Single Lady Spy 01 - The End of Me

door opened. Coop jumped in and slammed the door. He shook his head and pulled off the wet coat he was wearing.
    "That was fun." he smirked at me.
    "What are you doing? You should have told me, I was getting a different cabbie. Did you hide in the carwash all this time?" I asked looking around the car wash.
    "No. Can't always get the same driver. Duh." He leaned forward and slapped Luce on the arm, "You get the bugs out?"
    She stared back at him with a deadly stare. Her body looked thicker than mine, how an agent should look. I bet she could bench press me. I looked at my feeble arms and remembered how they used to look. I used to be beefier. Yoga was relaxing, but I wasn’t building any bulk in those classes.
    Coop turned and smirked, "How was it?"
    I frowned, "I can't do it. I'm going to have to run for it."
    He frowned back, "What? Did he hurt you?"
    I laughed, and tried not to think about the thing he did do to me. I shook my head, "No. He was a perfect gentleman," I lied.
    Luce looked back and smirked, "He's hot, like what-the-hell hot. I’d let him hurt me for an hour or two. Shit, I might hurt him."
    I continued laughing and tried to cover my blush, "Yeah, uhm—wow. When did arms dealers stop looking like Boris Yeltsin or Bin Laden? I actually remember when George Bush Junior was the hot guy in amongst the dictators and presidents."
    She laughed with me, but Coop frowned, "He's a murderer."
    I nodded, "I got the impression he didn’t think Mel and James were dead. Of course, there is also the fact, he asked me to murder a fat guy in a cliché, gangster white suit."
    Luce winced, "No one looks hot in a white suit. Not since Miami Vice."
    I pointed at her, "True story."
    We were instant friends. I liked it.
    Coop looked confused. I liked that too.
    The wash ended, forcing Coop to slink back in the seat. He ducked down quickly when Luce started the car and drove out.
    "I can't kill that man," I muttered, not wanting Luce to hear I was all bark and no bite.
    He nodded, "I know, and yet, you have to." His eyes twinkled. The steely blue was gone and in its stead was a sarcastic brightness.
    I felt my eye twitch with nerves, "You're getting off on this, aren’t you?"
    He nodded and snickered, it was a real snicker like a kid would do. "I am. You are well known as a former female counter Intel agent. It's fun to see you freak out and not know what the hell to do."
    Luce turned back as she drove out of the city, "It's true. I am honored to be working with you. It's good to have you back."
    I shook my head, "No. Not back. I'm not working again."
    She gave me a look in the rearview, "You sure about that."
    I sighed, defeated, "No."
    Coop put his hand on mine and squeezed, "I’ve got this. Trust me okay?"
    Looking into his eyes, I could see it was back. The flash of light and funny was gone. His eyes were almost gray , they were so icy .
    I did trust him. I didn’t know why, but I did. Maybe because, he was mean enough to be capable.
    When Luce dropped me off, Coop whispered, "See you in five."
    I gulped and got out, "Thanks for the ride."
    She nodded, "No worries. See you soon. Vegas baby!!"
    I closed the door and walked up to the house. My house, that for the first time, I was scared of. I didn’t know what would be waiting in the house for me. A small part of me wished it were my kids and my mom waiting for me. I would have even taken James, greeting me at the front door. He was the devil, I knew.
    Instead, it was dimly lit from the setting sun and frightening. My home felt as fake as everything else. My life was a mess and the road to fixing it seemed outlandish, even to an ex-Intel agent.
    I was standing in the middle of the foyer, terrified to enter the rest of the house and be alone in it, when Coop came through the kitchen. He walked across the rooms, making no noise.
    Seeing his silhouette in the shadows of the house, made me feel better—less alone in the world. He whispered, "You need to get ready."
    I whispered back, "I know." But I didn’t know why we were whispering. I had debugged everything, hadn’t I?

Chapter Six - The Mile-High Club

    I scrubbed, shaved, used a loofah on everything, and then got out the tools for the plucking and primping. I didn’t know the last time I'd done it and I didn’t want to admit, why I was doing it. Instead, I told myself it was like shedding the skin of the old me. The me that bought all of James' lines.
    I frowned when I thought about the fact, I was again