Two things didn’t sit right with me, though. Actually, it was more than that, but two main things. First, the broken condom. Second, the blood. Had I been right when I initially thought Sloane seemed inexperienced? Or worse, had I hurt her? If I had, why the fuck hadn’t she said so? Was that why she’d been crying?
It occurred to me that I probably should’ve told her about the condom right away, but shit, what chance had I had? I hadn’t expected her to disappear while I was in the shower. Nor did I expect her to ghost me.
When I got to Logan, I parked in the private lot where K19 Security Solutions kept several spots. As I rode from there to the terminal in one of the shuttles, I decided to try one more time.
I pressed the button, not even bothering to hold the phone up to my ear. Like every other time I called, it didn’t even ring. It occurred to me that maybe she’d blocked my number.
If so, she wouldn’t get the text I sent anyway. Might as well keep that simple too.
Condom broke.
Apart from the briefings we had to give about what went down on our flight to Columbia, Halo was right. Being in DC was a drag. We went to see Onyx every day. Better put, we went to see Monk, who was there all day and night from what we could tell.
I felt for the guy. I mean, he’d been the handler on the op that went sideways, but there wasn’t a damn thing he could’ve done differently.
No one, least of all Onyx, would’ve believed Corazón, the woman who’d almost killed us all and who Onyx had been sleeping with, was a double agent.
Damn women. Who would’ve thought Sloane would ever pull the shit she was, either. I shook my head. That wasn’t fair. Just because my best friend’s sister had decided she didn’t want anything more to do with me didn’t put her on par with a fucking traitor and murderer.
“Ready?” Halo asked, coming out of the bathroom.
“Yep.” We were on our way to the hospital one last time before we caught a flight back to Boston to spend the holidays with our families, who always got together at least two or three times between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Part of me considered not going home, but that wouldn’t have been fair to my parents. I’d figure out a way to politely decline to go along with whatever they did with Halo’s parents. Either that, or I’d show up just to see how Sloane would react.
“I’m sure you’ve already briefed Doc about this, but what went down that day?” Monk asked when we were getting ready to leave to catch our flight home.
I rubbed the back of my neck, wishing he hadn’t asked, especially today. “It was a major Charlie Foxtrot, Monk.”
Halo nodded. “I don’t know what went on in the cockpit, but when we were just past Aruba, all hell broke loose. It all happened so fast. We heard a shot being fired and stormed the front of the plane. Onyx had taken a direct hit, and Corazón had her gun turned our way when I fired.”
“By that time, the plane was already taking a dive. I didn’t think there was any way we’d live through it,” I added.
I tuned Halo out when I heard him telling Monk how almost dying had changed his outlook on life. I’d heard it too many times. When he nudged me, I gave Monk the same song and dance, telling him how every time I wanted to put something off until the next day, I thought better about it. But was that even true? If I had really wanted to find Sloane, I could’ve. I could’ve grown the balls to call her house and try to talk to her. Or ask her parents when she was expected home. But I hadn’t. I’d allowed myself to sink back into my comfort zone of avoiding confrontation. So was I really living every day like it was my last? Fuck no.
“You all right?” Halo asked when we left the hospital.
“Yeah. I’d rather not have to talk about that day ever again.”
“I hear ya.”
We’d just stepped off the elevator in the parking garage when Halo got a call.
“Tackle and I are about to head to the airfield,” I heard him say to whoever was on the other end. A few seconds later, he hung up.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“That was Striker. I’ve decided not to accept K19’s offer.”
“Why not?”
“You can drive,” he said once we were in the car.
“Why not?” I repeated without turning on the engine.
“I gave it a lot of thought, and I’m just not ready to make that kind of commitment.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet, but maybe some PI work.”
Striker had called me a few days ago. I told Halo to say the same thing I had. “Tell him you need more time.”
“Have you given them an answer?”
“No.”
“What about you? What are you going to do?”
“I’m thinking about working for my dad.”
My dad owned a construction company and had made it clear that if I wasn’t ready to go back into intelligence either now or in the future, he had a job waiting for me.
“Is that what you did, told them you needed more time?”
I nodded.
“Nothing like surviving a plane crash to make a guy reassess his life,” Halo mumbled.
“Listen, I’m sorry I’ve been so distant.” It wasn’t his fault his sister had had sex with me once and then decided she didn’t want anything to do with me.
“We okay?” Halo asked.
“Always.” When we walked into the terminal, Striker was waiting. I shook his hand and told them I’d be at the bar.
“How’d it go?” I asked when Halo came
