N: I have no idea what will become of this. It was a prompt suggested by a fellow author, and so i'm trying it. I need to write something to stay on task with angel. Apparently i'm at my best when i write 2 stories at once. Anyways, this isn't going to me super angsty or crazy, just lighthearted as such a story can be and dumb. Short, and maybe just one pov, but since my signature is to do dual povs, we shall see.

Anyways. enjoy, and don't be rude, i don't do ruddddeee!

If you're new to me, i have 3 lovely books under the moniker Sydney Gibson on amazon and you should check them out! if you want!

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October 18th – 9:30 am

The sight of the tiny gold orange body floating on top of the water was not what I wanted to wake up to. I sighed hard, turning on the coffee maker before I addressed the unexpected death in the kitchen. Picking up the tiny green net next to the goldfish bowl, I stared down into the water. "Oh Alfred the ninth, at least you made it four more days longer than Alfred the 8th." I scooped up the lifeless fish and carried him to the bathroom.

I hummed swing low sweet chariot, as I dumped the fish in to the crystal blue water. Offering him a hearty salute before I flushed the toilet. After washing my hands, I walked back into the kitchen, writing on the grocery list to hit the pet store on the way home today. My mother told me I needed to get a pet to keep me company in my large Brooklyn loft, but my large Brooklyn loft landlord, hated dogs, cats, birds and anything that breathed air. So I was stuck with fish or plants, and since I had killed every living plant on my fire escape, fishes won.

Now it looked like my fish to plant death ratio was evening out.

When I was back in the kitchen, I turned on the TV in the living area. The large flat screen filling the silence of the loft with the current headlines. The one breaking news headline I had fallen asleep to, still filled every inch of the screen. The murder of the first lady in an alleyway down in Greenwich village.

"The President arrived this morning to the hospital to make the body identification. President Carlisle is expected to make a statement within in the hour. Our DOJ sources have not issued any notification if this was a random crime, or an act of terrorism. Regardless, CNN will be covering every second of this American tragedy."

Filling a cup up with black liquid caffeine, I yawned and turned the volume down on the TV. I was saddened by the news of Barbara Carlisle's death, but after seeing the same snippets, hearing the same three eyewitness accounts, I was done with it. I wanted the woman to be laid to rest and the world to move on, not continuing to plaster a horrible mugging gone wrong over and over.

I sipped from the cup, reaching for the remote to switch over to cartoons when my phone rang. The particular ringtone making me frown and groan. It was my bosses ringtone. Today was supposed to be the first day of my three week vacation.

I shuffled over to my desk, scooped up the phone and answered it. "You know I'm on vacation. Started yesterday at seven. Anything you need me to do, Viv can do. She is the second best in the office." I flicked my eyes up to the flat screen. Reading the ticker tape at the bottom, telling the world that the NYPD was looking for an eyewitness who might have been at the scene of the crime as it was happening.

"I know Bo. You told me fifty times yesterday." Ed's deep voice was soothing, but did nothing to soothe me. I knew this tone. He was about to end my vacation. "I need you Bo."

I chuckled. "You know how many men have told me that over the years, won't work on me." I set my coffee down, turning away from the news. "Viv is the best, she can handle whatever you think you need me for. I have plans to lose myself in binge watching shows, eating pizza in my underwear and leaving this work phone off for three weeks."

Ed didn't laugh, making my stomach sink even further. "Bo. Have you been watching the news?"

I leaned against the edge of my desk. "Ed, the whole world is watching the news. When the first lady is killed in a dirty alley in the streets of Greenwich Village, the world tunes in. Never mind that its barely a year into the President's first term." Looking down at my slippers, I let out a breath. "Just get it out, Ed. I know this isn't a have fun on your vacation call."

He cleared his throat. "I need you to come in. Cancel your vacation and take on this case that was handed to me at one a.m." He paused. "I need my best shadowmaker to take on the sole eyewitness that was there when the first lady was murdered."

I closed my eyes. "Ed, there were three eyewitnesses, they were all over the news and vetted by the NYPD, Secret Service, and FBI. There was no witness, no camera footage, nothing."

Ed chuckled lightly. "Nice to see you're still on top of things even on vacation."

I rolled my eyes. "Ed. Your point, I have breakfast waffles and a new goldfish to buy."

"Aw, Alfred the ninth didn't make it? I had hopes…"

"Ed!"

"Yeah, sorry Bo." He took in a sharp breath. "There was a witness. One the NYPD, FBI, and Secret Service have no idea about. A rookie cope found her under the one dead Secret Service agent when she was first on scene. The woman was shaking, covered in blood and dead silent. Viv said the woman only said a handful words when he helped her up." Ed paused. "She said, it was the President's brother. We were lucky that the rookie cop was smart enough to call his CIA uncle, freaking out what to do since the media was swarming the alley. His uncle called our office, the was taken into our custody within an hour."

I opened my eyes, lifting them towards the TV. "Did you check footage?" I pushed away from my desk and walked over to the empty fishbowl. I knew the implication of having a shell shocked witness pointing fingers at the president's inner circle.

"Viv did. The woman saw everything, it shows everything. Viv has pulled the footage and scrubbed if for the rest of the agencies. As it stands, the CIA is handling this case, but no one knows it. No one knows we have the eyewitness." He paused again. "We're working on identifying the shooter via the footage, but it looks like she can positively identify the brother as the culprit. The problem is, his alibi is hard to crack."

Leaning on my elbows, I stared at the tiny castle I had gotten Alfred last week to celebrate him making it past three days. "So she's in CIA custody and I need to baby sit her?"

"You're the best, Bo. The best CIA shadow operative there is, and we need you to keep this woman out of the spotlight until we can put all the evidence together. She will need to make a statement, testify and be the key witness when we get the brother into custody." He let out a slow breath. "We have to do this right, Bo."

Flicking the bowl with my finger, I stood up. "I'll be there in an hour. We move her a half hour after that, and I do this my way." I ended the phone call, heading back to the bathroom to shower and day goodbye to my vacation.

October 18th – 10:30

Walking into the basement of the drab office building I worked at, I smiled at the few security officers who let me in. All of them making jokes about how I couldn't go twenty four hours without coming in. I just smiled and shrugged, remarking once a workaholic, always a workaholic.

My smile faded when I walked deeper into the basement, punching in my code to open up the restricted area where my real office was. The magnetic door whooshed open, revealing a scene out of any spy, or science fiction movie. Appropriately bright lighting reflecting off the steel floors and walls, secured doors every other step lining the hallway I walked until it took me to the small conference room where we kept witnesses, assets, and visitors. It was a comfortable room with a large couch, a table and a few magazines to make it feel less sterile.

I swung around the doorway, grinning when I saw Viv holding a cup of coffee for me. "You're an angel, Viv."

She winked at me, runny a hand through her thick, brown curly hair. "And you're a devil without your coffee, Bo." She nudged me in the shoulder, pointing to the opposite side of the room. "She's in there. She finally fell asleep ten minutes ago. The poor woman hasn't stopped shaking since I picked her up." Viv's brown eyes showed her compassion, one of the few weaknesses she carried. She could kill you with a pen, but then look at you with heartbreak for having to kill you. "Ed is arranging the transport, he's kept this at alpha. Only a team of five is on this investigation."

Clutching the warm mug, I nodded. "You have a file for me?"

Viv winked at me, pulling a black file out from under her arm. "I certainly do." She handed it over to me, taking the coffee so I could use both hands.

Flipping open the cover I read while Viv spoke. "Lauren Lewis, thirty three years old and a well know neighborhood florist over in Greenwich. She's single, never married, and the only relationship she's had in the last six months, ended seven months ago. Her ex left her for a finance banker and moved to Switzerland. She has no immediate family that will worry, or question why she's not home."

I grinned, closing the file and tucking it under my arm, preferring the sound of Viv's warm voice telling me everything I needed. "Go on."

Viv gave me a dirty look, tapping on a switch to bring up a large projection screen on the wall across from us. She pointed at the wall. "This is her, granted she looks a little more worse for wear when you see her. Shock and trauma will do that."

The picture was of a smiling blonde with big brown eyes, the woman was beautiful and made me hate this last minute assignment a little less. I cocked an eyebrow. "She's attractive, are you sure there isn't anyone?"

I cast a look at Viv, who rolled her eyes. "I'm sure. Her Chinese landlady told me that she is always alone, pays on time, and never has overnight guests." She pointed a finger at me. "Lucky for you, you won't have to clock a snooping girlfriend like you did in Miami in the last case."

I laughed, earning another shit ass look from Viv. "She charged me, it was self defense."

"Of course it was." Viv turned back to the screen, flicking through a few more images. "Bottom line, this will be an easy ghosting. She's a loner, has no real connections to people in her neighborhood, and based on her interviews, she's extremely intelligent." She motioned to the file I still had tucked under my arm. "Graduated from USC with a masters in botany with a minor in foreign policy. Smart woman, observant woman." Viv folded her arms across her chest. "She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Leaving a flower delivery and took the alley as a shortcut home. Came across the first lady's motorcade. Went to back up, when she heard yelling. The yelling turned into something more, then shots were fired. She stated that as the shooter heard her scream, he turned on her. They made eye contact, and that's when a Secret Service agent shoved her to the ground, taking the bullets intended for her." Viv shook her head. "The rest I stopped reading, it was too much after watching the video we have."

I raised my eyebrows. "So you believe her? And how big of a shadow will I need to make for her? Ghosting, or does she need to disappear?"

Viv turned and met my eyes. "I do. The evidence is all there, we just need to line it up before presenting it to the DOJ secretary. She saw the first lady murdered by her brother in law." She sighed. "We need to keep her safe as we investigate more. There's something in that footage that doesn't sit right with Ed and I." Viv stared at me. "The shadow has to be big enough that not even the NSA can smell her in the wind for a few weeks."

"Meaning?" I moved closer to Viv, my adrenaline began to pound at Viv's words. This wasn't a good sign if the NSA was being mentioned.

She sighed again. "Meaning after sorting through audio and video footage, we have a hunch the president might be behind this as well." She waved her hand in the air. "Yes, the picture perfect presidential couple is nothing but the American dream, but Bo, you and I both know that President Devin Carlisle is far from the shining boy next door."

I nodded. "The boy next door who couldn't keep his hands off the neighbor's wife, daughters, and cousins. I remember reading the transcripts from his Secret Service detail. He's a slimy creep." I frowned.

"Yeah, I guess when you're the youngest president in American history, you think you can ass grab the world and get away with it." Viv shook her head, looking down at her phone. "Ed has transport ready." She glanced up at me. "Let's go wake your girl and get the show on the road."

I chuckled, shaking my head. "I'm taking a five week vacation when this is done."

Viv rolled her eyes, walking to the door to the small room where Lauren was sleeping.

When the door opened, I looked up to make direct eye contact with big brown eyes that held all of the fear in the world. Lauren was huddled up in the middle of the small bed, wrapped in the thick blanket but still shivering like she was in the arctic. She looked like she had been through hell and back. Her clothes dirty, stained with blood and her blonde hair was messily tied back. I glanced at Viv. "You could've let her use the locker room."

Viv gave me a shitty look. "It was offered, but she refused. She's clearly wary of everything, even after I explained who we are."

I sighed, moving to the bed, hating that the woman scooted back against the wall away from me. "My name is Bo Dennis. I'm not going to hurt you."

Lauren shook her head. "That's what he said, then he pointed the gun at me." She paused as her eyes welled up with tears.

I knelt down in front of the bed, looking right up in her eyes. Eyes that I imagined were incredibly beautiful when they weren't so filled with distraught fear. "I'm here to keep you safe." I dug around in my pocket to pull out my badge and ID. "I work for the CIA, I'm what a specialist in keeping people like you safe." I set it on the bed next to Lauren for her to look at. "No one but my friend Viv, my boss and I know what you saw. Who you saw, and I'm going to doing everything I can to keep you safe until we get this sorted out."

Lauren glared at me. "I don't want to talk about it. I've been interviewed, poked at, prodded at by cops, and now I'm in a padded cell."

I held up a hand, stopping her before those tears did spill over. "Lauren, can I call you Lauren?" She gave me a hard stare as an answer. "I'm not going to ask you to tell me anything, I don't need to know what you saw, what you did." I paused, smiling softly. "All I need to know is what size clothing you wear, and what's your favorite food."

Lauren's face softened as she tipped her head down, tears rushing down her cheeks and making my heart skip. I'd kept a thousand people in the shadows. Shitty witnesses to mafia murders, innocent idiots, pompous politicians, but none of them made me want to wrap them up in my arms and tell them everything was going to be okay. I cleared my throat and stood up. "I'll take you to the locker room and get you cleaned up. Then we hit the road." I looked at Viv silently asking her to leave the room. It was one of the ways I built trust with my shadows.

When Viv clicked the door shut behind her, I looked at Lauren, shivering as she asked me. "Where am I going? Are you going to kill me?"

The fragility in her voice made me swallow hard. I shook my head, moving closer to her. I knelt back down, placing my hands on her knees. She flinched and looked in my eyes. "Lauren, I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to protect you, even if that means I have to kill anyone who comes to hurt you." I paused. "Have you ever been to Maryland?"

Lauren's face scrunched up, she fell apart into heavy sobs leaning into my shoulder as she let out the weight of the last twenty four hours. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight as she sobbed. I squeezed her, smelling the remnants of gun powder, blood, sweat and fear on her. It made me angry that this woman was caught in the middle of a such a horrifying incident. An incident that she had nothing to do with, but would be hunted the moment they found out she had seen everything.

That's when I instantly knew this case was going to be the hardest of my career.