Page 64 of Victorious

“I have a question,” said the soldier, reaching for her beer. “What makes an EO dumb enough to show off in front of someone whose job it is to capture them?”

“Oh, I’m not showing off,” said June with a wink. “I just wanted you to know I’m here.”

“Said like someone who wants to be caught.”

June smirked. “Trust me, Agent Rios. It wouldn’t be a fair chase.”

They eyed each other, a patch of silence, surrounded by the bustle of the crowded bar.

Finally, Rios put the gun back in its holster.

“Can you be anyone?”

“Now who’s curious?” teased June. But she was happy to oblige, for the sake of rapport. “Anyone I’ve met, so long as they’re still alive.” She sat forward, and as she did, she traded the neighbor for a blandly handsome white guy. “Anyone I’ve touched.” Rios’s hand went reflexively to her wrist, to the bare skin June had rested her fingers on. June laughed with her new, deep voice. “Don’t worry. Other EOs are off-limits.”

“I should arrest you,” said Rios. “Take you in.”

“Ah, but if you did that,” said June, “you wouldn’t have a friend. And who knows? Some day you might need one.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because EON isn’t on your side,” she said. “And you either already know that, or you will.”

She set a playing card on the table, a queen of spades, her number scrawled over the crown.

“Have a good night, Agent Rios.” She rose, and as she did, she shed the man, shifting back into Leigh. “You know,” she said, fondling the close-cropped hair. “This one’s kind of growing on me. I think I’ll hold on to her for a while. Just to be safe.”

June strolled out of the bar without looking back.

She had a good feeling about Rios.

There was, of course, a small chance the soldier would come after her. But June was very good at reading people. Even the ones she couldn’t wear. And, she’d seen it there, in Rios’s stoic veneer.

A small, but undeniable crack.

VIIINOW. THEN.

LATER THAT NIGHT

GABRIEL was being followed.

He wasn’t surprised, or even disappointed. He would have done the same thing, in Helena’s position. NDAs were clear-cut, but people were messy.

The car trailed a block behind him as he drove back from EON. Slipped past as he pulled up to his new building. He had a feeling it was circling.

He took the elevator up five floors and let himself into his new home.

He’d exchanged the house upstate for an apartment in the city, one with clean lines and white walls. No colorful counters or mismatched furniture. No extra rooms with closet doors he’d have to close, so monsters didn’t get out.

A new purchase sat on the counter—a record player.

Back when it was rare, Gabriel had been a fan of silence.

Now, the quiet hung like a curtain. A grim reminder that something—everything—was missing. He slipped a record from its sleeve and brought the needle to its edge, savoring the first few notes before Bach began to fill the room.

He went to the windows, glanced down at the street.

The car was there, parked against the curb, unobtrusive save for the fact that unlike the other vehicles, it wasn’t empty. He could see the figure in the driver’s seat.