NINE

.

Britt glanced at his watch, finding it nearly ten at night. He steeled himself, nodding and making himself open the door a crack, looking in. He studied the woman on the blankets, finding her head still covered with a rather expensive American football helmet, the grating all blanked out from the inside with duct tape. The bottom was latched tight, some kind of leather strap going round the edge to be padlocked shut. Her right hand was still handcuffed to a thick pipe in the wall, her other cushioned against her shoulder as she slept. He crept over, watching for signs of trouble, but all he heard was her gentle breathing.

He set down the tray, about to back away.

"Please," she said, her voice muffled by the helmet and tape. "Please - you can still let me go. I haven't even seen your face."

He backed up, both hands over his mouth.

"At least tell me your demands," she said, louder.

He went back up to her, taking her hand gently. She gasped but he just moved it until it made contact with the tray of smoothies and subs. He let go, backing up as quietly as he could.

"Or just kill me. This place is really uncomfortable."

He frowned. Then he stood straighter. "Just another few days."

"What?" she demanded angrily, sitting up. "What? Who are you - what do you want?"

He swallowed and hurried back through the door, slamming it shut. He bolted everything and set the alarm again.

Then he turned and leant his back on it, shaking his head. "Well, if nothing else, this time off from work is probably good for her."

And then he wiped his hands over his face and walked off, determined to go to sleep and not think about the DA in the wine cellar.

.

.

Amy's eyes creaked open but within half a second a huge smile spread over her face like warm chocolate sauce over ice cream. She pushed herself from her front onto her side, looking around her bedroom. Feeble morning sun was trying to come in under the curtains, casting just enough light to point out the way clothes had been strewn carelessly around the furniture. Her bra was reclining comfortably on the chair by her dresser, her polo shirt and dungarees taking a rest on the floor by its feet. A man's white shirt was on top, the bent up collar trying to project an air of innocence she might have believed had she not been the reason for the garment being there in the first place.

She drew in a deep breath as she gathered sheets around her tighter, snuggling down and sighing in complete satisfaction.

The door to the en suite bathroom door opened and she turned her head to look toward it. She spotted Kato coming back from the smallest room. Her eyes were drawn to the fact that all he had on was a pair of black, rather pleasingly form-fitting shorts. He climbed into bed and she turned over to watch him get comfortable on his back.

"What time is it?" she yawned.

"Six. I always wake up at six."

"Why?"

He wiped at his face. "Routine, I think. To go to the gym."

"You're not going this morning, are you?"

"I will be late. I have to go home and get my kit first."

She smiled wickedly. "You honestly thought we would go bowling last night, and then I'd let you just go home afterwards?"

"Yes," he said innocently. "When I said I would drop you home… I did not expect you to ask me in."

"And?"

"… And then I didn't expect to stay."

"I'll let you into a secret," she whispered. He tilted his head to look at her, and she shuffled up closer. "Normally? No, I would not. It takes me weeks to get to even the coming-in-when-you're-dropping-me-off stage." She sighed. "But… I don't know why… I just didn't want you to go yet - like we weren't done, we needed more time. I wanted you to stay so we could talk some more. And then I wanted you to stay-stay."

"What's the difference?"

She giggled. "This bed."

He looked at the ceiling. "Oh."

She scooted closer to his side and ran a hand over his chest. "Tell me… why do you go to the gym every day?"

"Not every day. I give myself weekends off," he said cheekily.

"Why go at all?"

"Mmm - to give me a reason to get up. To… make a habit every day so that I can… I can feel comfortable."

She slid her fingers over him, appreciating their travels. "Well I'm impressed that you have the discipline to make yourself do that, day after day. —And with the results."

He put his hand up and captured hers, spreading it against his skin and holding it still as he sent the ceiling a curious frown. "I think… under all the beautiful you… there's another one. And it's also beautiful."

She blinked. "Thank you." She pushed closer, then slid herself on top of him. He looked up at her as she let her knees fall either side of his, her elbows planting themselves in the bed by his shoulders. Her hands went into his hair and tousled it free of his eyes. He slid his hands up her sides lazily to hold her still. She smiled. "I had a good time last night."

"I hope so," he said earnestly. "I tried very hard."

She burst out laughing. "No! I mean the bowling!"

"Oh!" he blurted. A tinge of red came to his face as he smiled awkwardly and looked past her shoulder. "Ok."

She was still giggling. "You are funny, Kato. And you're fun. People in the office think you're in a bad mood a lot, but they just don't know you."

"Britt makes me angry," he sighed.

"Is it hard working for him?"

"Yes. He always thinks he's the boss of me."

She stroked at his chin. "Well you remember - he may be your boss but that doesn't make him better than you."

His head tilted to one side as he appraised her. Her hand played with his hair, waiting, as her other fingers stroked at his chin, enjoying the slight scratch of stubble. Finally his mouth opened. "You're like my friend. She tells me good things about me - makes me believe them. And then I have a better day."

She smiled. "Who is this friend?"

"Miss Case - she is Britt's PA but she's my friend."

"Oh… Lenore, right? She sent me a friend request on social media - I thought it was because we work together and we have half the Sentinel as mutuals. She seems nice - and if you say she is then she must be."

"She's very nice - all the time, to everyone. Even when she isn't nice to you… it's because she wants nice things for you. —And she helps me a lot."

"And people don't help you?"

"Not usually."

Her smile dimmed. "You have… done amazing things with your life, Kato. All by yourself. And you don't need anyone's help, but… it's nice to have it." She paused. "You'll always have mine."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Because I go to the gym?"

She grinned. "No, because… you're fun, and you're thoughtful, and… I think you can be very sweet when you don't realise it."

"Sweet?" he frowned.

"Yes. Like… last night. When we came out of the bowling alley and it was cooler than we thought. You offered me your jacket."

"You were colder than me. It was only fair."

"See?" she teased. "Sweet."

"Britt says 'sweet' is what the woman says when she doesn't want to date you but doesn't want to hurt your feelings."

She rolled her eyes. "Well Mr Reid doesn't know anything about women then."

"I think you're right."

She grinned and her hands went into his hair behind his ears. "I think we should stay right here and make good use of this bed again so you won't need to go to the gym this morning. Then we can go to work and pretend we're just cold professionals doing our jobs."

"You want me to skip the gym?"

"Just this one morning. Will you? For me? I promise this is the only time I'll ask you to break your routine."

He leant his chin out and she kissed him, feeling one of his hands slide into the small of her back to press her against him. He shifted his knee; she grinned and bit at his mouth.

There was a beep and a buzz.

His left eye popped open. She pulled her head back. "No," she said sternly, watching his other eye open too.

"It might be work."

"No!" she cried. "No no no - it's six o'clock in the freaking morning and you're very busy!"

The phone started to ring. He opened his mouth, then just sighed and eased her off him. She slid to the mattress, watching him scoot across the bed and climb out. He snatched up his jeans from the floor and shook them until the phone fell out of the pocket. He scooped it up and looked at the name. His shoulders sagged abruptly.

She got off the bed, making sure she left all the sheets behind her. She felt the cool air of the room on every single inch of her bare skin. "Kato. Don't you dare," she warned. He looked back at her - she noticed his eyes went all the way down her, then back up. Slowly. He swallowed. She advanced on him, reaching for the phone in his hand.

He pulled it back, backing up to the wall as she closed on him. He found himself squashed up against the wallpaper with everything she had pressed against him.

He gulped in air. His thumb pressed the green button. He raised it to his ear.

She frowned. And then she slid her fingers up his neck, reaching up to him with her chin.

"Hey bro!" came Britt's voice down the line. "Not an emergency, don't worry. And like I know it's super early but Lenore said you'd be up."

Amy tipped his head down, kissing him.

The oblivious voice on the phone went on. "I need to ask you about some armour for—"

He pulled his mouth free. "I'm very busy!" he cried. He cut the call and dropped the phone, one hand going into her hair and kissing her back.

She gave an evil grin and pulled him back to the bed. She swung him round and pushed him over, laughing and aiming for him with a playful jump.

.

.

Britt looked at the phone in disgust. "Busy? At six in the morning?"

He dropped it to the bedside table and lounged in the sheets, putting his hands behind his head and sighing out a long breath.

"Body armour," he mused. "Ooh - office first." He whipped back the covers and climbed out of bed. He whistled his way through the house in his favourite blue silk pyjamas, finding the kitchen and picking up the carefully hand written instructions on how to use the coffee machine.

.

.

Lenore knocked on the office door, heard Kato's voice, and opened it up. She looked in to find him at Britt's laptop, tapping industriously. She smiled and walked in, closing it quietly behind her.

"Happy Friday," she said. "Ready for the big thing tonight?"

"Yes," he muttered, pre-occupied. Then he paused and looked up. "Sorry - I mean good morning. Still ok for piano tomorrow?"

"Of course," she breezed, going to the empty chair opposite him and sitting down. "Did you get the old sheets I dropped by your place last night?"

"Uh - not yet."

"You didn't find them after you got back from your date? They should have been under your door as you walked in."

"I was at Amy's."

"All night?"

His head gave a little innocent bobble from left to right, which, accompanied with his nonchalant shrug, made Lenore gasp and grin. She reached across with a palm, and without looking he reached up and high-fived her.

"Good for you," she chuckled. "So I take it the bowling went well?"

"We lost-lost, so yes, it went well," he said smugly.

"I don't know what that means but I'm happy for you."

Now he looked up, grinning at her in a way that made her giggle.

They jumped as the door to the office opened again.

"Morning troops!" Britt called with enthusiasm, a huge smile on his face as he shut the door behind him. "And how are we today?"

"Good," Lenore said, opening up her bag and producing a notebook. "We were just talking about—. About tonight's operation."

"I've got an idea," Britt gushed, clapping his hands together and approaching the desk. "Body armour," he hissed.

"Body armour?" Kato echoed, looking tasked.

"Yeah, you know - like a bullet-proof vest, so if we get shot at we stand a better chance of escaping. I mean I do not want to get shot again," Britt said.

Lenore and Kato looked at each other. "Seems reasonable," she said.

"It's a good idea," Kato said, sitting up and putting all his attention on the laptop.

Britt dropped a hand on his shoulder. "So can I leave that with you? I don't even know where to start, man. You know all this stuff. Is that ok?"

Kato paused. He looked up. "It's ok. If I need anything… I get you to speak to the people you know to get it for me."

"Yes," Britt agreed, patting his shoulder. "Right - I'm out of here." He walked back to the door. "Oh - how'd your date go?" he asked, spinning round to look at Kato.

"It went fine," he said cautiously.

"Cool. If you want like a dinner reservation or something you let me know. All the restaurants let me jump the queue. I can get you in, dude."

"Uh… thanks," Kato managed, surprised.

Britt winked at him, opened the door, and was gone.

Lenore grinned, sitting back in her chair and appraising Kato's entirely too relaxed lean, where he was normally so whip-cord straight. "So… tell me about bowling."

"I am working," he said deliberately. "And now I have body armour to make."

She leant forward, set her elbow on the desk by the laptop, and let her chin fall into the attached hand. She stared at him from two feet away until he had to look at her. "Tell me about bowling," she said deliberately. "And when I say 'bowling', I mean 'Amy'."

He rolled his eyes, making her laugh.

.

.

The garage door opened and Britt stepped through, finding Kato at his work bench, music blasting out from the sound system behind him. It sounded like a fight between classical music and angry hip-hop - not in English.

"Hey bro!" he called. "What are you making now?"

Kato looked up, moving his safety goggles up his forehead and turning the music down quickly. He waved his hands out. "Body armour."

"Really? So fast?" he gasped, coming round the side. "It's barely six o'clock."

"It doesn't look so cool but people can't see it under your coat," Kato shrugged. "When I have more time I will make it better."

"That's awesome, dude!" Britt gushed, looking around. "Can I see it?"

Kato pointed behind him and he turned to see two mannequins across the workspace. They were both wearing black mesh vests, two-inch square pockets sewn close together across the front, sides, and up the shoulder straps.

"Whoa," Britt breathed. He walked over, putting his hand out and sliding it down the surface. "This is epic. It's like a disco suit but in black."

"Stand back - I show you," Kato said. Britt turned and realised he was holding a gun. He backed up quickly. Kato handed him safety glasses. "Put these on."

He pushed the glasses on and watched as Kato slid his own goggles down, cocked the gun, then raised it directly at the left mannequin from ten feet away. He fired once, twice. A ping and a thunk made Britt jump, but he watched in fascination as Kato went up to the vest and put his finger to something in the pocket over the heart area.

He looked back at Britt. "See."

Britt took off his glasses and hurried up to find two bullets buried in the vest. He touched the left one - and it fell out. "Whoa," he breathed. "And this will work for like any bullet?"

"It will stop any bullet if it's not close," Kato said. "So don't let them get close. Like… four, five feet, maybe. After that it might go through."

"Got it." He stood back. "Whatcha doing before midnight?" he asked. "Want to get a drink?"

"I have something to do," he said. "But next week, ok?"

"Got it, yeah - next week," Britt nodded. "Cool."

Kato clapped a hand to his arm and walked off, back to his work bench. Britt stepped closer to the mannequin, pulling the second bullet free and marvelling at the amount of work that had gone into the protective layers.

.

.

Amy heard the doorbell and leapt off the sofa. She raced round to the front door, then paused to flick her hair back and straighten up. She cleared her throat, let out a long, calming breath, and opened the door.

Kato looked at her, his hands full of a large pizza box. "Hey."

"Hi," she grinned, stepping back and gesturing him in with her head. "I'm so glad my friends bailed on me tonight - and that you were free after all. I'm sorry for messing you around."

"I - I have to go by eleven," he said, walking in and pausing for her to shut the door. "I have things to do."

"Cool," she said. "What did you get?"

"You say you like duck, so I get the duck," he shrugged.

She giggled, opening the pizza box a crack. "Duck on pizza?"

"It's good."

"I'll try anything once."

"I know this now," he smiled.

She laughed and took the box from him, walking through to the kitchen with it. "Well go in, get comfortable," she called over her shoulder. "I'll get plates."

He slid his jacket off, hanging it on one of the pegs by the door. He lifted a foot and undid the laces on his big boot, yanking it off and then doing the other one. Hearing ceramic clinking together and wooden doors, he wandered into the kitchen after her.

"You want a beer?" she asked, as she lifted two plates and the box, turning to him.

"Uh - no, thanks."

"Can you take these and go through? I've got a movie for you."

He did as he was told, finding the large side table and setting down the pizza box. He was just wondering where to put the plates as she came through with two tall glasses of what appeared to be sparkling water.

"Ok so - grab that table for me, please," she said.

He picked up another side table, pulling it toward her, and she put the glasses on it. She went round and sat on the left of the sofa, pulling the tables so that she could reach them both. She looked at him.

"Sit anywhere," she said.

He looked at the sofa then plonked himself in the middle, and she bounced closer to him, picking up a remote control. She pulled her legs up next to her on the couch, leaning on his shoulder and pushing his hair round his ear closest to her. "How was work?"

"It was ok," he said. "I got to start a new project and everyone left me alone so I could work it on all day."

"And you enjoyed that," she said knowingly. He shrugged and she smiled. "One day you'll have to show me some of your 'projects'. They sound… intriguing."

"Oh - uh - copyright," he said. "Like - company property. Britt has to ok the designs and we test them, then I don't know if I'm allowed to show them to anyone."

"Oh," she said, disappointed. "Well… ok."

"…Maybe there is a project I can show you," he mused. "I should find one."

"It's not important," she said.

"And your work today? Did that man in Filing get the thing you wanted?"

"Yes, he did - finally. Now I can go into the weekend without worrying about people chasing me for info." She sighed. "I'm so glad it's Friday."

"Me too."

"Oh - I got a text from Siu-Ching," she said. "She's so nice - all your bowling friends are. She asked if we're going again next week." She paused. "Can we?"

He looked at her, amused. "If you want to."

"I do want to - it was fun." She waved the remote at him with an evil grin. "Now then. I cannot believe you have not seen this movie."

"I haven't seen a lot of movies, not just this one."

"Well it's one of my favourites and it's amazing." She pointed the remote at the TV, waiting for it to blink into life. She pressed buttons until Netflix came up, and then she went through her list to find the film. "Here we are - an Indonesian movie called 'The Raid'. Trust me - it's epic. It has Chinese subtitles. Let me…" She fiddled with buttons, then nodded to herself.

"But if they speak bahasa baku and you put on the Chinese subtitles, how will you know what they say?"

"Oh I've seen this movie so many times I already know what they're saying," she grinned. "Now all we have to do is eat pizza and watch the movie. And believe me, this will be the most action and excitement you will see tonight."

He looked at her. "Uh - yeah. I'm sure it will."