Page 30 of Good Enough

Nemo answered on the first ring in an old lady falsetto. “Lonely Hearts Club, how may I assist you today?” Waters could hear the cheeky grin on the other end of the phone.

“Welcome home. Any problems?”

“Nah. Didn’t even need to fire a round. Bo-ring.”

Good. At least the defection went smoothly.

“I do have to admit, though,” Nemo drawled, “the in-flight entertainment was highly amusing. I especially liked her camera spotting. Smokin’ hot, that.”

Fuck. Here we go.

“Yes, well, it doesn’t take much to amuse a toddler, does it?”

“Awwww. Still in the consultant zone, huh? When do I get to meet her?”

Waters shook his head in frustration. “Never, fucker. Stay away.”

The sound of gum cracking over the line caused Waters to roll his eyes. Nemo was such a kid. “Ah, that’s okay. I’ll just wait until you get shot down.”

“She’d put you down within thirty seconds, easy.”

“Hey, I don’t mind topping from the bottom.”

“Shut the fuck up. Where’s your brother?”

The gum cracked again. “I’m coverin’ while he catches some zees for an hour or two. God’s got him trying to locate Ka-Bar and told him he’s not allowed to come out of the tech cave without results. I’m paraphrasing, of course. His actual words were not appropriate for a toddler, such as myself.”

“Whatever. Any luck?”

“Crickets.”

Waters was silent for a moment. “Isn’t that impossible?”

“For the almighty Midas touch? Yep. God’s about to blow his wad. He actually ran out of suckers and sent Cherry to Costco. I think Midas has slept as little as you. He’s so pissed off he can’t find the man.” The clacking of keys could be heard briefly in the background. “Speaking of which, Steel has the watch tonight. He’ll be there shortly. He said he had an errand to run first.”

A sigh of relief came from Waters, and he ran a hand over his head and clutched the back of his neck. “Yeah. I’ve about hit my limit. Everyone’s going to have to be vigilant on this right now.”

“I read your report. That dickwad giving her trouble?”

Waters barked a short laugh. “She didn’t just poke the bear today, she flayed him alive. Then she filleted a room of eight suits. I don’t think any of those idiots even knew what hit ‘em. But Big Bird is going to be a problem. I want someone on him, too.”

“You think this guy is our objective?”

“Normally, I would say no. But I haven’t gotten a legitimate sniff of anything else weird, so what else could it be?” He looked out over the studio grounds he could see. “This doesn’t make sense, Nemo. We’re missing something major. And the fact that there isn’t even a whisper of Ka-Bar for Midas to find? That’s screaming at me.”

“Well, Steel will be out there soon, and I can go find the big-beaked one and follow him a little bit tonight. We shouldn’t need to stretch too thin on the schedule. TB, Demon, and I are all back in the office working on prep for tomorrow. God pulled us off everything else for the time being, so you concentrate on your girl, and we’ll handle the rest.”

“She’s not my girl,” Waters sighed.

There was silence on the other end of the phone. “Dude. You were salivating. And I’d be willing to bet my next paycheck you’ve spent the last four days trying to rearrange your dick so that you don’t have to go to the hospital.”

Waters’ cheek developed a tic.

There was another second of silence, and then Nemo got serious. “We got ya covered, Boss. I’ll let you know what I learn about Big Bird.”

Nemo clicked off. Waters put his phone away, then hung his head and clasped both hands behind his neck.

And I’m fucked.

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