Play Along

Bingo.

I pick up the long, pointed screwdriver, and then look at the other ones next to it. I grab another two and put them down my pants. I keep opening the drawers until I find a long blade. I hold it up and smile.

Here you are, baby. Come to Momma.

* * *

I sit in my office and go through the last of the maintenance reports. It’s just gone dark and I have been here all day. Shit, I have a lot to do this week. It’s overwhelming, to be honest. The rotators need replacing and the bearings are all on their way out. I have six choppers coming in and I have to go through the keys and make sure they are all here. I can’t stand another fuck up like the last pick up. I looked so incompetent. My mind goes to Stucco and the hiding I gave him the other night. I didn’t want to stop, and if I didn’t want to blow it, I wouldn’t have. It’s no wonder he wants to kill me. One thing is playing on my mind though… the gun vault thing. She mentioned the gun vault, which would mean she really did hear him say he wanted to get into it. He may be serious this time. Who knows? A broad smile crosses my face as I recall Rosh kicking the weak prick’s ass in the corridor. Even she can beat him. An unfamiliar emotion runs through me when I think of Rosh. I get a vision of her on me laughing out loud and carefree… of us kissing. I’ve been let down by a lot of people in my life and I couldn’t have cared less.

This one is different.

I’m waiting for the last of the office staff to leave their stations in the control tower so I can ring Chris, my contact on dry land.

“You want me to do anything else before I go?” Jack asks.

I smile. “No, mate, you go. I got another hours work to get through here.”

“Okay, catch you later.” He packs up his desk and I wait for him to walk down the stairs. I flick through my diary until I get to the phone number disguised as a product order key and I dial the number.

Ring, ring. I wait. Come on pick up, pick up. Ring, ring.

“Hello,” the happy voice calls.

An instant smile crosses my face. “Yo, Chris.”

“Hey,” he calls excitedly. “Stace, man. Where you been, bro?”

I laugh out loud. “Missing you, you ugly prick.” I swing my chair from side to side. It’s good to hear his voice. Chris was my best friend all through school, and even now as I live in an ulterior universe to him, he is still my best friend. He works for the United States Government and has contacts everywhere. A diplomat, no less.

“Hey. I got big news.”

I smile. “Yeah, what’s that?”

“I’m getting married.”

“What? No way?” I laugh. “Tell Elsa deepest condolences.”

“She’s the luckiest bitch on Earth to get to bang me for life.” I can hear the happiness in his voice.

“Congratulations, man.” I smile. Elsa is his high school sweetheart; he has loved that girl since he was twelve years old.

“You going to be my best man?”

My face falls as I am overcome with emotion. “Really?”

“Really.”

“I’d be honored.” I pause. I can’t believe he asked me. “Thank you, it means a lot.”

Chris knows I have fallen on the wrong side of the track, and yet his loyalty has never wavered once. He doesn’t ask questions and I would literally lay my life down to protect him.

Justin, my brother, and he and I were inseparable all though school. The things we got up to.

God, we wreaked havoc.

“The wedding is next year in April. Make sure you are home.”

I smile. “Okay.”