by J. M. LeDuc
Sin stood and looked at her friend, really looked at him for the first time. She could see a wide grin on his bearded face. His hair was grayer than it was seven years ago, but he was still the same old Charlie.
He gave her a crooked grin and waved her over. “You gotta see this.”
Sin stood in the shadows and watched as the guard picked up, dropped, and again, picked up an unconscious Bubba.
“I nailed the fat one with a prop wrench,” Charlie said. “He hit the ground so hard, I thought he was dead.” He glanced back at Sin, “but he ain’t.”
“Too bad,” Sin smiled. “That poor bastard has spent more time unconscious than not since I’ve been back. When he wakes up, he’ll wish he was dead.”
“Probably.”
They watched and heard the truck squeal as it thundered down the airport access road heading back toward the Overseas Highway.
Charlie slid the 32 into his shoulder holster and spread his arms out wide. Sin leaned forward and hugged the old man harder and longer than she thought possible.
“Were you even going to tell me you were back in town, or were you gonna just leave me hangin’.”
“Sorry,” Sin breathed, “things have been one big cluster since I got back.”
They walked to a small office in the back of the hangar and Charlie poured Sin a cup of coffee. He leaned back in his high-backed, worn leather chair and put his boots up on his desk. “Tell me why you’re back. Last letter I got from you, you were just east of Kabul, helping extract a bunch of women and children.”
Sin sipped her coffee, he eyes never leaving Charlie. “About the letters . . .”
“Don’t worry,” Charlie said, “no one knows we’ve been in contact. Hell, hardly anyone knows we were even friends back when you were growing up.”
Sin nodded, put her cup down and leaned forward. “Thank you.”
“Enough of the gratitude bullshit, why are you back?”
Sin knew that she could trust Charlie and she also knew that she might need an ally. “I’m back with the Bureau.”
Charlie’s eyes opened wide and a sideways smirk painted his face. “It’s about time Graham grew a pair.”
Sin huffed in silent laughter.
“But that still doesn’t tell me why you’re back.”
Sin picked up the mug and took a sip of the lukewarm, old coffee. “What do you know about the girls that have been fished out of the gulf?” she asked.
Charlie dropped his feet from his desk, spun his chair around and fired up his Mac.
“Damn, Charlie,” Sin said, “are you still using the old Apple. Isn’t it time you stepped into the twenty-first century.”
“Don’t let looks fool you, Sinclair. This baby is faster than anything the State Department has,” he turned toward her with a twinkle in his eye, “and it’s loaded with all of their software.”
Sin smiled and shook her head. “Once an agent, always an agent,” she laughed.
“Let’s just say, I still like hunting down a good conspiracy.” His computer fired up and opened to a page with flashing red letters.
Warning, this is a secured site, leave now or be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
“Screw you,” Charlie mumbled as he punched in a thirty-digit, alphanumerical code. Tapping the enter button, he was now privy to all of the Bureau’s classified information.
“Are you sure this can’t be traced?”
“I would have been in Leavenworth years ago if that were the case,” Charlie answered.
He scanned and read the file about the dead girls. It wasn’t anything Sin didn’t already know.
“Pull up the file on the dead agents,” Sin said.
“What dead agents?”
Sin stood and walked behind the desk so that she was leaning over Charlie’s shoulder. “The fishermen who washed up on shore in Tumbleboat.”
Charlie brought up another file and read.
“How the hell did I miss this,” he said.
“Probably too busy with the whole ‘weapons of mass destruction’ conspiracy,” Sin cracked.
Charlie didn’t respond, he just sat back in his chair and threw his head back. “I can’t believe Alex is dead,” he said. “I wondered why I hadn’t heard from him.”
“Whoever is responsible sent his body back to Washington in pieces,” Sin said.
Alarms began buzzing from the computer. Charlie punched a bunch of keys, which began an encryption process on his hard-drive and powered it off. Sin looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Early warning system,” Charlie said. “It lets me know if the Bureau’s mainframe is doing a random search for unauthorized users.”
He stood up and poured himself another cup of coffee. “So that’s how they got to you . . . Alex.”
Sin nodded. “Yeah, I was approached by Frank at his funeral. He knew I couldn’t stay away.” Sin stared at a picture on Charlie’s wall. It was a picture taken at a party right after she graduated from the FBI Academy. A picture of her, Charlie, and Alex. Other personnel and graduates loomed in the background. Her eyes glistened as she wiped the dust from the glass frame. “This seems like a lifetime ago,” she sighed.
Charlie stood behind her and rubbed her shoulders.
Sin glanced at the clock. “Crap, I had no idea what time it was. I need to get moving.”
“We need to talk about this, Sinclair.”
“I know,” she said as she straddled her bike. “Meet me at our spot—three a.m.”
He nodded.
“Oh,” Sin said. “See what you can dig up on Heap.”
“You got it, anything else?”
“One more thing,” she added, “what is your opinion of Troy Stubbs?”
“He was an asshole when he was younger, he’s been through some shit, and he seems to have come out the other side a whole lot better,” Charlie said.
“Will you do a little fishin’ before we meet?”
“Consider it done.”
Sin kick-started her bike and rode off. A half mile down the road, she saw a tow truck with the pick-up that had been trailing her hitched up to it slowly making its way down the road. She laughed as she twisted the throttle and blew past. Good old Charlie, she thought.
15
Sin rode up to her house and saw Troy’s truck sitting in the driveway. She jumped off her bike and strode up to the front door, hoping to make it upstairs unnoticed. The squeak of the hinge precluded that from happening.
“We’re on the porch, Sin,” Thomas said.
Walking towards the porch, Sin viewed Maria sitting on the couch watching TV. Troy was standing at the railing talking with her father and Carmelita. He was wearing a turquoise, button-down Tommy Bahama shirt, and a pair of tan khaki pants. Shit, Sin thought, I guess this really is a date.
“I thought you were going to stand me up,” Troy smiled. He bent down and pulled a cold, longneck out of a cooler. Using just his thumb, he twisted the top and handed her the beer.
She took a pull and wiped her mouth. It was then that she noticed that her dad and Carmelita were also dressed to go out. “Sorry for keeping everyone waiting,” she said. “I had a little bike trouble and it took me a while to get her running again.”
“Anything I can help you with?”
She looked at Troy and shook her head. “It’s all taken care of. If you will excuse me, I’ll take a quick shower and be right back.”
Troy looked at his watch. “I made reservations for seven-thirty. I better call and tell them we will be running late.”
Sin eyed his watch. “Don’t bother, I won’t be long, promise.”
“Okay then,” Troy said pocketing his phone.
Twenty minutes later, Sin looked in the mirror before exiting her room. She was wearing a pale yellow sundress with spaghetti straps. While the neckline and dress length were modest, her four-inch, open-toed heels were not. Her silky, ebony hair fell softly against and down past her shoulders.
The
change must have been more drastic than she realized because Troy’s mouth was unhinged as his eyes traced her every move.
“Mi hija,” Carmelita said, “you look beautiful.”
Before anyone could say another word, Sin glanced at the clock and said, “We better get going if we are going to make our reservation.” Suddenly she realized she had no idea where they were headed. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“The Shell House,” Troy answered.
Sin’s expression glimmered as she grabbed her purse. “Nice choice.”
“I do have a little class,” Troy joked.
Sin’s jade green eyes twinkled. “I’ll be the judge of that.”
Troy just shook his head as he grabbed his keys.
Sin was surprised when her father and Carmelita stayed seated. “Aren’t you two coming?”
“Us? No,” her father answered. “We have a ‘date’ with Maria for pizza and ice cream.”
Sin still looked confused and turned to Carmelita for an answer. “Every Friday we go to Island Pizza with Maria. It’s her favorite restaurant and,” she shrugged, “she likes it when we dress up.”
Sin eyed Troy. “I know you must have gone through a lot of trouble to get those reservations, but suddenly I having a craving for pizza.”
Troy’s grin was ear to ear, helping to dissipate Sin’s old memories of him a little more. “Then, Island Pizza it is,” he said.
Thomas stood, wobbled and regained his balance. “Darn chemo,” he said.
Sin went to help him, but he waved her off. When he looked at her, she felt a twinge of sadness.
“I’ll be fine,” her father whispered
“And I’ll make sure of it.” Carmelita said as she hooked arm with his.
Island Pizza was packed when they arrived, but a table was waiting for them. All eyes followed their small caravan as they headed to their seats.
“I think we’re a bit over dressed,” Sin whispered from the side of her mouth.
“I don’t think they’re staring at Tom and me,” Troy said, “You three ladies add a lot of class to this joint.”
Sin playfully hip checked him.
The pizza was great and they ate more than they should, but Maria insisted on ice cream for dessert. As they ate, Troy kept them entertained with stories of his days at the University of Miami and the humorous things he witnessed while working as a State trooper. It didn’t escape Sin that he didn’t mention why he left U.M. and joined the police force.
The best part of the night for Sin was getting to know Maria better. As the dinner went on, she became more animated and childlike. She really came out of her shell when Sin started speaking to her in her native dialect.
Before leaving, Carmelita excused herself to go to the ladies room and Sin accompanied her.
“How do you know such an unusual dialect?” Carmelita asked while reapplying her lipstick.
“I spent a lot of time in the mountains of Nicaragua. The more Maria spoke, the more I noticed her accent and use of certain words.”
Carmelita’s jovial expression turned serious as she turned from the mirror and looked directly at Sin. “Maria has never told me anything about where she came from or how she got here. Your knowledge of her culture is a godsend. He has sent you here for many reasons.”
Sin ignored the last comment and kissed Carmelita’s cheek. “I will see what I can do.”
When they walked out of the restroom, they saw Ezekiel Miller standing over the table talking to the men. When they arrived at the table, Maria practically threw herself into Carmelita’s arms.
Sin sensed her fear and took the cue.
“Chief Miller, nice to see you,” Sin said, “I hate to break up this conversation, but we need to get going. Maria is tired and I have an early meeting at the base tomorrow.”
Miller looked up with the bloodshot eyes of a man who had too much to drink and leered at the women. “We ain’t done.”
Sin didn’t appreciate his tone of voice and she definitely didn’t like the way he leered at Carmelita. He seemed to undress her with his stare. “I see you’re not in uniform, Chief. Are you on duty?”
“No, why you askin’?”
Sin stepped between Miller and the table. “Because, if you’re not on duty, this conversation can wait.”
Troy stood up and began to say something to diffuse the tension when Miller made the mistake of grabbing Sin by her shoulder and pulling one of the straps of her dress.
“You can dress up a whore, but you know it’s still a whore,” he slurred.
Before Troy could react, Sin grabbed Miller’s wrist, bent it back and spun under his arm, forcing his arm behind his back, causing him to scream from the pain. The screaming stopped suddenly as she drove his head forward with her free hand, slamming it down onto the table.
He flopped on the floor like an oversized lump of pizza dough.
Miller staggered for his off-duty weapon, but Troy kicked his hand away and removed the weapon from his ankle holster. He then removed the magazine and pocketed both pieces.
Sin looked around the restaurant at all the startled faces. “I’m sorry for the disturbance,” she said.
A big man stood up at the table next to them and hiked up his overalls. Sin could tell by his ruddy complexion and callused hands that he was a fisherman. She was about to say that she didn’t want any more trouble when the man began to clap. Within seconds, the entire restaurant was cheering and applauding.
Sin blushed as she took Troy’s hand and began walking out of the restaurant.
She stopped in front of the man and mouthed, “Thank you.”
He nodded and winked.
They were back on U.S. 1 and headed back toward Tumbleboat as an ambulance tore past them in the other direction.
“The EMS unit has been busy since you got home.”
Sin looked at Troy and saw the gleam in his eye. The two of them erupted in laughter breaking the palpable tension. Carmelita and Thomas joined in as they continued to drive.
Arriving back home, Carmelita carried a sleeping Maria into the house. “I’ll go put her to bed,” she mouthed. As soon as the words left her lips, she blushed.
Sin watched as she whispered something in her father’s ear. Thomas nodded in response.
“Sin,” he said, “since I was diagnosed, Carmelita and Maria have been spending the weekends with me to help out. I hope you don’t mind?”
Sin could see that Carmelita appeared embarrassed by the situation. She kissed the older woman on the forehead and thanked her for taking care of her father. “I think it’s wonderful,” she said. “I will sleep on the couch, believe me, it’s like the Ritz compared to most places I’ve lain my head in the past few years.”
Carmelita smiled and excused herself to put Maria to bed.
The rest of the evening went quickly, with the four of them talking about nothing important, just enjoying each other’s company.
As the clock struck eleven, Sin could see that her father was exhausted so she made a yawning motion and stretched out her arms. “Excuse me,” she said. “I didn’t realize how tired I was.”
Troy took the cue and said that he had to work in the morning and needed to be on his way. The two of them excused themselves and walked out front to say goodnight.
“So,” Troy said, “how do we end this? Do we insult each other or do we . . .”
Sin reached up and pulled his face towards hers. “Shut up and kiss me before I regret it.”
They embraced—collided―in a fierce kiss. The longer it lasted the softer and more passionate it became.
As they separated, Troy had a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “Now what?”
Sin matched his look and then rolled her eyes. “Now you go home and dream about what you wish had happened.”
Troy laughed and kissed her forehead. He inhaled the smell of her shampoo and perfume. “Damn, you smell good,” he purred.
“Home, Tiger,” Sin said pointing to his
truck.
She watched him leave and walked back into her house thinking, this is getting complicated.
16
Sin sat in the sand, knees to chest, and wrapped her arms around her legs as she looked out at the rolling waves visible by the star-lit sky. Her thoughts soon drifted to everything that happened since she had been back in Tumbleboat.
There has to be more to this than I’m seeing, she thought. If Heap is the head of this beast, the agents should have been able to figure it out. What am I missing? While deep in thought, Sin heard the sound of someone approaching. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was exactly three a.m.
“A penny for your thoughts,” Charlie said as he sat down.
Sin moved her windblown hair away from her face and rested her head on his shoulder. “You first. Were you able to find out anything or were you kicked out of the game for not having a ticket?”
Charlie laughed at her choice of words. “You should know by now that I don’t need to be invited to join a party. I just show up.”
Sin thought of different times when Charlie has ‘saved’ her when she was younger. “You do have a way of getting into places.” She sat up straight and looked Charlie in the eye. “So, what do you have for me?”
Charlie’s expression turned serious—dead serious. “Before I tell you what I know, I want you to be truthful with me.”
Sin squinted and the side of her mouth curled upward. “You’re the one person I’ve always been honest with. What do you want to know?”
“Well, while I was checking on the things we discussed, I decided to pull up your dossier. Damned if I couldn’t find jack. Just a bunch of bull about you being in the military.”
“Frank had my file scrubbed and replaced with what you saw.”
“Why? The feds don’t normally go to all that trouble, they just make a fake file.” Charlie shifted his weight so he was facing Sin. “They erased you completely. I couldn’t find a trace of you since you left basic training except for the bullshit.”
“Didn’t you wonder how four of the bureau’s best men, including Alex, ended up killed?”
