Joey took a sip of his chocolate milkshake. “Hey, whatever lets you sleep at night.”
“You didn’t even ask about my comfort with self-defense.” Stefanie took a look around them. The cute, hand-painted food truck was starting to close up shop for the night, and they were the only ones left at the group of picnic tables.
“I sparred with you, remember? I’m not especially worried about it. How much spare time do you have?”
“Not as much as I’d like.” Stefanie studied her nails. “I just have a few hobbies. I haven’t made art in a long time – prototyping at work scratches the same itch and makes me just as happy. I still make time for karate, though. I earned my black belt in high school and have been slowly adding stripes as the years go by. I don’t go as quickly as others who can devote more time to it, but I’m pretty stubborn.”
“You don’t say.” Joey chuckled.
Stefanie smiled. “I help out occasionally at the local place, but I slow down if work gets too crazy. I must have gotten overconfident because when I went to Chicago, Alexis introduced me to a guy called Sensei John. The dude is a legend. He’s my dad’s age with gray hair and seems super laid back. Totally fooled me for about five seconds until I realized he could kick my butt into next Tuesday. Then, he did kick my butt into next Tuesday.”
Joey studied her. “You respect him.”
“Of course I do. I love it when people surprise me.” Stefanie finished up her milkshake. “Jury is still out on you.” She grinned at him. “For the record, you won some bonus points for not getting upset when you got beat out in the second round.”
“First of all, I already told you I don’t sulk and I’m a man of my word. Second of all, you beat me fair and square on that one. You did good, rookie.” Joey’s eyes twinkled.
“So close to earning another completely valueless bonus point, then you had to go and call me a rookie.” Stefanie shook her head.
Joey looked up from his milkshake. “Have you done anything like this before? I thought it was your first time.”
Stefanie startled at the question. She had just been focused on the thrill of winning a round against someone she respected. “Oh. No. I mean, this is my first time. I didn’t even know anything at all about Ree’s…hobby until last week. I guess I’m just really good at looking more comfortable than I feel.”
Joey looked around to make sure they were still alone. “Well, I shouldn’t have been surprised that you did so well. Being a badass must run in the family.” He nudged her with his shoulder.
Stefanie laughed. “I’m so going to paint that on one of those inspirational boards for my parents to hang up in the foyer. They’d love it. For the record, you just scored one more valueless bonus point.”
“It’s getting late. Want to head back?” Joey stood and reached out a hand. She took it, holding it for a few beats longer than she really needed to, and rose.
Stefanie nodded. “Yeah, it’s getting late.”
“We’ll work on some more self-defense techniques you might not have learned in karate class later this week. However, if tonight is any indication, I might get my butt kicked.”
Stefanie chuckled. “We can only hope.”
14
Dmitri Yeninov snapped awake in the middle of the night. As he always did when sleep eluded him, he started his computer to check the results of his ongoing searches. It was as much a compulsion as it was an expectation he would uncover new information. His searches weren’t as advanced as he would like, but to get more entrenched in the work would require engaging experts. If his country’s leadership knew how much he still cared about his own special projects, he might be punished further.
He pulled up a private browsing window and keyed in his password. A series of reports began to load, and he skimmed through them quickly. He smiled. Their little experiment had gone undetected so far and the next phase of his plan was in progress. He skimmed further and froze. The trip on his automatic systems was a gift he didn’t expect. An ID card from an old mission had just been used for the first time in months. Apparently, the CIA was paying attention. Good. It would be so much more satisfying to get his revenge while they were watching and powerless to stop him.
He may have been demoted, but his importance had not diminished. Dmitri leaned into his computer and searched for another half an hour but found no further information. Still, for the first time in a long time, he now had the information he needed to deal with his own problems in his own way.
Alexis parked her car in front of a cute little house halfway between Chicago and Enterprise, Indiana. It was a perfect blend of her two friends. The outside was a mix of brick and wood, and if she knew Ree and Parker at all, the perimeter would be nearly as secure as the FBI building itself. It was the perfect place to have their meeting. She opened the backseat to let her furry partner out. Waffle stretched, did his business, and then sniffed around the yard. He must have picked up on the familiar scent of his friends because his tail wagged more furiously than usual while he worked. Once Alexis was content Waffle wasn’t going to raise an alarm, she rang the doorbell. The door opened and, to her surprise, the man she loved answered it. She jumped into Matt’s arms and gave him a kiss.
“Never change, sweetheart.” Matt Brown laughed and nuzzled her neck. “I’ve missed you.” Alexis lowered herself down but reached for his hand. Waffle nudged Matt’s leg, then his free hand, unable to believe his friend could possibly ignore him when he was clearly just as important as
