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“LEXI, SHOULDN’T YOU run this by Dalton?” Fish said. Did it count as failing a mission if the client called things off? Or would Dalton have him continue to protect Lexi until her fee was used up?
Lexi’s fingers drummed the desktop. “I’ll call him later.”
Fish went through the steps to give Lexi access to a browser. “You’re sure you want to do this?”
She pointed at her face. “This is me. Being very sure I want to do this.”
Lexi had an airline website on the screen and was clicking through flights. Should he ask Dalton to provide transportation?
On whose nickel?
Fish stepped out and called Manny. Explained the situation.
“So she’s firing us?” Manny said.
“I don’t know. Maybe I can convince her to come back once she gets the Little Sister thing squared away. Continue as planned.”
“We have no hold on her,” Manny said.
“So she’s told me. With feeling.”
“Let me run it by the boss.”
Fish hung up and went back to the com center. Lexi had printed a boarding pass.
“You know, you can send that to your phone,” he said.
“I’m trying to use it as little as possible.”
“Your choice.” Dammit, she was going through with this. As if he’d expected anything else. This was Lexi. She’d made up her mind, and nothing Fish said would change it.
“I’m on a flight in three hours. Given the state of airline travel, I should leave soon. Should I call Uber or a regular cab?”
“Like hell. I’m driving you. I can be packed in five minutes.”
“Packed? Why?”
“If you’re not here, I’ll be going back to my place.”
She nodded. Slowly, as if the words took a convoluted route to her brain. “Of course.”
He went to his room and grabbed the clothes strewn on the floor after last night’s lovemaking.
Lovemaking. Not sex. When had that happened?
He thought back. No, there wasn’t one moment he could point to where things had changed. It was one of those things that built gradually and then wham! You crossed a threshold. Probably when he’d told her about his Kobayashi Maru. She’d made him see he’d been letting it nag him. She was right. If it had been a true failure, he’d never have been accepted into covert ops.
He picked up his cell and dialed Manny. “I need to go with Lexi. Gunther might be here in the city, but he’d never do his own dirty work. If his people are watching her house or if he’s got informants in the police department, they’ll know she’s back.”
“Pretty much what the boss said. Tell me what flight she’s on and I’ll get you a seat. I’ll text you your confirmation.”
“Thanks, man. I owe you.”
“Not my decision. I’ll collect at your next PT session.”
Fish disconnected and tossed everything into his go bag and took it to the entry. “We have time for a quick breakfast if you want,” he called out.
“How much time?” She approached him, a pair of scissors in her hand, a resolute expression on her face.
He did a quick calculation, allowing time to park and deal with the paperwork for carrying a weapon. “Half an hour. Traffic shouldn’t be bad this time of day.”
“Breakfast can wait.” She handed him the scissors and turned her back. “Cut.”
“What?”
“My hair. There isn’t time for a dye job, but I can go short. Or wear a wig—there were some in the wardrobe room—but they always look fake. And they itch. Or slip.”
“Lexi—”
“Do it. Or I will.”
He grabbed her ponytail above the elastic. “This isn’t necessary, you know.”
“It is for me.”
Fish positioned the scissors, took a breath, and cut.
He held the severed tail in his hand. Lexi reclaimed the scissors and disappeared toward her room. Fish checked in with Manny once again. “Can you make us hotel reservations, preferably on the opposite end of town from where Lexi lives? And for a rental car?”
“You’re full of demands today, aren’t you?” The tone was teasing, and Manny agreed the requests were within reason.
Fish grabbed a bagel and strolled to the com center, surfed the net for news about the Burnside arrests, but found nothing he could connect with any degree of confidence.
Twenty minutes later, Lexi reappeared. “I’m ready.”
His jaw dropped.
***
IF LEXI HADN’T BEEN so nervous, she’d have laughed at Marv’s shocked expression.
“You’ve seen me in disguises before. Is there a problem?” She’d found a long wool skirt, a tunic-length baggy sweater, and a pair of clunky leather slip-on shoes. A far cry from hooker garb. She’d put on a boob-flattening sports bra. She wore a pair of granny panties, to get the feel of her new, dowdy-frump persona. She’d tidied her hair after Marv’s initial cut, but left the do-it-yourself look. Her makeup was minimal, with a lighter shade of foundation than she normally wore, giving her an almost sickly appearance. Adding dark smudges under her eyes intensified the effect.
“I’m not sure I’d have recognized you on the street,” Fish said.
“Good. That’s the point.” She twirled. “Little Miss Nobody.”
He stepped forward and kissed her cheek. “You’ll never be a nobody no matter what you’re wearing.”
Heat rose to her face, and she waved away the compliment.
“You sure you’ll be able to get through TSA security looking like that?” Marv asked.
“Who looks like their ID? Besides, my passport and drivers license pictures are old.” She dug both documents out of her purse and studied them. “I don’t think there’ll be a problem. Which do you think I should use?” She turned them over to Marv.
He perused them, looked at her, then handed them back. “Passport.”
She folded her boarding pass inside her passport and tucked it into an accessible compartment of her purse. “Let’s go.”
On the drive, she kept an eye on the sideview mirror but wouldn’t have recognized a tail if they’d picked one up. When they pulled into the airport, Marv headed for the extended parking lot.
“You can drop me off. No need to park,” she said.
“I’m coming with you.” He opened the hatch and removed her suitcase.
“Honestly, Marv, I’m capable of getting on a plane by myself.”
Then he pulled out his go bag, and it clicked. “You mean coming with me? As in to Burnside?”
He cracked a smile and pointed with two fingers, first to his eyes, then to hers. “You. Me. In my sight. Always.”
Lexi didn’t know whether to be grateful for the support or annoyed he didn’t think she could take care of herself. Another thought clicked into place. “You’re still on the job, aren’t you? After I told Blackthorne I didn’t need their services.”
“That’s an affirmative,” Marv said.
“What about the rest? Fozzie, Dapper Dan, and the surveillance of Gunther?”
“I’m not in that loop,” Marv said, “but Blackthorne doesn’t fire that easily.”
“Or they haven’t used up my fee yet.” She dragged her bag to a shuttle stop and pretended to be concerned with when the next bus would arrive rather than talk to Marv.
“Look at it this way,” Marv said as they boarded the shuttle. “If you end up taking care of Sofia, and one of Gunther’s minions finds out, she’s in danger, too.”