Single Lady Spy 01 - The End of Me

whole world. I wouldn’t let her be dead in my mind. It was easy to suspect her of faking her death with James, after seeing the video. If she had actually died, I wasn’t sure I would recover from it. I muttered emptily, "What evidence do you all have, that it was actually them in the car? I'm assuming the bullshit I was fed from the two men who notified me of his death wasn’t real?"
    He crossed his arms, "The notification wasn’t staged, but what we told you wasn’t true.”
    I pointed at him, “I mean it—I’m not paying for that bastard’s funeral.”
    He chuckled, “I’ll tell the commander. The car bomb was real though. We have her rings and some dental. Him—we have the wedding band you were given back. The bomb was a type that uses chemicals to damage and erode the remains."
    I frowned, "And that doesn’t say set-up to you?"
    He shook his head , "We had eyes on them. They were in the car. This isn’t Mission Impossible, Evie."
    I let the words all sink in and shook my head, "I don’t know why, but her possible death hurts more than his."
    "Bros before hos."
    I frowned as tears streamed down my cheeks, "What?"
    He looked confused, "You know that old saying ‘bros before hos’? She was your bro and James was like your ho.”
    I laughed, "Oh my God, you are so twenty. That's not an old saying. I was a teenager when Snoop Dog made that up. Jesus."
    He chuckled and stood up, "I know who Snoop Dog is. Jeesh, I told you I'm twenty-eight. I just mean she was bigger in your heart, even if it didn’t feel like it, ‘cause she was your friend, not your lover. She was never blinded by love; she just wanted to be your friend. Are you going to be okay?"
    I nodded and wiped my face again. It was a lie, I didn’t think I would ever be okay. He walked to the bedroom door, it was then that it dawned on me how weird the whole thing was. He was standing in my dark bedroom, staring back at me. I didn’t know him and I didn’t like to cry in front of people I did know. I cleared my throat, "So, I guess we meet with Servario tomorrow then?"
    He nodded, "We think so. Our intel on his movements is bad. We don’t have much to go on. He's been playing us for a while. That lawyer was our first real break. We traced your deeds and paperwork back to him, through about a dozen other lawyers and a bunch of fake companies. The video of James mentioning you to Melanie, and the one of him and Servario, and the paperwork we have from the lawyer, are all the things connecting you to all this. Upstairs feels like it’s enough to bring you back in.”
    I shook my head, “I can’t believe, they would sell me down the river for so little. What the fuck is this Burrow?”
    He shrugged, “No clue, but Servario froze everything so he could control you and make you need him. He did all that for a reason. The thing can’t be that little, if the government and a huge arms dealer both want it. He needs you for something.”
    I bit my lip and thought for a second, “I don’t like going in blind.”
    He nodded again, “I know. We made sure the phone you got was one we could control, if you press 9-1-1, we can get to you. Servario may call, he may show up, we don’t actually know.”
    "Useful!” I rolled my eyes, “I love that I'm being risked out like this. Do I know about him and James and about The Burrow?"
    He shook his head, "No. Play dumb for now."
    My stomach clenched, "That won’t be hard. Will I be in danger? Should I get a gun?"
    He laughed, "No. When was the last time you fired a gun?"
    I shrugged, "I don’t know, a long time ago. Will you be there?"
    He smirked, "I've been there all along."
    I nodded and tried ignore the super-creepy feeling I got from the comment, "Okay…. Just turn my cell phone and house phones back on…okay? I need to be able to reach my kids if I’m out and they need to be able to call out, if there’s an emergency."
    He nodded and grinned, "Night, Evie." He left and closed the door. I didn’t go to sleep. I waited for him to leave, or at least gave him long enough to be gone. Then I got up and started to debug my house. It helped me process the fact, I would never get to be me again.

Chapter Four - Goodbyes aren't nearly as bad, when you hate the deceased

    To say I was pissed would be a HUGE understatement. It would be like saying Bostonians enjoyed the odd game of baseball or hockey.
    James’ service was lovely, but I couldn’t cry—not even for my two, desperately-sad