Gene stared at his sleeping wife, wrapped in his arms. When had he fallen in love with her? All the anger he felt at her betrayal was gone. They had both lied to each other, both guilty. As he lay there, watching Calista, something caught his attention. With his neck craned, he tried to listen. It was subtle, but there. A slight creak in the wood of the floor downstairs. Reaching across Calista, he picked up the Beretta he had placed there.
She shifted in his arms, smiling as she glanced up. The noise must have alerted her as well. She snaked an arm between their mattress and headboard. Her hand came back with a small Glock. A grin spread across Gene’s face, at the fact that he never knew there was a loaded weapon right there, where they slept together. Then again, she probably didn't know his secret hiding spot was a false wall in their closet.
Footsteps crept closer, up the stairs. The noise still faint, except to a trained ear. The door to their bedroom open, only a faint light from the bedside table glowed in the darkness. Calista lay on her side, still pressed against him, he could feel the heart racing in her chest. It beat a staccato against his. Adrenaline sped through his veins as well.
Through the shadow, a dark figure appeared, slinking into the room. A glint from the metal of their weapon sent Gene into action. He sprung up, squeezing off a round into the intruder’s shoulder. The piece clattered across the floor. Calista sat up, her own gun aimed at the door as well, in case of a second person. Gene moved slowly around the bed, bare skin glistening in the low light. Quickly he pulled on the man, turning him over.
Calista tossed her shirt to him, which he used to bind the man. The intruder bellowed in pain as more legs pounded up the stairs. Gene drug the man towards the closet, leaving him. His wife, in all her naked glory, jumped behind the bed for cover, and he couldn't help but admire her lithe body. Why hadn’t he taken the time to appreciate it more, while they were married? Instead of being bored with his life, he could have enjoyed what he had with Calista.
rushed into the room and neither took the time to pause. Bullets flew before the strangers could catch their bearings. Both men crumpled to the floor, in the doorway. Silence rang through the room, the smell of heat and gunfire tickling his nose. No more movement came from the rest of the house.
Gene stepped over the bound hostage, checking the pulse on the other two men. Both were dead. Gene pulled up their black masks, but didn’t recognize either of them. He looked at Calista, who lifted one eyebrow.
Shaking his head, he bent, picked up the boxers and lobbed her panties to her. They quickly pulled on their under clothes, Calista moving to the closest dresser. She tossed Gene a pair of jeans, then yanked one of his T-shirts over her head.
He took a moment to scan her legs up and down. He had always enjoyed how wonderful they looked bare, or wrapped around his waist, hell, even over his shoulders. Stepping into his jeans, he then yanked the living man up from the ground, tossing him onto the bed. Blood dripped onto the rumpled bedspread, and he moaned in pain. Gene slapped his face, bringing the guy to consciousness.
“Who sent you?” he yelled, shaking the man.
The guy slumped over, mumbling quietly. Either he wasn’t well trained, or was a civilian. Gene brought him back up again, pressing a finger into the wound, causing the guy to cry out.
“Who sent you,” he asked again.
“Ellard. Ellard, please, just, get me help,” the guy whined. He tugged the mask off, and Gene noticed how young the kid was.
“Shit,” he tossed the mask to the ground, standing up to storm around the room in anger. He waved an arm at the boy, “He can’t be far out of the Academy. Seriously, using young men, who have their whole lives ahead of them, to do his dirty work? They aren’t old enough to know any better, except to follow orders.”
“Do you know who that is?” Calista asked.
“Yep, my handler. He’s the one who set us up.” Gene felt confused, angry. How could a man he looked up to, do this?
Calista’s phone dinged, and she pulled it out of the sheath that also held her knife. She dropped the pants back to the floor and checked her messages.
“Seems that Becky found out someone took the contract on you from your cartel leader. A million. At least you’re worth something?” She tried to make light of the situation. Gene felt like steam would pour from his ears.
He snatched up the phone sitting on the night stand next to the bed and dialed a number he knew by heart. “Agent Phantom. Call code X140YS.” Calista watched, as if enthralled by the cloak and dagger act. Gene put the call on speaker, setting the receiver down, as he began to pace the room.
“The call is now secure, Agent Phantom, proceed,” the woman on the other end stated. Her voice was almost automated.
“I need to report Clarence Ellard, my handler. He’s dirty, and se-“
“Agent Phantom, we are already aware of the situation. Agent Justice filled us in when he figured it out. Lie low, and we will handle the situation. Follow black protocol. We will contact you.” The line went dead.
“How will they contact you? If you lay low or go into hiding?” Calista asked.
“It’s the CIA.” He almost laughed. Her innocence in the way the world really worked, was quite baffling. He dialed another number. “I need to end this, or I’ll spend the rest of my life running. And you’ll never be safe,” he said, looking at her.
“You mean we, we’ll never be safe. I’m not sure about you, but I’m pretty sure I have enough to retire.” She winked at him, strutting around the bed, to check on their prisoner.
“Hello?” he heard on the other end. Once again, the call went to speaker phone.
“Ellard, it’s Gene. What’s going on? I failed to grab Artemis. Things got messy. What’s the status?” he asked, trying to not convey that he knew anything.
“Gene?” Clarence sounded shocked to hear from him. “The team said they couldn’t locate you. Are you alright?” he asked, recovering quickly. “Where are you? I’ll come get you personally.”
“Yeah.” Gene looked to Calista. Silently they conveyed their thoughts, Calista nodded as Gene continued looking at her. The man on the bed moaned, and she turned, slapping him to keep quiet. It was a turn on to Gene to see his wife get violent with a man sent to kill them. “I’m, I gotta find my wife. Then we can meet. How about my office? In the city? Two hours?” He heard clicking, as if Ellard was typing on a computer.
“Sounds good Gene, watch your back and I’ll meet you there.”
When they hung up, Gene looked at Calista.
“He’s going to try and trap you, isn’t he?” she asked him.
“Yes, he is. And he thinks he has time.” He pointed to her legs, “You should put something on. We’re going to get there first.”
They quickly dressed, and he grabbed their injured prisoner. Shoving the guy in front of him, Gene moved through the house, into their connected garage. Calista’s Range Rover was in there, since she’d taken a cab to the train station. He dumped their hostage into the back of the SUV and turned to a wall of tools that most suburban men would envy. He pulled on one of the hooks that held a hammer, and the wall spun.
Calista walked in and gasped. “That’s so fucking awesome,” her eyes widened, as she watched. If that impresses her, she would get a kick out of what’s next, he thought to himself. The other side of the tool board held weapons. But behind it was another false wall that held drawers. He pulled open the top one. It held fake id’s along with a few stacks of large bills.
“My to go bag,” he explained.
Calista hefted the duffle bag she held, into the air. “My to go bag.” They smiled at each other. “Can you imagine, how much more fun our marriage would have been so far, if we had both been upfront?”
“Honestly, I probably would have arrested you back then.”
The smile fell from her face, and he stepped towards her. Setting the ID’s and money on the work table next to him, he grabbed her hand. Gene pulled his wife close and wrapped his arms around her. Kissing her forehead, he looked into her eyes. “Now, I can’t imagine not being with you. You really want to run with me? Together?”
She nodded, eyes glistening. “I’ve been thinking of retiring anyways, maybe having a family.”
“You know, I hear small beach towns are great for raising kids. With our combined knowledge, we could home school and enjoy the easy life.” He cocked an eyebrow at her.
“I’ve always wanted to live in one of those huts that are in the water, crystal blue ocean, white sand,” she mused.
“You in a bikini, all day, every day,” he quipped. She smacked him in the arm playfully.
They laughed nervously, their banter doing nothing to ease the tension. They rushed to stow their items in the back seat. He had a gun collection that amazed his wife. After choosing weapons, they jumped in, and drove off, heading towards the city in the late night.