Chapter Sixteen
Osi
I was helping Mad secure his fishing boat when my phone vibrated. I pulled it from my pocket as saw Forde’s name. “Hey man, I’ve got to take this.”
Mad waved me off so I took a few steps and answered. “Yeah?”
“Sorry to call.” Forde rarely apologized so something was up.
“Must be important.”
“Thompson called.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. I signed internally. “Not good timing.”
“Never is.”
“What’s the assignment?” Limited had a contract with several Federal agencies to do jobs that they didn’t necessarily want to associated with.
“A movie.”
That meant surveillance.
“Where and when?” Ramsay woke up just as I was getting ready to kiss her this morning. We hadn’t had time to talk and I knew that we needed to. I needed to reassure her that I meant everything that I’d said last night.
“Spokane. Now.” Forde was being cautious because we were on our cells.
“Fuck. This is a really bad time.” I growled.
“Our Uncle doesn’t care.” That was the deal. They called and whoever was best suited to the job went. No questions asked and no information given. I knew that Layla didn’t even know about these jobs.
“I’ll get a flight.” I said dejectedly.
“File on its way, regular channel.”
“I’ll be in touch.” I clicked off. I let out a loud sigh while I tried to prioritize my list. I needed to talk to Ramsay. “Mad,” I shouted as I walked back to the boathouse, “got a change of plan.”
I drove to the rental into the funky area where my mother said they were shopping. Luckily, I found a parking place about half a block from the store. Ramsay and my mother were sitting on a bench under a young tree.
Ramsay was laughing at something my mother was saying. She must have seen me because she got to her feet and started walking toward me. When she got close I pulled her into my arms and kissed her.
“Is something wrong?” She pushed her sunglasses up onto her head.
“Forde called.” I started us walking to my mother.
“Son,” she greeted me calmly.
“I need to talk to Ramsay for a few minutes. Can you find something to shop for?”
“Of course.” She stood as she passed she patted my cheek. “You make shopping sound like it’s a bad thing.”
“Sit,” I pointed at the bench.
Ramsay did but she looked wary.
“This has nothing to do with what you told me last night.” I opened the conversation.
She put her glasses back down on her nose. “Yeah, because you starting with that doesn’t make it seem suspicious at all.”
“Look, my hands are tied.” I wasn’t doing this right. I took her hand. “I can’t go into the details.”
“You mean you won’t,” she added petulantly.
I didn’t want to waste our precious minutes fighting. “In this case, I can’t.”
I saw the muscle at the side of her jaw flex. “Okay. What’s going on?”
“I’ve got to go. I have about ten minutes before I have to catch my flight.”
“Wait. You’re going to what? Just leave me?” she cried.
“If there was any other way Ramses, I wouldn’t be doing this.” I tried to explain.
“But you have to go.”
“Babe.” I moved in closer to her. “I don’t like the timing any better than you do but this isn’t something that I can ignore.” Or I and Limited would be in a shit ton of trouble. “We need to talk about last night.”
“It’s fine.” She looked away from me.
“No it’s not. I need to know, are you okay today?”
“I’m fine.” She flashed the fake smile that I hated.
“Don’t.” I barked. “I’ll call you tonight or maybe tomorrow, this assignment, I’m not going to be able to call every night.”
“I said that I’ll be fine Osi.” Her eyes shot fire.
“Ramsay, I need to know that we’re fine.” I asked/told her.
“Of course.” She even nodded to back up her words.
It didn’t feel fine.
“Mad will take you to the airport tomorrow. I left all of the information on the kitchen table. And again, I’m sorry.”
“I can get to the airport on my own. I’ve traveled alone for years.”
The alarm on my phone went off telling me that I needed to go. I let out a sigh. “I’ve got to go. Ramses, I love you. So if you’ve got doubts or worries just forget them.” I urged.
“Sure thing.” She looked around. “We’d better find your mom so you can say goodbye.”
They walked me to the car. My mother kissed and hugged me while telling me, “to keep your ass safe.”
I kissed Ramsay and I thought I saw tears in her eyes.
God what a mess.