Newport, Northeastern United States, October 17th
Nigel sat in his kitchen watching the sunrise. He made a fresh pot of coffee; it wasn’t his favorite blend, but Jet had taken to it since he rescued her from the island. He didn’t like to think about that dark time. When he did, he thought of Natasha, and it made him sad.
She gave her life to save mine and Jet’s. If it hadn’t been for her, Delta would have detonated the malware and doxed the world.
Nigel put aside those feelings for now; he wanted to spend the day fixing up their new business. Jet and Nigel had gotten to know each other well over the past two years. He thought he could spend the rest of his life with her.
“Hey, Nige, how you doing this morning?” Jet asked as she entered the room.
“Huh?” Nigel blurted. “Sorry, I was kind of out of it for a bit.”
“Hope I didn’t keep you up too late?” Jet said, giving Nigel a smile.
“No, even with last night’s activities, I got plenty of sleep.”
Nigel couldn’t help but smile. Being with Jet made him feel lighter, and he couldn’t explain it—even after everything the two had shared, such as the near-death experiences and her kidnapping. He wasn’t sure if he would have felt the same way about their relationship if they hadn’t had those experiences—he was certain of that.
“Have you been to the office yet?” Jet asked.
“No, I was waiting for you. I figured we would have some breakfast first.”
“Hmm, the coffee smells great, you know how to please a girl,” Jet said as she gave him a kiss.
Nigel blushed.
An hour later, Nigel and Jet opened the door to their fledgling investigative services business. Mitch, Jet’s father, had gotten a deal on a year’s lease, and with the Newport economy being the way it had been, the landlord was eager to get a paying tenant.
“We have messages,” Jet said.
“Wow, I didn’t think anyone knew we were open yet.”
Jet played the message.
Hey Nigel, I know it’s been a while, and I know I should have kept in touch this past year. But, with Father passing and all the craziness we all went through, I thought it would be fitting if your first job came from a friend. Oh, I’m in the New York area until the end of the week. I would like to see you before I go back to Edinburgh. Oh, bring Jet too, it’s about time we had a proper introduction. My number is 202-555-3876.
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Hope to talk soon.
Mel.
“Mel? Jeremiah’s daughter?” Jet asked.
Crap, I should have told Jet about the call with Melissa I had earlier.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“New York is a four-hour drive, maybe we should call her back?”
Nigel flashed back to Melissa’s battered face, and Hunter’s gleeful look as Melissa’s beauty was compromised by the beating from his crazy bitch of a mother.
Jet put a comforting hand on Nigel’s shoulder. “I still have nightmares from that time. It was almost a year ago now. I’m here for you, Nige,” she said.
Nigel looked up at the woman she had become. Her eyes were moist, and so were his. He got up and gave her a kiss. They embraced; her scent excited and calmed him at the same time. He kissed her neck, she kissed his ear. He could feel her deep breaths against his ear. Her lips found his.
Nigel’s phone chirped. It was Milo—again! Jet pulled away from Nigel and booted her laptop.
“Hey, Milo, what can I do for you?”
“Nige, is this a good time to chat?”
“Sure, I was just about to call a potential customer, but I can talk.”
“I had the strangest of customers the other day. I can’t get this guy out of my head.”
“Why is that?”
“This guy wanted to know about hacking cellular signals, and I sold him some gear to pick up on those frequencies. I thought he was a kook, but I had a bad feeling as soon as this guy left my shop. He had a tattoo of a darkened angel. I did some research, and according to MegaWiki, members of a hacking group called the ‘Dark Angels’ use tattoos to identify rank.”
“That’s all interesting, but what does that got to do with me?”
“I was wondering if you could look up these guys on the dark web. Besides the wiki site, I cannot find anything about this hacking group.”
“Okay, I’ll see what I can find.”
“Thanks, Nige, let me know what you find. I would hate to think I helped in some kind of plot.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing, Milo, but I’ll do the research.” He hung up.
Jet gave Nigel a strange look.
“What’s on your mind?” Nigel asked.
“Our new business hasn’t been open that long, and we have already had some strange experiences. First the cyborg video and Melissa’s call. Not to mention whatever Milo was calling about,” Jet said.
“I agree something seems off—the timing of Melissa’s call is curious too. I think I’ll return her call.”
Melissa picked up the phone after a few rings.
“Nigel, it’s so good to hear from you, how are you doing, old friend?” she said in one breath.
She sounds different than she did the other day.
“Sorry it took so long to get back to you. We’ve been so busy setting up our new investigative services business. We got the lease worked—”
“Where is it located?” Melissa cut Nigel off.
“It’s in downtown Newport.”
“How far is that from New York?”
“Four, maybe five hours by car.”
“I’m staying at the Roxy near Times Square. Can you meet for a late lunch?”
“Today? I need to check with Jet, but I think we can make that work. But what’s the hurry?”
“I don’t want to get into it over the phone, but I’ll get us a reservation in town. We can discuss the matter then. Also, bring a change of clothes. Just in case. Also, will you let Jet know I brought April with me?” Melissa asked.
“Yeah, I’ll pass that along, and I’ll call you if something changes,” Nigel said as he disconnected.
“What was that about?” Jet asked.
“Do you want to go to New York?”
Jet frowned. “I don’t know, Nige, there is still so much to do here. Did she say why she needs to meet?”
“No, but her message did say something about hiring us,” Nigel said, smiling.
“I know you want to go to the city, but we don’t have time to go on a trip. We need to build the business.”
“Oh, I almost forgot. I know why April didn’t answer your messages.”
“Why?”
“Melissa brought her to New York.”
Jet’s expression brightened. “You should have led with that!”
“Great! We should leave soon if we are to make it there for lunch.”