"Six," he said.
There was a crackle on the line.
"Hello. Is there anybody there?" Six pulled the phone away from his ear and checked the caller display. Unknown number.
"Six, man. It's Mac." The line was severely distorted, but he was thrilled to hear his friend.
"Yo, Mac. How's it going?" He turned the tap off and wrapped a towel around his waist before he wandered back into his room to lie down on the bed.
"Good. Sorry I haven't been around, but this was a quick and dirty job, good pay, and it seemed stupid to turn it down."
"Dude, I'm living in a house that needs a shit ton of work. Anything that pays the bills is priority. How's it working out? Did you find the father and daughter?"
"Took us too long to track the girl down. We need more unit-level training for it to come together and a better intel network, but I know Cabe's working on that. I'm pretty certain that the guy doesn't know we're hunting, but he keeps moving her around. I'm not sure he has anywhere permanent lined up for them to live, which tells me he abducted her on a whim rather than with a well-thought-out plan. Anyway, we're going in tomorrow. Quick in and out."
Six remembered the calm he'd used to feel the night before an extraction, the way he could still his mind until he was almost meditating. Perhaps he should try that now. Regain some control. He'd been slacking lately. If his mom and dad weren't out of town, he would have gone to spend some time with his mom. She was a great sounding board and wouldn't judge what he was going through.
"Take care, brother," he said.
"On it! Speak to you when it's done."
The phone disconnected.
Six returned to the bathroom and studied his face in the mirror before sitting on the edge of the bath. Perhaps he should shave, throw on a shirt, and head out for a drink. Call up a couple of buddies … Wait, scratch that … Call up one of the girls he knew was happy to have a good time, and go out for dinner. But for some reason a quick hookup didn't appeal. Instead wavy dark hair and expressive eyes hidden behind bangs flashed through his mind.
Louisa. He'd seen the way she'd bitten back a grin when he'd teased her and he liked how he'd felt with her. And she hadn't judged him for hitting the ground, at least not as far as he could tell. It had been a long time since a woman had done more than interest him, but Louisa had intrigued him. Made him curious. Now he wanted to know more about her.
But she probably lived in the city, and the idea of fighting traffic was more than he could deal with. Plus, he'd just left her a few hours ago.
The clock on his phone told him it was nearly eight. There was still enough half light to get a surf in, and he stood, seriously considering the idea, but for some reason he just didn't feel like it.
Why couldn't he decide what to do?
A soak for his tired muscles, a night in, a mindless movie, pizza, and a cold beer. He'd make lousy company in this frame of mind.
Six grabbed his phone and hit the kitchen for a cold beer. Once he'd taken a sip, he grabbed Louisa's card. He wasn't sure why he suddenly felt the need to contact her, but he did. If he didn't, he'd probably end up pulling on some clothes before hitting the highway to find her and convince her to go out to dinner. Five more minutes with her would surely answer his questions about why she was on his mind so much.
Wanted to check you got home okay? 6
There was a pause, the little dots bouncing in the corner of the screen, and he was surprised to find his heart rate elevated a little in anticipation.
I did, thank you. Did you?
He laughed. Usually girls wrote him freaking essays when he texted them. But Louisa spared nothing.
I did … Now what should he write? What are you doing?
Really original. Good job he wasn't particularly trying to impress her.
Reading a book on the top medical advancements of the twentieth century.
Six laughed. Of course you are.
He waited for a response.
Hey, if you needed insulin, you'd be pretty excited by it. What are you doing?
Unable to resist, he was honest. Drinking a beer.
Of course you are. Good night, Six.
Good night, Lou.
* * *
Louisa stepped into the lab and looked around. Everything was exactly as she'd left it the night before, but she was starting to think that appearances didn't mean a damn thing.
In spite of logic telling her there must be a rational explanation as to why the sample was missing, it felt as though someone was squeezing her chest tightly. She took some deep breaths anyway in the hope they would deal with the tiny flicker of fear she felt in the pit of her stomach. Even though she could recite the details of the sample in her sleep, Louisa hurried to the file on her desk to remind herself of its composition. While she was reasonably certain it was innocuous, it was definitely worth double-checking. Flicking through the pages, she confirmed what she already knew. Nobody was at risk from the missing sample if it had been taken for erroneous reasons, which was most certainly a relief.