“To the roof!” Carmen calls out after me, then shifts her attention to Rosalie. “It’s not quite the same as climbing trees in the rainforest, but you’re going to love the view.”
With that, the three of us head into the kitchen, where we find Barbi coming up from the gym.
“Good, you found them.” She puffs at a strand of hair covering her face. “Did I hear it was Wine Time?”
“Sure did.” Carmen thrusts the bottle she was holding at me, then turns to Rosalie. “You’ll find wine glasses in the cabinet behind you.” She opens the fridge and pulls out two more bottles of wine. “Barbi, you’re on pizza duty.”
“I’m on it.” Barbi snaps to attention and gives a little salute. She pulls out her phone and quick dials our favorite pizza place. “Rosie, anything you won’t eat?”
Something happens when Barbi shortens Rosalie’s name to Rosie. I swear it’s as if her entire face lights up. No, her entire body seems to glow, and for the first time, a genuine smile graces her features.
The four of us head upstairs and clamber up the fire escape that leads to the roof. Like the gym, the meditation room, and the garden, we’ve made changes up here as well.
Nothing fancy. Anything left to the whim of the elements needs to be able to handle what San Francisco can throw at it. We settled for plastic Adirondack chairs and matching side tables, coffee tables, and gas fed heaters for chilly San Francisco nights. But what makes the roof so much fun is the stunning view of the city when it’s lit up at night.
“So, Rosie…” Barbi uncorks the first bottle of wine. She fills up Rosalie’s glass, then plops down into a chair.
“Yes?” Rosalie takes a sip and her eyes close as she takes everything in. She’s definitely relaxing. “Tell us all the sordid things you and Hayes did while running around in the jungle. Did you play Tarzan and Jane? Who jumped whose bones first?” Barbi’s question gives Rosalie a shock. She inhales her wine and spits it out, coughing hard.
“Wine Foul!” Carmen and Barbi point at Rosalie, and we all laugh hysterically.
“Excuse me?” Poor Rosalie looks between the three of us.
“Spitting out good wine is a Wine Foul,” I explain. “Which means you have to tell us nothing but the God’s honest truth to our very next question.”
“Wait. What?” She turns to Carmen. “Is that really a thing?”
“You’re one of us now…” Barbi slings an arm around Rosalie’s shoulder. “Which means, it’s totally a thing. And I have questions.”
“About what?” Rosalie looks unsure.
“I want to know about you and your Guardian.” Barbi leans back and takes a sip of wine. “Men like that… Men stacked like that…”
With Rosalie’s eyes round as saucers, we all settle back in our chairs, and wait for Barbi to ask her question.
“Yes?” Rosalie hesitates.
“Are they as good in bed as they look?”
Right as Rosalie opens her mouth to answer, the clomping of boots rings out from the fire escape below. We stop talking and look at each other.
Barbi mouths: Did you lock the front door? She glances at Carmen and me. I shake my head, as does Carmen. We forgot to lock the front door.
A sudden sense of dread overcomes me. Would Scott…? No, he wouldn’t come in uninvited, but who else would know the code to get in?
SEVEN
Zeb
We’re fortunate traffic is light and make good time to the airport.
My phone rings and I put it on speaker.
“Yo!”
“Howzit hanging, Zeb?” Mitzy’s high-pitch voice crackles through the speakers.
“A little to the left. How about you?”
“The girls are doing just fine.”
“Are you going to brief us?”
“Yup. This client is high profile,” Mitzy says. “There’s already been one attempt on her life in WITSEC.”
“Damn.” Hayes gives a low whistle.
“Sounds like the Marshalls have a leak.” Rafe stares out at traffic.
“Yup,” Mitzy says.
“That’s not good.” My thumbs tap on the steering wheel.
“What’s the op?” Alec glances at me and we exchange a look. “Are we taking over protection detail from the US Marshalls?”
“You got that right on the nose, and we are until they plug the leak in their organization,” Mitzy says.
“We’re happy to help.” I merge into airport traffic. “Do we get to know anything about this client?”
“Nope.” Her lips pop on the ‘p.’
“Well, that’s no fun.” I scratch the side of my chin.
“Sorry. Compartmentalized information. Need to know only. You should be used to that.”
“We’re going to need to know something.” Hayes shifts in his seat.
I tap out a tune on the steering wheel while keeping an eye on the flow of traffic.
“I get that.” There’s another pause on the other end of the phone while Mitzy confers with someone. “I’m not sending her picture. Too much of a risk.”
“Then how are we gonna know which passenger she is?” Rafe presses his hand to his temple.
“Code word,” Mitzy says.
“Gotcha.” Rafe runs his fingers through his hair. “I take it she doesn’t know we’re picking her up.”
“Correct. Just the code word.”
No reason for Mitzy to explain the obvious. We’ve done this kind of thing in the past. The client’s instructed she’s to be met by someone, or someones, and they’ll be holding up a placard with a code word on it. Very secret spy shit.
Actually, it’s simple and easy. Which is what makes it perfect for secret spy shit. Not to mention, it follows along the lines of K.I.S.S: Keep It Simple Shithead. We don’t need to know what she looks like because of the code word.
“Don’t burden her with questions. Chase is on his way, but there’s a wreck on the road that’s delaying him. Once you’ve got her, I’ll send you to Chase and him to you. You can hand her over where you meet on the road.”
“How high is the risk someone will be waiting for her here?”
“High. Like I said, there’s a leak in the US Marshalls. We’ve done our best to keep news of her movement as quiet as possible, but you know my views on that.”
“Hope for the best. Plan for the worst.”
“You got it.” There’s another long pause on the other end, then Mitzy’s back. “She’s not carrying any baggage. Rafe, Hayes, and Alec, you’ll meet her at the gate. On the way back, take a tram to a different airline and exit at arrivals instead of departures. That way, if her flight was leaked, they’ll be looking for her in the wrong place.”
“Got it.” I pull up to arrivals and my teammates get out. “You going to guide me in? Or am I supposed to keep circling?”
“We’ll guide you in. I’m busy and signing off, but I’m turning you over to Tom.” Static scratches over the line as Mitzy removes the headset she’s speaking through and hands it to one of her technical team members.