Discover Love(13)

 

"My fuck up?" he said coldly. "I'm not the one who pulled the trigger. So you'd better keep working your magic to make sure I'm safe. Because, as the American saying goes, 'If I go down, you go down with me'." Leaning back, he smiled, long and slow. "But then, only one of us has diplomatic immunity."

 

*

 

The Saints gathered around the table the next morning, listening and taking notes as Luke, Monty, and Patrick discussed their meeting with their contact. The others listened carefully, especially as Lin Wang was described.

 

As shoulders began to slump around the table, Jack said, "Well, as competent as she is, I definitely get the feeling that the special relationship we had with the Bureau is gone now that Mitch is no longer with them."

 

Luke nodded while Patrick grunted. "Yeah, boss, I'd have to agree. While she seems more than capable, I got the feeling she wasn't too happy to share the investigation with us."

 

"If she wasn't stretched so thin, she'd have fought her superiors more about bringing us in, I think," Monty concurred.

 

 

 

        

          

        

         

 

"Well, we play the cards we're dealt," Jack declared, leaning back in his seat, his eagle eyes on Luke. "So what have you discovered?"

 

Luke grinned as he sent his preliminary report to their tablets. "This guy is interesting, to say the least. Just when I think I've got him pegged, I find out something more. And I'll warn you, I've got a lot more digging to do on him. I'm only beginning to uncover the real Eli Frederick."

 

Taking a gulp of his caffeinated energy drink, he continued, "Eli Frederick was the only child of two academics. Now, while at first I thought of the similarities between him and me, I quickly realized that we had fundamental differences."

 

As he began to talk, weaving a few of his own experiences into the tale of Eli, the other Saints listened intently, realizing Luke was divulging more about himself than he had ever before.

 

"Eli's parents moved fairly often to different university cities. He was a brilliant student but, looking at notes from schools and social media, he was also bullied, had virtually no friends and I would bet he probably had rudimentary social skills. By the time he hit high school, he was already writing computer codes, in the math club … although not a leader, and, from what I can tell, was a loner with no friends."

 

With a self-deprecating shrug, he added, "With me, I was fortunate in that my parents didn't move around and we had a cool, kick-ass neighbor who took me under his wing. He taught me martial arts and how to stand up for myself. I used to talk to him and his wife all the time when my parents were buried in their ancient texts, so I learned conversational and social skills."

 

Luke's excitement was palatable and the other Saints shared smiles as they watched Luke's animation as he reported.

 

"Now, here's where it gets interesting, and I'm still digging so this is only preliminary. Eli went to MIT and was in their Engineering program. He was two years younger than me, but I started early so he was actually three years behind me in college. I never heard of him but, then, I was a senior by that time, so a freshman wouldn't have been in any of the same classes."

 

"Even as smart as he was?" Jude asked.

 

Luke smirked as he realized Jude was prodding him. "Hell, Engineering at MIT? Everyone was smart." Sobering, he said, "At a place like that, no one is a big fish anymore. Just all little fishes swimming in a great, big, fucking pond!"

 

The others laughed at Luke's college description before turning their attention back to his findings.

 

"At MIT he seemed to find his stride and, I've got to tell you, a university can be a mecca for someone like Eli … hell, for someone like me."  

 

The other Saints looked up and Luke sighed, rubbing his forehead. He battled how much to tell them … how could they possibly understand? But then he realized that the ten of them around the table had become a family, of sorts. As much as he knew about them, he also had to admit he had given them precious little of himself.

 

Leaning back in his chair, he pinned them with his stare. "Guys, I'm not going to insult you by assuming your childhood or young adulthood was easy … I know it wasn't for all of you. But as you stepped into manhood, it surely hasn't escaped your notice that most of you are big men, made even more powerful by your sports, exercise, or even former jobs. And this may sound weird coming from another guy, but not one of you is hard on the eyes and back before you found your special someone, our trips to Chuck's typically ended with the majority of you finding your evening spent with a hot girl on your lap and probably later in your bed."