Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

Sebastian rolled over and pulled Daren into a kiss, tangling their legs and quickening their breaths, determined to make them both forget, for a time, the danger swirling around them.
    In the morning, Rachael gave them both a look which clearly conveyed that perhaps they hadn't been as quiet as they thought, and they would be washing the sheets. Sebastian couldn't bother to be really embarrassed though, he was feeling too good. He made breakfast for them all, oatmeal with dried fruit, and they got on with their day.
    Over the next few days, as Tuesday approached, the worry and paranoia seemed to ebb and flow. There were moments, when they cuddled on the couch and watched bad movies, where it felt like nothing could possibly be wrong in either of their lives.
    Then there were moments when, at night, a vehicle would stop and idle on their street. Sebastian would lay awake until dawn, holding Daren tight, sure that SWAT or mercenary commandos were about to burst through the door.
    By Tuesday morning, Sebastian thought the ebb and flow just might send him into an early heart attack.
    He was getting ready to drive out to make a call to Agent Kim when his phone rang. Sebastian didn't recognize the number and was tempted not to pick it up. It stopped ringing. He looked to Daren and Rachael. "Who do you think that was?"
    Rachael looked at the number on the phone. "Probably no one good. Delivering information we don't want." The phone began to ring again. "Pick it up. I'll grab our bags."
    "Hello?" There was the noise of people and rumbling in the background.
    "Mr. Thompson, this is Agent Kim."
    "How'd you get this number?" Sebastian blurted out.
    "I'm an FBI agent, and I'm calling from a fucking payphone at the airport with quarters. I feel like I'm in a goddamn mob movie."
    Sebastian's heart was racing, and his hands began to shake. Rachael had the bags lined up. Daren's knuckles were going white around the handle of his cane. "Look, Agent, I don't know what you think…"
    "Okay, shut up and listen. I've got what you want; pulled in a million fucking favors, but I've got a tail."
    "Yours or theirs?"
    "You know what? I don't think there's a difference any more, but I first noticed them last night. I've been trying to act normally. I'm on a fucking late lunch-break here." Agent Kim sounded both angry and terrified.
    "Can you shake them?"
    "Already done for now and I can do it again. Any chance you can move your flight up? We can do the hand-off quickly, and you can get out of here."
    Sebastian cupped his hand over the phone. "Can we move the flight up?"
    "To when?"
    "Today."
    Daren's eyes went wide, and he grabbed his own phone. "Let me find out."
    "Give me a sec."
    "Good."
    Daren was talking quickly and harshly into his phone. "Three thirty. They'll bump another flight."
    "We can bump it," Sebastian passed along.
    "Where should we meet? I don't think I have a lot of time."
    "Where?" Sebastian mouthed to Rachael. She quickly wrote down an address and a time for Sebastian to pass along.
    "Got it. I'm dumping my car here and grabbing the most generic rental I can find. Then I'm getting out of town, laying low for a bit, try to figure out who I can trust."
    "Welcome to our lives."
    "I've already dumped all my phones. I'll find another pay phone if something goes wrong." There was the distinct clang of a pay phone being slammed down.
    Sebastian turned to the other two. "Okay, Agent Kim has got a tail, he's not sure who it is, but he wants to make the tradeoff quick. I guess this is really happening." Sebastian's hands had not stopped shaking.
    "Or we're being set up," Rachael pointed out.
    "Flip a coin, either we make a run for it or we don't."
    "We retreat." Daren said, looking far too calm. "We retreat, we regroup, we find our allies. This will happen. I'm not letting them win."
    "Okay, let's pack up and go over the plans."
    "I'm going to change," Daren announced. "If I'm going to be arrested or killed it's not going to be in shorts and a cotton-poly-blend T-shirt."
    Rachael held out a Beretta M9 in a holster to Sebastian.
    "No. I can't."
    "You went through Basic; you know how to use it."
    "Hospital Corps! Hospital Corpsmen First Class, that's me. I wore a Caduceus on my uniform."
    "Do you really think these people are not going to shoot at you, or Daren, if you try to tell them you're a medic? This isn't war, this is business and family, and that means there are no fucking rules!"
    Sebastian took the weapon and tucked into the