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Leroux/White Residence, Fairfax Towers
Falls Church, Virginia

 

“That’s why I’m glad I can’t have any social media accounts.”

CIA Analyst Supervisor Chris Leroux rolled over and faced his girlfriend, CIA Agent Sherrie White. “Why? You don’t trust yourself?”

She grinned. “With my propensity for calling out stupid? I’d be unemployable, at least within the government.”

Leroux laughed, his eyes drooping from the post-coital bliss he was still enjoying. Sherrie had just returned from a mission, and whenever she did, she was wired and horny. A potent combination that he always enjoyed the benefits of, especially when he didn’t need to be at work in a few hours.

And today he didn’t.

They had all day to enjoy the treasures each had to offer, though he was certain he was getting the better end of the bargain.

“Yeah, you might be right. That’s why I shut mine all down. That and the fact I had almost no friends, so it was just depressing.”

Sherrie gave him a quick peck. “If I were allowed, I would have been your friend.”

“You and my mom. Yay!”

She laughed. “I’ve read some of the stuff your Mom posts. She’s the type us Millennials would dox if she were found out.”

“She just tells her friends what she thinks about things. Unfortunately, she doesn’t understand privacy settings.”

“It’s ridiculous, though, right? You’ve got people destroying careers and lives because of things they did ten, twenty, thirty years ago. These same people demand that people change, then claim that because somebody said something thirty years ago that was racist or homophobic, they must still be racist or homophobic. They never consider that the person, like most of society, has changed. Instead, they’re out for blood.” She sighed. “My poor boy, Liam. Sexiest old dude I know getting raked over the coals for something that happened forty years ago.”

Leroux grunted. “How did I know this was all about him?”

“He’s my boy, you know it.”

“I think you have daddy issues.”

She gave him a toothy smile. “Who’s your daddy? You want to ask me it, don’t you?”

“Well, not now.”

She put a leg behind her head. “Now?”

His eyes bulged. “Umm…”

The acrobatics ended. “What comes around goes around though.”

“It does tend to do that.”

“I hope some of these trolls that are demanding vengeance for things said decades ago get their comeuppance eventually. Someday, there will be something considered politically incorrect that they make fun of today, and I just hope they get their lives destroyed for it.”

“That’s pretty harsh. Like what? It’s pretty much taboo to make fun of anybody for anything now.”

She shook her head. “You can’t make fun of anyone for their race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, whether they’re too tall or too short or handicapped in some way. But there’s one thing you can still make fun of, with impunity, that I think will change eventually, and there will be millions of these hypocrites with examples of it literally peppering their Instagram accounts and Facebook pages.”

Leroux racked his brain, trying to think of what she could possibly be referring to. “I give up. What?”

“Fat people, especially men. TV shows, movies, memes, everything, are still making fun of fat people, just like twenty years ago when they were making fun of homosexuals.”

Leroux had to agree. Weight was never his problem, nor did he think it ever was Sherrie’s, but he had noticed over the years they had known each other, she rarely laughed at anything that made fun of obese people. “You’re right, of course, they are the only people it’s still open season on.” Her face clouded over and he took her hand. “Tell me.”

Her eyes filled with tears and he held her close.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“It was my dad.”

“What, he was overweight?”

“Yes. He was always struggling, always battling it, trying everything, but he could never lose it, not permanently. I remember him always trying so hard, and always failing, before he finally gave up. He said it wasn’t worth making himself miserable over, and if it killed him, then so be it.” She gasped, quickly sucking the breath back in. “I remember…I remember, just before he was killed, that he said he’d rather die young and happy, than old and miserable.” Her shoulders shook. “The worst part of it, though, was that I knew he was miserable. He was a prisoner in his own body. He was always so full of life when I was young, even though he was overweight, but when he went on Insulin and gained so much more, it killed him inside. He was never the same.”

He held her tight, this a rare occasion, Sherrie almost never talking about her parents, both having been killed in a car accident when she was a teenager. “It’s okay. He’s in a better place now.”

“I-I hope so. At least his suffering is over.” Her shoulders shook. “I just miss them so much.”

He ran his hand over the back of her head as she gently cried, her breathing slowly becoming regular before she fell asleep in his arms. He found his own tears flowing now, never having seen the woman he loved so affected by anything so personal. He felt closer to her now, now that he had seen her so vulnerable for the first time, and wanted to protect her from all the hate in the world, despite the fact she was the one who protected him.

His phone vibrated on the nightstand and he extricated himself as gently as he could, his efforts futile as she woke up.

“Sorry, did I fall asleep?”

“Like a baby.” He grabbed his phone, holding it up. “It’s Sonya.”

“Ahh, the other woman in your life.”

He grinned at the reference to his underling’s crush on him. “I am a popular guy.” He swiped his thumb. “Hi, Sonya, what’s up?”

“Hello, sir, sorry to bother you on your day off, but I thought you should know that Professor Acton’s house was just broken into.”

Leroux propped up against the headboard, his eyes narrowing. He had dealt with Acton and his wife on far too many occasions, their knack for getting into trouble legendary at Langley and Fort Bragg. “Have the police been notified?”

“No, this was an expert job. The system was deactivated before it had a chance to go off.”

“Then how do we know about it?”

“Special Agent Kane had a backup installed when we were dealing with the Assembly threat. It was never taken out, and the thieves didn’t know to bypass it.”

“Where are the professors now?”

“Ethiopia.”

“What the hell are they doing there?”

“No idea.”

Leroux sighed. “Okay, check the cameras in the neighborhood, see if they caught anything. I’m going to talk to Dylan, see if he wants to do anything, since this was his ask.”

“Okay, I’ll let you know what we find.”

Leroux ended the call and turned to Sherrie, now sitting cross-legged beside him, any trace of her earlier emotional outburst gone. “So, what have the professors got themselves into this time?”

Leroux chewed his cheek for a moment. “Not sure. Their house was broken into. Professional job. A backup Dylan had installed got tripped, so that’s the only reason we know about it.”

Sherrie bounced closer, a bit of impressive yogic flying executed. “I’m off for two days. I could go check it out.” She brightened. “I could take Fang! I know she’d kill to do something with a little bit of excitement.”

Leroux smiled at her enthusiasm. “Sounds good to me. Just remember, if you’re caught, you’re on your own.”

She executed the perfect pout. “You’ll break up with me?”

He extended his hand. “Hi, Chris Leroux, nerd loser who knows nothing about women. Nice to meet you.”

She slapped his hand away. “You know I hate it when you put yourself down.” She reached over and squeezed Chris Jr. “And you definitely know a thing or two about women.” She winked. “Or at least he does.”