Dirty Laundry

I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I tried to run faster jumping over anything in my path. When the house was finally in view I sprinted until I broke through the bushes into the yard. Cerberus was playing in the yard as if nothing loomed in the forest waiting. It was dark now and the house lights seemed like a welcoming beacon. How long was I gone? It felt like I was gone for mere minutes but it must have been hours because when I walked into the house with Cerberus the clock said ten. I missed dinner. Kyle was crying in the living room and I walked out of the kitchen finding Gabe sitting up with the phone. Lina sat on the arm chair trying to console Kyle. ‘‘She’s not answering her cell'' Gabe sighed. ''…I left it upstairs'' I said hesitantly. Lina stood up wide eyed ''where the hell have you been?'' ‘‘What happened to you?'' Gabe said wide eyed looking me up and down at the scratches covering my arms and legs. I could still feel moss and mud between my toes. I looked down like a scolded child and jutted my lip ''...I got side tracked in the forest'' I said childishly. Lina sighed shaking her head. ‘‘Not again'' she sighed rolling her eyes.

‘‘She’s done this before?'' Gabe asked. She nodded ''yeah when we lived on running man, she'd run off for hours in the forest and draw; it’s no surprise she'd do it now. But I didn’t think she'd be silly to do it so close to night'' ''Smith I need to talk to you'' I said urgently as I remembered the men. ‘‘What?'' ''Alone...please'' I grabbed his arm and took him to the kitchen ''what’s going on?'' he asked. ‘‘The men from last night, they have friends they are camped out in the forest south of here'' ''wait what?'' he asked incredulously. ‘‘The Spanish guys, there are two of them camped out in the forest south of here. They are waiting for the ones you and Landon killed. They think they got lost or flaked...but that’s not the worst of it'' I sighed shaking my head.

I walked into his arms and buried my head in his chest. He stroked my hair back confused and curious ''there’s a fifty thousand dollar bounty on your head, they didn’t know who posted it but I’m sure every mercenary looking for a quick buck is after you'' I sighed. ‘‘What?'' he said stunned. He turned so suddenly and walked off that I stood there as if he was never there at all.

Lina walked in a few minutes later. ‘‘What’s going on?'' she asked. I wiped a tear from my face and shook my head ''nothing, why don’t you go to bed-'' ''no, go take a shower you’re all scratched up and messy'' ''ok'' ''I’ll put Kyle to bed Smith already fed him'' she said worried. ''Lina, I need you to do me a big favor'' ''what?'' ''if anything happens I want you to take my cell phone, my keys and my wallet...and I know this is going to be hard on you but I don’t have anyone else right now, I need you to take Kyle too'' ''what’s going on?''

‘‘Things got a whole lot shittier and if anything happens I need you to take care of him and yourself of course. You’ll have all the money you need on my credit card…would you do it for me?'' ''Yes'' she nodded. ‘‘Good...now please go upstairs lock your door and make sure that your window is closed'' ''ok'' she nodded curious but the warning in my eyes made her bite her tongue. She went upstairs with Kyle and I followed then went to my room to shower.
i pulled on one of Gabe’s shirts since my night gown was in the washer. I went to his office but I couldn’t find him there so I walked across the hall to the room with the gym and weapons and monitors. He was seated in front of the monitors showing all the camera views on the phone with someone. I walked to his side and looked over his shoulder to the screens ignoring his conversation about statistics and bounty sheets.

The shrill female voice I could hear every so often on the other end had to have been Miri. He took my hand that rested on his shoulder and held it against his cheek. I said nothing but scenarios of hundreds of mercenaries attacking him and finally killing him went through my head and chilled my bones. Injured I can handle; dead…I know I’ve only known him for a short while but love was a funny thing. Yeah my heart was his. ‘‘And Shanell?'' he asked almost angrily. ‘‘Who cares about her!'' Miri shrieked as if he was stupid. ''I do, and the infant'' ''send her home to her parents I don’t know!'' she ground her teeth. ''Miri take a kinder tone'' Smith growled lethally. ‘‘Fine, what do you want me to say? I’ll send Landon if things get dicey but if she dies then she's dead. My only priority for the CIA is insuring that your life is safe, not hers'' ''she's an American citizen, isn’t that the main priority of the CIA? To protect the innocent'' ''my main priority isn’t saving lives Smith and you very well damn know it, our country was founded on bloodshed and gore and it won’t end. If the innocent get in the way then they die. It can’t be helped'' ''selfish bitch'' ''thank you so nice of you to notice'' ''Miri I mean it'' ''fine fine I’ll insure she's safe if anything goes wrong yada yada yada I’ll even set her up in a nice condo in Boca…does that sound nice?'' she said mockingly. ''Miri so help me-'' ''ok ok…full protection detail and I’ll set her up of her place of choice'' ''fine. And what are we going to do with our Spanish friends?''

‘‘Kill them of course?'' ‘‘And the others?'' ''I’ll see what I can do about the bounty sheets, I don’t control those boards and you know it. I can’t guarantee anything Smith, I don’t rule the world. I can only call in a few favors from friends but that’s about it'' I stood there quietly listening in. she went on about protocol and just defending himself until she could figure something. Smith must have sensed my unease because he pulled me onto his lap and laid his chin on my head. I curled up to him and squeezed my eyes shut wishing I could wake up and find this a giant dream. A dream where his corpse wasn’t worth fifty thousand dollars and there weren’t two Spaniards about two miles from here planning his demise. I just wish he'd let me help him fight.