Page 98 of Whistleblower
I miss you.
Me
Are your pigtails in order?
Eden
Neat and tidy. Don’t you worry about a thing.
Me
Good. Now all we need is a naughty schoolgirl skirt.
Eden
Oh, Professor! That can be arranged.
I laugh out loud and try to cover it with a cough when Vesper shoots me a disapproving look from the passenger seat.
Me
I have to go. Miss you more.
I’ll admit the text is out of character for me but I’ve never been the type to care about anyone’s opinion of me, which is ideal because I don’t know how to justify over a thousand dead bodies in the ground. That number will continue to grow. The worst of humanity is becoming braver, more prevalent, and far more stupid. Easy targets. They’re so motivated by blind hate and power trips that they’re getting careless about who might be watching to deliver their swift justice…in the form of death.
Humans. We will, without a doubt, be the cause of our own extinction… It’s just a matter of when. I used to hope it’d be in my lifetime so I could watch the flames as I walked right through them. But since Eden came into the picture, I’m a little less motivated to face my own end.
Eden
Be safe.
Normally my departing commands are along the lines of, “keep it clean,” and, “no witnesses.” Be safe is a much sweeter send-off.
Vesper and I both shut off our phones and tuck them into the glove box. “They’re stalling,” Vesper huffs in annoyance. “If they take much longer I’ll have to switch to a night vision scope.”
I snort. “Cataracts getting to you, Grandma?”
She punches me in the thigh, hard. Shit! Vesper is under five-foot-seven and can’t weigh more than a buck twenty-five, so sometimes I forget how fucking unnaturally strong she is. “You’re not that far behind me buddy.” Age-wise Vesper isn’t old enough to be my mom. But based on how haunted she is, she might as well have lived a hundred lifetimes. I know who Lance and Cricket were before PALADIN. I still don’t know what motivated Vesper to become a killer.
I never asked.
She never offered.
Vesper taps the side of her assault rifle, a subtle tell of her nerves. Nobody else in the world would notice except me. I clear my throat, breaking the silence between us.
“Do you miss the field? Callen keeps you stuck behind that desk.”
“He likes to keep his captains well behind the front lines. Callen’s ex-military, did you know that? Navy SEAL.”
“Why the hell is he working for the FBI?”
“He took a slug in the gut during a Black Ops mission. He won’t talk about it, but they med-boarded him. I guess he missed the action and joined the FBI.”
Letting out a snarky laugh, I raise my brow at Vesper. “Action and FBI?”
“Listen cocky-ass, I saw some shit during my time with the FBI. You underestimate the agents. You speak to Cricket and Lance, but no one else. They’re all afraid of you, Linc. PALADIN under the FBI’s direction was supposed to help unify us.”
Turning my head, I glance at her with wide eyes. “Unify us? They’re glorified cops. If our targets weren’t on their most wanted list, they’d be hunting us, Vesper. What unity?”