February 22, 2000
Kirovohrad
It had been a long day. Seven hours to Paris followed by a one-hour layover at Charles de Gaulle International. After another three hour flight, they were finally in Kirovohrad. Lady Jaye wasn't even sure what time zone she was in, let alone the time. However, she, Dial-Tone and Shipwreck knew they had a job to do, so they trudged forward. They cleared through customs without a problem, their temporary identities being French journalists, and were now waiting for their mysterious point of contact to pick them up.
"Uh, Jaye, since we don't know who is coming to get us, how do we know who we're supposed to go with?" Shipwreck asked the question of the hour.
"I don't know. I just assumed they would know us…"
"Well, isn't it a small world!" Dial-Tone suddenly called out.
Shipwreck turned to see what Dial-Tone was talking about and grinned. "Flint! Man, am I glad to see you."
At the mention of his name, Lady Jaye turned around. Her heart skipped a beat, and she had to keep herself from gasping. Besides the fact that she could tell the last few weeks had been hard on him, he looked pretty much the same as he did three years ago. She still thought he was one of the more handsome men that she knew. When he was done shaking hands with the two men, he faced his former fiancée, put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Hey, Jaye. It's good to see you again."
"It's good to see you too, Flint." He was so nonchalant about the encounter that he must have already known she was coming. Either that, or it just didn't phase him as much to see her.
Actually, Flint was struggling to remain poised. He thought he had it all under control until he actually saw her. She still looked so good, and so many moments from their past were racing through his mind.
An awkward silence began until Shipwreck spoke up. "So where's our ride? All I want to do now is find a bed and sleep."
That jarred Flint back to reality. "Sorry. My car is parked in the lot." They walked out to the car and Shipwreck and Dial-tone, being the gentleman they are, offered Lady Jaye the front seat. They all got in and Flint drove away. After they were out of the airport, Flint began his briefing. "Welcome to Kirohovrad. The CIA had established their headquarters here as well as a few safe houses in the area. We're heading to one of those on the outskirts of town where you'll get a chance to rest for a couple of hours. Then I'll get you guys up to speed, and give you your assignments. So for now, just sit back and make yourself comfortable."
Lady Jaye laughed to herself. There wasn't a shot in hell she'd be making herself comfortable any time soon. She just kept quiet and looked out her window. Another awkward silence began, and once again Shipwreck jumped in. "So, Flint what have you been up to? Has life been one exciting adventure after another?"
Flint laughed. "I guess you could say that. I have been pretty busy, and I have seen the world. But you know the old saying, 'I could tell you more but then I'd have to kill you.'"
Lady Jaye was interested to hear what he would say, and was disappointed that he kept it so vague.
"What about you guys, what have you been doing post-Joe?" Flint had addressed the question to the three of them, but Shipwreck spoke first.
"Been living the life of the sailor. I thought I wanted a normal life, but then I realized I wouldn't know what to do with it. So after the Joe team disbanded, I rejoined the Navy. Got stationed to a carrier. It was great. Went to exotic ports, met some beautiful women. My only problem was, I never wanted shore duty. The Navy thought I was nuts. They're always dealing with guys who can't get off the ship fast enough, and I was begging them to keep me on one. I think they were thrilled when Hawk asked me to be transferred back."
Flint laughed again. Typical Shipwreck. "How about you, DT? Did you stay military?"
"Nah, I got out. I took a job with Lucent Technologies shortly after. Been with them ever since. Oh, and I also got married."
Lady Jaye whipped around in her seat. She had just spent ten hours on a plane with the man, and she couldn't believe this was the first she was hearing of this piece of news. "Dial-Tone! I didn't know. Congratulations! Who is she? How did you guys meet?"
"Her name is Linda. She also works for Lucent. We've been married for a little over a year." Dial-Tone was beaming.
Lady Jaye was really happy for Dial-Tone. She always hoped that he would meet someone. "Congratulations, again." While Flint and Shipwreck were also congratulating him, Lady Jaye muttered, "Well, at least someone has a happy love life." She said it purposely for Flint to hear, but he had made no indications that he had.
Flint, Dial-Tone and Shipwreck began making small talk, catching up with what had been going on with their life. Flint was the most secretive, revealing very little about the past few years.
As she was listening to them, Lady Jaye began drifting off. She was awakened by Flint gently shaking her and saying, "Wake up Sleepy-head, we're here." She smiled at the name. It's what he used to say to her in the morning when she was reluctant to get out of bed.
"Sorry. I didn't realize how tired I was," she apologized.
"Trust me, I know." Flint answered. "I've done these flights too many times. I'll show you to your temporary rooms, let you take a nap. We'll go over the plans later."
Lady Jaye got out of the car, and saw that Dial-Tone and Shipwreck were already inside. She was still really tired, and another nap sounded like a great idea. She didn't have the energy to talk to Flint, to try and find out more about his life. So she just nodded and started walking into the building.
"Lady Jaye, wait a minute," Flint said. She stopped and turned to face him. He started to say something and then stopped. Finally he just said, "I'm glad you're here."
Lady Jaye smiled. "I'm glad I'm here too."
A few hours later
The Joes were in the living room waiting for Lady Jaye to come down from her room. Shipwreck was watching Flint as he gazed blankly at the stairs, obviously anxious for Lady Jaye to make her appearance. Shipwreck decided he would ruffle his feathers a little so he walked over to Flint.
"Hey, Flint. I've got a question for you," Shipwreck said.
Flint was deep in thought and didn't hear him at first. Shipwreck had to shake his shoulder to get his attention. "Uh, Earth to Flint, do you read us?"
Flint finally realized the sailor was there and turned towards him. "Sorry. I was just thinking about this mission."
"Yeah, sure you were," Shipwreck replied with a smirk. "Now that I have your attention, I want to ask your permission for something."
"What is it, Shipwreck?" Flint asked a little annoyed.
"Since you and Jaye seem to be on a permanent split, I was wondering if it would be okay, if I pursued her. You know I've always had a crush on her," Shipwreck said with a huge grin on his face.
Flint shot him a look that could have killed him but then said, "Sure."
Flint's blessing momentarily stunned Shipwreck. "Really? You mean it?"
Flint put his hand on Shipwreck's shoulders. "Yes, I mean it. However, I will have to break both of your legs beforehand."
Shipwreck laughed nervously, and luckily they both heard the sounds of a door slamming upstairs. Flint muttered "Finally." He picked up the files and took his position at the front of the room. Lady Jaye came down the stairs a few moments later.
She smiled at Flint, "Sorry, I wanted to take a quick shower."
He was wondering if she was purposely trying to torture him. She had on jeans and a tight sweater, and her hair was still damp. She looked so sexy, that he was asking himself how he could have been so stupid to let her go. He noticed that Shipwreck was still grinning at him, and he quickly focused on the material at hand.
Clearing his throat Flint began, "Shipwreck, you're heading to the shipyards in Crimea. You're going to talk to the locals, and try to round up some support for us. They still have a tie to Russia, and we're going to need their help with this." He handed Shipwreck some paperwork that included his new identity and a map of the area.
"Lady Jaye, you're going to be our insider in Kiev. You'll be reporting directly to the head of the Eastern Europe division, Albert Gorman. He flew in to make sure we don't screw up. I wish I could give you something meatier, but you've got to play this our way, and that means you're going in as a diplomatic attaché from the United Kingdom." Flint shrugged and waited for the inevitable objection.
Lady Jaye just stared at him for a few moments. She had expected a cover more fitting to the praise that Hawk and the CIA boys in Washington had heaped upon her. The role of diplomatic attaché was nowhere near the top of the list. "Ha ha, very funny. What's my real cover?"
Flint lowered his head and sighed. He had told Gorman that this would never fly with her, but he hadn't listened. Gorman had said that if Jaye was as good as everyone said she was then she wouldn't have a problem with it. That's easy for him to say. He's not the one telling her. "It's not a joke. That's your real assignment."
"They can't be serious." Lady Jaye argued, "Cobra and anyone else will be able to figure out very quickly that I'm not who I say I am. Everyone knows that any new diplomatic personnel that arrive on the heels of some international crisis are likely linked to an intelligence group. I can't believe you all haven't figured that one out yet. No wonder you missed Cobra's political run before it was too late."
"Look, I'm just the messenger here. I'm totally in agreement with you, but I'm not the one calling the shots. Your contact, Albert Gorman, is. Take your objections up with him when you get to Kiev. Anything else you want to get off your chest?" Flint asked with a note of frustration.
Yes. Where did we go wrong and why haven't we spoken to each other in three year? What have you been doing? Is there someone new in your life? Does it hurt you to miss me as much as it hurts me to miss you? She just sighed and opened up the package Flint had handed her. "No."
"Good." Flint said, then resumed his briefing. "Dial-Tone, you'll stay with me and help build the resistance movement here. You'll also work on setting up reliable and secure communications between Washington and us. I don't have to tell you the success of this mission along with the safety of Shipwreck and Lady Jaye count on you."
Dial-Tone shook his head. "You don't have to tell me twice, Flint. I won't let you down."
"I didn't think you would." Flint turned his attention away from Dial-Tone and addressed his next remarks to the group. "Okay. Lady Jaye, you'll head out tonight for Kiev with Sergei driving. I apologize for the lack of preparation time. Shipwreck, you'll head out tomorrow for the Crimea. Dial-Tone and I will get started tomorrow working with some of the local groups too. Dismissed."
Dial-Tone and Shipwreck stood up and decided to head out to one of the local bars, the unspoken exchange between the two acknowledging that Flint and Lady Jaye could use some time alone. Lady Jaye continued to study her assignment as Flint pulled up a chair next to her. After a few false starts where he would utter at most a syllable and run his hand through his hair Flint finally gained the strength needed to speak. "I just wanted you to know that I really do agree with you on this. I spent two hours trying to convince Gorman that making you an attaché was a bad idea but he wouldn't hear any of it. And unfortunately I lack the kind of clout needed to go over his head. I'm sorry."
All throughout Flint's speech Lady Jaye had kept her eyes on the page she was reading, unsure of where Flint planned to take the conversation. She couldn't help but smile as Flint stammered and then slowly made his way through the apology. It reminded her of when they first started dating and he could barely make it through asking her which movie she'd like to see let alone telling her that he loved her. "I should be the one apologizing for being such a bitch to you," she said, "I would have gotten my head chewed off by Hawk if I had pulled that with him."
"I seem to remember that Hawk would chew someone's head off for doing anything out of line during a mission briefing, like breathing heavy."
"Good point." They sat in silence for a few seconds, neither one knowing what to say next. Flint looked like he was about to break the silence when a cough and a knock broke it.
Sergei was leaning against the door failing badly in his attempt to look apologetic. In broken English he said, "Sorry, but we must leave if we're to get to Kiev by morning. I already put your bags in the car." He walked out of the room and they could hear the front door opening and closing a few seconds later.
They looked at each other for another second and then Lady Jaye finally spoke. "I guess that's my cue to leave."
"Looks like it." Before either knew what was going on Flint hugged Lady Jaye. It wasn't the deep embrace of lovers, but wasn't the barely touching hug of friends. It was just tight enough to make both wonder what was going on and where things were headed. "Good luck."
Afraid of what would come out of her mouth Lady Jaye just nodded and left the house. The car was already running and as soon as she closed the door Sergei pulled out of the driveway. It wasn't until they left the city limits that he spoke. "I apologize for making you leave so soon. We have someone to meet though before reaching Kiev. Joe Don wants to see you."
Lady Jaye began to worry, not sure if this was a Cobra setup. "Who the hell is Joe Don?"
"Joe Don told me not to tell you. Said it would all make sense once you two met up."
Realizing she wasn't going to get anything further out of Sergei, ady Jaye settled back in her seat and hoped she wasn't being driven to her death.
Moscow
Duke had a pounding headache. His team had arrived in Moscow only a couple of hours earlier. He jumped right in, and tried to talk with Vladimir Putin. He had gotten as far as one of the President's secretaries who told Duke that Putin was very busy, and would try to have one of his staff members speak to him. That man, in turn, blew him off. He kept postponing the meeting, and then told Duke to come back tomorrow.
"So, boss, what the fuck do we do now?" Stalker asked.
"We continue to be as visible as possible." Duke answered. " We try to talk some sense into these idiots, and hope that Jaye and the others have better luck. For now, let's call it a day. We'll start fresh tomorrow."
All Duke wanted to do was find his wife and unwind. Scarlett was trying to locate the Oktober Guard, and he hoped that she had better luck than he did. He said good-bye to Stalker, and got into his car. They had been set up in temporary housing, and after a twenty-minute drive, he pulled into the driveway. He called for her as he walked into the house. He found her in the bedroom wiping away tears.
"Hon, what's wrong?" he asked.
"I just got off the phone with your parents. Everything's fine." She clarified when she saw the look of alarm cross his face, "I just miss her so much."
"I know you do, I do too," Duke replied and he hugged her. "Is she running her grandparents ragged?"
"They wouldn't admit it, but I bet she is. I'm sorry, I thought I would be better able to handle this."
"Don't apologize." Duke said trying to console her. "You wouldn't be a good mother if you didn't miss your little girl. You know, you could go back anytime. The others won't think any less of you if you decided to fly back to the States."
"No, I couldn't do that. I couldn't leave you. I know she's fine, and your mom and step-dad love having her over. I think this is all due to having a completely useless couple of hours." Scarlett answered.
"So I take it you were no more successful than I was today?" Duke asked.
"No. They had me running in circles, trying to locate the Oktober Guard. Nobody would give me a straight answer on where their members are now. It was so frustrating."
"Trust me, I know how you feel." Duke then told her about his afternoon in Putin's office. When he finished Scarlett rubbed his back. Then Duke's face brightened as he said, "I almost forgot to tell you, you're never going to believe who I got a phone call from today."
"Who?" Scarlett asked.
"Flint. He's working with Lady Jaye and the rest of the team. He's been working here for the CIA the last couple of years."
Scarlett's face also brightened up, "That is so great to hear. Lady Jaye was so disappointed when he wasn't at Headquarters, maybe now they can finally work through their problems."
Duke laughed, "You're still a hopeless romantic, aren't you?"
"Hey, I just want them to be as happy as we are." Scarlett answered and kissed her still grinning husband.
Somewhere between Kirovohrad and Kiev
The bartender smiled and pointed to a table in the back that was situated apart from the others. Due to the poor lighting, all Jaye could be certain of was that someone was sitting at the table and drinking something. She had her misgivings about this whole affair, but it was clear that Sergei was not going to let her leave without seeing Joe Don. She had briefly contemplated jumping out of the car, but realized that was a losing proposition since she didn't really know the area. Upon reaching the table and finally seeing whom the woman called Joe Don really was Jaye dropped her guard and smiled. "I should've known you'd be here. Please tell me the boys in Langley didn't actually give you papers naming you Joe Don."
"Is that it? No hug. No 'how are you, long time no see'? Just 'hope your name isn't Joe Don'?" She got out of the booth and the two women hugged. A minute or so later both had sat back down and 'Joe Don' continued to talk. "For the record I am not going by the name of Joe Don. Our friend here unfortunately saw Goldeneye one too many times and therefore associates me with the CIA character played by Joe Don Baker. I let it stick because it's good for a laugh. You can call me Beth Harkins."
"Always go for the short names, don't you?"
"Damn right. Hell of a lot easier to remember," Beth said, taking a sip of vodka.
"While this is an unexpected and nice surprise, what the hell are you doing here?" Jaye asked.
"Trying to clean up Gorman's mess. There's a good group of agents out here and we should've seen this coming. There's no excuse for them not noticing Destro or Cobra Commander during the past two years. I've actually been in and out of the area since that drunken nut Yeltsin resigned trying to figure out how we missed that one. Something isn't adding up, but there's not enough to properly point fingers. Gorman and the rest of the agents don't know I'm here. Only the CIA director knows I'm here."
"Do you really think there's a double agent in our midst?" Lady Jaye asked.
"I don't know what to think. All I know is that it's my job to figure out whether the group out here is just incompetent or if something else is on. Speaking of which, what cover did Gorman set up for you?"
Jaye started to open her mouth and shut it, figuring pictures would be more appropriate. She just handed the package over and waited for Beth's reaction. It wasn't long in coming when a few minutes later Beth's eyes grew wide and she spit the vodka she was sipping. "I had a feeling this was going to be bad. When is he expecting you?"
"Tomorrow morning." As Jaye answered Beth pulled out an envelope and passed it to Jaye.
"Not any more. Hey Brant, come here and bring a plate over." The bartender left the bar and came over to Beth's table with the plate she requested. She pulled out a lighter, set the flame up high and then put it to a corner of the envelope holding the information from Gorman.
Jaye stared at the flaming remnants of her cover and then looked back to Beth. "What are you doing?"
"No way in hell I'm letting you show up as an attaché in the middle of an international crisis. That's just slapping a bull's-eye on your chest. Plus, if there is someone in the group giving out info then you could be in danger. Can you do a British accent?"
"What do you mean 'can I do a British accent'? You've seen a few of my plays."
"A rendition of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' in 1890's New Orleans does not make you qualified to do a British accent."
Jaye rolled her eyes. "Would you like a cockney accent guvnor or would you like the prim and proper Margaret Thatcher." Jaye seamlessly moved between accents as she talked to Beth.
Beth smiled. "Works for me. Jaye, meet Brant Rodgers. Brant, this is Lady Jaye." The two shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. "Brant here works for MI6 and just happens to run this lovely hole in the wall. You know how the Brits need their pubs."
"That's because you bloody Americans are all drunks. We're just taking a page from your book on capitalism," Brant said with a smile as he took away the plate holding the embers of Lady Jaye's former cover.
"Isn't he charming? Anyway, in that little envelope I handed you are all the vitals you'll need to know to play Brant's wife, Samantha. She was supposed to come around this time for a visit since his cover within the British Consulate is Head of Security. When the Cobra stuff happened he told her not to come. When they told me that you were coming over I set it up with Brant to have this on hand in case I viewed the cover given to you by Gorman as unsafe. He talked her arrival up enough that people are expecting someone to show up so your arrival won't be much of a surprise. You'll arrive in the city with Brant in two days time. Before then you'll stay in an apartment on the outskirts of Kiev and bone up on being his wife."
"How am I going to settle this with Gorman?" Jaye asked.
"Leave that all up to me. As far as that's concerned you're gonna to interact with him as Samantha. Oh, and since we don't know what the hell is going around here I don't trust the communication lines so I don't want you talking to the other Joes."
Beth settled back into the booth while pulling out a pack of cigarettes. Lighting one she started to talk until she noticed the look on Lady Jaye's face. "What?"
"I thought you quit smoking." She replied with a frown.
"You know I don't smoke when I'm in the states. I just light up when I'm overseas. Keeps from obsessing over an assignment. So, besides your fixation over my oral fixation how was the trip?" Beth began to grin. "Meet any cute guys on the way here?"
"We know what 'cute guy' you're talking about. How come no one told me that Flint was going to be a part of this?"
"One, we didn't tell you because I knew your past history and I was afraid you'd back out if you knew he was a part of this so I made sure Hawk left that out of the briefing. Two, we honestly didn't know if we could pull him out to work on this." Jaye laughed as she heard Beth's explanation. "What's so funny?"
"Do you hear yourself? Years ago you were worried about whether or not you'd fit in and here you are organizing the game we're currently playing. You've come a long way. I'm proud of you."
Beth smiled and blushed. "Thanks. That means a lot." The food that Beth had ordered before Lady Jaye and Sergei arrived was put on the table and the two ate in silence for a while. Eventually Beth started up the conversation again. "Okay, fifty thousand dollar question: why did you come back?"
"Come back to what?"
"This. The whole dog and pony show of covert operations and government bureaucracy. I thought you were done with this when they disbanded the Joe team hence your refusal of our offer."
Lady Jaye sighed. She knew this point of conversation was going to come up eventually. She had expected Flint to be the one to bring it up though so she was unprepared when Beth asked her. "I'm not sure. I think I came back because I realized there was unfinished business with Cobra. How could I continue to be on a theater stage every night when Cobra was busy taking over the world?"
"Hello! Last I knew evil didn't stop doing evil shit when Cobra decided to go into hiding. Granted, no one's as evil as Cobra but there have been some pretty nasty ones around in the past five years. You still could've made a difference working for us."
"Did you and Flint finally meet up and talk about me? Where's this coming from?"
"It comes from me knowing what kind of game this really is this time out. If our worse case scenario comes true then the whole face of the world may change. This could make everything you've done in the past look like a game of tiddlywinks." Beth looked at her watch and swore. "Nuts, I gotta go off and take care of some things. I'll leave you in Brant's more than capable hands."
"So soon? It's been so long since we last got a chance to talk."
"I know, but I've got to do some things this evening. Trust me, we'll see each other a lot during this since you'll be reporting to me. Brant and I will work on setting up meetings." Beth got out of the booth, stubbing her cigarette out in the ashtray. She held out her hand towards Lady Jaye.
Now it was Lady Jaye's turn to act offended as she stood up. "What? All I get is a handshake?" The two grinned and then hugged. "Be careful."
Beth pulled away and continued grinning. "Don't worry. And I promise, when this is all over and we get back to the states we'll get together. I'll drag Jason out and you can drag Flint along. It'll be fun."
"You have time to play matchmaker during all of this?"
"I make the time because I know a good thing when I see it." Before Lady Jaye could say anything else Beth turned and walked out of the bar. Lady Jaye sighed and walked over to Brant to see when they were heading out.
February 23, 2000
Kirovohrad, CIA Safe House
Flint was trying not to smile as he watched Dial-Tone work on the instruments. Dial-Tone had become so flustered. They had been working on the equipment for most of the day, with a brief break to see Shipwreck off as he headed to the Crimea. Flint turned his attention away from Dial-Tone and back to the thoughts he'd been having the last twenty-four hours since Lady Jaye had arrived back in his life.
He had pretty much decided that once this conflict was over he was going to have a long talk with her. It didn't go well the last time he attempted a reconciliation, but he saw what mistakes he had made then, and vowed not to repeat it this time around. It might end the same way, but he knew he had to at least try again. Seeing her yesterday reaffirmed how much he wanted her back in his life.
With that course of action settled, he tried to focus again on the mission. She still had the knack for diverting his attention from his job. He could remember a time or two when his emotions ruled his actions on the battlefield. He had been very lucky that neither Duke nor Hawk had busted him for his transgressions. That could be attributed to his skills and leadership abilities. His teammates had always respected him, and let his moments of weakness slide.
Flint was brought back to his present situation by the clanging of tools. Dial-Tone was still tinkering with the equipment.
"Just a little bit of care. Not much. Maybe a dusting every couple of weeks." Dial-tone muttered as he unscrewed the back off one of radios. When he had it apart he let out a gasp. "Would you look at this thing? It has never been cleaned! You poor thing."
He began vacuuming the interior while continuing his muttering. Flint decided he had all he could take of that little scene and luckily for him, the secure phone rang. "Dash, here." Flint answered.
"What is the matter with you GI Joe types? You think you guys are so special that you don't need to keep appointments?" Albert Gorman was screaming into the phone.
"Excuse me?"
"Your teammate apparently thinks she's too good to meet with me. She never made her nine o'clock appointment," Gorman explained.
Flint looked at his watch. It was after noon. He became very worried. "It's not like her to just blow off appointments. Something must have happened."
"Well, when you find her tell her to get her ass in here ASAP." He was completely oblivious to Flint's concern, and hung up the phone.
Dial-Tone looked up from his work. He saw the look on Flint's face. "What's the matter?"
"Lady Jaye never made her appointment with Gorman. He's pretty pissed." Flint answered. He then picked up the phone again and called Mary Olsen's office.
"Olsen." She said into the phone.
"Mary, it's Dash. I think we have a problem. Lady Jaye left last night to meet up with Gorman this morning. However, she never made her appointment. I haven't heard from her since she left."
"Hmmm. I don't like the sound of this." Mary answered and paused for a moment. "Let me look into this and I'll let you know anything I find out."
Flint hung up the phone. He suddenly had a real bad feeling. Dial-Tone saw this and tried to console him. "Flint, I'm sure she's fine. There are a million reasons why she could have missed that meeting."
Flint then spent a very anxious half hour waiting for the phone to ring again. When it did, he jumped on it.
"Dash," Mary began, and Flint could tell instantly from the sound of her voice that it was bad news. "I don't know how to tell you this… There was a bad car accident last night. The roads had turned icy, and Sergei must have lost control. They were both killed instantly."
Flint felt the strength go out of his legs. He really needed to sit down. "Are you sure it was them?" He asked in a shaky voice.
"Yes. Lady Jaye had her dog tags on, and we identified Sergei through the jewelry he was wearing. We pulled some strings so you won't see any names in the paper. Should allow us to maintain the integrity of the mission." She didn't want to add that the bodies had been burned beyond visual recognition and only by the above items were they able to make the identification. She had known about Dash's and the woman's past relationship. She wished she knew how to comfort him at this moment. "Dash, I'm truly sorry."
"Thanks, Mary. At least I know now." He said and hung up the phone.
Dial-Tone knew it was bad. "Flint, what happened?"
Flint had his back to him. Without turning around he said, "Jaye and Sergei were killed last night in a car wreck." He then walked out of the room, leaving Dial-Tone standing there in shock.