“What’s up boss?”
“Hey Jos. I have a couple of things I need to run by you, if you have the time.” As the cab pulled up, Fox opened the door for me before sliding in himself. “468 Crescent Circle, please.” I told the cab driver before returning my attention back to Josie, “what would you say to Maverick coming to work at Storm Industries? I’ve been thinking about hiring another hacker and it would take care of the distance thing for you guys.”
She was quiet for a really long time, “Can I think about it?”
“Of course. The other thing I need to know is if we have any assignments coming up. Fox wants me to meet his parents.”
“Let me check the calendar really quick,” I heard typing before she came back to the phone, “We’re free for a hot minute unless something comes up in Lyosha’s program or we get a request from the government.”
“Great. Thanks for checking, and get back to me when you’ve made a decision on the Maverick thing.”
“Will do. Talk to you later.”
“Thanks Jos. Bye,” I said before disconnecting. “Jos said we don’t have another assignment for a while, unless something comes up, so I think we should try to do it soon before anything comes up.”
He chuckled as we got out of the cab, “Okay I’ll talk to my parents once we’re done here.”
Before I could knock, Linda opened the door. She hugged me tight before moving onto Fox. “Come in, come in! Get out of the cold.”
Fox handed Linda the chocolates he had gotten for her, “I hope you like these.”
Linda grinned widely, “Amaya must have told you these were my favorites. Thank you.”
“I didn’t. He has a knack for picking out gifts. A while back he got me the most amazing set of books,” I told her.
“Jane Austens?” Linda asked as we walked into the kitchen where Mark was stirring a pot of chili.
“First editions Emma and Sense and Sensibility and a second edition Persuasion,” I confirmed with a nod of my head.
Linda looked over at Fox, “Jane Austen has always been one of her favorite authors. We could hardly get her to put them down when she was younger.”
“I figured she would go into something in literature. You know editing or publishing,” Mark added, walking around the bar to give me a hug. He shook Fox’s hand before Fox gave him the gift. “Johnnie Walker Gold?” Mark whistled and looked over at me, “did you help him pick this out?”
I smiled but shook my head, “He picked out Aunt Linda’s favorite chocolates too.”
“I can see why Daniel lets you stay around,” Mark said with a laugh, “I hope chili is okay. It’s one of Amaya’s favorites.”
“Chili is good. It’s one of my favorites too,” Fox said with a smile. We settled in around the table and fell into an easy conversation.
“How did the meeting this morning with the Rear Admiral go?” I asked, taking a sip of my coffee after we finished lunch.
Mark laughed, “The Admiral was less than pleased, saying if you were The Ghost or knew of The Ghost, you and Fox shouldn’t be hassled for it because The Ghost has helped so many of our service members. He was bumped down to Lieutenant Commander, and will be shipping out to the USS Nimitz. It would have been a little less severe but he planted a completely unauthorized bug on you which is a gross misconduct. He’s lucky he was just bumped down and not dishonorably discharged for that.”
“No chance he’ll get the opportunity to make Fox’s life more difficult than it should be even out there?”
Mark shook his head, “There’s only the slightest chance, but he knows if he does, his whole career is over. Not to mention the idea that you are The Ghost is probably enough to keep him at bay.”
I smirked, “Let’s hope that’s enough. I doubt anyone would like how I handled the situation.”
“I certainly won’t. Besides I thought we agreed when you started this whole thing, no killing on US soil.”
I snorted, “I don’t remember that.” Mark sighed, causing me to laugh, “You know I wouldn’t do that. Especially considering we’re having this conversation, so if he ever went missing, I would be the prime suspect.”
“That somehow doesn’t make me feel better,” Mark said with another sigh.
“All right. That’s enough shop talk, you two,” Linda chided, getting up from her seat on the couch. “I believe I promised Fox a look at your baby photos.”
I groaned, “No.”
Fox chucked, “Trust me mine are worse,” I started to interrupt him, “No. Trust me mine are worse. I’ll get Mom to show you all of them. Viola probably has too many stories too.”
“Your sister was married to a Marine, right?” Mark asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“He was on one of the first assignments that was set up by those traitors. They were one of the first to raise flags which prompted the invention of The Ghost,” Mark explained. “I just wish we had spotted it earlier.”
“Me too, but at least it was spotted. It could’ve been much worse,” I responded with a sad smile.
Linda came out of wherever she hides my baby photos. She told every story behind each photo. “I need a couple of copies of these. Jax, I’m sure, would love to see them,” Fox said with a smirk when Linda got to the end of them.
“No. No copies. You’re lucky these survived. If you make copies they will all go missing, and Aunt Linda would be very upset,” I responded, causing everyone to laugh.
“You probably would too,” Fox said with a sigh.
“She would. Why do you think I hide them from her?” Linda started packing the photos up, “You have no idea how many she’s gotten rid of before I managed to hide them where she couldn’t find them.”
“She even got into our safe,” Mark said with a small proud smile on his face, “I still don’t know how she did it.”
Fox gave me a look of disbelief. I shrugged, “I’m gifted,” Linda scoffed, causing me to laugh, “You guys should be happy I didn’t turn out to be a thief.”
“Yes, we’re so proud of you for not becoming a criminal,” Linda patted my hand, “Good job.”
I beamed at her, “Thank you! It was a hard decision.”
Fox kissed my temple, “You are such a smartass,” he whispered in my ear, causing me to laugh loudly.
I helped Mark carry the dessert dishes into the kitchen. As I set the dishes into the sink, Mark turned me to him, “You seem really happy, kiddo.”
I smiled, “I am.”
“I know you can’t or don’t want to talk about whatever happened to you a couple of years ago, but I’m glad to see you smiling again,” I let out a sad sigh, “Your dad would never admit it, but he was really worried about you. Now when we talk, he’s a lot less stressed, about you, anyway.”
I wrapped my arms around him in a hug, which he gladly returned. I gave him a tight squeeze before releasing him. “I’m glad to be smiling again. I just wish I had the time to come see you guys more often,” I sighed again, “Maybe one day.”
“If you guys start having kids, you better be here every week at least once,” he said in a serious tone, causing me to laugh.
“Sir yes sir,” I responded with a salute.
He laughed, “Are you two serious? Like ‘have kids’ serious?”
I nodded, “It’ll be awhile before we have kids, but it’ll happen at some point.”
“It better not be too long. We want to spend time with our grandkids.”
I smiled, “It’ll be before you die, I promise.”
He chuckled, “It better be. Linda will never forgive you if it isn’t.”
He slung his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him as we walked back into the dining room. We chatted for a few more hours before I stood, “We really need to get on the road if we’re going to make it back to Chesapeake before sundown.”
“You guys could just stay the night,” Linda said.
Fox and I chuckled, “I need to get some work done, and Fox has to report tomorrow.”
Linda gave me a tight hug, “Come back soon. Several months is too long.”
“I know. We’ll be back as soon as we can, and I promise to make that sooner rather than later.”
Fox gave Mark a firm handshake and Linda a hug while I gave them both a tight hug, “Drive safe, and text one of us when you get back.”
“I will. I’m glad you guys were able to meet Fox,” I responded.
Author: Kailan Counahan 