The End of Games

by Tara Brown

  I scowled, “What?”

  He nodded, “Yeah. Fitz and your mom have the rooms downstairs and they’re taking first watch. Your kids have to go to bed soon, this makes sense.”

  I growled, “No.”

  He pushed past me, “Stop being a baby.”

  My eyes were too swollen for him to notice the glare I was giving him. I moaned and climbed onto the bed, “You can have the floor.”

  “Fine.” He closed the door. I tossed him a blanket and a pillow and curled up into a ball.

  Of course the opposite thing happened, I couldn’t fall asleep. He was out like a light in no time, and I was stuck staring at him sleep. I watched his chest rise and fall, his lips twitch slightly as he got deeper into sleep, and his trigger finger shudder every few seconds. He was dreaming. How had he fallen asleep so quickly?

  I closed my eyes after a while and remembered how it had felt to kiss him in the casino. My cheeks flushed and my heart rate increased. I turned and rolled over. I was on the verge of just getting up, when I felt something I hadn’t expected. The bed shifted and suddenly he was wrapped around me. The thought of fighting him on his being in my space was overruled by the feeling of bliss I had. I loved sleeping with another person. I hated sleeping alone and he was the only person in the world I trusted whole-heartedly. I drifted off to sleep, restless sleep but who was counting.

  When I woke, I felt like I had been run over by a truck. I noticed the sun was shining in the curtains. Coop was gone. I closed the curtains tighter and flopped back onto the bed.

  I slept for what felt like an eternity and felt more tired when I was finally really awake. Coop was back sleeping in the bed again. He was under the covers and not wearing a shirt as far as I could see. I bit my lip and resisted the urge to look. I snuck from the room to see Jack doing the same across the hall. He smiled, “Sleep well?”

  I shook my head, “I don’t think so. I’m still really tired.”

  He laughed, “You’ve been there for forty hours, Evie. Any longer and we were going to have to cryofreeze you.”

  I rolled my eyes, “It has not been forty hours.” He gave me his blank stare and I gasped, “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

  He shrugged, “You seemed exhausted.” He pointed at my face, “The swelling looks improved. Are you feeling better?”

  I shook my head, “I’m beat.” My stomach grumbled and we both looked at it. He scoffed, “Apparently, you are also starved.”

  I grumbled, “Forty hours, no wonder.” I made my way to the kitchen where my mom and Fitz were laughing like it was old times. He gave me a wide smile as I sat at the bar, “My precious. How are you? Are you hungry?”

  I nodded. My mom laughed, “I know that face. She hasn’t had coffee in ages.”

  Fitz’s eyes widened, “Oh.” He started the espresso maker, “Lucky I brought some coffee back from Italy.” He rolled his eyes, “I assumed you all would forget to get things from the shops.”

  I laughed, “With all our free time.”

  Jack sat next to me at the bar, “This is the best coffee I’ve had in ages.”

  Luce made her way into the kitchen and sat on the barstool next to Jack. She leaned in and kissed his cheek. He closed his eyes and leaned into it. I smiled as Coop came around the corner, making a face at their kissing. “Get a room!”

  I shoved him as he walked by, “Don’t encourage that. They’re sleeping in my room.”

  He laughed, “Oh yeah, use the barn.”

  Mom’s eyes flashed when he said that.

  I cocked an eyebrow at the same time as Coop. We both asked, “What?”

  He punched me in the arm lightly, “You owe me a Heineken.”

  I rubbed my arm, “It’s coke and no. Mom, what was that look?”

  She swallowed hard, “Well, the barn is so dirty and nasty. Who wants to have relations in there? It smells and it’s getting cold out now. Have you noticed? Shall I go get the kids from school?”

  I got up and walked to the front door, after Coop who already had it open.

  “Just leave it, you two.”

  Coop was remarking something snarky as he crossed the dry grass to the barn. He pulled open the door, “Shit.”

  I looked inside to see Steve. He was hanging upside down, bleeding into the pot on the ground.

  “What the fuck?” I gagged a little. I really did need some coffee to start the day off. “Oh shit. We can't leave him there like that.”

  Steve moaned, making Coop and I jump back. I looked down at his hands gripping my shirt as firmly as I was gripping his. Coop gave me a wide-eyed look, “He’s alive.”

  I nodded, “No shit, Sherlock.”

  Steve moaned again. Coop gave me a disgusted look, “Are those spots where she peeled the skin off?”

  I nodded and turned away, “Oh my God.”

  Coop took a deep breath, “Wow, I haven’t seen that before.”

  Mom came out of the house, “Darlings, just leave him. He’s making some serious life decisions.”

  I pointed, “MOM!”

  She sighed, “This is why I never told you.” Jack and Luce followed her out of the house. Jack covered his mouth like he might be sick at any second. He grabbed Luce’s hand and dragged her back into the house. I could tell by her confused face, she hadn’t seen it.

  Coop pulled me back from the barn as my mom walked in and cut the rope, dropping Steve on his back, onto the ground and the blood bucket. I bent over, gagging. I hadn’t eaten in so long that my body was completely devoid of anything to throw up. So I retched as Coop rubbed my back, “Don’t look. Just don’t look.” I knew it was bad when he had jumped and looked disgusted. He never showed much emotion.

  Fitz came out of the house, still wearing an apron. He had a coffee for me. Coop took it from him, “You guys are disgusting. Just shoot him for Christ’s sake.”

  Fitz nodded at Steve, “This is a highly effective way of getting the truth. Trust me, he told your mom things he didn’t even know he knew.”

  I walked back to the house. When I was inside, I shuddered and went back to my barstool. Coop came in a moment later, putting the coffee down for me. I sipped but the image of the dark blood spilling out was stuck on repeat in my head.

  Coop and I sat at the bar, staring at the counter on the far side. Finally he spoke, “I slept with you. I should have asked, but I actually woke up to a back cramp just as I started falling asleep..”

  I started to laugh, “I know. I can't believe she peeled his skin off.”

  He shook his head, “I can't talk about that right now. Distract me.”

  “I like it when you sleep with me.”

  He nudged me, “I like sleeping with you too.”

  I couldn’t face him and say it, but I had to say it. So I continued to stare at the counter and muttered, “I like you.”

  He nodded in my peripheral, “I more than like you.”

  I blushed and smiled, “I feel like an idiot around you.”

  He nodded again, “Yeah. You are an idiot.”

  I shoved him off his barstool. He started laughing, “You know I meant me too.”

  I bit my lip and slumped back on the chair, “Can you just try acting like an adult and treating me nicely?”

  He frowned for a second and then shook his head, “If I let you in, Evie, it’s going to be all the way and then neither of us is ever going to go back.”

  He got up and left me there with that. That and blood bucket images.

  A week later, I watched the moving truck drive away with all my new things. Jack waved out the window as he rounded the corner. I gave Coop a confused look, “Can he drive anything?”

  He nodded, “Yeah. Huge rigs, planes, jets, helicopters, ships, you name it. He’s pretty handy to have around. He was actually at NASA for a year before the whole space program started going tits up and CI grabbed him.”

  I scowled, “He’s so young.”

  Coop nodded, “He was only fifteen when he started univer
sity.”

  I laughed, “Luce is his first girlfriend, isn’t she?”

  Coop snorted, “Yeah.”

  “I like that. He is so in love.”

  Coop’s eyes glazed over again. I rolled my eyes, tired of the games he was always up for. Mr. Hot/Cold. Mitch came out of the house with a grin, “So where we going, Coop?”

  Coop walked over to him, smacking him in the arm, “If I told ya, I’d have to kill ya.”

  Mitch’s eyes gleamed with adoration. Where I was always wrong in Mitch’s, Coop couldn’t be wrong. Jules ran out of the house holding the stuffed bunny Coop had gotten her from the crappy toy store. She jumped at him but looked at me as he lifted her into he air, “Is grandma coming too?”

  I nodded, “She is, and then she’s going to go ahead and meet up with Aunty Luce and Uncle Jack.”

  “Uncle Fitz?”

  I nodded, “Uncle Fitz is flying us somewhere special and then he is going with Grandma.”

  She beamed, “I love his plane.”

  Mom and Fitz came out of the house. She gave me a hard stare, “I think we have everything.”

  I folded my arms and walked to her as Coop wrangled the kids into the SUV. I pointed a finger, “What did you do with him? I want to know.”

  She rolled her eyes, “You realize leaving people alive is leaving a loose end for your enemies to use against you?”

  I shook my head, “I can't believe you. I can't believe you would have hurt him like that. What did you learn? What could you possibly have learned?”

  Fitz gave me a sad smile, “Evie, Steve was not an agent. He was dispatched to find you by MI6 but he wasn’t an agent. I think he truly thought he was doing the right thing. Trying to save Servario maybe or whatever. Anyway, he was just a pawn in it all.”

  I frowned, “You keep saying was.”

  Mom gave Fitz a look. Fitz nodded and Mom looked back at me, “He is dead.”

  I sighed, “You guys are sick. You killed an innocent person.”

  Mom’s eyes stayed hard, “I’ve killed dozens of innocent people, Evie. It’s the hard part of the job. You don’t work for a man like Servario and expect to come out scot-free. Steve knew what possibilities his future entailed.” She nodded, “If he had been an agent, your kids lives would have been at risk. He knew enough not to tell them where he was, but he was being tracked. He was being followed. He could have led them here. As it is, he still feels like a loose end to me.”

  Fitz nodded, “Me too. I feel like we should expect something bad at any second.”

  I had no argument. I just changed the subject, “Do you know where Dad is?”

  She shook her head, “He’s hiding, of course. The golden rule of the Burrow is that when you leave, you die. If you resurface, you are dead. That’s how Servario has the whole world fooled about his not being the old Master Key. He has resurfaced after his many deaths and never been killed off. Now he’s back out in the open, living free.”

  I shook my head, “How come they haven’t killed him off?”

  Fitz smiled, “That is an excellent question.”

  Coop honked the horn. I looked back at him, “We better go.”

  Fitz nodded, “See you at the plane.”

  I gave Mom a displeased look, “You will stay here until the people come for the key?”

  She smiled, “I will. Donating the house to the foster system is a great idea.”

  I nodded and walked away, “Yeah.”

  I didn’t want to talk about it with her. I was still pissed about the skinning and bleeding in the barn, fifty feet from my kids.

  Chapter Seventeen

  When cougars come home to roost

  We walked up the steps of the massive lodge, and I knew the uneasy feeling was showing on my face when Coop smiled at me nicely, “It’s gonna be great. Can you just mellow out?”

  I shook my head, “This is a terrible idea.”

  He laughed, “Are you scared of my mom, badass Evie Evans?”

  I nodded, “Yes. I am mid-thirties and I have two kids. I look like I was out daddy hunting when I found you at the same school my kids go to.”

  Coop laced his arm around my back, “My mom is gonna love you. She isn’t one of those judgmental people. She isn’t gonna care how old you are.”

  I looked at Mitch and Jules walking up to us. Mitch smiled wide. He and Jules loved that Coop and I were dating. They didn’t know we were hiding out at Coop’s parents’ place while Mom and Fitz got the new house ready and Jack and Luce drove our stuff all over the countryside.

  Separating had seemed like a great idea. Going to Coop's parents’ had seemed like an awful idea. They owned a massive lodge in Alaska. He hadn’t been kidding when he said he was a country boy. I gripped my parka to me, “Come on, guys.”

  The kids bounded up the steps. Mitch beamed at Coop. He had a boy crush on him. He thought Coop was the coolest guy in the whole world. I looked at Coop and sneered. He laughed and kissed the side of my head, “It’s not going to be easy for me either.”

  Mitch frowned, “What isn’t?”

  I smiled, “Waiting for our new house to be ready.”

  Mitch nodded, “I’m pretty excited but this house is super cool, Coop.” Jules beamed, “It is super cool. Look at the logs, I never seen a log house before.”

  I bent down and kissed her cheek, “I have never seen a log house before, not just seen.”

  She scowled, “Whatever.”

  I gave Mitch a dirty look, “This is your doing. Stop being sassy around her.”

  He laughed. Coop knocked once and opened the door. “Mom, Dad?”

  A man in his early sixties came around the corner. He was the older version of Coop. Handsome and fit, and obviously an ex-company man. He had CI written all over him. He smiled wide, “John! Come on in, son. This must be your lady friend, Evelyn.”

  Coop laughed, “Yeah, this my Evie. These are her kids, Mitch and Jules.” He looked at his dad, “This is my dad, John Senior.”

  I smiled harder, my cheeks started to ache. I put a hand out, but he grabbed me and hugged me firmly. He was like a tree trunk.

  His mom came around the corner. She looked shocked and then pasted a sweet smile on her lips. Yeah… I had seen that coming. I too had a son. The idea of some older hoochie-breeder coming along and stealing my sweet boy made me psycho too.

  She spoke in the fakest voice I had ever heard, “Evelyn, why you are pretty as a picture. And your kids, they’re so big and so old.” Her emphasis on your and old was unmistakable. I was going to murder Coop. Soon.

  She hugged me, lightly, like she didn’t really want to touch me, patting my back flatly.

  Jules gave her a funny look and Mitch stayed back, this after hugging Coop’s dad. I could tell instantly Coop's mom was older. I almost cocked an eyebrow but I forced my face to stay frozen and sweet. I stepped in close to Coop and pinched the back of his arm through his coat. He laughed when he felt my grip, “This is my Evie, Mom. Evie, this is Suzanne, my mom.”

  We all stood there, surrounded by the great, old, white elephant in the room… me.

  Coop started to chuckle, I could hear the nerves in his voice, “Mitch, Jules, let me show you to your rooms.”

  His mother’s face went red, “No, no let me.”

  Jules clung to my arm. Coop picked her up, smiling at her, “I’ll come just so I can see where they are. It’s hard to sneak in later when they’re sleeping and put bugs in their beds, if I don’t know where they are.”

  Jules wrinkled her nose, “Coop! Gross.” She giggled. Mitch did too. I smiled and couldn’t even stop myself from swooning.

  I would have sworn he was doing it on purpose to make me like him, but the fact of the matter was, he had always been teasing and joking with them. He truly was comfortable with kids.

  My kids, desperate for a male role model, latched on for dear life. It was a bit sad. Suzanne gave him a look and nodded her head, “This way. Ignore him, Jules. He’s always been the
naughty one. He’s the baby of the family and he thinks that buys him some kind of favor with us.”

  Coop gave his mom that smile that melted hearts for miles, “It does and you know it. I’m your favorite.”

  She laughed and smacked him in the arm, “You used to be. Now you never come home.”

  I watched them walk away but didn’t budge from the front door entryway. John Senior gave me a smile, “He is her favorite. She spoiled him, if you ask me. The military was the only thing that ever saved that kid’s ass. Come on in, Evie. You want a drink?”

  I nodded, “I do. Is that bad?”

  He chuckled, “Nope.”

  I had the distinct feeling he understood my pain or maybe my fake relationship.

  He stood at the bar in the massive family room. “You want red wine, liquor, beer, or a fruity drink. I think we have some of them around here.”

  He was twangy a bit but very ex-CI. I narrowed my gaze, “Red wine would be amazing. How many years were you CI?”

  He started to laugh, "Smart girl. CIA. I was never CI. Counter Intelligence always felt like lying and being up front about the fact you were lying. I preferred to lie on the sly." He passed me a large glass of red wine, "Some cute kids you got there."

  I nodded, "Yeah. They're literally all I have in the whole world."

  His eyes twinkled, "You mean, besides John."

  I frowned and then nodded, "Right, Coop. I always forget Coop isn’t his real name." I sipped the wine and nodded, "Yes, I suppose he is something I have too."

  I didn’t have to tell him that Coop and I were not together. I could see it on his face. He assumed I was being protected. He knew the truth. I nodded at the stairs, "Does she know everything?"

  He shook his head, eyes gleaming away and mouth in the same crooked smile Coop always got, "She does not. She knows I worked for the company, that’s it." He winked, "Need to know has always been her way."

  I felt my throat get thick, "This might be one of those need to know things."

  He laughed, "I'll let ya know when I think we're at need to know."

  I frowned and drank a sip of wine, "How will you know when it's need to know?"

  He chuckled, "Well now, miss, that’s need to know."