Chills shook her body as she stared at the barrel of the gun. "Georgia's apples sure are the best."
"What?"
She shook her head as she raised her hands. Of course, they weren't current with this year's codes if they'd been undercover for who knows how long. "The milky way has too many galaxies."
No response. Biting her lip, she tried to think back to two years ago. "Harold's farm is just outside Melford."
At that, the gun lowered. "But, it still takes forever to see his cows."
She smiled at the nonsensical code's answer. "Can I come in now?"
"Sure," the gruff voice was revealed to belong to a man with a shaved head.
He stepped to the side to allow her to bring herself and her duffle bag inside. Four locks clicked behind her as he reset the fifth. The frayed couch was the center of the living room, in front of a cozy fireplace.
"What's going on?" Confusion embedded itself in a lady's frown as she stepped into the living room.
"I don't know," the man looked accusingly at Jemina.
Her back straightened at his glare and she extended her hand. "Is it safe to talk here?"
He shook it and narrowed his eyes. "Yes. Are you an agent?"
"Yeah, I am," she turned to address the lady as well. "My alias is Eva Sorrentino, and that's what you can call me. The D.O.I. didn't tell you I was coming?"
"No, undercover operatives don't get contact with the bureau," the man ground out every word. "Are you supposed to be related to us? Our aliases are Anthony and Kelly Sorrentino."
"Nice to meet you. I'm going to be posing as your niece who came to your house for a gap year, but in reality, I'll only be staying six months to help gather evidence," Jemina smiled to alleviate the tension growing in the room.
"What, so you're here to replace us?"
At Anthony's comment, her fists tightened. "No, I'm—"
"What can you even do that we can't?"
Not fail, she thought, but she held it in.
"Oh, wait, I can't believe I didn't see it before. You're in your early twenties, right?"
Exhausted from his tirade, she just flicked her gaze to the ceiling.
"You're here to seduce Marin. Jesus Christ, I can't believe I'm being replaced with you."
"I'm here to help you," she narrowed her eyes and stepped forward, "and I will be helping you for six months in the same house, so you better get over yourself real quick and work with me."
He scoffed and left the house, slamming the door.
Waves of anger radiated off Jemina when Kelly laid a cool hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about Anthony, dear."
"Why didn't you stop him?"
"I wanted to study how you deal with other people," she patted her shoulder and dropped her hand. "Follow me."
Jemina traversed through the kitchen, past the stairs, to the back door. Outside, a glittering expanse of stars was strewn across the sky.
"They didn't have this back in D.C.," Kelly commented.
Jemina looked over at her. She had gotten so lost in the night sky, she had forgotten about her companion. "You lived in D.C.? That's like an hour drive to the bureau in Quantico."
Kelly shrugged. "I took the metro. My family was in D.C. and I didn't want to be far away from them."
Thoughts of Jemina's own family drifted through her head. She was going to miss Passover with them. Conflicted emotions wouldn't let her decide if that was a good thing or not. "How long has it been since you saw your family?"
"706 days since I've seen my children. 705 since I saw my wife. She had met me at the train station the day I left."
"If you're married, is the marriage between you and Anthony fake?"
"The romantic part. We're still good friends."
"How can you be friends with someone like that?" Jemina winced at how that came out.
Kelly laughed. "Well, number one, I have had to live with him for two years, dear."
"I can't imagine signing on for two years."
"Well, our original assignment was only six months. We requested extensions."
"Seriously? I'd be so homesick."
"Well, Anthony and I are in a tough spot. It's mandatory to retire as agents at fifty-four, and we're fifty-three. We have to try and make this a success. It'd greatly increase our pension."
"That makes sense, although I still can't fathom asking for an extension."
"Let's make sure you don't have to, dear. I know where you can meet Marin Milanesi."
-
Glass walls topped with ivy formed the perimeter of the rooftop club. The live music could be heard fifteen stories below on the street.
Encircling the raised stage for the musicians was a long, wrap-around bar. Which is where Jemina would be staying for the rest of the night if Marin didn't show up. She was beginning to seriously doubt that he'd show up.
The roof was crowded, with small circles of conversation converging into a dancing mess in the center. Her eyes had been trained on the elevator door for the past hour, scanning every person who'd walked in. But, if he had shown up before that, there was no way she could find him in that middle mass of people.
Almost as she was about to lose hope, the elevator dinged and out walked the man himself. Dressed in a patterned shirt that showed off his dark olive skin, he ruffled his dark brown hair and scanned the crowd. About a dozen girls in the vicinity narrowed their eyes.
Jemina bit her lip. She was going to need to rethink this. No way she could successfully get his attention with the entourage of women he had already gained.
Good thing she was known for her on-the-fly thinking because a crazy plan hatched in her head. Crazy, even by her standards.
Well, you know what they say? All publicity is good publicity. Hopefully, that goes for impressions too.