He was right. If he were the only survivor, how would he get his payoff? I didn’t want to use it, but we had no choice.
I reached into my invisible bag and pulled out one of the few BITCHCoins I had brought on this mission.
“You know what this is, right?”
“I’ve heard of them, but never seen one in real life.” Manny pulled out his phone and said, “Do you mind if I verify this?”
“Be my guest, Manny.”
In seconds, he had scanned and verified the coin. Soon thereafter, he started receiving messages with offers.
“Cash, gold, bitcoin, houses,” murmured Manny as he scrolled. “I’m getting a lot of offers. There’s even some ‘I will make your wishes come true’ messages. What’s that about?”
“Scammers, Manny,” said Mike. “Stick with real assets.”
Manny made a sour face. “The highest cash offer here is two hundred grand. That’s not what we agreed on.”
He put the coin on the table and pushed it back toward me. His fingers shook slightly, and he pulled back quickly to hide his hands. “I’m going to need more.”
“Consider it a down payment,” I said.
His involuntary head shake spoke volumes.
“Don’t you trust me?” I asked, and followed with, “How do I know you won’t run away with a full payment and leave me here?”
Manny’s face darkened.
Mike jumped in. “We can trust Manny,” he said, then turned to Manny. “And you can trust Luna.”
Manny’s face calmed, but he still looked stubborn.
“If Mike says you can be trusted, I believe him. Tell you what I’ll do,” I said. “I’ll write you a company check.”
“Company check? You’re going to give me a check from the CIA?”
“I’m not CIA, Manny. That’s a silly idea.”
I pulled a notebook and a pen from my purse. Manny watched as I wrote Kuga-san’s name and address in English, followed by instructions in Fae.
As I wrote, I explained, “Take this document and the BITCHCoin to the person at this address. I’m instructing her to honor the coin and give you the full $500,000 in cash or gold.”
I paused before putting my signature on the form, struck by a thought. “I can also add instructions to transfer the money to someone else for you.”
“Why?”
“Just in case we all d—”
Mike shook his head violently, and I caught myself. Soldiers don’t like mentioning death before a mission.
“—don’t manage to regroup after the mission,” I amended. “We might have to leave the country quickly. That way, you can have someone else pick up the money for you.”
“Maybe your ex?” asked Mike.
“Hell, no! She dumped me and went back to Thailand,” said Manny. He thought for a moment. “Put my son’s name there. He’s seventeen.”
“That much money at seventeen will probably ruin him,” said Mike.
“It’s what Manny wants,” I countered.
In a few seconds, the document was finished. I signed with a flourish, “Princess Luna the First,” and trickled magic into the signature to make it unique.
Manny stared at the writing. “I can read the banker’s name, my name, and my son’s name. But I can’t read another word of this. Is this code?”
“It’s a code that only a few people on Earth can read,” I said. “You’re going to have to trust us that it says what we promised.”
Manny folded the document up and put it in his shirt pocket. He had a good poker face, but the scent of self-satisfaction came off him in waves.
Mike chimed in, “Ell Tee, you understand the chain of command here, right?”
“I’m not your lieutenant anymore,” said Manny. “I’ll have no problem following your orders.”
Mike shook his head. “No, you won’t be following my orders, you’ll be following Luna’s.”
Manny looked stubborn. I matched his look. “You have a problem taking orders from women?”
“No, Ms. Not-CIA,” he said. “As long as you listen to the advice of those of us with actual combat experience.”
I nodded. “Good point, Manny. I’ll follow your lead, unless I decide I need to make a change.”
“Agreed.”
“Now I just need some cash for essentials,” he said.
I opened my mouth to object, but Mike nodded along. Apparently, half a million dollars wasn’t enough. Well, Manny had mentioned that expenses were separate.
“How much?”
“We need night-vision equipment, ammo, some demo. Say, thirty thousand dollars.”
“Mike and I don’t need night-vision equipment, and I don’t shoot. That should save some money.”
“Don’t shoot?” asked Manny. “Are you a pacifist? I can’t take a pacifist on a hostage rescue mission.”
“I’m far from a pacifist, Manny. I don’t shoot because I’m not particularly good at it. I’m better with a bow or blades.” If you count werewolf claws as blades.
“You’ve really never shot anyone? How do we know you won’t freeze in a firefight?”
“She won’t freeze,” said Mike.
At Manny’s scoffing look, he continued, “Luna’s killed more people than both of us put together. And she did it all from arm’s length.”
“Okay, you’re dangerous up close. So was my ex. What if your enemy is too far away to stab?”
“I use my feminine wiles to lure him in until I can slash him.”
Manny laughed in derision. “‘Feminine wiles.’ I’d love to see that.”
I leaned forward on the table, ensuring my breasts were on prominent display, and placed my right elbow on the wooden surface, arm straight up. “You want to arm-wrestle?”
Manny’s eyes darted down to my breasts, then he forced them up to look in my eyes. “Arm-wrestle? Why?”
“You seem to think I can’t pull my own weight here. I want to prove I’m strong enough to lead this mission.”
I gave him my sincere smile and wiggled my fingers. “Come on, SEAL. Show me how strong you are.”
Manny grinned, leaned in, and put his arm on the table. When our palms were one inch apart, he jerked back abruptly, putting maximum distance between us.
“Hey! You’re using your feminine wiles on me. You want to lure me in and put a knife to my throat.”
I leaned back and laughed. “You’re smarter than you look, Manny.”
Then I leaned in again and put my arm on the table. “I still want to
