MED: Minor Extremely Dangerous (The Stone Chronicles: Book 2)

Chapter 20

JFK Airport. August 6th, 2015. 1300 Hours (NY Time).

Alex

"I've got a few minutes until we start boarding." I said, "Max can get us a private transatlantic flight, yet I have to fly with normal people to get to San Francisco?"

"Never know." Emily countered with a smirk, "Maybe it'll be a nice change."

"Doubt it."

She rolled her eyes, "Come on; We made it out. Have a positive outlook! We got past the hard part already. Better to be in a plane with normal people than in a caskett, right?"

I raised an eyebrow, "I swear to God, you are completely bipolar."

"Probably."

I chuckled, "So what about you? As far as I know, you're not connecting to another flight. Either you want to make sure I have no clue where you are, or you're staying here."

She sighed and leaned back against the wall. She twisted her finger around her now brown hair and shrugged, "Kinda blew all my covers when I literally blew my job, so I'm kinda in a tight spot. Luckily, the only people who would want to kill me are gonna be out of play for at least 6 weeks, so I'll hopefully have enough time to build up a new ID or something..."

"Why stay here?" I asked, "You could go underground somewhere. That's kinda hard to do in the middle of New York."

"Only asset I have now is myself and the people I can trust." She explained slowly, "There aren't many of those left, so I have to make due with what I've got, however dangerous it might be."

"You trust me, don't you?"

She frowned, "Of course I do."

"Then why not come to San Francisco?" I offered, "We could keep you safe."

She smiled but shook her head, "The first place they'll look for me is there. There's no point in putting you and Sabina in unnecessary danger."

"We're already in danger. Might as well not spread it across the country."

"The only reason you're in danger is because of me." She countered, "So long as I'm not with you, they'll be too preoccupied with me to bother with going after you."

"Kinda makes me feel a bit insignificant."

"It's true though. I'm the one threatening them. You're just a guy trying to live a normal life with a screwed up past."

I frowned as a thought popped into my head. I dug into my carry on and found a slip of paper and a pen. I wrote a quick note and handed it to Emily. She read it and raised an eyebrow, "What's this?"

"Our emergency line." I said, "You ever need anything, even if it's just to talk, give me a call."

She smirked, "Secure line?"

"Completely." I confirmed proudly, "I'm not awful with technology. Just bad."

She snorted, "Yeah, sure." She smiled softly and added, "Thank you."

I smiled back, "What're friends for?"

She grinned, then her face fell slightly, "There's one thing I still don't get."

"Hm?"

"Why'd you come back?" She asked, "After the Sonata case, you could've gone home. Instead you got stuck with all this shit. Why?"

I pursed my lips and shrugged, "Two things really. First one was Sabina and her family."

She frowned, "There's no way Sabina would make you stay..."

"She didn't..." I paused, trying to regain my thoughts before I continued, "M. He, uh..."

"Threatened them." Emily finished for me, "You stayed to protect them from MI6."

I nodded, "I think he said something along the lines of, 'We can't protect them if you're not working for us.' Or something like that. Thinly veiled threat basically."

"Melloballistic bastard." She murmurred.

"What's worse," I added, "He stuck me with the worst douche-canoe in the business."

She smirked and shrugged, "Guilty as charged, there."

Now boarding Zones 3 and 4 for US Airways Flight 8972 to San Francisco. The announcement blared over the intercom and sent other passengers into a flurry to be in the front of the boarding line. I smiled, "Guess that's my cue..."

She nodded, "Guess it's mine too."

I held out a hand, "Good luck, Ems."

She shook it, "Back at ya, Alex."

We both turned and stepped apart: me toward my boarding line, and her toward the airport exit. Just as I reached the back of the line and began digging through my bag for my boarding ticket, I heard her call, "Hey, Alex!"

I turned and saw her standing just down the hall. Her hand was raised above her head so I could see her. "What was the other reason?!"

I smiled, "You!"

She grinned and waved. I returned it. She turned and took her first step toward an uncertain future.

Author's Note

So I'm on my way to a tournament. It's that time of the year again! ⛳️

So one more update until Book 3 commences! DUN DUN DUN!

If you would, please vote and comment. I love hearing from you guys, but I rarely do, so please let me know what you think!

XOXO ~ Maddie