Lost in Flight

by Neeny Boucher

  Christina’s mouth opened in protest, but Andy joined in on the game, “Like how bad?”

  Riley looked at Christina then rubbed his chin in contemplation. “Like if she was the last person on the face of the earth and you were under Zombie attack you’d still be tempted to walk bad. She wanted to pick you up, but I wouldn’t let her.”

  Andy bumped fists with him. “Thanks man,” then he turned to Christina. “Martin, that sounds so bad I’ve got to experience it for myself. It could be a new extreme sport or a reality TV idea.”

  Rolling her eyes and laughing, Christina said, “So ANYWAY, what are you doing in town Andy? Not that I don’t appreciate your rather lively and goddamn big mouthed, jaw flapping company.”

  Feigning being wounded and then turning serious, Andy said, “Oh we’ve had all sorts of shits and giggles while you’ve been away.” Then he shook his head and started talking.

  Chapter Sixteen – Traffic control

  Riley, Seattle, The Present, Tuesday 9 October 2012

  Riley didn’t know where to put himself when Andy and Christina started conversing at a 100 miles an hour. Sensing his discomfort, Christina put a finger up to Andy, which halted him mid-sentence. Looking at Riley, Christina said, “We’ve got a third party present who’s not covered by privilege.”

  Andy shrugged. “Easy – you either make him an agent of your law firm or he becomes one of mine.”

  Riley watched Andy get a form out of his bag and hand it to him. “We have to ask you a big favor man and you can say no, “Andy said. “It’s just – if you hear anything we discuss someone from the other side could subpoena you. If you fill out this form, it means you technically work for me and are covered as an agent.”

  Riley knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help himself. He looked at Christina and asked, “Aren’t we covered by some kind of spousal privilege?”

  Christina shook her head. “If we were still married we would be, but as we’re no longer married it doesn’t apply.”

  Riley thought about it for a bit and said, “Okay. I’ll do it, but I want my title to read ‘Boss’.”

  They didn’t say anything until Riley had signed and Christina witnessed the document. Andy put the form straight in this bag and asked for another beer before starting. “Well, Martin, it’s been pretty interesting. Our network’s been hacked, we’re under constant cyber-attack and we’ve been bugged. I’ve had to hire outside to help me fight the war. It’s been intense.”

  “WHAT?” Christina asked.

  Andy nodded. “Oh yeah, but don’t worry. I’ve swept here, checked your laptop and network. No Klingons. You’re clean, but I want you to change your passwords on a regular basis.”

  Getting up and stretching, Andy cracked his knuckles and rolled his shoulders. “Did you use your laptop in Shanwick?”

  Christina nodded. “Okay, I better check that now,” said Andy, “I’ve already had your family home swept for bugs.”

  ********************

  Bugs? Riley looked at Christina and she was off in her own little world with a smile on her face. He stared at her until she focused on him and then he mouthed, “Bugs.” He watched the smile drop off her face and her mouth open wide. Oh she got it now.

  Their public fight was one thing, but their private sexy time was quite another. The thought made him angry. The last time their sex antics had been recorded for public consumption, he’d had to go beat four shades of shit out of someone to get the tape back. It had been an accident, and with today’s technology, it would be a lot harder to get the stuff back by just smacking someone around.

  Christina started forward. “Um, bugs?”

  “Yeah,” said Andy, “bugs. You’re all clean though.” Andy looked down, but not before Riley caught him struggling to stop a smile. “I’ve already had all your residences swept for bugs. They’re clean now.”

  Riley could see the flush creep over Christina’s face and her voice went high. “Now?” she semi-shrieked, but Andy waved her comment away.

  “Did you discuss your sister’s case in Shanwick at all?”

  Christina shook her head. “No, bits came up, but I shut it down. I never talk about the details with Dad or Johnny anyway and they never really ask. We do talk about Gabby’s medical issues though.”

  Andy frowned. “Okay, but this is no joke, Christina. I’m serious and it’s personal. I also need to meet with your sister tomorrow. I have some questions I need to ask her.”

  They watched Andy get his laptop out and start it up, humming while he connected to the network. He opened his bag and got out some envelopes and cell phones, and clunked them on the table. Christina moved forward to take the envelopes, but Andy stopped her, shaking his head.

  Christina blinked. “I think you better start at the beginning, Andy.”

  Andy scrunched his face up. “Okay. I couldn’t tell you over the phone or email. I was worried your phone wasn’t secure and BY THE WAY, I was ringing and texting you for days with no response.”

  ********************

  Christina

  Andy’s account of what had been going on in Christina’s absence made her feel sick. Debbie Bindman’s home computer had been hacked and the hackers had made their way into the firm that way before Andy had stopped them. The thought of hacking made the hair on the back of Christina’s neck stand up.

  Grinning at Christina with a wolfish smile and a gleam in his dark eyes, Andy said. “Oh don’t worry, I have friends in both low and high places. I got some “friends” to respond in kind, directly, and without my fingerprints attached to it. Don’t worry, Christina. I’ve been filtering your emails since this happened. You’re secure.”

  Pointing to four large A4 sealed envelopes, Andy looked at Christina. “We had to clean every computer in the building and at people’s homes to see whether they’d accessed anything else. They had. They’d had a crack at just about everyone’s, except mine of course.”

  Holding the envelopes, Andy looked at Christina and waggled his eyebrows. “These arrived at my house anonymously. Debbie asked me to give these to you in person. I have no idea what these envelopes contain, Christina. They are sealed. You understand what I’m saying?”

  When she gulped and nodded Andy smiled, “Good.” Christina found it overwhelming, but she could cope. The one she was really worried about was Johnny, her brother the technophobe. This was the stuff of nightmares for him. He’d think Skynet really was taking over the world and the Terminator would appear any day.

  Hesitating, Christina said, “Andy, I know this is going to sound strange, but please, when you meet my brother, don’t tell him about hackers and stuff okay?”

  Andy looked at her as if she was speaking a foreign language. “Sure, sure,” he smirked, but Christina knew he wasn’t getting it.

  “Seriously, James,” she said. “Promise me. It’ll really freak him out – like you can’t believe.”

  They both turned to look at Riley when he burst out laughing. “She’s right, Andy, less is better for Johnny on this one. It’ll spin him out.”

  Andy agreed with an: “Okay then and Christina, two things: 1) don’t worry. I got this. 2) Don’t open those envelopes until tomorrow morning. I mean it. I’ll take them away if I think you will.”

  ********************

  Riley

  Andy and Christina were still having a stare-off when Jed burst through the door and Riley took the opportunity to pick up the envelopes, despite her protests. He was pretty sure Christina was winning the stare-off, but it was a close call and Andy needed a tag in the wrestling match. Riley looked Christina in the eye without blinking.

  “I know you. You won’t be able to resist. You can have them back tomorrow.”

  Looking at Andy, Riley motioned with his head to leave. Andy got up and grabbed his stuff and as they went past Jed, Andy stopped, frowning in concentration. “Hey – I know you.”

  Jed looked sideways at Andy and shrugged. Andy was concentrating on
Jed and then his eyes opened wide. “Holy shit. You’re The Cleaner. Yes! Jed McGuiness, the Irish Cleaner. I hardly recognized you without your Slim Shady hair.”

  Jed just stared back at Andy without reacting and Riley took the opportunity to hustle Andy out the door.

  ********************

  Christina

  Christina stared at Jed with a memory tugging at her mind of a trashed hotel room, drugs strewn everywhere and her brother so stoned he didn’t recognize her. Johnny was skin and bone, and looked like the living dead. She’d been terrified. She actually thought Johnny was dying in front of her and she’d reacted the only way she knew how to in those days. She’d lost her temper, fought her way out, dragging Johnny with her.

  Johnny’s ex-girlfriend, the drug-crazed supermodel, Georgie Le Fey, had attempted to stop her and grabbed a weapon off the table. Unfortunately for Georgie and luckily for Christina, it had been a spoon. In that moment, Christina wanted to kill her, but restrained herself because Johnny was her main focus. She’d blamed Georgie for all of it, but over time she knew that was unfair. The woman had been a drug addict too who, in the years since, had cleaned up her act and got it together.

  A platinum haired, dark sunglasses wearing, softly spoken man with an Irish accent had helped Christina drag Johnny out of the room. When Johnny realized what was going on, he’d sworn and cursed, physically attacking her. To her acute embarrassment today, she’d responded in kind, wrestling him to the ground with help from whom she now realized was Jed.

  Johnny’s fragile physical condition and his disorientation had given her an advantage. She’d sat on top of him cussing him out until he begged. “Stop it, Dina” and burst into tears. Her brother had always been the laid-back, sensitive and least aggressive one out of the three children. Her parents had always played defense for Johnny against Christina when they fought as kids because he didn’t have the heart to really hurt her.

  Before the drugs, he’d been the best big brother ever. It broke what was left of her heart seeing him that way. Christina forced Johnny into rehab and she’d relived this experience over, and over again in her nightmares.

  Sometimes, she was too late and when she’d found Johnny in the room he was dead. Other times, when she turned Johnny over his face would morph into her mother’s. Lately, Gabby featured in her dreams, lying dead and broken.

  She was always too late, too late, too late in her dreams. She would wake sweating and on the verge of screaming the house down. It took years for those dreams to stop and every now, and then, when stress took its toll, they would reoccur.

  Christina never got a chance to thank Jed. In the heat of getting the loved up druggies out of the hotel and forcing them apart, her focus had been on her brother, not the drug exit counselor. She’d thought Georgie’s family had hired him and she’d sent a thank you note to them with no response. They hadn’t wanted contact with the Martins and who could blame them.

  Now she knew it was Jed, and obviously, Riley had sent him. Christina promised that when the opportunity presented itself, she would thank Jed and Riley for this. Jed didn’t make eye contact with Christina, even though she was looking straight at him. He grunted “goodnight” and went into his bedroom, closing the door with an audible ‘click’, shutting everyone out.

  Christina decided questioning Jed could wait because, right now, she had a burning question that only Riley could answer. She got to the top of the steps just as the two men were halfway down the stairs and asked Riley if she could speak to him.

  She watched him climb back up and he stood a couple of steps down so they were the same height. He was looking intently at her with a half-smile on his face. His black coat and beanie accentuated the gold in his green eyes and his nose, jaw line, and lips. He looked gorgeous.

  As she paused to stare at him, he raised an eyebrow to hurry her along. Moving closer so Andy couldn’t overhear, Christina said, “Riley, I have something to ask you and it’s really serious.” He stared at her impassively and she whispered in a low voice. “Were you really a stripper?”

  ********************

  Riley

  Riley’s mouth twitched and his half-smile turned into a full-on grin. She looked adorable - all dark eyed and serious, and she was pressing her lips together. He couldn’t help himself, he whispered to her. “Would you like a private lap dance?”

  He watched Dina’s mouth stretch into a wide smile and he leaned forward, and kissed her. He felt her arms wrap around his neck pulling him closer, so he grabbed her by the waist dragging her to him. They stayed wrapped around each other kissing, until Andy James discretely coughed.

  Riley groaned, looked at Dina and rolled his eyes. She looked all glazed and flustered, but managed a giggle. He kissed her on the forehead and nose, then gently on the lips before heading down the stairs. “Tomorrow,” he whispered, “I want to talk – without fighting.”

  She nodded and laughed, then said. “Oh, I can’t - Mandy’s coming into town. How about Thursday?” After some deliberation, they agreed to meet Thursday evening.

  Riley gave her one last kiss and drew away reluctantly. If he didn’t go now, he was never going to because his resolve would only stretch so far. He headed back down the stairs to Andy and they got in his car to go to the hotel. He’d rather be climbing back up the stairs to Dina, but that wasn’t possible tonight.

  As Andy James jumped into Riley’s car, his shoulders slumped and the jovial façade dropped. Riley saw a serious young man who had a lot on his mind. Driving away, Riley asked, “Bad?”

  Andy pulled a face and shrugged his shoulders. “It’s nothing I didn’t expect. I’ve been in this business long enough to not be surprised by people’s actions. The rational side of me can say ‘hey, it’s just business’. But then there’s the other side, the side that’s Christina’s friend, who wants to go postal on them for trying to hurt her.”

  Chapter Seventeen – Re-positioning

  Riley, Seattle, The Present, Tuesday 9 October 2012

  The two men arrived at the Alexis and Riley waited for Andy to check in. They dumped Andy’s stuff in his room and then headed out for a beer. Riley hadn’t had a lot of sleep in the past 24 hours, but he was enjoying Andy’s company, even though he couldn’t stop talking about Jed.

  “The cleaner – the Irish cleaner. He was a legend in underground street fighting. I always wondered what happened to him... Man. I can’t believe it.”

  Riley tried to steer Andy clear of the topic because Jed’s story wasn’t his to tell. There were, however, shared business interests and when Riley put a professional proposition to Andy he was amenable. Riley needed a PI he could trust and Andy fit the bill.

  He also wanted to introduce Andy to Mason Glenn and when he said as much, Andy’s eyes went wide. “Mason Glenn - the Mason Glenn? Pimp daddy, the porn pirate?”

  When Riley grinned, Andy shook his head. “I’m not sure if I can. I’ve investigated Mason Glenn for more people than he probably realizes. There might be a conflict of interest.”

  Riley disagreed. “I think that puts you in the perfect position. Mason’s gone legit. You can help keep him on the straight and narrow.”

  Andy was dubious. Mason Glenn was notorious – even in the world that Andy inhabited. A hacker turned host of porn and pirated material through a “file sharing” facility. His new business, although legit, was a little kinky for Andy’s tastes. Andy was surprised Riley was connected to him, but agreed to a conversation.

  Riley found out Andy was a fountain of information about Dina that made him both sad and mad. According to Andy, Dina had no social life to speak of in D.C., which pleased him, because she’d been working herself to the bone to accumulate time to be with Gabby. Until Gabby’s assault, Dina had been the associate to watch. Everyone was still watching, but wondering how long she’d be able to sustain the pace without crashing and burning.

  This didn’t please him and he promised he was going to try to do something about it. He di
dn’t know what yet, but he’d think of something. He’d never really thought about Dina’s working conditions before. He’d resented that she’d chosen a career with the drones over a creative one and left him.

  Riley’s career path was markedly different. He’d worked for people, but that wasn’t really a career. He’d put up with the job until it was time to move on and he’d been in charge of his own business for so long now, he’d forgotten what it was like to be truly answerable to someone else.

  He didn’t know if Andy should be telling him anything about Dina. Maybe he thought Riley already knew, but he wanted to make sure. “Andy, you know Christina and I are divorced right? We’re not together - together. We’re only just talking.”

  Andy gave him a look that pierced straight through him. “I think you’re doing a bit more than that.” When Riley went to say something, Andy said, “Christina is a private person, Riley, like I am. She shares what she shares, but she’s selective. She doesn’t talk about her personal life much – not her family, connections, or anyone else. You have to pick things up through observation – like how she dropped everything to be here for her sister, while Bindmans is making redundancies.”

  Riley’s eyebrows went to the ceiling. “Is her job in danger?”

  “Everyone’s job there is in danger,” Andy said. “Christina’s brought in a lot of clients, which makes her valuable, but her time away is costing her professionally.”

  Andy leaned back in his chair, but held eye contact with Riley. “Your marriage and divorce are matters of public record – easy for someone like me to find, but her wariness of people? That was harder to explain. At first I thought it was about her brother being famous, but she copes with that easily. I concluded a long time ago that something happened and she’d talk about it if she wanted to. She doesn’t and I don’t ask.”