Written in a Cinematic Style
Looking at Bren, “Any suggestions?”
“Well, we’re pretty hot, right now. Wouldn’t want to blow Teagen’s cover. Hmm… What about Friar Lawrence? You said he was an old friend. Does he live close by?”
“Outside of Poughkeepsie. TRIG, do you have enough charge to get us to Poughkeepsie?”
“Affirmed.”
“TRIG. DESTINATION Poughkeepsie. Rosevale Vineyard.”
“Affirmed.”
“Hey, Bren, could you hand me your stealthphone?”
“Sure.”
Bren rummages around in her backpack and hands the phone to Mikl.
“Hey, there, Larry, it’s Mikl. Yes. You married me to the two most beautiful women in the world three nights ago… You saw the Mattisson residence blowing up on the news? Oh, man… I hate to ask you this, but do you have a place we could lay low for a couple of days? No, just Bren, uh, Gayle and me. One of my wives, remember? The place outside of town? Yeah, that’s great. The address? Oh, OK, hold on.”
“TRIG. CHANGE DESTINATION to 12 miles south, southwest of Poughkeepsie. I’ll give you further landing information when we’re there.”
“Affirmed.”
“Can’t thank you enough, Larry… Oh, yeah, the marriage is working out great, couldn’t be better, except one of them is a member of the Mattisson family… No, it’s her sister… Yeah, and wife number two, the one I’m with now, is a business espionage agent for GenTease, and Dad’s maybe going to be thinking I was part of an ambush on Markus this morning so don’t tell anybody where we are! Believe me, you don’t! But, yeah, our marriage is the only saving grace.”
Bren smiles and flutters her eyelashes at Mikl.
“Larry, we’ll see you later… Oh, OK. Lunchtime it is.”
They watch the land flying by below as Bren unbuckles her seatbelt, leans over, and gives Mikl a kiss. “Can I hold on to you for a while?”
“Sure. I’m missing her, too.”
Before they get too comfortable, Bren’s phone rings.
She inhales excitedly, seeing it’s Teagen. “Was hoping it was you. We know about Tyndal’s house exploding… No!” Looking at Mikl, “I’ll tell him. We’re on our way to a safe location. No, we’re afraid his family will think Mikl had something to do with it, especially if we go right back to your place. I know, but we can’t take any chances. Yep. Hey, we found a laptop at Markus’s apartment. I’m going to have another look around in it later today. Don’t tell anyone except, maybe, Tyndal. Markus had a login on The Admin System. It’s super clever…. Yep. Yep. Call me again when you have more information. Love you heaps. Yep, Mikl sends his love, too. We were just saying how much we were missing you. Ahhh… I know… Later.”
“Mikl…” After taking a deep breath, Bren relays what Teagen has said, “Her sources are saying Markus’s drone was shot down and he’s presumed dead.”
“Don’t believe everything you hear these days.”
“But why else would your father blow up Markus’s apartment?”
“Stepfather. And he blew up a house in Virginia Beach because he thought someone planted a bug in it. He has a history of overreacting.”
“Be that as it may, you have to think, maybe, it’s a possibility.”
Nodding his head, “Yes, it is a possibility.” Then, not wanting to think about it any more, “Come back here. Let’s try not to cross that bridge before we come to it.”
Bren puts the phone back in her backpack and snuggles next to Mikl.