Sleeper Cells

by Sandra Y. Desjardins

  They followed behind her and posed for several pictures. They answered questions about their costumes, the house, and if they had set a wedding date, which they hinted at, but weren’t allowed to say. She and Jason slipped downstairs when they turned their attention to Brian and his upcoming election.

  “Okay, so if we aren’t the old ball and chains, then what do our costumes signify?” She asked when they made it down to the kitchen.

  “Seriously, Kat,” He laughed. “After all this time you think I would pick these costumes over something that lame?”

  “Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines as the reporter until you said it was private, which—”

  “There you go!” Lauren interrupted as she joined them.

  “Sorry, we had an impromptu photo session,” Kat said. “What’s up?”

  “Vladimir is at his cottage for a meeting and invited Natasha to join him.” She whispered. “It would be a great opportunity to get all our communication up and running since he spends so much time there.”

  “And what do you propose? I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that our home is currently filled with over a hundred guests,” Jason pointed out.

  “I know, and believe me, if there was any other way I would—”

  “Any other way?” He asked studying Lauren carefully. “What’s the plan?”

  “Kat and I go undercover and spend the weekend—”

  “The weekend?” Kat interrupted. “How the hell am I supposed to explain that to all of these people?”

  “There’s a plan in place,” Lauren shrugged. “Food poisoning, I believe…”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Kat said. “I’m fine—”

  “I know, and I agree. It is ridiculous, but there wasn’t any other way—”

  “You keep saying that.” Jason snapped, “But somehow keep avoiding something all at the same time.”

  “Nicolas is there,” Lauren flinched when the lights flickered.

  “Jason—”

  “I’m fine,” he cleared his throat. “Fine,” Jason assured them as he swallowed the contents of the water bottle.

  “He insisted that I bring you along—”

  “No,” Jason slammed the empty water bottle onto the counter. “I understand we need the intell. I get that he has a security system that is the envy of the world and I get that you are miserable and this means something to you,” he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “But getting her involved is unacceptable.”

  “It came from Ariel,” Lauren pleaded. “I tried—”

  “Hey,” Julianne interrupted smiling. “Is everyone having a good time?”

  “Yeah,” they said looking at Brian. His sudden appearance left them no choice but to act as if nothing was wrong.

  “Kat,” Julianne said with a smile. “Someone called from the Girls & Boys Club, they needed to reschedule the photo session for tomorrow morning. David told them that shouldn’t be a problem but he took down a phone number if we needed to call back.”

  “Sorry,” David handed Kat her cell phone. “I was standing right by it when it started ringing, so I took the liberty of answering it for you since I didn’t see you around—”

  “There’s a bit of a conflict,” Jason said. “She has other arrangements—”

  “Right,” Julianne nodded her head toward David. “Apparently Ariel volunteered to take over that other thing and go with Lauren?”

  “Yeah,” David nodded. “As a matter of fact, Lauren, I think she was looking for you.”

  “There she is,” Brian waved her over. “You gals headed to a funeral or something?” He joked when he took in their somber faces.

  “No,” Lauren forced a laugh and elbowed Kat so she could join in. Kat rubbed her arm and giggled as she looked at Jason with an upraised brow—she had no idea what was going on.

  “One of our friends is having a party tonight and guilted us into running over.” David said matter-of-factly. “So we’ll go as one big happy group.” He leaned against the counter, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and stared at Lauren for a long moment before looking down at his feet.

  “From the looks of it, you must not think it’s as cool as our party,” Brian waved Vanessa and Jeremy over. “So you’ll be back?”

  “Yeah,” David said. “We’ll be in and out in no time flat.”

  “Can you excuse us? I’m just gonna walk them out,” Kat pulled Lauren toward the door. They made their way through the crowd and stepped out onto the front porch. “So if someone can fill me in on what’s going on?” Kat asked when Ariel, Wyatt and David joined them.

  “You have this party, then a press conference tomorrow after the photo session for that charity you are posing for. Then you have a dinner party tomorrow evening for Brian’s campaign, so the Elders changed plans.”

  “Okay,” Kat stepped away from the door so a couple that she knew from school could get by. They had a pack of cigarettes in hand and waved as they passed them.

  “Wyatt, you’re on comm. David, you’re on foot in the cottage to implant all the devices and remain as back-up if needed.” Ariel said once the couple was out of hearing range.

  “I’ve got it covered,” David smiled as he leaned against the railing.

  “I’m sorry about that,” Jason said as he joined them. “It took me a minute to get Brian to shut up. Where are we going?”

  “We’re going to Russia,” Ariel said. “You’re going back to your party.”

  “I see,” he looked at Lauren then Kat.

  “Katarina can fill you in, we’ll call when we return,” she headed toward the driveway.

  “Night,” Kat held up a hand.

  “Night, guys. Happy Halloween,” David strolled passed them.

  “Keep your phone close,” Lauren mouthed as she walked by.

  “So,” Jason leaned against the railing. “I’m really glad you somehow managed to get out of that before I went ape-shit?” He chuckled.

  “Ape-shit? Have you been watching MTV again?” She laughed.

  “There are some figures of speech that I just love to say given the opportunity.”

  “And ape-shit was on the top of the list?”

  “Yeah,” he watched the car pull off. “So, how did we luck out like that?”

  “I have no idea,” she watched the car turn off the street then pulled him against her. “But I’m definitely not complaining—”

  “You’re welcome,” her mother stepped onto the porch. “And I thought I told you hands-off.”

  “You did.” Kat fell back onto the balls of her feet, “But there are humans around.” She nodded toward the couple walking toward them, the smell of their lingering cigarette smoke reaching Kat’s nose.

  “Are the injections working?” Julianne eyed Jason.

  “Yes, ma’am, they are.” He lied.

  “Uh-huh,” Julianne matched his stare. “Let’s get something straight here, young man,” she took a step closer to him. “I have lied to our kind for a very long time to ensure my daughter’s safety, so I don’t need your libido getting her killed. You got that?” She jabbed her finger into his chest.

  “Yes, ma’am—”

  “Good, then figure out how to control your damn temper, and keep your damn hands off of her,” she snapped as she stepped back and smiled at the couple as they passed. “Since that doesn’t help matters.”

  “There you are,” Brian said. “You guys are always disappearing on me.” He handed Julianne a drink. “Can you get over how warm it is?” He looked up at the sky.

  “It’s crazy,” Kat sighed. Her mother was definitely not helping matters where Jason’s guilt was concerned. She was sure that was her intention, which Kat didn’t appreciate in the least, because he was just starting to feel comfortable around her again. She didn’t need her mother spooking him away. “Where’s Vanessa?”

  “She’s inside. What do you guys think of Jeremy?” Brian asked.

  “I don’t know,” she looked at Jason then bac
k at Brian. “We haven’t really gotten a chance to talk to him.”

  “He seems nice enough,” her mother said. “We should go find them and get to know him a little better.”

  “You guys have a seat,” Jason guided Kat to the wicker patio furniture. “I’ll run in and find them since I was just about to grab us some drinks.”

  Kat watched as Jason walked back into the house, and then looked over at her mother. After she got comfortable on the loveseat with Brian, Kat asked how the interview went regarding the election coverage. Brian excitedly recounted what he told the reporter, then went on to say how happy he was the election was leaning in his favor.

  She was just about to have to explain her team’s sudden disappearance when Barbara and a slightly inebriated Senator McCarthy came outside and joined them. Jason, Vanessa and Jeremy followed behind.

  “What do you do for a living?” Barbara asked Jeremy after everyone got comfortable.

  “I’m a security guard.”

  “How lovely,” Barbara sipped her drink. “Where do you work?”

  “The same building that Vanessa’s shrink is at. That’s how we met.”

  “Oh, do tell. I love hearing romantic stories,” she leaned against the senator.

  “It’s not so romantic,” Vanessa laughed. “He actually hated me when we first met.”

  “I didn’t hate you.” He laughed. “I just misjudged you.”

  “Is that what you wanna call it?” She teased.

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m calling it because that’s what happened. See, the first day she came to the building the whole thing was swarmed with paparazzi. I didn’t know why at the time, but it was strange because the building is usually so quiet.”

  “So that next day, when I was leaving, they cornered me and he came to my rescue. He hid me in his office until the coast was clear.” Vanessa finished for him.

  “Which took about an hour, so we sat there talking—”

  “I talked.” She chuckled. “You looked like you wanted to hang yourself.”

  “Because you kept rambling on and on and on—ow!” He chuckled when she elbowed him. “What? The game was on.” He laughed as he dodged her elbow.

  “He told me about a back staircase that came down his way, so after my doctor’s appointment, I would sneak down there until everything was clear or he could help sneak me out.”

  “Which was fun, we got pretty inventive,” he added.

  “Then one day, I was sitting there talking and he stops me mid-sentence and asks me why I’m paying the shrink for such a simple problem.”

  “Yeah, and I’m a dude. That shrink definitely knows the deal, but keeps beating around the bush, so she can keep milking cash from you guys.”

  “I’m definitely intrigued,” Brian laughed. “She does charge quite the fee, so if you two have it, you’d be saving me some money.”

  “It’s just me,” Vanessa said looking at Jeremy. “Making something out of nothing, because I’m insecure and jealous and I need to get over it—”

  “Damn right you do. You gotta learn to worry about Vanessa and quit bothering yourself with everything your sister’s doing.”

  “And I need to learn how to take responsibility for all the shit that I do.”

  “That’s right, babe. It’s too easy. You just make it complicated when it doesn’t have to be.”

  “Wow,” her mother said. “That’s pretty straight to point.”

  “Yeah,” Jeremy looked at Vanessa. “Life’s too short to beat around the bush. My old man taught me to be true to myself and take responsibility for the shit I do. The rest, well, you just let it roll with everything else that life throws your way.”

  “That’s pretty sound advice,” Brian agreed. He looked at Vanessa for a moment. “And it seems to be doing you a world of good, sweetie.”

  “That was a totally romantic story,” Barbara felt the need to add. “And it has a happy ending.”

  “So, what’s your story?” Jeremy asked Julianne. “How did you two meet?”

  “Oh,” her mother answered. “Didn’t Vanessa tell you?”

  “I told you,” Vanessa laughed. “They met at Disney World.”

  “Get outta here, you two met at Disney?” He laughed, “Seriously?”

  “We did,” Brian laughed. “Actually, they met at Disney,” he pointed to Kat and Vanessa. “We were in line for one of those rides, and Vanessa didn’t want to get on by herself, so Kat asked if she could go with her.”

  “And they’ve been inseparable ever since,” her mother smiled.

  “So you two hooked them up,” Jeremy tapped Vanessa’s leg.

  “Yeah,” Brian said kissing her mother’s cheek. “We spent the rest of our vacation together and I flew to Florida damn near every weekend until we got married.”

  “Wait, so you two are Floridians?” He pointed to Kat and Julianne.

  “Yeah, but we’re glad we moved because we both love the fall and winter. And Washington is such an amazing city—”

  “Whoa, that’s nuts.” Jeremy cut Julianne off. “The winter totally blows here. I would love to live in Florida. So, do you just go down for the summers now?” He asked Kat.

  “Where?” Kat asked.

  “Florida?”

  “I don’t understand,” she looked at Jeremy, genuinely confused.

  “To visit your real dad, you know, to do that whole visitation thing. Do you do the whole summer or do you fly down over the year to break up the visitations? Because we’d love to tag along once—”

  “No,” Vanessa said wrapping her arm through his. “Her father died when she was a kid, remember?”

  “Oh, shit. Hey, I’m sorry. I thought you said your mom had passed away. I didn’t realize it was both of your parents.”

  “It’s okay,” they all said then looked at each other.

  “Hey, I feel like a jackass, I’m sorry about that.”

  “No,” Kat said. “It’s fine, really. My dad passed away when I was three, so I don’t really remember him…”

  “Well, now that I feel like a total jerk, can I grab anybody anything to drink? I was gonna run inside and grab water.”

  “I’ll help you,” Jason volunteered. “Babe, would you like more lemonade?”

  “Yeah, thanks.” They took everyone’s order and disappeared inside. Kat sat back and let her thoughts wander to her father.

  “Kit Kat?” Brian called.

  “Yeah, Daddy?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, of course, I just feel like I’m being a bad hostess,” she stood. “I’m gonna go and work the room. I need to take pictures of everyone’s crazy costumes.”

  She disappeared inside and mingled with her friends, then caught up with Jason, and got to meet several of his friends. The rest of the night went smoothly. She and Jason played Twister and Pictionary, and then mingled for the remainder of the evening. After walking everyone to the door several hours later, she headed upstairs, and stripped out of her jumpsuit.

  “Hey,” she said when she heard the door. “Can you get this off?” She lifted her long locks with one hand and signaled to her necklace with the other. “I hope you don’t mind that I told Vanessa that she and Jeremy could stay the night, she said she was tired of sneaking over to—”

  “Here you go—”

  “Holy cow,” Kat startled then whipped around and stared at Andrew. He held her necklace out in front of him.

  “Calm it down, Sniper Girl, I did knock,” he said matter-offactly.

  “I know,” she tried to conceal her body with her arms because her bra and panties had definitely not been picked out for his viewing pleasure.

  “Hey, don’t mind me.” He said as he dropped her necklace on the dresser, then fell onto the bed. “I just wanted to go over the meeting point for tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, of course,” she said as calmly as she could muster. “I hadn’t heard we were working together again…what’s the plan?” He pulled a pillow over and
propped it behind his head. When she realized she was biting down on her lower lip as she watched his bicep flex from the movement, she forced herself to look away.

  “So, I’m hoping that we really don’t need you there, but your sharp shooting may come in handy if we run into any problems.”

  “Hey, babe, where do we keep the extra tooth—” Jason started as he walked into the bedroom. He stopped mid-sentence and stride when he saw Andrew on the bed. Jason glared at him.

  “Hey, Jason,” Andrew said looking up at Jason briefly, then continuing as if he wasn’t there. Kat dared a glance at Jason and the intensity in his eyes gave her goose bumps… and not in a good way. “We make the drop at nine o’clock my time, so that leaves you plenty of time to get through whatever stuff you have set up,” Andrew looked around. “What’s with the lights in this house?”

  “It’s old,” she said quickly. “I have to get an electrician out here,” she added. “So, I’m just on standby then?”

  “Yeah, any questions?”

  “Nah, it seems fairly simple. You guys should be in and out, right?”

  “That’s the plan, but you know how spontaneous these humans can be, so we requested you just in case.”

  “Great. We’re meeting at your place?” She offered her hand to him. He took it and she guided him toward the door. Jason’s face was a blank slate as they approached, which worried her more than the glare it had replaced.

  “Yeah, the coordinates are right there,” Andrew handed her a brief, then leaned against her and pointed to the top page. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He walked toward Jason. “Nice costume.”

  “Thanks,” Jason pulled the door open. “How’d you get in here?” She heard him ask as he pulled the door shut behind them. It was a good question since her watch hadn’t chimed to indicate that someone had teleported into the house. She would have to find out what his response had been when she got downstairs.

  She changed into pajamas and ran out of the room. She knocked on Vanessa’s door, handed her the toothbrushes and bid her goodnight, then ran through the house and found Jason in the kitchen attempting to clean up.

  “Hey,” she said breathlessly. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” he tossed several empty cans into the garbage. “Andrew teleported a few blocks away and let himself in since the doors were still unlocked because of all the party traffic...” He looked at her when she grabbed cans from his hand, tossed them into the trash, then guided him toward the stairs. “That would explain why are watches didn’t chime. I went to look for your damn bodyguards and they left after the last guest took off,” he switched off the hallway light when they made it to the landing, then closed the bedroom door behind him. “It’s a wonder your father—”