“Yep.”
Bridge put his hand on the side of his head like he had a headache coming on. “I think I need some aspirin.”
“It’ll be fine. You’ll love it.”
“We’ll see.”
“Anyway, none of that is why I came in here.”
“It’s not?”
“No. We’ve got news.”
“You got a new sex toy in the mail?”
“Don’t be funny.” Nicole’s concentration then slipped, thinking of a few other possibilities with her boyfriend. “Though that does give me a few ideas about—”
“Never mind.” Bridge snapped his fingers. “Focus. What news?”
“Oh. That. Yeah, well, I figured out who those two names are.”
“What names?”
Nicole looked up at the ceiling and rolled her eyes. “Are you still sleeping?”
“I honestly wish I was after this conversation.”
“Kenny and Stash.”
“Did Stash replace Cartman or Stan?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Will you stop fooling around so we can get down to business?”
“You talk about sex toys and different positions, and I’m the one fooling around?”
“You brought up the sex toy.”
“I did?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. See what you do to me.”
Nicole couldn’t resist the opportunity since she was wearing his shirt buttoned only at the bottom. She leaned forward and put her ample breasts into her boyfriend’s face. Bridge, like always, couldn’t resist her charm. After enjoying her body for a couple of minutes, he was finally able to pull away, thinking about what he assumed she came in there for.
“Wait, what about them?”
“Who?” Nicole asked.
“Business first.”
“You promised.”
“I didn’t promise you anything in bed.”
Nicole sighed as she pulled away. “You’re such a buzzkill.”
“You love me anyway.”
“I do. But why can’t you just enjoy the moment.”
“Because you were going to tell me something.”
“I was?”
Bridge snapped his fingers again. “Focus, Nicole, focus.”
She put her hands on his crotch. “I am focusing.”
“On business.”
“This is business for me.”
“Oh my god, you’re impossible.”
“But you love me, anyway.”
Bridge smiled. “I do.” He gave her another long and passionate kiss that he hoped would satisfy her long enough that they could finally get back to their original business. “Our business-business first. Then our personal business later.”
Nicole sighed again. “Fine.” She pulled the covers off of his naked body and admired his form. “I love it when you sleep like that.”
“Well, I don’t have much of a choice when you wake me up for some extra activity in the middle of the night.”
Nicole smiled. “That was fun, though, wasn’t it?”
“It was.”
“You should sleep like this more often. Even if we aren’t doing anything.”
“If you finally tell me about Kenny and Stash, I’ll think about it.”
“Will you do it tonight?”
“Am I not on the hook for enough things later?”
Nicole shrugged. “Don’t you like to make me happy?”
“I do.”
“Well then?”
“Why is everything like a bargaining session for sex with you?”
“Because I love sex. I love you. And I love putting the two together. Would you prefer if I took my needs elsewhere?”
“Of course not. Wait, would you?”
“Don’t be stupid.” Nicole leaned forward and started kissing him again. “You know you’ll be the only man who’s ever good enough for me.”
They kept kissing before Bridge was finally able to remove his lips from hers. “Wait, wait, wait. See, you’re doing it again.”
“What?”
“Everything just always turns into… you know.”
“Why do you say it like it’s a bad thing?”
Bridge put his hand on his head again. His headache was now fully formed. “Now my head really does hurt.”
“You want some aspirin?”
Bridge nodded. “Yes.”
Nicole went into the bathroom to get the aspirin bottle. Bridge admired her tanned legs, which were totally visible since she was only wearing one of his dress shirts. Though he often sounded like he was complaining about her sex-crazed ways, he usually didn’t mind. He actually liked that she was like that. He just had to sometimes rein her in and keep her focused.
She walked back in a minute later with some aspirin and a glass of water.
“When’d you get that dress?”
Nicole laughed. “Like it?”
“I do. Looks better on you than me.”
“Doesn’t everything?”
“True.” After Bridge downed the aspirin and water, he desperately tried to get the conversation back on track. “Now, can we talk about Kenny and Stash?”
“Oh. Yeah, I guess so. If that’s more interesting than me.”
“It’s not. But we really need to figure out what’s going on here. Besides, you are booked for two sessions later.”
“I guess so.”
“What’d you find out?”
“Kenny’s full name is Gregory Kenny.”
Bridge looked away for a second, tilting his head as he let the name go through his memory bank. “Gregory Kenny. Why does that name sound familiar?”
“Usually goes by the name Greg Kenny.”
Bridge whispered it again. “Greg Kenny. It feels like I know the name, but I can’t place it.”
“Maybe you know it because he’s an ex-CIA agent.”
“He was an agent?”
“Yep.”
Bridge kept thinking about the name, then suddenly snapped his fingers. “Greg Kenny. Now I remember him.”
“You do?”
“He worked out of a few European stations. I crossed paths with him in Russia and in Ukraine. I didn’t realize he was out of the game.”
“Well, out of that game maybe. Seems like he might be in this one.”
“How so?”
“According to all the records I was able to get my hands on, Kenny left the agency about a year ago.”
“On good terms?”
“Eh, doesn’t look like it.”
“What happened?”
“That I can’t say for sure. There’s a ton of information about him that’s been redacted and is still listed as classified. I don’t have the clearance to get into it, and it’s too encrypted for me to hack into it.”
Bridge was silent for a few moments as he thought about things. “Wait, he left a year ago?”
“Yep.”
“Same time as when Abbott was found dead.”
“Kenny left the agency exactly two weeks before that.”
“Huh. That can’t be a coincidence.”
“Probably not.”
“Where’s he at now?”
Nicole shrugged. “Don’t know. Agency doesn’t know either, apparently. They’ve got an alert out on him that if anyone runs into him or finds him, they’re to call it in immediately.”
“He’s definitely not on good terms then. They only do that for people they want off the street.”
“How’s he figure into all this?”
“Well, I’m kind of assuming it involves Stash.”
“Who’s he?”
“He’s on the agency’s hit list.”
“Why?”
“Associating with known
