Then Randy did a little fist pump, “All right!” He turned and glared at Steve, “You had us all worried for nothing!”
Ell turned to Steve who looked abashed, “Sorry Ms. Donsaii, I got the impression from your call that you were letting us all go and tried to let the group down easy by giving them some warning.” He dropped his gaze embarrassedly to the floor.
Ell raised her hands to her cheeks, “Oh! Heck no! I love you guys! Especially it’s very comforting to know that you’re always there, ready to protect me! I worry that, about the time the Chinese finally stop hassling me, other groups will start giving me trouble!”
A cheer went up in the room. Amy raised her glass, “A toast… To the best boss ever!”
They all raised their glasses and Ell felt her anxiety melt away. The atmosphere became party like and Ell made it a point to go around and talk to each of her team one on one. Just before they broke up Ell buttonholed Steve and Amy and said, “I think we should go somewhere for a little R&R? Maybe Amy could reserve us a house on the beach in Florida for a week? A place where we could assume that no one would find me and we could relax together. I was really worried about our morale there and feeling like I should have done something to boost morale a long time ago.”
Steve rubbed his chin. “I’m a little worried that too casual a relationship might undermine their sense of duty to you. But, on the other hand, if they love you like they will if they get to spend much time with you, they might have even more motivation to do their utmost.”
Ell rolled her eyes and grinned, “Well I don’t know about all that, but let’s try to set it up between now and Christmas. I hope to be busy again come January.”
***
Nuñez and Chief Milton were looking up into the comm bay of one of the MQ-9s discussing the progress of refitting the UAVs with the PGR chips when they heard crisp footsteps approaching from behind. Nuñez glanced back, then to Milton’s surprise dropped his hands to his sides, came to attention and did an about face. As Milton turned, Nuñez fired off the sharpest salute Milton had ever seen him produce. Expecting to find a general behind him Milton was bemused to find Lieutenant, no Captain! Donsaii standing there, big grin on her face. He saluted too, trying to render his sharpest as well.
Donsaii saluted back “Chief, Sarge,” she nodded to each man. “I believe you owe me a beer?” She smirked at them.
“Yes Ma’am!” Milton’s normally taciturn face beamed. “Word is you saved our ass in the Pacific? That where those Captain’s bars came from?”
“Yep,” she grinned, “‘unofficially.’ Couldn’t ‘a done it without you two. Thanks! I’m throwing a little party at The Flight Risk Friday at 1830 hrs in celebration, you able to buy me my beers then?
“Yes Ma’am.” They replied in unison.
“Good, ‘cause that’s my last day, I’m getting discharged. Hate to have to come back and haunt you for my beers after I’m a civilian again.”
They looked at one another.
“See you then.” She tossed them each something and turned to go, “Here’s the other part of our bet.”
Milton looked down into his palm where a Ford key chip rested. Wide eyed he said, “Ma’am? You can’t do this!”
She grinned, “Sure I can Chief, we’re in Nevada and I lost a wager.”
“But… a car? That’s too much!”
She frowned, “Yeah, probably.” Then she grinned, but I really appreciated your help. Those chips are bringing me in more money than I can spend, and I’m a civilian soon, so I can do things that are ‘too much’ if I want to can’t I?” She mock glared at him, “It is still a free country, right?”
***
The Flight Risk was packed. Ell had invited everyone she knew from Nellis and it looked like every one of them had taken her up on the offer. The free drinks were flowing freely as Ell had opened a tab for anyone else in the bar too. Nuñez and Milton approached her, each carrying a beer. When they held them out Ell raised her eyebrows, “Gentlemen, I’m disappointed in you! You do know I’m not actually old enough to drink beer don’t you?”
They looked at one another, then back at her, “Really?”
“Really,” she grinned, “but I’ll take a Coke?” she raised an eyebrow.
They laughed, “We’ll have to drink these beers ourselves first!”
Sasson nudged her elbow, “Hey, last time we were interrupted before I could properly demonstrate the finer points of pool to you! You ready to be humiliated?”
Ell looked over both of his shoulders, “Where’s your army?”
“Oh ho!” he crowed, “It’s on! I’ll rack the balls.”
Ell was speaking to Axen when Sasson said, “You want to lag for the break.”
Ell wondered how hard she should play this game of pool? But she wanted to speak to Axen a moment longer so she said, “No, you go ahead and break.”
Sasson’s break was heralded by an explosive “Crack!” and he crowed as a ball dropped. “I’m about to school an Olympic athlete in the finer points of a game!”
Ell raised an eyebrow and leaned on her cue as she watched him put in five balls, talking smack with each one.
When he stymied himself he turned to her, “Stick that in your pipe!” he chortled. “Knowing the user’s manuals backward and forward aren’t going to save you this time.”
A small group had gathered to watch by then, drawn in by Sasson’s patter. Axen called out, “I wouldn’t piss her off Lieutenant. If I recall, last time she was in this bar she sent a dude to prison with a broken wrist.”
“Hah, she’s got to win this one by putting balls in, not by hitting people with pool cues!”
Ell peered down the length of the cue Sasson had handed her. It was straight.
He said cheerfully, “Checking the cue isn’t going to help. This is a game of skill.”
She grinned at him, then without a word she ran the table.
By the time she’d dropped the sixth ball, nudges and whispers had brought the focus of attention of most of the people in that end of the bar onto her. Ball after ball had dropped perfectly into the center of their pockets even on hard cuts and bank shots. Ell gave him a little bow and handed him the cue stick, “Thank you for the game,” she said gravely. She turned to an open mouthed Nuñez, “I’m really ready for that Coke now.”
A susurrus of conversation washed over the room which had grown quiet while she played, Axen called out, “I’d stop challenging her if I were you Sasson.”
Sasson grinned and shook his red face, “You’d think I would have learned by now.”
Epilogue
Amy and “Raquel” walked past Randy and Steve as they entered Tres Locos for a last session of dancing. Ell and her security team were heading back to North Carolina the next day. Amy would stay a few days longer to supervise the packing of Ell’s research gear by the van lines and negotiate the remodeling of the team’s apartments back to their original state with the building’s owners. Neither Amy nor Ell had strong ties to Vegas but they both felt a little wistful about leaving their favorite bar.
Ell went directly to her favorite taqueria for her usual grande burrito. While in line she heard a familiar voice.
“Raquel?”
Ell turned, “Dan! How are you doing?”
“Good! Hey, you’re using more than one word at a time!”
Ell shrugged.
“Noooo! Back down to none! Hey, I’d love to dance with you again, I have fond memories.”
“OK, let me eat my burrito.”
Dan raised an eyebrow as he looked at the huge burrito she’d just taken from the vendor, “Careful how much you eat! I’m planning to give you a workout.”
As Amy and Ell ate they saw Dan out on the floor doing his freestyle routine and occasionally waving to Ell to come join him. After they finished eating both Amy and Ell got up and walked out to the area on the floor where freestylers were dancing. Dan smiled at Ell as she walked out and he imitated her stride as she
walked out to the floor though he “marched in place.” As Ell approached him she began walking in time to the music so she was marching in place like he was. As before, he then threw in some little moves starting with a pumping move with his right arm which she imitated, then he changed the footwork and began making turns which she followed. Dan, entranced with her graceful coordination, again wondered whether she somehow read his mind to know what he was about to do, or just followed so quickly that he couldn’t tell she was lagging him? He led her in more and more complex moves without losing her at all, then sped up his rhythm, delighted as she easily kept up. Finally he did a front flip but to his disappointment she didn’t flip with him. He raised his eyebrows at her.
She shrugged at him lifting her own eyebrows. He reached out his hands and she took them, easily following his tug to spin into a cuddle. They began swing dancing and, following the Tres Locos tradition, Dan steered Ell around the periphery of the floor.
Amy continued freestyling herself she watched them moving around. She looked around at other people in the bar, noting that many of them were watching Dan and Ell. Looking back at the floor she saw several other couples doing more intricate routines, but slight missteps, slipped grips and bobbles created a certain inelegance. Amy shook her head, though Dan and Ell weren’t doing anything terribly complex, the grace and beauty of their movements drew eyes to them.
Dan’s eyebrows rose as he made an attempt to lead Raquel into a Lindy Flip. She somehow started to follow yet stopped him and bobbed back from the move so gracefully that he felt sure the little dip they made would have appeared choreographed to anyone watching. Every turn they made flowed so smoothly that he felt like he’d been dancing with the girl forever! Why couldn’t it be this way with other women?
The song drew to a close and he tried to get her to stay on the floor for another but she leaned close and said, “Thirsty.”
Dan grinned at her, “Back to one word at a time?”
She grinned back, shrugged and turned to walk off the floor. He admired her as she walked away. He shook his head. Even just walking she displayed a simple and supple beauty. It wasn’t that her hips swung suggestively, just that every motion seemed perfect, catlike, harmonized. Oh well maybe she’ll dance again in a bit?
Despite the grande burrito she’d eaten Ell still felt hungry so she headed back over to the tiendas to get some nachos. On her way there she saw Cody who’d first taught her to swing dance. Cody had his eyes on Ell despite the fact that Connie, his dance partner was standing next to him with a possessive hand on his arm. He lifted his hand to give Ell a little wave but Connie said something sharply to him and he dropped his hand. Ell gave him a friendly little wave back and continued over to the taqueria she liked somehow feeling Connie’s eyes burning into her back. She wondered why Connie disliked her so? It wasn’t as if she had tried to horn in on the relationship between Connie and Cody.
When Ell returned to the table Dan was sitting there with Amy. He grinned up at her, then eyed her plate. “You’re still hungry!?”
Ell raised an eyebrow then nodded with a grin but said nothing except to point at the nachos indicating he should help himself. Dan and Amy both had a couple of nachos.
Dan said, “If you don’t explode, would you like to dance again after your nachos?”
Ell nodded.
Dan rolled his eyes and turned to Amy. “Does she carry on these one word or less conversations with everyone, or is it just me?”
Amy raised one eyebrow and dropped the other as if concentrating on a serious question. After a pause she narrowed her eyes and said, “Nope, just you.”
He looked at Ell whose lips were pursed around the straw in her Coke. Her eyes sparkled at him.
Then Connie led Cody out onto the floor. They began a very complex and athletic routine they’d been working on in class. It was beautiful yet appeared dangerous. Fascinated, Ell couldn’t take her eyes off of them.
As they left the floor when the song finished, Connie pulled Cody directly past Ell’s table like she had the last time they’d been at Tres Locos. Ell continued to clap as they approached but Connie glared at her as she approached and just before she passed she sneered and said, “You’ll never be able to dance like that.”
Cody leaned down and quietly said, “Don’t listen to her, she can be such a bitch!” Connie tugged at his wrist but he resisted and said, “I’ll be back, I hope you’ll dance with me?”
Ell minutely shook her head. “I’m leaving town, you should preserve your friendship with Connie.”
Connie said imperiously, “Come on Cody. She’s just a pretender. She can’t really dance.”
Cody frowned but acquiesced to being led away.
Ell found Dan’s eyes wide on her. “What?”
“You’re leaving?”
Ell shrugged and nodded.
“And you’re not going to show that bitch what you can really do?!”
Ell snorted, wrinkled her nose and shook her head.
His eyebrows rose, “You’re gonna just let that ‘pretender’ and ‘can’t dance’ crap stand?”
Ell narrowed her eyes.
Amy put her hand on Ell’s forearm, “Come on. Show her what you can do! We’re all dying to see.” Amy’s eyes flicked briefly over toward where Steve and Randy sat trying not to look their way. “Besides, we’re leaving town, leave a mark behind.”
Ell leaned close to Amy’s ear. “But then no one else will ask me to dance.”
Amy grinned, “Dan’s staked you out so they probably aren’t going to ask anyway, go ahead and go out in a blaze of glory.”
Ell said quietly, “It might ruin your chance for a dance too.”
Amy rolled her eyes, “Don’t worry about that, I want to see too!”
Ell’s eyes focused a moment in the distance, then she turned to Dan. “OK.”
“Great!” He started to rise but she had her hand on his arm.
“I don’t have much stamina so we have to be done in three minutes OK?”
“Sure.” He would have risen but she still held his arm.
“Wait until another fast song starts, start with swing and finish with breakdancing?”
His eyes moved up to the left as he considered. “OK.”
She bent to suck on her straw again, grinning up at him.
They waited through another slow song but when a fast one started Dan stood eagerly, holding out a hand. “Raquel?”
She makes the simple act of standing into a graceful work of art, he thought. As they walked out to the floor he realized she’d removed her boots and was in her stocking feet?
Soon they were swing dancing with the elegance she always seemed to bring to it. As they spun through several pretzels she said, “Faster.”
He raised his brows and complied. He twirled her and she said, “We can do some of those flips you’ve been trying to get me to do.
He hadn’t tried to do a Lindy Flip at this speed before and wasn’t sure if it actually could be done but he tried it. As he swung her into it he worried about whether he’d be able to catch her if it went wrong. But it didn’t go wrong! It went perfectly, as did an “around the world,” a “frog,” a “cannonball,” and a “back flip!”
Dan knew he’d have goose bumps if he weren’t working so hard. Doing these elements with other girls was a physical struggle with a sense of danger, even at lower speeds. Doing them with Raquel seemed effortless and somehow completely controlled despite the speed at which they were dancing.
Her hands pulled free from his, she moonwalked away from him, but then he found her following him like they had started when they first met. So he boosted the complexity of his standing “toprock” moves more and more, amazed as she followed his moves effortlessly. As they danced he noticed that everyone else on the dance floor had stopped and begun to watch them. Briefly he wondered if she would freak out and quit like she had before? Then he shrugged and dropped to the floor to begin a windmill, as he leapt back to his f
eet she dropped to windmill herself. His eyes narrowed as he realized she was perfectly copying his own personal style of windmill.
She was back on her feet! He dropped to helicopter and leapt back up to see her dropping for a perfect copy of his helicopter too. He did a backflip, so did she! He did a front flip and she was right with him! The song was reaching its ending so he skipped and did a round off into a series of back handsprings across the dance floor.
Out of the corner of his eye he realized she was tumbling beside him, so that they were performing handsprings in perfect synchrony. When he landed she came down slightly after he did and he realized that she had finished with a double! Holy crap! Instead of landing and stopping like he had, she bounded backward from her landing to go back across the floor the other way. The first turn was a standard handspring, next she bounded two flips without touching her hands down! As Dan watched, dumbfounded, the next flip she twisted as well as tumbling end over end without touching down on her hands, then did another double and landed perfectly on her feet, throwing her hands up like a gymnast! She grinned at him.
The room exploded in applause, people coming to their feet having just seen something they’d never seen before! Dan narrowed his eyes, there was something different about her nose! Suddenly, she reached up and grasped her hair, tugging on it… it came off—a wig! The hair underneath was short and reddish blond. She looked different, yet familiar.
My God! I’ve been dancing with Ell Donsaii! He thought, scalp prickling.
She took a deep sweeping bow and walked off the floor. My God! No wonder she could do any dance move I ever thought of!
As she walked to the table where Amy sat she passed near an open mouthed Connie and winked at her with a grin. Then she picked up her boots, quickly stamped them on and headed for the exit. Dan trotted out after her but she was nowhere in sight when he got there.
Lieutenant (An Ell Donsaii story #3) Page 21
