「ABSENCE」 TMNT 2012

24; Spies

Flustered, April hurried back to her boyfriend. "Casey! Speed it up!"

    "Hold on, I'm almost done," he said, digging through his wallet.

    "Come on!" She nagged.

    He slapped some five dollar bills on the counter, grabbed his food, and stepped away. "What is it?"

    "Karai's here."

    Casey's head immediately jerked up to look around, scanning the area. "What? Where? Why?"

    "Over there." She pointed in the general direction of their hated enemy.

    Casey spotted the unique hairstyle immediately. But he was thrown off a bit by the outfit. "That's her? Standing next to the dude with the brown hair?"

    "Yes."

    "Who is he?"

    "I'm not sure," April admitted, sipping her lemonade. "But he seems familiar for some reason."

    Casey squinted at the couple. The evening was growing steadily darker, so it was getting harder to tell exact facial features. But the girl was Karai for sure, just dressed down from her usual ninja attire. "A business partner of the Shredder's?" He suggested.

    "Maybe. But why would Karai be on a date with him?"

    Casey took a bite of hotdog. "Mm. How do ya know they're on a date?" He pointed out through a full mouth. "They coul be talking delifery times for secret weapons or somefing."

Shaking her head, April pulled a piece of funnel cake off and stuffed it into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed before speaking again, unlike Casey and his atrocious manners. "You and I both know she doesn't operate like that. If they were talking about secret plans, they wouldn't do it in a public setting. They're not that stupid." She watched them for a few more seconds, then decided, "We should get closer so we can hear what they're saying."

    Casey shrugged. "Okay. Not too close, though." He licked his fingers satisfactorily. "That chick's got the observation skills of freaking cheetah."

"We'll need a disguise." April looked around in search of something; a giant, floppy hat and a pair of sunglasses. Anything. But no such a luck.

Two clowns carrying balloons walked by just then, instantly triggering the redhead's imagination. When she brought up the idea to Casey Jones, he wasn't so willing to go along with it. But April had her ways of charming people into believing what she told them. She was certain she could procure the outfits in no time.

"Are you kidding me?" He repeated in her ear for the sixth time as April tried to convince the white-faced men that she and Casey were meant to take the next shift.

"Where're your costumes?" One asked, his deep, shallow voice surprising April.

She reached up to smooth the hairs on top of her head. "Uh . . . see, that's the thing. They're, uh, still at the dry cleaners!"

Suddenly going along with April's lie, Casey nodded vigorously. "Yeah, yeah! We gotta go pick them up right now, actually. C'mon, Red." He grabbed April's arm, flashed a quick smile at the clowns, and tugged her along with him through the crowd. She struggled and shouted at him to release her. When they had gotten a safe distance away, Casey held her to his chest tightly so she wouldn't run away. "April, they're getting on the Ferris wheel."

    With a frustrated sigh, April turned to look where Casey pointed. The sky was a dark blue at that point, but the lights all around the amusement park lit up the area. Karai and her date were just sitting down on one of the seats. April gasped. "We have to get on that ride!" She exclaimed.

    Casey held her back. "No! She'll see us for sure if we do that."

    "But we have to hear what they're talking about!"

This time is was Casey's turn to sigh. He looked around for a way to make sure they wouldn't get caught while performing their sneaky spy eavesdropping. April wouldn't leave him alone until he went along with her plans. "April! Over there at that tent! There's a bunch of cowboy hats."

Together they rushed to the tent and payed for two hats, shoving them on their heads. Their food had been hidden in a far corner near the back of another booth for safekeeping. Even though they were in the middle of a super intense mission, they weren't going to waste perfectly delicious, fatty snacks.

Feeling like undercover agents, they strolled up to the Ferris wheel and slipped to the front of the line just before the next seat came to a stop behind the conductor. The children who were supposed to be next grew annoyed at the two young adults who cut in front of them. But they would survive. Casey and April handed the man their tickets and buckled their seat belts beside each other. Then they went up.

    They kept their heads together and made vague hand gestures throughout the ride, so that if Karai would happen to look down, she would think they were just another couple involved in conversation. Occasionally they took turns pointing out at the scenery which, in actuality, was rather pretty.
As they climbed higher into the sky, they were able to pick up bits of the chatty exchange between the two above them.

"This is Elly's least favorite ride," said the man.

"Your sister?"

"Yeah . . . likes that one over there. Spins so fast you feel like throwing up."

    "This is beautiful. I love it."

April looked at Casey with wide eyes and whispered, "I know why he seems so familiar! He's Elly's brother!"

Casey looked confused. "Elly? The girl who told you about me?"

"Yes! I knew she has a brother, and she showed me a picture of him once."

"But why is he with Karai?"

"That's a very good question."