirked. “What, you can fight terrorists and monsters, but you can’t survive a couple of angry female relatives?”
“Not when they’re Lin women,” he admitted.
Jia laughed. “Good, you’ve been paying attention.” She reached over to pat his hand.
“You’ll make a nice fake boyfriend.”
Chapter Fifty-One
June 15, 2229, Neo Southern California Metroplex, Restaurant Narat’s
Erik took a deep breath.
He would have preferred a tactical suit and his TR-7 compared to the tuxedo choking him. At least then he might have a better chance of survival.
He wasn’t even armed, and now he had to enter the restaurant and deal with two enemies more vicious than a terrorist Zitark riding a six-legged yaoguai.
The Lin women.
Jia’s father couldn’t attend the dinner because of a business meeting, but from what Erik had heard, he wasn’t the one to worry about.
“It’ll be okay.” Jia elbowed him. She’d gone all out, considering it was a fake date. Her long purple asymmetric dress flattered her body without showing too much skin. A small matching clutch dangled from her fingers. He wasn’t used to seeing her be so feminine, and that was a problem.
It reminded him of how much he wanted more of a relationship with her.
He should have told her no on the fake dating plan.
He’d kept himself from wanting her by constantly telling himself it was one-sided and doomed, and then she’d made it clear that it was reciprocal.
Most of him wanted to give in to his beautiful, brave, intelligent partner, but it would be cruel to string her along. No matter how much he liked and appreciated her, the dark specters from his past needed to be slain before he was free to care about someone that way.
“Don’t you think this is too early?” Erik complained. “I mean, we just started fake-dating, even if we’ve known each other for a while. Fake boyfriends shouldn’t meet the parents right away.” He frowned. “What if she calls the station and starts asking questions? The only people who know we’re fake-dating are your family.”
Jia glanced at the door to the restaurant, a concerned look on her face. “I’d rather not complicate things at the station.”
“Wait, I was mostl
y joking.” He eyed her. “You think she’ll actually call the station?”
“My mother can be surprisingly thorough at times.” Jia smiled. “We’ll play it by ear.” She looped her arm through his. “We’d better hurry. She hates tardiness.”
A trained soldier got used to being under enemy fire. It was the small pleasures and luxuries in-between the bouts of terror that kept a man going.
Tonight it was his beer.
He didn’t want to admit to Jia that he enjoyed seeing the confusion on her mother’s face when he’d ordered the bottle of beer.
The light chatter among the Lin women ended when Lan Lin turned her mother’s gaze on Erik. She didn’t look angry or concerned, just puzzled.
“I was reading up on you,” Lan commented, elegantly threading her fingers together. The half-smile never left her face. “You have a very long list of commendations and medals. That’s very impressive, Detective, or should I say, ‘Major Blackwell?’”
He shrugged. “Erik’s fine.”
“I see, Erik.” Lan stretched the last word as if testing it. She nodded curtly to Mei.
Jia’s sister smiled at Erik. “I’m not familiar with the military promotion system, but from what I understand, wouldn’t a man with as lofty a record as yours been promoted past the rank of major?”
Erik tried not to laugh, even if the whole thing was fake. Mei and Lan were obviously trying to probe him about ambition.
“I didn’t want to get stuck behind a desk,” he admitted. “Obviously, in any large organization, you need people sitting well away from operations and keeping things organized, but I couldn’t see myself being happy unless I was out in the field with my soldiers. The years kept passing, and the next thing I knew, I was retired and in a new job.”
“I see,” Mei replied. She hid her face behind her cup of tea.
They’d had plenty of opportunities to ask about Molino but had studiously avoided even hinting at that. Patrician discretion could be useful at times. They’d also not once mentioned his age.
Even if his face didn’t betray it, the Lin women wouldn’t forget.
“I’m sure you have all sorts of interesting stories about your time in the military,” Lan commented. “I’d love to hear more about you. We hear about your police adventures from Jia all the time.”
“Stories, huh?” Erik grinned. “There was this one time where I learned a powerful lesson.”
“What lesson was that?”
“Man has forgotten the fury of the cow.” Erik nodded sagely.
“Oh, no.” Jia face-palmed. “Not the cow story. Anything but the cow story, Erik.”
“Cow?” Lan’s brows knitted together. “I don’t believe I’ve seen a cow in person. I do understand animal husbandry is sometimes seen near residential areas on the frontier colonies.”
“Yeah.” Erik’s eager grin kept growing. He might be a fake boyfriend, but that didn’t mean he was a fake Erik. “When you get out that far away from the inner HTP networks, travel time really starts piling up, and you need to be self-reliant.” He chuckled. “The thing you have to understand is that people like you and me, Earthers who grew up in metroplexes, we’re isolated from nature.”
“I see,” Lan commented, noncommittally.
“Which is why it’s such a shock the first time that real, one-hundred-percent-natural manure smell hits you.”
Lan’s eyes widened. “Manure smell?”
Jia groaned, jabbing him with her elbow. “Why did you have to tell this story?”
“She wanted a funny story, I’m giving her a funny story.” Erik turned back to Lan. “The manure smell is important to the story, but you also have to understand the guy I was with. Let me tell you about Zander. That guy had the world’s most sensitive nose.”
Erik rattled on, enjoying the dawning horror on Mei’s and Lan’s faces. Jia wouldn’t be the only Lin women he loosened up.
In another year, he might be ready to date Jia for real.
The Story Continues with Cabal of Lies
* * *
Cabal - a secret political clique or faction.
The sheer amount of interests involved in crimes both mundane and ground breaking are obfuscating the most heinous in society who attack Jia and Erik from the shadows.
How do you find those hiding in the shadows, when you believe everyone is hiding something?
Jia and Erik need to uncover the truth – but is revealing the truth good for those around them?
---
Two years ago, a small moon in a far off system was set to be the location of the first intergalactic war between humans and an alien race.
It never happened. However, something was found many are willing to kill to keep a secret.
Now, they have killed the wrong people.
How many will need to die to keep the truth hidden?
As many as is needed.
He will have vengeance no matter the cost. She will dig for the truth. No matter how risky the truth is to reveal.
Pre-order Cabal of Lies for Delivery on April 17, 2020
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
February 15, 2020
Thank you for reading not only this book but through the end to these Author Notes in the back!
Where do we go from here?
Right now, this book will come out Friday, March 6, 2020. The next book in the series, Cabal of Lies comes out in April and I finished editing it two nights ago, the last forty thousand words sitting at the bar in the pizza restaurant (Five-50) in the Aria Hotel.
I believe I ate two slices of the large pizza and guzzled down about two gallons of the tea. I like working there (especially at the bar) because I’m served all the tea I can handle, the tvs are on sports, and they don’t mind me working for a few hours.
Note: I do tip well. If I’m going to take up a stool (or table) anywhere, I know I’m potentially eating into tips for the servers, so I double-tip to make sure they are taken well care of. This also helps me receive incredible service and smiles when I come back.
It’s like going into Cheers.
Right now, typing these Author Notes, I’m sitting at a small round table in Il Forniao’s bar area in the New York New York Hotel and Casino. The lady behind the bar (Lucia) brought me my tea with no lemon, and I told her I’d be here for a few hours. She was happy to see me (I’m not much trouble, trust me), and I like the sense of family that working here provides.
And, whatever I want, the kitchen happily makes me. Sooo good!
For example, the restaurant part of the business here does not have croissants. I happen to LOVE real croissants, and I’ve asked for them in the past.
They are not on the menu, BUT Il Forniaio has a little bakery a few feet down the walkway. My server went through a back way and brought me back a toasted croissant—you have to ask for it to be—with real butter. OMG, I was in heaven. So, every once in a while, I’ll treat myself to a full breakfast with all the carbs.
And I do mean ALL the carbs.
French toast with butter and maple syrup, croissant, country potatoes & onions, eggs, bacon, more rustic bread. Damn, I’m so hungry!
(Editor’s note: I made myself finish editing this book before I went to lunch, and now I’m really hungry for those things too. Damn you, Anderle!)
Now, I apologize, but I’m wrapping up these notes to eat. If you get a chance to come by Las Vegas, come to the bar area and order breakfast. Tell them author Michael Anderle, who comes in to work, mentioned them and the wonderful food.
If you see Marcello (manager) or Lucia behind the bar, say hi.
I appreciate all of you reading our stories. But I am going to be honest at this moment in time; you are barely beating out the delicious food that is about to be dropped in front of me.
* * *
Ciao,
* * *
Michael Anderle
Books By Michael Anderle
For a complete list of books by Michael Anderle, please visit:
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Enlightened Ignorance Page 40
