Page 9 of License to Kill

“It does.”

“Then I won’t feel too badly for inconveniencing you, since you’ll get a good paycheck out of this.”

“That’s a good way to look at it.”

“Shit started going wrong when I became involved with the kidnapping of an infant. It’s called the Greenwich case, as that’s the girl’s last name. I was kidnapped with her, and I busted us out when an opportunity permitted. I’d been partnered with Jake for a few years at that point, but we started going our separate ways because I went to CARD and he went into a different branch of the FBI. After I went into CARD, I got benched. I was told to go rogue for an exercise, so I did, and the FBI ultimately partnered me with Jake again. We took advantage of an exemption to get married.”

I didn’t bother telling her I viewed that as yet another mistake in my life. If my tone didn’t clue her in, that was her problem rather than mine.

“Which one of you instigated the marriage?”

“Unfortunately, me.”

“I see. He was probably taking his time. Once a male Fenerec decides something, they play the long game. I get you have no real reason to believe me, but don’t give up on him yet. Or if you do give up on him, understand he will be relentless in trying to patch things up with you as soon as he figures out how he’s made a mess of things. Fenerec don’t quit.”

“It’s a little too late for that. This isn’t the first problem we’ve had.”

“And it won’t be the last. I mean, I don’t need to be a psychologist to see you need a professional working with you. The way I see it, you probably need a few years off from FBI work and a good shrink to get you into a place where you can handle the work you do. And that’s not belittling you in any fashion. It’s just being honest. Nobody heals from trauma overnight.”

That much I understood. “I don’t even know if I want to do the work anymore, either.”

Amelia snorted. “That’s a problem I can’t help you with. What I can help you with is getting some payback, and I get a nice paycheck at the same time for doing it. All in all, it’s a win for me. All I ask from you is you don’t tell anyone what I am or where to find me.”

“That seems fair. If you tell people, that’s not my problem, though. And if they smell you on me, that’s also not my problem. I’ll just say you smelled weird and leave it at that if they ask. And then I’ll just say I don’t trust my nose, so I wasn’t sure what I was smelling.”

“And with the problems you’re dealing with associated with scents, nobody will even think to check if you’re lying. And if they think you’re lying, just tell them to fuck off. That seems your speed. Good. That works. If they figure it out, that’s my problem.”

Well, telling people to fuck off hadn’t been my default, but moving forward, it would be. “I won’t tell them about your truck, your RV, or how you move around,” I said. “Or anything that might help them.”

If they thought I’d actually cooperate, especially how I’d been railroaded and essentially abandoned by everybody, they would get an unpleasant surprise.

“I can work with that. So, the Greenwich case. What do you think the goal is?”

“Something dealing with the military’s activities as far as I know. That’s the only connection we found. I can’t remember the details—and the details I had were speculation, but the girl’s father had connections, and he was the target of the kidnapping. They were planning on killing us both because he didn’t cooperate.”

“Whatever he’s working on, he must have felt was important enough to risk his daughter’s life over.”

“Probably weapons and tech. Specifically, security software for weapon systems.” I struggled to remember anything else of importance from the case. “There was a boy, Jacob, who ran away linked to the Greenwich case. Last name of Henry. It’s possible one of his relatives was related to the case, as I got a hit on one of the kidnappers while going through a family album during the search for Jacob.”

“It never fails to amaze me how deep the rabbit holes often go. But accessing the security software for weapon systems is a damned good motivation, especially for a terrorist group and similar. So, we assume they’re terrorists.”

“Well, they shot us in London on the streets. It’s not a stretch.”

“That is a good way to terrorize people, yes.” Amelia wrinkled her nose. “I can’t say I’ve tangoed with terrorists before, so this is new territory for me. That said, will I enjoy my work? Yes, I will. To the point of excess.”

“Does it make me a bad person if I’m inclined to share your opinion? Is there a sliding scale of how bad of a person it makes me? Because honestly, I wouldn’t mind adding to the bodies.”

“You have a good reason to feel that way. Does this make us good people? Not precisely. But I wouldn’t say we’re bad people. We’re working for the better good in creative fashions.”

“When I go to prison, I’m using that line,” I informed her.

“The goal is to avoid going to prison, Karma.”

I considered that. “With my luck? I’m going to prison. If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all. I don’t have luck. I have catastrophes and disasters.”

“Normally, I would argue with someone when they say that, but I don’t like lying.” Amelia sighed. “It should get better. Eventually. Eventually just might take a while.”

“So, what do we do in the meantime? What’s our plan for South Carolina?”