Page 30 of The Big Fix

“I agree. Thank you, Hunt.”

“If you don’t have a bed for me, sir, I can go out on the balcony and—”

“No. Down the hall at the very end there’s two empty rooms. Pick whichever you like,” I directed him.

“Thank you, sir.” He gave me a tip of his head, then shouldered his bag and headed down the hallway. He didn’t have a rifle with him, so I needed to ask him where he—

“Oh shit, look who it is!” Chris announced. He must’ve gotten up to go to the bathroom and found himself face-to-face with George Hunt.

“Old man,” George said with clear affection in his voice. “You ain’t dead yet?”

Chris flipped him off. “What’re you doing here?”

“Gonna watch your back for ya,” he said, grasping Chris’s offered hand. “Do my thing.”

“Where’s your gun?”

“My boss—well, my boss when I’m not deployed—Miguel Romero, he flew it over for me on Mr. Sutter’s plane earlier in the day. I picked it up and stashed it already before I got here. I didn’t know how secure the hotel was, so…you know.”

“I do know. That’s smart, as long as nobody finds it.”

He scoffed. “Ain’t nobody finding that gun but me.”

Chris grinned at him. “I’ve got two beds. You wanna bunk in here?”

“If you snore, I will shoot you in the head.”

“Then you’ll have to explain it to Jill.”

George went still. “Shit. Fine. Just don’t fuckin’ snore,” he groused, shoving Chris aside and walking into his room.

Chris turned then and saw me. He tipped his head over his shoulder. “You should thank Darius, and probably Miguel, while you’re at it.”

Which told me everything I needed to know about George Hunt. I nodded back, and he continued on to the bathroom.

Hours later, I was still staring at the ceiling, wide awake. I went out into the living room and found Arden camped on the sofa, in the dark, drinking mint tea, a pot on the table in front of her, with the bright blaze of downtown Bangkok silently pulsing below.

“I’m glad to see someone else is awake,” I said, joining her and pouring myself some. “Can’t sleep?”

“I’m wired and worried. Add jet lag to that and it’s an uncomfortable combination.”

I knew all about no sleep and jet lag. “I’m sorry I’ve put you in the middle of—”

“Please stop,” she said gently but firmly, taking quick hold of my forearm. “We both know where I was headed before you found me on the streets of Tokyo.”

I nodded. We didn’t need to rehash.

“I told you I wanted to be a pilot, and you made me a pilot, and I learned some other skills along the way.”

Like surveillance, how to blend into the scenery and be untraceable, and of course, how to incapacitate anyone in seconds. Jing was the bloodthirsty one. Arden was more about leaving people alive but either unconscious or in a whole lot of pain.

“Please don’t ever apologize to me,” she insisted. “You’re a hero. I like working for a hero.”

“No, Arden, I—”

“I’ve read your file. You know that.”

I shook my head.