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Authors: Sarah Alderson
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She has dirty blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and she’s smiling in his memory, kind of gawky and wide-eyed. And then the memory picture flits to some other place and everyone’s wearing black and I’m guessing it’s a funeral and Alex is holding Lila’s hand at the edge of a grave. But then the memory wipes and Alex is back in the moment.
‘It’s not safe for her here,’ Jack says, scowling at the bar.
‘We’ll keep an eye on her. She’ll be fine.’
Not if Demos has his way, I think to myself.
Alicia suddenly bursts into my head-space again, as though she’s an air traffic controller and I’m a circling plane.
Suki, start talking to them. Find out more about Lila if you can and about what the Unit’s next move is. And please, try to focus on gathering useful intel about their next move, we don’t need to find out what their relationship status is.
I tell Alicia silently to roger that and then I lean over the bar, angle my body towards Alex and give him my sultriest smile. ‘What does one have to do to get service around here?’ I say, ‘Strip naked and dance on the bar?’
Jack pauses, shifts on his stool and then gives me a wide smile. ‘You could try that. We wouldn’t stop you,’ he says.
‘Jack,’ Alex warns, shaking his head. He smiles apologetically at me then sticks his hand in the air and nods at the barman, who comes straight over.
‘What can I get you?’ the barman asks.
‘Would you like anything?’ I say, turning to Alex and Jack.
I’m hoping I will hear Alex say ‘ just you’ in his head, but he doesn’t. He says, ‘No, thank you,’ to my face, his thoughts distracted, still on this girl Lila.
Jack, on the other hand, is definitely checking me out. I catch him staring at my shoes. He thinks I have cute legs but then he remembers a girl called Sara and looks away guiltily.
‘A diet Coke, please,’ I tell the barman.
‘I’m Jack,’ Jack says to me, ‘and this is Alex.’ He tips his head in Alex’s direction.
‘I’m Suki Nakamura,’ I say, holding out my hand.
Oh, good one, Suki, why not just tell them you’re a psy and ask them to contain you whilst you’re at it? Alicia hisses.
‘So,’ I begin, hurrying on, hoping if I smile brightly enough and flutter my eyelashes they’ll forget my name. ‘What do you two do?’ I pause. ‘No, don’t tell me! Do you catch bad guys?’
‘How did you guess?’ Jack asks, smiling.
‘I’m a mind-reader,’ I say, then laugh loudly trying to cover up Alicia swearing in my head. ‘Haha, just kidding. I just know that this is where all the Marines hang out.’
‘So, you like a man in uniform then?’ Jack asks. He’s propped up against the bar but he leans in towards me, and in a low, conspiratorial voice that almost sends me into spasm, says, ‘Maybe Alex can show you his weapon later.’
I glance at Alex. He looks like he’s deeply interested in the game playing on the television over the bar but, in actual fact, he’s thinking about how he’s going to kill Jack later.
I giggle. He can show me anything, so long as it’s not that weapon the Unit use to paralyse us.
‘Are you good at catching bad guys?’ I ask, forcing a light tone into my voice.
Jack’s expression turns grim. He frowns and for a second he looks like he’s about eight years’ old. An image of Demos appears in his head. It’s painted red.
‘We’re good at catching bad guys,’ I hear Alex say. ‘And very soon we’ll have caught the bad guy we’ve been hunting for a very long time. And then we’re going to make him pay.’
Before I even turn around I see the same image of Demos in Alex’s head. ‘Soon?’ I ask, turning around to face him, smiling innocently. ‘How soon? As in tomorrow? What did he do this very bad bad guy?”
Alex frowns at me, his eyes narrowing. ‘I didn’t say that out loud,’ he murmurs, slowly rising from his stool.
For an instant I’m frozen like a bunny in headlights on a dark road. I
‘It’s not safe for her here,’ Jack says, scowling at the bar.
‘We’ll keep an eye on her. She’ll be fine.’
Not if Demos has his way, I think to myself.
Alicia suddenly bursts into my head-space again, as though she’s an air traffic controller and I’m a circling plane.
Suki, start talking to them. Find out more about Lila if you can and about what the Unit’s next move is. And please, try to focus on gathering useful intel about their next move, we don’t need to find out what their relationship status is.
I tell Alicia silently to roger that and then I lean over the bar, angle my body towards Alex and give him my sultriest smile. ‘What does one have to do to get service around here?’ I say, ‘Strip naked and dance on the bar?’
Jack pauses, shifts on his stool and then gives me a wide smile. ‘You could try that. We wouldn’t stop you,’ he says.
‘Jack,’ Alex warns, shaking his head. He smiles apologetically at me then sticks his hand in the air and nods at the barman, who comes straight over.
‘What can I get you?’ the barman asks.
‘Would you like anything?’ I say, turning to Alex and Jack.
I’m hoping I will hear Alex say ‘ just you’ in his head, but he doesn’t. He says, ‘No, thank you,’ to my face, his thoughts distracted, still on this girl Lila.
Jack, on the other hand, is definitely checking me out. I catch him staring at my shoes. He thinks I have cute legs but then he remembers a girl called Sara and looks away guiltily.
‘A diet Coke, please,’ I tell the barman.
‘I’m Jack,’ Jack says to me, ‘and this is Alex.’ He tips his head in Alex’s direction.
‘I’m Suki Nakamura,’ I say, holding out my hand.
Oh, good one, Suki, why not just tell them you’re a psy and ask them to contain you whilst you’re at it? Alicia hisses.
‘So,’ I begin, hurrying on, hoping if I smile brightly enough and flutter my eyelashes they’ll forget my name. ‘What do you two do?’ I pause. ‘No, don’t tell me! Do you catch bad guys?’
‘How did you guess?’ Jack asks, smiling.
‘I’m a mind-reader,’ I say, then laugh loudly trying to cover up Alicia swearing in my head. ‘Haha, just kidding. I just know that this is where all the Marines hang out.’
‘So, you like a man in uniform then?’ Jack asks. He’s propped up against the bar but he leans in towards me, and in a low, conspiratorial voice that almost sends me into spasm, says, ‘Maybe Alex can show you his weapon later.’
I glance at Alex. He looks like he’s deeply interested in the game playing on the television over the bar but, in actual fact, he’s thinking about how he’s going to kill Jack later.
I giggle. He can show me anything, so long as it’s not that weapon the Unit use to paralyse us.
‘Are you good at catching bad guys?’ I ask, forcing a light tone into my voice.
Jack’s expression turns grim. He frowns and for a second he looks like he’s about eight years’ old. An image of Demos appears in his head. It’s painted red.
‘We’re good at catching bad guys,’ I hear Alex say. ‘And very soon we’ll have caught the bad guy we’ve been hunting for a very long time. And then we’re going to make him pay.’
Before I even turn around I see the same image of Demos in Alex’s head. ‘Soon?’ I ask, turning around to face him, smiling innocently. ‘How soon? As in tomorrow? What did he do this very bad bad guy?”
Alex frowns at me, his eyes narrowing. ‘I didn’t say that out loud,’ he murmurs, slowly rising from his stool.
For an instant I’m frozen like a bunny in headlights on a dark road. I
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