by D B Steward
Kelly felt a prickle around the collar of her borrowed T-shirt. Her body heat began to rise along with her anxiety. “Are you mad at me?”
Sonny blinked rapidly as Kelly’s question snapped her out of her foul mood. She saw the redhead standing in front of her a few yards away rubbing her hands together nervously. Sonny’s scowl vanished as she saw the hurt in the light green eyes of the ex FBI agent. She was starting to learn that Kelly King had a need for approval. She walked over to Kelly and pulled her fidgeting hands apart and held them in her own. “I’m not angry with you Miss King.” Sonny gave Kelly a reassuring smile, it pleased her to see Kelly’s tense shoulders starting to relax. “I’m upset with the situation.”
Kelly sighed. Her mouth melted into a frown. “Yeah, the situation that I got you into.” Sonny shook her head at the other woman as she continued to hold her hands.
“Kelly, you did nothing of the sort.” Sonny sighed. “In all honesty I suppose it was only a matter of time. I had no idea that Homeland Security was even looking for me. I would most likely have been caught by surprise one day during a job. Timmerman has the resources of the government behind her. She would have set a trap and I would have walked into it. So I don’t want to hear you blaming yourself over this.” She spoke with a hint of sternness in her voice as she tried to impress upon the other woman that she was not to blame. It seemed to work as Kelly’s lips began to curl into a grin. “Besides,” Sony began with a smirk. “If it hadn’t been for them, I wouldn’t have any reason to keep you around.”
“Oh please!” Kelly threw her head back in amusement. “You couldn’t have gotten rid of me! I’m the best thing that ever happened to a stiff like you! I bring excitement to your boring life.”
“You bring chaos Miss King. Chaos.” Sonny countered with a raised eyebrow. Kelly chuckled in response and gave her a wink.
“You like it.” Their eyes met and there was electricity that passed between them. Sonny’s lips parted and she felt as if the temperature of the room was rising.
Meanwhile, Kelly began to get lost in the dark brown eyes of the taller brunette. At that moment Kelly wanted to grab Sonny by the waist and pull her into a hard, passionate kiss.
Someone cleared their throat and broke the women out of their intimate conversation. “Ladies. A moment please”. In unison, Kelly and Sonny released the other’s hand. They both turned their heads to face Nancy Timmerman and Tracy ‘Trace’ Martinez. “Don’t get used to this standard of living in your accommodations.” The Homeland Security agent glared at the younger woman standing beside her. “It seems that someone doesn’t understand the meaning of the word inconspicuous.”
“Oh, I understand it. I just ignored it.” Trace replied as she began to busy herself on the tablet she was holding. She crossed in front of Timmerman to get to the salon desk in the corner.
“We have an unlimited budget. What’s the point of having all that money if you don’t spend it? Besides, now that we finally have our very own hit girl, I thought we could get something a little more ‘James Bondy’ than a Motel 6 by the airport.”
Agent Timmerman frowned at her electronics expert but remained silent. Kelly took note of the differences between the two women. Timmerman was a compact, ebony skinned woman with a close cut natural hairstyle. To Kelly, her face seemed to be made of iron in a permanent expression of absolute seriousness. Kelly could imagine the woman watching The Lion King with dry eyes as Simba finds his father Mufasa dead. She dressed in a plain navy blue pantsuit with a white blouse and sensible flat shoes. It was the kind of uniform that came in vending machines at the Bureau. The perfect image of a government agent.
Trace, on the other hand, was much younger than Timmerman but a few inches taller. The latina dressed in all black. Black hoodie, black t-shirt with a picture of a teddy bear that had its head ripped off printed on the front. Black skinny jeans, and black combat boots with the shoelaces untied. Her dark eyes painted with heavy black mascara that matched the lipstick she wore on her disinterested mouth. Kelly estimated that she had only seen the eighteen year old look away from her computer a handful of times. Kelly watched Trace put her boots up onto the polished wooden desk as she leaned back in the chair.
“Our budget is for operations Trace, not luxury spending.” Timmerman warned the younger woman, but Kelly felt as if the agent was tempering her anger. From what Kelly had observed, in the short time she had been around them, there was a definite dynamic between the two. It was obvious that Trace worked for Timmerman. But it seemed that the older women gave the young latina a bit of leeway. Kelly could understand that. If Trace was as good as she professed to be, she was an asset that deserved to get a little slack.
“Potato, potato.” Trace muttered.
“So what’s next on the docket boss?” Kelly clapped her hands together with a big grin on her face. “Off to topple some foreign dictatorship? Hunt down a terrorist? Crush Cobra Commander once and for all?”
Timmerman ignored Kelly and kept her eyes locked on Sonny's. Irritating the redhead. “For now you will stay here until we prepare to transport you to your new home near D.C.”
“No.” Sonny’s response was clear and strong. Her refusal caused the temperature of the room to drop ten degrees. Timmerman raised a questioning eyebrow at the woman.
“Excuse me?” The Homeland agent sounded almost amused.
“I am not moving to Washington D.C. Chicago is my home.” Sonny crossed her arms. Kelly looked between the two women, anxious to see how the conflict between them would play out.
“Your present position requires you to be close to our operations center.” Timmerman crossed her arms and locked eyes with Sonny. They mirrored the stance of the other. “I’m afraid this is non negotiable.”
“You’re right. This is non negotiable. I am not moving.” Sonny’s cold smile was frozen on her lips. The tension inside the suite felt as though it was building up to explode like an atomic bomb. Both women held their position and remained motionless for a long and silent minute. Finally Kelly cleared her throat.
“Hey Trace?” The black clad latina who had been watching the stand off behind her long black bangs, flicked her eyes over to Kelly. “You can set us up here in Chicago so we are always in contact with you guys in D.C. right? You know, through computers and whatnot.” Kelly grinned.
Trace chuckled to herself. “I could do that in my sleep.” Kelly then turned her attention back to the two women that were still locked in a battle of wills.
“So there you go!” Kelly raised her arms in the air in victory. “Problem solved! I mean it’s not like we’ll be doing any missions in D.C. right?” Dear God I hope not. “You can fly out of Chicago to anywhere right Nancy? Can I call you Nancy? Or Nance? The N Dog?”.
Timmerman narrowed her eyes and turned her head to Kelly slowly. “Agent Timmerman is fine.” Her voice was cold and dismissive.
“I need to get something from my safehouse.” Sonny continued her demands. She did not take a moment to celebrate their victory.
“Absolutely not.” Timmerman snapped. “You two are to remain here until I am able to secure a suitable location in the city for you. You need to stay out of sight until we make sure that your faces aren’t hanging in police stations all around the city.” She sighed in exasperation. “If you give me the location I will have whatever it is sent here.”
Sonny considered the offer in silence. Kelly’s eyes ping ponged between the two women. Sonny did not want to burn her safehouse location but she definitely had to retrieve her lockbox. “Fine. I will give you the address.” There was a moment where the two women stood opposite each other. They were taking the measure of the other. Breaking eye contact first, Timmerman turned to face Kelly. “What about your things at your apartment? Do you want them?”
“Do we get a clothes allowance?” Kelly’s broad smile showed all her teeth. “Because if we do then you can burn all my old stuff.”
“I can hook you up with an expense accoun
t.” Trace said as she keyed it into her pad. Timmerman shot Trace an annoyed look and then gave up with a sigh of resignation.
Kelly began dancing The Cabbage Patch and singing. “I’m going shopping! I’m getting new clothes! Go Kelly! It’s your birthday!” Sonny rolled her eyes in quiet amusement at her partner’s antics. Timmerman rubbed her temples with her hands.
“I remind you that you are not to leave this suite, ladies, until I say otherwise.” Timmerman turned and began to make her way to the door. Kelly scrunched her face in confusion and raised her hand.
“What did you say? We have to stay here?”
With an annoyed grunt, Timmerman threw her answer over her shoulder. “Unless I say otherwise.” The door closed shut leaving Kelly, Sonny and Trace alone inside the suite.
“Alright, let’s go shopping!” Kelly exclaimed happily but Sonny appeared puzzled by her statement.
“Didn’t you hear what she said?”
“Of course I did.” Kelly winked at her. “She said to stay here unless she says otherwise. And she did say otherwise so…..” Sonny shook her head in amazement at the adolescent nature of her partner. She shrugged her shoulders in resignation.
“Okay, where to first?” The genuine smile that came from Sonny caused a flutter inside Kelly’s stomach. “Oh Trace, are you gonna get us an American Express Black Card or a briefcase full of cash?”
Trace reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out two credit cards. “I got two cards with no limits. Who wants ‘em?.”
CHAPTER TWO
Senior Special Agent of the FBI field office in Idaho Reggie Burns continued to look for clues. But he could tell that the Sheriff’s deputy accompanying him would rather be somewhere else.
“We went over this area with a fine tooth comb agent. Didn’t find a Goddamn thing.” The deputy was leaning on a tree with his arms crossed. Exhausted from making a cursory glance over the area, Reggie assumed.
“I’m sure you did.” Reggie muttered to himself as he crouched down in the underbrush where Ziggy’s corpse had turned up. The area was remote and covered with trees and bushes. Like many of the places Reggie had seen in his time in rural Idaho, he could almost imagine that he was in another world. Somewhere primal where man had never explored. Having grown up in Philadelphia, he felt like a fish out of water. Reggie wouldn’t think twice if there was a trail of breadcrumbs leading back to civilization.
Ziggy’s body had been found completely stripped. There was nothing on his corpse that offered up any clue about where he had been before they found him. As much as he did not want to admit it, the lazy deputy might be right. Reggie could not see anything that had not been discovered by the Crime Scene Unit already. Reggie stood up, grunting all the way. He really needed to get back to the gym. He turned and scanned the area thoughtfully.
“How did they get the body here?” He muttered to himself.
“Trail is up that way, about two miles east.” The deputy waved in the general direction with his hand. “They might have dragged him down from there.”
Reggie nodded , the deputy was probably right. The only problem with that was that there was no evidence to support it. Ziggie's body lay in thick brush without a trail. He couldn't find footsteps, or disturbed branches to show where his body had come from. The area was pristine and overgrown, there should have been some tracks on the ground. Some kind of disturbance of the area should have been visible.
Reggie Burns had a reputation for closing cases. He was like a bulldog with a bone. Once he got involved he bit down on it and wouldn’t stop working until the job was done. But this case had him flummoxed.
Ziggy was his undercover contact inside Jonah T. Pierpont’s militia. He was a two-bit Meth dealer with a loud mouth and a bad temperament. Ziggy was also a known racist. Once Ziggy got his third arrest for dealing, he was a prime candidate to flip for Reggie’s investigation. When Ziggy saw Reggie walk into the interrogation room, he let him have it with every racial slur he knew. But his tune changed when he heard Reggie’s offer. Once Reggie explained to him that Ziggy was looking at fifteen to twenty five years if he didn’t cooperate, he was willing to work with the FBI. Ziggy was able to talk his way into joining Pierpont’s militia soon after he was released.
It took a few months for Ziggy to get in close enough to be able to report back with any actionable intelligence. Reggie’s last communication with him was a warning. Ziggy told him that Pierpont was going to be purchasing a substantial amount of weapons. Military grade weapons. Then Ziggy dropped off the map. Reggie had Ziggy’s trailer checked out along with all his favorite drinking spots. Nothing. Finally Reggie received a postcard saying ‘Wish you were here’ addressed to him. The message on the card read ‘Ziggy’s waiting for you'. On the back were gps coordinates leading him to this remote section of Idaho forest.
The deputy cleared his throat, derailing Reggie’s train of thought. Reggie rolled his eyes out of sight of the deputy and exhaled in frustration. “Alright. I guess we’ve seen everything here.” The deputy began walking back to the road without another word. Reggie was left alone with his thoughts before he too turned and walked back.
After their decision to go shopping, which was actually Kelly’s decision, they spent the next two days in the hotel suite. Trace didn’t bother moving them to less expensive lodging. She knew that Timmerman would never check and Trace could not care any less how much she spent. Trace allocated all the money she needed, skimming from different military operations. With her level of access she could grab funds from anywhere and not have anyone know that the money was even gone.
Kelly had burned herself out on shopping right away. It turned out that she didn’t have very expensive tastes. Even with more money than she had ever had, she couldn't find anything she wanted. They had window shopped in some of the most expensive stores downtown, even some of the Shops at North Bridge. But Kelly could not find anything she felt comfortable wearing. Deflated, she finally settled on a couple pairs of blue jeans and a few new t-shirts.
But Sonny looked fabulous in anything she tried on. Kelly was at the same time jealous and aroused by the way clothes looked on her. Sonny had the body of a runway model, while Kelly always thought of herself as being a Chicago seven. Yet looking at Sonny made Kelly feel more like a four than a seven. Sonny’s long legs looked fantastic in either shorts or evening gowns. Her lean and toned body made anything she wore appear custom tailored to her form. The tall brunette with the high cheekbones made Kelly dizzy with lust. When their shopping trip was over she felt she could finally catch her breath.
Although Kelly thought she was being covert in sneaking glances at her, Sonny was able to catch her a few times. Everytime she did she felt a warmth in her chest. Those gorgeous bright eyes on her made her stomach flutter inside. Imaging Kelly undressing her with her eyes was intoxicating to her. Sonny wasn’t a fool, she knew she had been blessed with good looks. Sometimes when she was feeling conceited, she would even think of herself as hot. She knew that other people found her attractive but it never affected her. But with Kelly drooling over her it was different. She wanted Kelly to look at her like this, she wanted to feel desired by the redhead. And because of that, she bought a few outfits that she ordinarily wouldn’t. She even bought a few lacy undergarments because she knew that it was driving Kelly crazy.
Once back at the suite they took advantage of room service and pay-per-view movies. They were enjoying My Cousin Vinny when a knock on the door made Kelly pause the movie. Kelly saw Sonny spring into her defensive mode. She watched the other woman’s muscles tense and her eyes narrow. Always prepared, Kelly thought to herself with a grin.
“Relax John McClane, I’m sure it’s not Hans Gruber.” Kelly rose from her comfortable position, sprawled out on a loveseat while Sonny sat on the sofa next to her. “I’ll get it.” She said with a chuckle. Sonny smirked at the verbal jab.
Kelly opened the door to reveal a uniformed concierge. “We received a package for this
room for Mrs. J Lopez?” Kelly snorted and looked back at Sonny.
“Hey Jenny from the block. This is for you.” The redhead laughed but took the package from the confused concierge. Sonny stood and took the small sealed box from her.
“Thank you.” She said sarcastically and returned to the sofa. Kelly followed and plopped back down on the love seat. “Whatcha got there Sonny?”
The assassin quietly, almost reverently, opened the package. She removed an old .38 revolver from the box. She held it in the palms of her hands. Kelly furrowed her brow in curiosity.
“That’s what you had Timmerman pick up from your safe house? An old gun? We can get new ones you know.”
“Not like this one.” Sonny was speaking in a low whisper that Kelly had to strain her ears to hear. Kelly saw that Sonny was a million miles away right then. Sonny’s face had a look that Kelly had never seen on it. It was a look of melancholy. “It was my father’s”
Kelly felt uncomfortable watching such a private moment. She shifted her body on the love seat, preparing to stand and go into one of the bedrooms. She stopped when Sonny began to speak again.
