Single Lady Spy 01 - The End of Me

it was. Then the Korean War happened and they wanted the weapons. They wanted to win. The Master Key makes the call. He decides if the cause is worthy or not. He saw the request for aid from the Nations involved in the Korean War. He turned them down. It was then, that the first mission to try to find the Burrow was executed by our own governments. We had been brothers in arms and suddenly we were at war within our own ranks. The men working for the Burrow would die protecting it and the men working for the cause would die trying to find it.”
    I looked at Coop standing in the hallway. I could see he was as in the dark as I was.
    Fitz spoke through the bite he was chewing, “Then came the Vietnam War. The CIA would stop at nothing to get those weapons. The Burrow had been moved in secret to protect it. It was no easy feat. Everyone was so angry when they couldn’t find it, and then eventually more weapons started to disappear. Anytime a new one was created, it was taken. The Burrow grew as technology developed. It wasn’t even during the Gulf War, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq that we saw much threat against the Burrow. As technology grew, so did the Burrow’s capabilities. Since 9/11, we have had the hardest time keeping the Burrow a secret.” He sighed and ate another bite.
    I took a bite and chewed, “What kind of weapons?”
    Coop answered, “People.”
    Fitz looked back, “You are a sharp one.”
    Luce gave me a look, “People?”
    I shrugged.
    Jack inhaled sharply, “That actually makes sense.”
    I shook my head, “What does?”
    Coop crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, “They’re hiding the scientists and engineers, who pose a threat to society with their inventions and discoveries. Isn’t that right, Fitz?”
    Fitz nodded, “Yes, it is. You see , they always come from an innocent place. The intelligent mean well. The technology rarely has weaponry as the intention, but the governments, our own homeland security, CIA, MI6, and the UN always see it as potential. So we fake a death with a heart attack, or accident, or sometimes we just go with plain old missing persons. We take them and their work to the Burrow. We leave behind misinformation and lies. Nothing in this world is ever as it seems. You have to understand, everyone thinks the weapons will save them or give them the upper hand, but the council has to be able to see that winning won’t save us in the big picture. Pollution, destruction of country’s environments, destruction of land, deaths of innocents, upping the ante and winning, have to all be separated and looked at piece by piece.”
    I had only one question, “Where is the Burrow?”
    He shook his head, “I don’t know. Only the Master Key knows that.”
    Coop took his seat again, “Where is the Master Key?”
    Fitz shook his head, “I would die before I would reveal that. He or she must find you, if they wish to be found at all.”
    “Was my father a Master Key?”
    His eyes lit up, “He was so proud of you.”
    I shouted, “WAS HE, FITZ?”
    He jumped slightly, “He was. The Master Key dies when it’s his turn to retire. He always dies. There is no other way to protect his family, if it is discovered he was a Master Key. I have endangered you by telling you with these other people here. Your children will never be safe again. Are you happy you know?”
    I fought a sob, “Fuck!” What other word was there?
    I looked around the room for the magic beanbag, as my neck nearly seized.

Chapter Twelve – Love in all the wrong places

    I stared up into the dark ceiling and knew.
    There was one answer to the problem in my mind. I glanced over at Luce’s rising and falling chest. She was either sleeping or very good at faking.
    I reached for my clutch and slipped the phone from it. Coop had told me to leave it behind, but I hadn’t. I didn’t want to think about why. I looked at the screen and the number that had called seventeen times and pressed it. I pressed the message button and texted slowly, ‘Come Find Me! I’m in SLC’
    I pressed send and tried to keep my breathing even. What was he going to do to me, if I came back? Would he hurt me?
    I slipped from the bed and tiptoed from the room and down the hall. I picked my shoes up, but as I rounded the corner I heard a whisper, “You won’t get far you know. Mister serious, he likes you.”
    I turned to see a pair of dark eyes in the shadowed corner of the store.
    I nodded, “He’s like nine-years old.