Disclaimer: I don't own the situations or characters portrayed herein. I'm just playing with them for a while.
To Catch a Mongoose
"You're the one he's afraid of," Lee said, trying to get through to the thick-headed Barnhill. "You're the only one who can recognize him."
"Yeah, just me. And Amanda."
Dear God, it was his worst nightmare come true.
His head jerked around so fast it hurt, and he asked, sharply, "Amanda?"
"She was sitting next to him the other night in the casino."
"Well, why didn't you tell me that?" he demanded, all senses now on high alert.
Please, God, not Amanda too. They had lost so many people to the Mongoose, and his blood ran cold at the thought that his kill count would soon be forty-three.
"I didn't think it was important. She doesn't know she was sitting next to the Mongoose; Amanda doesn't know what he looks like."
He knew Barnhill was stupid, but he didn't think he was that stupid.
"Yeah, well, the Mongoose certainly knows what Amanda looks like!" he snapped, willing himself to stay calm.
The Mongoose needed a carrier, since he had lost Barnhill. It was a tiny glimmer of hope in a world that had gone suddenly dark.
She might still be alive.
Her eyes sparkled as she read the headline. "'Mongoose Caught; American Citizen Aids in Arrest of International Killer.' Aww, Connie. You're going to be the hit at the next class reunion."
Connie Barnhill puffed out his chest like he were solely responsible for the capture. "Yeah, well, fame and success can only come to a few of us. Hey, listen, I gotta run, I got a radio interview in a couple of minutes. You know, the British love their heroes. Lee? Hey, let's work together again sometime, what do you say?"
I guess everyone in that graduating class has the gift of the gab, he thought, a bit uncharitably, as his hand was violently shaken.
"Yeah, Conrad, it was real — " Informative? Alarming?
"Hey, don't mention it, pal. Amanda? Bye bye, I'll... I'll see you back in the States."
Why did she have to be so encouraging? "Yeah, Connie." She reached out her hand and smoothed his tie. "Fix your tie, Conrad."
He blushed and looked down, and it suddenly took everything in Lee not to hate Conrad Walter Barnhill.
But just as suddenly, he remembered he was a hero. "Hey, listen, I gotta go!"
He hobbled away, and Lee couldn't help but chuckle a little, relief at the other man's departure bubbling up into joy at the thought of spending these last few golden hours alone with her before she left for home.
"Bless his heart, he's about to bust," she said, fondly.
That does it; I'm definitely going to that next class reunion with her.