Page 29 of Fire and Ice

"Look, I got it," Jack cut in, mildly exasperated. "I'm sorry, I just didn't want you shooting me accidentally when I walk through the door."

Maia laughed. "You have a point."

"Gotta go, babe. Don't forget the vanilla ice cream." He disconnected.

Derek Lockwood observed his friend finishing off the phone call with Maia, his lips twitching, trying very hard to control a grin.

"Not a word," Jack warned. Derek had tried talking his friend out of calling Maia but would he listen? What Jack had to realize was that Maia came and went as she pleased and she expected people around her to do the same. She allowed this freedom in her daily routine to make up for the precision required when on the job.

"We're still awaiting the results from the tracking serum. It appears to be working as expected but there are some blood samples needing further processing," Derek said.

"DoD is very pleased with the results of the carbines and we've been promised an order in a few weeks," Jack said. "They've already budgeted for this but after seeing the preliminary results I was informed that they might divert excess budget from their Ordnance allocation to purchase more carbines."

"Whew, glad that's almost over. With the stuff that came up with Brett at the same time being in the middle of negotiations with the DoD, it's been a riotous few months," Derek observed.

"So take a vacation," Jack shrugged.

"I wouldn't know what to do with it," Derek retorted.

"Well, I'm taking off for two weeks at least," Jack announced. His friend cocked a brow to this. "I'll be in contact with the office the whole time in case the DoD has some questions, but I can easily handle inquiries from Westcove."

Derek stared at his friend, morbidly fascinated, as if watching a particularly gruesome train wreck about to unfold.

"I sure hope you know what you are doing, my friend," Derek said. Since Maia and Jack were both his friends, and he knew what a volatile combination they would make, he chose to keep quiet and stay out of the line of fire. The less they confided in him the better. He had already had a conversation with Viktor who was already foaming at the mouth waiting to see how this particular match-up would turn out.

"Fucked if I know," Jack muttered.

Oh hell, Derek thought to himself. As he suspected, Jack was in over his head.

It was 8pm, and the last of the trick or treaters had just left, so Maia turned off the porch lights. The oven timer had just dinged and she walked back to the kitchen to check on the pie. The filling had started bubbling through the slits on the top crust, a sure sign that it was ready. Maia pulled the pie out of the oven and transferred it to a wire rack to cool. She loved this kitchen. It had everything you needed to cook and bake: top of the line all-clad cooking pans, Le Crueset cast iron pots for stews, even a Kitchen-Aid mixer.

Then Maia remembered the ice cream. You can't have apple pie without vanilla ice cream. She quickly punched the number for the Westcove grocery.

Kyle answered the phone.

"Hey Kyle, it's Maia."

"Evening Miss Pierce. How were the trick or treaters?"

"I think they're disappointed that the stonehouse wasn't haunted."

Kyle chuckled softly.

"How late are you guys staying open tonight?"

"Until 10:00pm."

"Good, I'll stop by around 9:00 unless you guys run out of vanilla ice cream."

"Nope, we're well-stocked with it."

"Great, see you in a bit."

***

Maia pulled up beside Kyle's pick-up truck in the parking lot of Westcove Specialty Grocer. Jack had quite a collection of cars in his garage. She had her pick of a really sporty Mercedes convertible but decided to try out the sweet-looking vintage 1969 Z28 Chevy Camaro. Jack had not informed her which cars she could use. He hadn't expected her to stay home the entire time he was gone, had he? She would just explain the broken key cabinet later, after all, vanilla ice cream took precedence when it was a question of apple pie.

She walked through the double glass doors into a well-lit grocery store. The long counter was right in front of the doors and had two cash registers mounted on them.Kyle was behind the counter with a woman who bore a close resemblance to Grace. She surmised that this was Betty, Kyle's mother.

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