“Nothing, I’m sure it was nothing.”
“I seriously doubt it’s nothing. What happened? Did that boy do something—?”
“No, no, nothing like that. Besides, we didn’t have time to do anything salacious,” he said, trying to use a bit of bad humor.
“Oka-ay,” Kira said, drawing out the word to ensure he knew she saw right through his bullshit.
“I thought I saw her.”
“Who?”
“Her,” he said emphatically.
“Oh.” Kira’s eyes flashed. Blayne couldn’t tell if shock, fear or anger crossed her face, but Kira masked her emotions as quickly as they had flared. “And?”
“I’m sure it was nothing. There was a custodian with a cart, but I swear it was her eyes.”
“Blayne,” Kira said, drawing out his name a little, “this isn’t exactly the first time you’ve seen ghosts.”
“I know. I know. I bet it was nothing. My mind played a trick on me.”
“And the custodian?”
“Never saw her again. She was gone by the time I got to where I’d seen her.”
“That is curious,” Kira said, with a slight tilt of her head and an eyebrow furrow.
“Not that curious. There are so many passages down here. It’s like a maze. She could have crawled and turned a corner before I’d gotten to her.”
Kira smiled and brought him in for a hug before she pushed him away gently. “Yeah, we aresonot huggers,” Blayne said.
“No, we’re not. Let’s pretend that didn’t happen.”
“Kira,” a woman’s voice said.
Blayne looked over to find Special Agent Sarah Murphy walking up to them. She was wearing an outfit that was similar to Blayne’s. She wore skintight black jeans, boots and a black leather jacket over a white T-shirt. Where Blayne’s outfit looked like he’d stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine, Agent Murphy looked like she was auditioning for the role of Sarah Connor in the nextTerminatormovie.
She reached out and brought Kira in for a hug before kissing her on the lips. Blayne averted his eyes to give the women a moment alone.
“How was your day?” Kira asked as she broke away.
“Not too bad. Busted a small drug ring that was using Houston Intercontinental to smuggle drugs from South America. We did all the work, ATF conducted the takedown and took all the credit for the cameras.”
“That sucks,” Kira said.
“It is what it is,” Sarah responded.
Sarah had transferred to the Emerald City, what people called the Houston FBI field office because it was made of green glass that made it stand out like a sore thumb. The local field office had fumbled the ball, so Sarah had been asked to step into the Chief of the Houston office while the FBI made long-term plans. Almost immediately, Kira and Sarah had started dating.
“So, have you seen Ethan?” Sarah asked, bringing Blayne into their conversation.
“Yes. I just got back from hanging out in his dressing room.”
“And?” Kira asked mischievously.
“And nothing,” Blayne responded. “I was a good boy and didn’t ravish him in his dressing room. Trust me, he wanted me to. He was only wearing his underwear when I walked in, and he proceeded to—”
“Eww,” Kira joked, scrunching up her face. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
