Drink Me

72. TWIST ME ONCE, TWIST ME TWICE

TWIST ME ONCE, TWIST ME TWICE

Riley threw on a pair of joggers and a hoodie and left his apartment; exiting the building, he scanned the street for anything suspicious but nothing caught his attention. Not wanting to take any risks, he lifted his hood over his head and crossed the road, jogging towards the local park, keeping his senses alert for any changes in his surroundings.

Once outside the playground, he continued along its perimeter and turned into a small alley, stopping to redo the laces of his running shoes to buy some time as he checked for any cars or people that might be following him. Positive that no one was on his tail, he closed the small distance to the main road and hailed a taxi.

Twenty minutes later he arrived at Vauxhall. He walked the remaining distance to Gabriel's building, jogging up the stairs to the now familiar flat where he found Gabriel leaning against the metal railing, smoking what didn't smell like a regular cigarette. Hushed, agitated voices came from inside the house.

Riley looked at the man with an inquisitive gaze and Gabriel shrugged, shaking his head a little, a smile on his face.

"What's going on?" Riley asked.

"Dad is mad," Gabriel replied, rather amused by the situation.

But something told Riley he was somehow involved in the argument.

"This was careless even for you, Emily," Agent Smith was saying as Riley walked through the door.

"I can't believe you wasted resources and time to have me followed," Alice retorted.

"And I can't believe you wasted time and resources for a quicky!" Smith shouted back.

The two were silent for a moment, shifting their focus to Riley as the tension between them kept growing.

"Look, Smithy, the fire of my loins is here," Alice teased.

This is madness.

"That's enough!" Riley bellowed, gaining a cold glare of surprise from the woman. But he didn't care; the last thing he wanted was for their relationship to cause any more problems than they already had.

"You know very well that showing up at my place was careless," he said. "So stop playing dumb."

"And sir," he continued, leaving Alice no time to retort. "We weren't... fooling around," he explained. "I've been struggling with some personal issues and Alice was only making sure I was fit to continue with the mission. It was a professional visit."

Smith looked between Riley and Alice, who was now very interested in the linoleum floor.

"Is it so?" he asked Alice.

She nodded in response.

"And are you OK?" the agent queried, turning to Riley.

"Yes, sir, I'm great," he lied, effectively bringing the discussion to an end.

Smith nodded. He didn't look sold on the matter but he was probably too impatient to move on from that petty argument onto more important subjects. "Alice has the file," he declared, and Riley let out an audible sigh of relief.

Sensing the end of the drama, Gabriel joined the three inside the flat.

Alice reached inside her handbag and removed a small black patent leather pouch; she opened the zip and produced what looked like a plastic tampon applicator. Pushing up the bottom, the cotton pad appeared and Alice dug inside one of the thin grooves with her nail, extracting a mini SD card that she displayed in front of three very impressed faces.