Full Cycle
Chapter 2
I stepped off the plane into the hot, humid, suffocating air of Atlanta. Pulling a deep breath into my lungs, I let the heat wash over me and knew it could only mean one thing. I was in the south again.
Don't get me wrong, Trenton is great. But when you grow up in the south, well, nothing else compares. The heat, the accents, the country, the rednecks. Yeah, home.
I walked towards security, I flashed my Government pass as a bypass for my weapons. The security guard looked a little leery, but after a phone call he let me through. Guess a seven foot tall black man coming through packing enough heat to take down a third world country would be enough to make anyone nervous.
Isa was leaning against the wall, looking deceptively relaxed, and at ease. I say deceptively because she's just like the rest of us, tightly coiled and ready for action at the drop of a hat.
"Tank."
"Isa."
"Want to tell me why my sister would request your presence?" Not this again. Didn't I just do this with Ranger?
"Don't rightly know baby girl, you'll have to ask her." Isa scowled and pushed off the wall, leading the way outside.
"Unh, don't call me baby girl." Isa hissed at me.
She's a little touchy about the nicknames. Comes from being a woman proving her way through a man's field. Isa didn't have anything to prove by me. I knew she was just as dangerous as the rest of us, if not more. But to others, well, unfortunately she'll never be good enough, just cause she don't have a dick to wag at them.
"So where we headed baby girl?" Ok I admit it, I just want to push her buttons. She's a little spit fire when she gets all riled up. Reminds me of her sister now that I think of it…
"Keep it up big guy, I'll kick your ass." I burst into laughter at this, but I knew she meant it. She can do it too. She's one of those that's learned to use their smaller size and speed to their advantage.
"If that's what you want baby girl." I could hear her eyes rolling in her head.
"Still just a big flirt aren't ya?" That's one of them rhetorical questions. But, man, does she have me pegged.
"Of course. Just don't tell anybody. Got a rep to protect and all."
"Unh." Eloquent. If she's not careful she's gonna roll something loose in there.
We made our way out to the waiting explorer. After loading up and climbing in, we headed out on the road.
"So what can you tell me about this guy?" Isa was silent for a minute and I got a hinky feeling in my gut. For some reason, I'm not sure, I want to hear what she has to say.
"He escalated last night. Took a pot shot at Mia. She was driving through the drive-thru at KFC, and he shot at her car. She's fine, bullet imbedded in her front fender. I think he is still trying to scare her off, not hurt her. At least not yet." Shit. Logically I knew, that the more Mia dug, the more he would step up his game, but I had hoped we would have more time to get out of dodge before that happened.
"Guys name is Patrick Reinhold. Mia was contacted by his employer to look into his past. Just a routine background check. But Reinhold took exception to that. He decided that they didn't need to know about his past for him to work there, and went about letting Mia know that through phone calls and letters. Which of course just proved to Mia that there was something there to find." That sounds like Mia alright. When she starts digging and finds a trail, she's like a dog after a bone, only a force of nature will be capable of stopping her.
"So what has she found out so far?"
"I'll let her tell you. I know she has a few leads that she wants to follow up on. Listen, I want you to stick to her like glue. Don't let her out of your sight. Whatever it takes."
"You know you can count on me, I care about her too." Isa nodded at me and turned her attention back to the road. I took that to mean that the conversation was over. For now.
