“I guess you’re right back in the thick of it again, huh?” Tommy asked as he watched Sean go through his routine.
“Seems that way.” Sean clicked the magazine back into place and put the gun back on the coffee table in front of him.
“I’m sorry for that. I know you’ve been trying to get out of these kinds of situations for a while. Seems as if no matter what you do, you always get pulled back in.”
A reluctant smile crept onto Sean’s face. “I’ve made my peace with it,” he said, staring at the television screen. The BBC was showing images of protestors outside the Greek parliament, carrying signs and shouting angrily at the building. Police with riot gear were standing off to the side at a safe distance, not yet engaging with the protestors.
Tommy hesitated to say anything, but he was never one to keep his thoughts to himself. “Unfortunately, you’re good at this sort of stuff, Sean. I mean, I’ve never seen anyone able to think and act as quickly as you do in some of the situations you’ve been in. It’s one of the things you’re good at.”
Sean snorted. “Yeah, well, maybe the universe is trying to tell me something.”
“I’m not saying that,” Tommy said defensively.
“I know, but it’s true. Maybe the universe really is trying to tell me something. People say that you should do what you are. It could be that this is who and what I am. That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying.” He smiled at his friend and leaned his head back against the headrest.
Tommy’s phone dinged, interrupting the quiet whine of the jet engines. He checked the screen and entered his security code. His fingers swiped the screen as he read an e-mail. “Looks like we have a rental boat and all the dive equipment we need. Our driver will pick us up at the airport and take us straight to the marina on the coast of Corfu.”
“That was fast,” Sean said, impressed.
“Hey, it’s what I do,” Tommy pointed a thumb at his chest and grinned proudly.
“When this thing goes down,” Sean said suddenly, “I don’t want you to get too involved. This is my fight, not yours. I don’t want you to be in harm’s way. Okay?”
“Ha! Sorry, buddy, but I’m in this with you. I’m always in this with you. That’s what brothers do. And since I didn’t have a brother growing up, you’ll have to do. Besides, you know I can take care of myself.”
“Yes, you can.”
The flight attendant appeared from behind a curtain at the front of the plane and strolled down the aisle toward the two men. Her fiery-red hair was tucked up in a bun. Green eyes twinkled in the middle of a perfectly chiseled face of creamy skin. Her pouty lips turned up in a smile as she neared the two passengers. “Can I get you gentlemen anything before we begin our descent?”
“No, ma’am,” Tommy answered. “I’m good.”
Sean waved a hand dismissively. “No thanks. I appreciate it.”
She gave a pleasant nod, turned and walked away.
When she was gone, Sean tilted his head toward his friend. “She’s cute.”
“Yeah she is. The government sure knows how to pick ‘em.”
“For sure.” Sean thought for a second and then grinned mischievously. “You gonna ask her out?”
Tommy just shook his head and turned his attention to the tablet he removed from his book bag. “No. I’m not going to ask her out.”
“Why not?” Sean protested. “Did you see the way she smiled at you?”
“She didn’t smile at me any way.”
“Whatever, man.”
Sean had known for years that Tommy wouldn’t know a girl was flirting with him if she slapped him on the side of the head. He’d seen it all the time when they were younger. Tommy had always dressed a little differently, more like a college professor than a high school kid. He liked looking sophisticated, which really worked to his favor even though Tommy thought it to be to the contrary.
“Women like that aren’t into guys like me.”
“Women like that? You mean attractive, friendly women?”
He shrugged but said nothing, instead choosing to tap on his tablet screen and begin perusing some research on ancient Chinese structures.
“Well, whether you believe it or not, women like that do find you attractive. One of these days, you’re just going to have to accept that.” Sean ended the conversation and checked his phone. No new messages appeared on the screen.
He was going to have to buy Emily dinner when he got back to Atlanta for getting them out jail back in Rome. He, no doubt, would also have to endure another round of her attempts to recruit him back to work for Axis. She’d recently moved the entire operation to Sean’s backyard in Atlanta after a sequence of events with the location in Washington, D.C., made her realize it was time for a change of venue.
Axis worked as a part of the Department of Justice, but with such a small scope that they were able to maintain a low profile. At any given time, Axis only employed twelve field agents to handle the delicate missions handed down from the feds. Keeping such a small, tight-knit group made administration much simpler, and it kept the possibility of a leak pretty much at zero.
The plane bounced a few times, jostling its occupants. Despite being terrified of heights, Sean loved flying. It was a good thing he did since global travel usually required a flight of some kind. He’d seen turbulence turn full-grown men into squirming little children. A few bumps thirty thousand feet in the air never bothered him. For some reason, being fifty feet up on a scaffold did. He smiled as the plane hit another batch of aerial potholes. Tommy found the turbulence less amusing and remained focused on his tablet.
Sean glanced over his friend’s arm at the screen. “Boat shopping?” he half joked.
“I’m checking out the boat we’re taking out to the island. Pretty nice, actually.”
“Forty-three foot, Princess V39? Little fancy for what we need isn’t it?”
“It will get us where we need to be. And fast,” Tommy said.
The captain’s voice came over the intercom. “We will begin our descent in a few minutes and should be on the ground in Corfu within the next thirty. Please fasten your seat belts. And I apologize for the turbulence. It’s a little bumpier than we expected. Nothing to worry about, though. Again, we should be on the ground in Corfu within a half hour.”
“Never understood the thing about seat belts in an airplane,” Tommy commented as he buckled the strap across his waist. “We’re traveling at several hundred miles an hour. If something goes wrong, what’s the seat belt going to do?”
The plane hit another huge air pocket that sent Sean’s water bottle two feet into the air. He quickly snatched it before it hit the ground and secured it next to his hip, between the armrest and his leg. “It’s so that if the landing is a little rough, or we hit big bumps like that, you don’t crack your thick skull on the ceiling,” Sean said dryly, casting his friend a derisive glance.
“Good point.”
The rest of the flight went uneventfully. It always impressed Sean when a landing went so smoothly. He’d experienced his fair share of terrifying ones, the worst of which had been at the Seattle airport. When his plane landed there, it jerked to one side and then the other, causing everyone onboard to move over nearly one full seat position. He’d wondered how it hadn’t flipped over onto its side. Then again, Sean didn’t claim to understand all the mechanics and physics behind aviation. He convinced himself he was being irrational about the whole thing. That didn’t change the fact that he still thought about it. Fortunately, the pilot of their flight to Corfu had kept the landing uneventful.