Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

given him a kiss on the cheek as he left that morning with the video phone in one pocket and a personal phone in the other. He'd driven for over an hour until he found a little suburban park with small rolling hills, a duck pond, and small children running around in the sand while their mothers and nannies looked on. It was the kind of park he had always wanted to have near whatever home he was in, but that had rarely been the case. It was the kind of park in the kind of neighborhood that he always thought of raising his own kids in. Back when he still thought about having kids.
    It wasn't even 10 a.m. yet but it was a warm day with a cool breeze, and Sebastian took his time just strolling along the little walking paths, breathing the air, and turning his face towards the sun. There was a bench near the duck pond, and as he sat on it, he realized that he could happily close his eyes and take a nap in the warm sun and cool breeze. Instead, he looked around for witnesses and then took out the phone. The video was preset to send, and there was only one number programmed in it. He hit call.
    The phone rang and kept ringing. It would be embarrassing if he came all the way out here and Agent Kim didn't pick up.
    "Hello."
    "Agent Kim?"
    There was a brief pause. "Who is this? Where did you get this number?"
    "Gerald Delaware is alive and safe. He gave me this number. You have a leak, and the agents meant to protect him walked away. You're about to receive a message from him. Fix that leak now and he'll contact you again." Sebastian hung up the phone, and then hit send on the video. Even with a solid data signal the upload wasn't instantaneous, and the seconds ticked by slowly. By the time a confirmation finally popped up informing him the message had been sent, he was on the verge of panic, even if it had been all of thirty seconds.
    The phone rang, and Sebastian jumped. The caller ID was for Agent Kim's private phone. Sebastian hit ignore, then flipped open the phone and yanked out the battery and the SIM card. He wiped every bit down with a tissue just in case, then with a quick underhand flick, and the suppression of much guilt, the phone sailed into the duck pond. He pocketed the SIM card to go into the trash, and the battery to go into an electronics recycling box. His inner environmentalist hadn't been able to leave the battery for the ducks. They probably had their own problems already.
    He casually strolled back to his car and took a long and winding road home.
    When he got home, he drove around the block three times, looking for anything amiss. Daren was waiting for him as he got inside. He'd insisted on pulling on his new jeans that morning. Sebastian had underestimated just how much muscle mass Daren still had and the jeans were a little on the tight side. Not that they didn't fit; they fit very well. A little too well and Sebastian was trying his best not to ogle.
    "How'd it go?"
    "Piece of cake. And now we wait."
    "I've never been good at waiting. I was even born a month early." Daren limped over to the fridge and reached inside. Sebastian noticed pots and a messy bowl and some dirty utensils on the kitchen counter. Daren pulled out a plate with two sandwiches on it. "I cooked." He grinned in obvious pride.
    Sebastian took one of the sandwiches and examined it carefully. It looked to be egg salad with tomatoes. "You made egg salad?" Sebastian was impressed.
    "I got the recipe off the net." Sebastian took a bite and gave a little cough as he felt his sinuses begin to drain. "The recipe said use a tablespoon of mustard, but I think they must have meant like the mustard you put on hotdogs and not the powdered mustard I found in the back of the cupboard.
    "Yeah. I think so." Sebastian took another bite. It actually wasn't half bad once he got past the shock of the burn. "Wait a second. How did you get on the net?"
    "Your password is Nimitz. You said your first post was an aircraft carrier. I took a guess, got it on the second try."
    "That's hacking."
    "I know."
    Daren took his own sandwich to the table, forgoing his cane. His leg seemed to hold up well for at least the first half of the day, though if he wasn't careful, he could barely stand by dinner. "So, what should we do while we wait?"
    "I don't know, watch TV?"
    "Anything good on TV?"
    "Let's find out."
    The answer was no. They got through the Young and the Restless , Days of our Lives , and General Hospital before flipping over to Univision where they spent