Page 39 of Fool’s Gold

A few hours later, just as he was halfway into an odd mystery involving family drama and some truly terrible in-laws in New England, his phone rang.

The caller was Ken Irvine, from Five Star. “Hey. If Sam and I stopped by to pick you up, would you maybe be up for a trip to Hammer? It should be a quiet night there, and I’m guessing you’re probably sick of the four walls up there in your apartment.”

Matt blinked. “I mean, yeah, but isn’t the contract over?”

Irvine chuckled. “Yeah. It’s not a meeting, buddy. It’s just a friendly get-together.” He paused, and the laughter died down. “How long has it been since you’ve spent time with someone that wasn’t work related, Matt?”

“Other than Norah?”

“Other than Norah.”

Matt couldn’t remember. He didn’t say anything while he struggled to find an answer.

Irvine cleared his throat. “Okay. We’ll be there in thirty. Dress is pretty casual. Pants aren’t optional though.”

Matt made himself laugh. “Got it. Thanks.”

It took a little while to find pants that would fit over the stupid cast, but he managed. By the time he felt he looked human, he needed to get down to the lobby. Somehow, the wide-open space felt too exposed after so much fear and security, but nothing happened. No one attacked. There was no sign that anyone might notice him. Even the front desk guard barely glanced up from his screen.

Getting into Irvine and Darrow’s sedan was an adventure, but it made Matt smile a little. He hadn’t played warm body Jenga since college. Sam Darrow, the epidemiologist who’d caught onto what Matt’s colleagues had done, was still recovering from his own near assassination, but he didn’t seem to be holding a grudge.

He gave Matt a warm smile and shoved his hair out of his eyes. “Hey. Let us know if you’re starting to get tired or something. I know you’re pretty fresh from the hospital and all that, but I also know I was getting kind of unliveable-with by that same point.”

“It’s true.” Irvine snorted. “You kept trying to set up a lab in the bathroom.”

Matt blinked. “That seems like a bad place to set up a lab.”

“I don’t do idleness well.” Darrow shrugged. “But, yes, it did turn out to be a bad idea. Fortunately for everyone involved, we started going out a little more often. And they let me get back to work.”

“Well, I for one am glad about that,” Matt said. Darrow had been instrumental in proving the case against the former Besse executives involved in unleashing the engineered epidemic. “Pretty sure the whole world owes you a debt. So this Hammer place...”

This Hammer place turned out to be a fairly normal bar that catered to gay people like them. Jamal Kingston met them there. So did Alex Morales and a man in a battered Yankees ball cap who turned out to be Prince Daniel of Corvia.

“I hate this fucking hat.” Daniel made a face and pointed at the logo. “But it allows me to move around without having to alert the completely useless Diplomatic Security Service, who couldn’t secure a goat in an actual pen.”

Here, in a casual environment, his Boston accent slipped through. Matt had to laugh because few things could be less regal than a city known for its anti-royal violence.

“Dan’s just bitter because the Diplomatic Security Service was less than helpful when his brother-in-law was creating problems early in his relationship with Prince Eric.” Alex rolled his eyes, but his face had a soft grin. “Does it make you feel better to know that Luis had a word with those guys after the case was finished?”

“He’s the one with the cane, right?” Dan grimaced.

“He is.”

“Are those guys still working?”

“They will be when they’re done with rehab.” Morales examined his fingernails.

Daniel blinked. “Well. That’s something.” He paused, and then raised a glass. “To Agent Gomes. And his cane.”

Alex drank to that. So did Irvine, Darrow, and Kingston. Matt joined in because while he didn’t know the agent in question, he didn’t want to be rude. Plus, it sounded like the diplomatic agents had it coming.

The guys from Five Star—Daniel, Kingston, and Irvine—had all known each other for a long time. Morales seemed to know them well too. Darrow was on friendly terms with all of them, but he seemed to be the one reaching out most to Matt.

“So how are you holding up with all of this? I know it’s a lot.”

Matt shrugged. “Itisa lot, I’m not going to lie. But with everything that happened, I can’t help but feel like I got away light, you know? I mean, hell, you almost got killed, thousands of people died—”

“That’s not your fault.” Morales frowned at him. “That’s beyond not your fault. You know it’s not.”

---