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Chapter -8- Learning To Drive The 'Hot Rod'

Friday, November 5 - 11pm San Leandro, California ...

"It was nice of Karla to let us use her old condo," said Conner. He sat up on the enormous mattress and stretched. "You can tell her I said that."

"She heard you, Conner-kun. She is fully aware." Tamamo lifted her hand, examining Karla's pink-painted nails. "She is certainly a flashy woman."

"She likes the attention."

"Hai. It makes her feel alive. One of her greatest fears is living an unending life alone."

Conner frowned. "I, uh ... I don't need to know her private business. I know you like sharing things with me - I appreciate that. But I don't need to know what drives Karla, or makes her cry. I know enough about her - she lost her husband, and she wants her children back."

"Ah, I am glad to hear you have found respect for her."

"We argue, but only because of our personalities."

"Excuse me?"

"We clash. But she was there for me in Axum. She was there besides me when Pendleton crushed the both of us. She was there plenty of times. The other day, she was there for me after the Chicago attack. I saw the way she kept Evan from breaking down, and then she promised him we'd get back his wife and daughter. Karla and I argue with one another, yeah, but we also have a lot in common. We, uh, argue because we're similar and, deep down, we don't like ourselves as people. We argue because we see a lot of ourselves in the other."

Tamamo smiled. She reached for Conner's hand and rubbed her thumb over his knuckles. "She has an unspoken respect for you."

"She also argued against my involvement in this job. Yes, I overheard."

Karla's head tilted. But her facial expression belonged solely to Tamamo. "The succubus argued against your involvement in this job, not because she questioned your ability or maturity, but because she did not want Topaz and Sinopa to lose you."

Conner rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. "We're also both hot-headed, hot-blooded, and brash."

"Hai. A man who knows himself is a man capable of finding humility."

"A guy starts to learn humility somewhere between meeting angels, being crushed in a building, having his home nuked, and barely surviving another collapsing building, only to see people turned to kibble."

Tamamo pursed her pouty pink lips. "You have been through more than the average human can understand, and all that after losing your parents, your grandfather, and then being impaled and left for dead for days."

"Gee, how could I ever forget all that ... other stuff." He shook his head. "At this rate, I'll get a good night sleep when I'm in cryogenic stasis under the Atlantic Ocean."

Karla's hands cupped his face.

Conner felt awkward about the closeness to the succubus' body.

"I see the potential in you, Conner-kun. You will make a humble future father to our children." Tamamo smiled. She looked away so that he would not see the hurt in the kitsune's expressive gaze. "You will achieve great things one day. How," she swallowed the emotion and forced a smile. "How was your sleep?"

"Brief." He slid out of bed, wearing only boxer-briefs.

Karla's amber foxlike eyes danced over his athletic, young body. "You are a handsome man in any state of dress."

"Oh, uh ... thanks."

"Hai. It is fascinating to see you through different sets of eyes, Conner-kun." She fell into step behind him, and followed him to the bathroom. "You have fine assets that I am only too delighted to protect. I like that you are mine."

Conner looked back, over his shoulder, and scrunched his brows. "You're in a flirty mood today."

"Mm, so I am. I enjoy the heightened senses and hormones coursing through Karla's blood. I feel quite confident, aggressive, and motivated. It is something Tamae lacks, and something I have not felt for nine hundred years."

"This is how you were in your own body?"

Tamamo nodded with a dazzling smile. "I was addicted to my own blood. Loosing it was a difficult lesson in humility for me. Tamae's body does not create the excess of hormones I once enjoyed from my own body."

"Are you going to be okay when we work this operation?"

"Hai. Karla learned to curb her compulsions and her edginess. I, too, can control her feisty, aggressive zest for life."

"What, uh, does that mean?" Conner stood next to the bathtub but didn't remove his underwear.

"It means I promise I will not sling and fling every attacker we may encounter tonight."

"Okay, good. I can do my best to mess with their surveillance, but we're not trying to make Karla's face the next poster for terrorism."

Tamamo moved towards Conner. She came close to his face, nearly nose-to-nose, and reached forward to turn on the shower water for him. "I like that I can look up to you in such a way."

"You like that Karla is so short?"

"Hai. I like looking up at you."

She felt Conner's hand on her hip and it excited her. She felt the warmth of his breath from their proximity.

And then ... she felt herself being guided back a step. She bit her lower lip, causing the soft pink flesh to become pouty. "Conner..."

"I won't be long. Can you make tea please? We should, uh," he gazed down with a sigh, "meditate together for a little bit before we start tonight's job."

Tamamo drew in a slow, calming breath. She nodded. "Hai, Conner-kun." She brought a hand to his chin and gently guided his head upwards with a flirty smile. "Eyes up, my love. I see where your gaze went." She winked playfully and sauntered to the bathroom door. "I will make your tea because you said please."

A knock at the condo door caused them both to freeze.

"Remember that I am to always be called 'Karla' in front of others. No one can know Tamae is defenseless; no one can know I am here to heal an injury."

"Understood," he said softly.

Tamamo left the bathroom and approached the condo entrance. She peered through the peephole. A woman she didn't recognize stood out in the hallway.

Tamamo opened the door.

"Karla Howard - I never expected you would get involved with this," said the woman. "Doesn't seem your style, considering the fact you've broken into several US Government installations in the past, yet almost_never_ found what you're looking for. I thought you swore off this line of work?"

Karla tilted her head. "Do I know you?"

"Of course not. If you did, I would be terrible at my job, wouldn't I? So, where's the kid?"

"Who are you?"

"Miss Howard ... or should I call you Mrs. Loupe now? I work with USPRI," said the woman, pronouncing the acronym 'Osprey.' "I used to work for the CIA in a much more prestigious position, years ago, but I took the cut in power for a raise in money."

"Why are you staring at me in such a manner?" Tamamo tilted her head. "Are you some sort of admirer?" The kitsune noticed the woman wore designer gloves, which complimented her business attire.

The woman laughed and shrugged. "Guilty as charged. Your file says you're perceptive. Good for you. Where's Conner Parker?"

"Why are you asking?"

The woman smiled. "Mm, your file also says you're far more chatty and flirty. I didn't expect you to ask so many pointed questions."

"Why are you standing in my doorway?"

The woman smiled. "I'm here to save your collective asses. You probably would have made it with the boy's help, but you would have been looking in the wrong place for any real answers."

Karla's gaze narrowed. "What do you know about 'the boy,' exactly?"

"Conner Parker, 16 years old - he went off the grid after a serious accident and the next time we saw him, he looked older, healthier, and more confident."

Karla smirked. "So you know only his recent history? Then you know nothing."

The woman folded her arms, leaning against the doorframe. "He broke into the Lubyanka when he was fourteen. Why? Just for mommy's approval. He didn't even ask, he just left California and broke in. He childishly left a business card in the director's office to prove his point, and then he broke into the Louvre in France the following night."

Tamamo narrowed her eyes, causing Karla's brows to scrunch in reply. "Is that so..."

The woman shrugged. "We followed him to the Sully Wing, down to the Egyptian department, then we lost him. That's what impressed me. No one shakes my tails."

Karla grinned. "Yes, he is a ... shaker of tails."

"Inside joke?" the woman asked.

"Hai." Karla paused but made the best of her mistake. "Hi. I am Karla Loupe; I often make jokes. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Anyway, whatever. So, back to casing him in Paris. My team thought he escaped, but he resurfaced an hour later. At the time, we were casing him for study but he was too young to be recruited."

Conner came from the back of the condo, wearing his clothes from the day before. "I lost you guys by tripling-back on my path. From there, I broke into the lower Louvre. I was having fun, taking in the sights."

"You were ... dillydallying?" The woman took off a pair of gloves and placed them into her pocket. She folded her hands.

"Yeah. I made my way into the semi-collapsed sections of the medieval Louvre. I wanted to see if Philip II's twelfth century fortress was still accessible through the crypt. Then I kept nosing around. I climbed through the collapsed section, because I wanted to see if the remains of the palace could be reached."

The woman stared at Conner. She remained silent for several seconds before asking, "And?"

Conner replied with a relaxed, confident grin. "It's pretty cool down there. Lots of interesting things happened at the Louvre between Philip Two's time there, and the tenth of August, 1793."

"What happened on the tenth of August?" Karla whispered in a calm tone.

Conner approached her and stood at Karla's side. "Finally, something you don't know. That's refreshing."

"Humor me," Karla whispered back.

Conner raised his voice back to his normal volume, and announced, "If I'm not mistaken, 1793 is when the place officially opened as a museum. Museums are full of neat things. Visiting them makes me feel, you know ... cultured."

"Wait," said the woman, watching Karla and Conner's body language as they moved close together. "You two are an item? _That_wasn't in the file. And, Conner, not many have seen below the Louvre in over two hundred fifty years."

He preened in a masculine sort of way. "I didn't even steal anything. I was just 'dillydallying.' So, you spy on Specials or what?"

"Funny," said the woman. "You didn't even believe in Supernatural humans for the longest time."

"And then I met Karla, here. She is full of surprises."

"We know all about Karla," said the woman. "She can teleport and has impressive telekinetic control."

"I am full of surprises," Karla repeated. She held her hand out, palm up, and created a fireball.

The woman narrowed her eyes from the intense heat. She eased her head back. "That's a new one."

"I am full of surprises," Karla repeated again. "Now, if you truly work for a Government agency, you are supposed to identify yourself immediately."

"Not clandestine sector," said the woman. "That happens at my discretion."

"What is your name?" Karla's hand eased forward, bringing the hot fireball close to the woman's face.

"How the hell can you do that without cooking off your fingernail polish?"

"Telekinetic shell. It displaces the heat outward, away from my skin. I can even channel it towards you if I want. What is your name and why are you following us?"

"It's my job. And call me Sandy."

Conner reached for Karla's forearm. He guided her hand down. The fireball extinguished. "Tam, please."

Karla's brownish eyes narrowed at the woman, but she discretely stepped on Conner's foot in reply to nearly being outed by her name. Karla cleared her throat and asked the woman, "Why did you come here?"

"To warn you that you're about to break into the wrong place. The answers aren't here in California. A few are, but not all of them."

Conner stepped in front of Karla's body. He placed himself nearly in the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, nose to nose with Sandy. "So, you've got answers? Great. Where are they, and why should we believe you?"

"Because you and your friends want to stop the guy with the third bomb - am I right?"

"Yeah. What's it to you?"

"I work for USPRI, and I moonlight for a man who has filled the void left by the death of Lance Patterson. Also, I used to work for the CIA."

"What aren't you telling us?" Conner said, not backing away. He was close enough that he could smell her breath. He remained still, hoping to unnerve her.

Sandy held her ground. "The order came from the President to stand down regarding the hunt for the terrorist who spoke on the news the other day."

Conner frowned.

Sandy continued. "I've never heard of the United States being complicit with the demands of a terrorist. So I believe the President is being manipulated. Congress has scheduled a session on how to react, but this whole thing could be over before their first proceeding. We both know how politicians drag things out."

"Go on," Karla goaded.

Sandy looked around the hallway. "Aren't you going to let me in?"

Conner placed his hands on either side of the doorframe. "Nope. Not yet. Stop dancing around every question. You've got ten words to tell me why you're here or my hot friend is going to bring on the heat again. You don't want her all up in your face do you?"

"I'm here to commission you, Conner. But not Karla. I want you to break into the old CIA building."

"You have exceeded your word count," said Karla calmly.

"Why?" Conner folded his arms.

"District Coast Central Intelligence has _half_the security as their counterparts in the continental United States."

Conner rubbed his chin. "Okay, now you have my attention."

The woman said, "My people have the whole job planned out for you. My extraction will be in DuPont Circle. After the job, you will leave via a chartered flight in Dulles. We'll part ways, and I will report to my superiors. Then we both have the information."

"And then what?" he asked.

"With any luck, we never see each other again."

Conner leaned forward, squinting at the woman's eyes. By doing so, his nose actually brushed hers. "Are you wearing Augmented Reality contact lenses?"

"Yes, so? So is your friend." Sandy cut her gaze to Karla. "Her eyes are normally green. Now they're light brown. Obviously contacts."

Karla replied with a pleasant smile. "Mm, you figured me out."

Conner narrowed his gaze. "Why are you wearing those? Who are you in contact with on the other end?"

"It does not concern you. Just my superiors. I'm heading up this operation. We need your help. Not hers, just yours."

"Karla is part of the deal," said Parker. "She has the ability to teleport me out of a situation. She can create a telekinetic wall, which will work against bullets. Oh, and fire. That's a new one for her." Conner unfolded his arms. He drew his head back so that their noses no longer touched.

Sandy appeared the mull over Conner's proposal. "I suppose, since she has, in fact, survived raiding the FBI twice, the CIA, and Mossad."

Conner turned to Karla. "Really? You did? Wow - respect, Karla."

Karla replied with a sly grin.

Conner cleared his throat and turned back to Sandy. He moved close, invading her personal space again. "So, who's your boss? I don't like working for people that could, potentially, be the bad guy. Is that Aris Falcon on the other side? Hm? Is it Loki?"

He continued to move towards her, forcing her to back away. His grin broadened.

Karla called from within the condo, "Who is the man behind the curtain?"

Conner continued to guide Sandy into the hallway. "One of those pop-culture references. I don't usually get those, but I think that one might have been The Wizard of Oz. I want to know who your friend is before he floats away on his hot air balloon."

Sandy sighed. Her back pressed against the wall. She reached up and put her hands on Conner's chest. "You're in my face. Stop. You can't see into my contacts, you should know that."

"I see into them just fine." Conner placed his hands on the wall, on either side of Sandy's head, making her feel uncomfortable from the proximity. "The IP address is streaming in from..." he trailed off, smiled, and said, "Syracuse, New York. So you're not here on behalf of the Government. You want to try lying to me again?"

"Mr. Parker..."

"Sandy..." He dropped his hands, narrowed his gaze, inches from her face, and then he stepped back. He held his hands up, showing her that he'd pick-pocketed her service pistol and cellphone. "I'll backtrack your phone's incoming data stream. I'll backtrack it to the source and make sure, for myself, that I'm not accidentally working for the wrong side."

"Wait."

Conner turned to Karla and grinned. "Get ready. We're about to find out some big-time secret." He walked around Karla and headed into the condo. "Let her in. If the phone gets too far from her contact lenses, they'll disconnect. I want it to keep streaming video feed so I can back-trace it."

He sat down in the living room and held the woman's phone in his palm.

Karla stepped aside and gestured with her hand for Sandy to enter the condo. "Why do you look so nervous, dear? If you are telling the truth, you have nothing to fear from us."

Sandy stepped into the condo and followed Conner to the living room.

The masquerading kitsune shut the front door and followed Sandy to the living room. With a smile, Karla seated herself atop a thick plastic sheet over the furniture. It creaked gently beneath her petite frame.

Conner crossed his left ankle over his right knee. "I'm Doxx'ing you, Sandy. Your boss' name is Peter. His bills go to an address in Cardiff, Wales. There's no record of him before this year."

"That's not true."

Conner smirked at the woman. "Yes, it is. It was retroactively added to the internet to make it look like this guy has been around for a long time. Also, your name is Saundra Moore. There's an impressive gap of time in your internet history. But, hey, you're older than you look."

Sandy grimaced at being cornered.

Conner continued. "So! Let's see what we can find out about your friend, Peter. Some of his correspondence is in complete gibberish."

"Can I have my property back now?" Sandy asked with a stern tone.

"This guy is good." Conner rubbed his thumb over the phone. "I can't even pronounce some of this gibberish."

"What is it?" asked Karla, calmly.

Conner thumbed Sandy's phone and bypassed the encryption lock with ease. He opened a browser and showed Karla one of the correspondence letters.

The message spelled, 'Pen-blwydd hapus, Karla Loupe.'

Karla looked at the words as if confused. After a moment, she licked her lips and said, "It is Welsh. This person, Peter, is wishing me a happy birthday."

"Seriously? It looks like someone just smacked his or her hands against the keys. How do you even pronounce that second word?" He paused. "Wait, would Falcon know your birthday, or that you were born in Wales?"

"Anything is possible. But Aris Falcon is not the kind of person to care enough to wish me a happy birthday." Karla turned to Sandy and rubbed her chin. "What is Peter's last name?"

"Fieldwing."

Karla narrowed her eyes. "Obviously that is a pseudonym. I am familiar with a ... Peter Wingfield, an actor from Wales, but he would be in his nineties by now."

Sandy said nothing.

Conner stood up from the sofa. He passed the phone back to Sandy. "Karla, we need to talk. Alone. In the kitchen, now."

"Conner?"

He turned to Sandy and said, "You get your gun back after we talk." He put his free hand on Karla's wrist and guided her out of the living room.

Once in the kitchen, Karla moved close. "What is wrong, Conner-kun?" She spoke in a soft voice.

"You're not using contractions. You're talking like English is your second language. I thought you were getting better with that after your time in Rachel."

"With all due respect, English is my second language. It is also Karla's second language."

"She's talked English a hell of a lot longer than freaking Welsh, Tamamo. You're the one that wants to be a believable Karla."

"What am I doing wrong, love?"

He eyed her for a moment, not used to being called pet names by Tamamo. "Karla is playful when she talks. She's exuberant and all that, remember?"

"Karla's personality is repressed. I am 'controlling the car,' but I will do my best to better emulate her 'driving style,' Conner-kun."

"Then talk more like her."

Karla frowned. It was an expression more indicative of Tamamo than Karla, reaffirming who was in charge of Karla's body. "I am doing my best to emulate her California method of speaking."

"Do you know who this Peter guy is, or not? You mentioned an actor earlier."

"Karla does not know a Peter Fieldwing from Wales."

"There was a guy named Peter Wingfield. Is this guy trying to throw you hints or something?"

"The name is familiar but I have not been inside Karla's mind long enough to have fully accessed all of her memories. Only ones that directly affect her are most accessible. Since she did not meet this actor, I do not yet fully understand the mystery behind his name at this time."

"Okay, well, let's start with contractions. Start using them, Tamamo, please."

"I will do my best."

"Make it a habit. You sound too stiff when you don't use them."

"Hai, my love. I will do my best."

Conner leaned in. He paused, thinking better on the situation, and kissed her forehead. "We'll get through this. The IP is coming from Syracuse, but it bounces. I tracked it further to Broad Haven, Wales. But this man might also be trying to throw off my ability, too."

"That location has no meaning to me, nor does it seem to have any direct relation to Karla."

Conner sighed. He pulled out his phone and thumbed the screen. After a moment he looked up. "The Welsh seem to think they have their own little version of the Bermuda Triangle off the coast. What the hell is a Bermuda Triangle?"

A smile came to Karla's face. "Even I know that one, love. It was a place where ships sank and planes disappeared mysteriously. It was in the Atlantic Ocean."

"Why have I never heard of it?"

"It is gone. After the District Coast broke away from the continental United States, Bermuda ceased to exist, as did the section of the ocean for which it was made infamous."

"I say we follow her lead for now," Conner said. "I want to see what she's up to. The military base isn't going anywhere. It's a good fallback plan, worst come to worst."

"What else do you know about her?"

"She's a lot older than she looks" Conner said.

A voice came from behind. "Thanks. I the compliment." Sandy stood in the doorway to the kitchen. "Why are you two comparing me to the Bermuda Triangle?"

Conner turned around to face her. "We were talking about the Bermuda Triangle. Private conversation, lady."

"How old do you think I am?" asked Sandy.

Conner cracked his knuckles. "I can doxx you and find out."

"That won't be necessary. I'm fifty-two."

"Oh, how about that. You look thirty-five. Good for you. We're trying to determine if we can trust you."

"Well, you were born a few years after the Bermuda Triangle disappeared. I'm surprised you've heard of it."

"I haven't. That's why, uh, Karla, here, was telling me about it. Look, it doesn't have anything to do with you. I've decided to gamble on a gut feeling. We'll help you break into the CIA. I'll arrange travel back to Chicago."

Sandy shook her head. "The Confederate American Government is running their intelligence operation out of the original CIA headquarters building on the District Coast. Or maybe you didn't hear me when I said my extraction point will be in DuPont Circle." She cut her gaze to Karla and added, "You used to live in DC. You'll know your way around just fine."

Conner sighed. He turned to Sandy. "So America spies on itself using the old CIA building in DC? I thought the CIA spies on the rest of the world?"

"It's complicated, Mr. Parker. So, are you ready for a challenge? It won't be as easy as the Lubyanka."

Karla moved adjacent to Conner and whispered, "I feel she is telling the truth, Conner-kun. Her eyes are relaxed, her heart rate hasn't quickened, and her..."

Conner cleared his throat and nodded to Sandy. "Fine. I'm down. When do we leave?"

Sandy gestured back towards the condo entrance.

"Karla is coming with me. That's non-negotiable."

Sandy sighed. "Fine. We can make the concession this once. One more thing, though."

"What?" Conner looked at Karla, and then back towards Sandy.

"Our records show that the two of you do _not_get along. But now I hear her calling you 'love.' This seems like it could be possible drama. Will this become a problem?"

Conner and Karla spoke over one another in unison. "No problem."

Speaking overtop of him, Karla added, "Pet names are part of my flirty nature."

Sandy eyed them for a moment. "Let's move. We have a small window."

Conner discreetly passed the woman's gun back to her, using a silk handkerchief from Karla's handbag to keep the weapon covered. "I've got to grab my cane, my other clothes, and my bag from the bedroom."

"You need a shower," Sandy said with a dry smile. "You smell like a teenaged boy."

"I was just about to get one when you banged on the door. You want me to go take one now or are we 'in a hurry'? What's it going to be?"

"We have a shower on the private jet. Thirty gallons of hot water." Sandy cut her gaze from Conner to Karla. "It's only big enough for one at a time."

"We're professionals," Conner said.

"My mistake," Sandy replied. "Considering you two used to argue a lot, and now you're getting along so well, I just assumed you might be..."

"Yeah, well you assumed wrong, lady."

Karla put her arm around Conner's waist and announced, "No, you are correct. We are..." Karla trailed off.

"You are?" Sandy appeared confused.

Karla nodded firmly. "Having sex I mean. We're_an item now. I asked Conner to keep it a secret for the time being. I _don't want to make him a target. But I would prefer that a cougar, like you Sandy, does not eye him. He belongs to me."

Conner sighed.

Sandy arched her brows. "Seems our files were quite a bit outdated."

"Yes, so it would appear," Karla murmured. "We will pack. We will be ready momentarily."

"Make it quick," Sandy said slowly, almost drawn out, as if suspicious. "I'll wait here."

Karla nodded firmly, almost like a bow, and backed away. She took Conner's wrist. "Come, love." She guided him out of the kitchen, back to the master bedroom, and closed the door.

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Next Chapter: https://www.sofurry.com/view/836078