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“It’s someone who cares. An ally. But whose ally? Wit? Hen? Ours? BK’s?”
“Someone who knew both of them clearly, so from their past who’s in both their line of work, but also ours?” Killion stepped away from his computer and began to move around the room, and Relay followed his lead.
“Okay. That’s narrowing it down but still not enough because we don’t know where their pasts overlap and who they have in common during the overlap,” she said, moving about. “What if it’s something so simple and even obvious. A social worker? Or maybe someone later in life who they had in common, like a superior officer.”
“Both are valid assumptions, Relay, but how do we narrow it to one or the other? We know one thing, and that’s the overlap happened early or late. It couldn’t have been both, right?”
“Well, then we need that program to work fast so we know if we should dig into their youth or adult lives.” She let out a deep breath. “I wonder if they got anything out of those guys they brought in at the field office yet.”
“We would have heard,” Killion said, rounding the table for another lap. “They know every bit of information helps when we’re working with tech-based models.”
“Killion…” She stopped and looked up at him just as they were about to collide. Standing toe-to-toe and in such proximity came with an electrifying sensation neither could ignore. They stood, still and silent, each intimately leaning in for an almost kiss… until their phones buzzed, and they were quick to retrieve them from their pockets.
“Damn,” she said. “Did you get the same message?”
“They’ve been stonewalled and headed back?” Killion asked, tapping at his phone screen.
“Yeah.” Relay slid her phone back into her pocket and finished her thought before they were interrupted. “Like I was saying before we…”
“Almost r-ran into each other, right,” Killion stammered and slid around her, keeping up his pacing.
“Yeah. That. Um, so I was thinking. There’s more to this than just Ayelish being let in on Wit’s impending doom. We were there too. Someone sent us. But what were we there for?”
“Backup?” Killion started but quickly turned to her as something settled in and gave him pause. “Unless…”
“Unless…” She smiled. “You’re thinking what I’m thinking. We weren’t aware of the bounty on Hen yet. We didn’t know…”
Killion snapped his fingers and grinned as they pieced the… “They were there to grab him too. You weren’t there to back us up, you were there so they could grab Hen, too.”
“It makes sense. Sort of,” Relay added. “If Ayelish was already dispatched to pull some sort of rescue mission, why wasn’t anyone dispatched for Hen? This theory answers a lot of questions, but it certainly generates a lot more.”
“Relay, err, Riley… The person or group who sent Ayelish didn’t send the Dozen.”
“Why do you guys call us that? There used to be more than a dozen of us, and technically…there still is.” She chuckled.
“It’s just what we’ve always called you –– the Dirty Dozen.” Killion shrugged. “There have only been twelve of you since we were made aware, and you were doing pretty dirty shit.”
“Good point.” She sat at the edge of the table and let her legs swing from the edge. “I have to admit, I kind of like it. It sounds pretty badass.”
“It does.” He grinned and stood in front of her. “Listen, whoever summonsed us to that location to grab Wit called the Dozen there too… for Hen. Whoever that is –– or they –– is a common enemy. Whoever called Ayelish is an enemy of our enemy.”
“That’s… poetic,” she whispered. “Enemy of our enemy…”
“I mean… I kind of like it,” he admitted.
“Me too. You’re… fucking brilliant,” she whispered as he drew closer.
“Thanks. My IQ is top one percent,” he answered, leaning in and finally taking her mouth.
Their kiss was slow and sweet, maybe even timid. She grew shy, and he grew bold as they explored a side of each other they’d only just met. Everything was new between them, and this was new for both of them as intimacy and social cues fell hard on their ears, yet here they were. Two peas in a pod, literal as could be, and they managed to pick up on each other’s cues as fast as they found each other’s lips.
Killion pulled away first. “Whoa. I…”
“Yeah…” Relay swiped at her swollen cherry-colored lips. “That was…”
“Unexpected,” Killion finished.
She snapped her fingers and pointed at him. “Unexpected. Exactly. I don’t normally…”
