I came awake in the dark. It took me a moment to figure out where I was and what I was smelling. Bacon and eggs. I was in my bed. It was 10:30. I’d slept for six hours.
The first thing I’d done when we got to my house was head for the garage and jump on the radio. Del had come back to me immediately.
“David, where the hell are you? Are you okay? Is Agent Daniel okay? Over.”
“Yes, Captain, we’re fine. I’d rather not say where we are right now. Too many people are hearing this on the radio. Are you near a phone? I’ll call you. Over.”
“Not right now. I’m just leaving Queen’s Hospital to head back to the airport. It’s a mess out there. Over.”
“Queen’s. Is Kona all right? Over.”
“Yes, he’s fine. It’s the guy who jumped him who’s in ICU here. Over.”
“Oh man, that’s good. I saw the fight and heard the shot. I led Agent Daniel out of there and got away clean. No one followed us. Over.”
“That’s good, David, we were thinking the worst. Talk to you soon. Out.”
I got up and came out into the kitchen.
“Smells good, Kathy,” I said. “Is he up yet?”
“I haven’t seen him.”
I went downstairs and knocked on the guestroom door. It had been my daughter’s bedroom, and I’d kept it just the same as it had been when she passed away.
The door opened. “Top of the evening to you,” said Agent Michael.
“Are you okay? Did you get some sleep?”
“Yes, thanks. There’s nothing like almost dying to knock you out. And the jump over here didn’t help keep me bright-eyed and bushy-tailed any.”
“Come on up. The coroner’s got breakfast going for us.”
When we’d sat down to eat, the first thing Kathy said was, “So are you one of those double zero agents? Like James Bond? You have a license to kill?”
Daniel laughed. “About the only thing I seem to have is a license to be killed. It’s not a card or a badge. They issue you a target you have to carry on your back at all times.”
“Oh my, that’s bad,” said Kathy.
“Bad isn’t the half of it,” said Daniel. “It’s downright debilitating at times. You make a lot of enemies in my profession. Sometimes I do feel like a walking target.”
“I’m sure, like with police work,” I said, “your aim is hardly to make friends.”
“So true,” said Daniel. “If you’re making friends, you’re probably in need of a career change.”
“So what exactly does a secret agent do?” asked Kathy.
“Well, in a way we’re a lot like David here. I’m a policeman, but my beat with MI6 is anywhere in the world they want to send me to deal with any mess we’ve managed to get ourselves into.”
“Been many places?” she asked.
“Everywhere,” said Daniel. “And believe it or not, I’ve hardly seen anything of the world.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, it’s like when you’re driving. You’re not spending all your time taking in the sights. If you did, you’d be killed in a traffic accident pretty quickly. Everywhere I go, I’m driving. I have a single purpose, and that has nothing to do with stopping to admire monuments or museums.”
“Those Bond movies make the job seem so romantic.”
“Yes, well, the only romance I manage to approach is the kind where I believe every moment I’m going to have to put my head between my knees and kiss my arse goodbye, pardon the language.”
I laughed. “Yes, in police work, we know we’re putting our lives on the line every day. It’s part of the job. But it’s different for you.”
“Different? How’s that?” asked Daniel, placing a bit of scrambled egg on his toast.
“It’s the feeling I get from the way you describe it. It’s almost as though you know you’re going to die every day. And then you don’t.”
“You’re right about that,” said Daniel. “When I drop into bed at the end of the day, I’m regularly amazed I’m still alive.”
“It’s an intensity level I don’t think I could handle,” I said.
“I don’t know,” said Daniel, sipping his coffee. “The way you handled the situation today, I’d guess you deal with pressure very well.”
“It’s the will to live,” said Kathy. “You both have it. It’s like doing anything dangerous. Playing a contact sport, or surfing. You have to tell yourself you’re not going to get hurt. You have to believe you’ll be safe, that you’ll survive. The moment you stop and wonder if you will, that’s when it happens. That’s when you’re going to get hurt or worse.”
“You’re right about that. I have a feeling if I start to believe someone can hit that target on my back, it might be time to retire to tending my rose garden before I’m buried under it.”
I asked if anyone wanted a nightcap. The three sat out on the lānai and sipped Jack Daniels.
“Honolulu looks so beautiful from up here,” said Kathy.
“And the ocean, so dark,” said Michael.
“And the night so long,” I said, downing the rest of my drink. “Kathy, you’re welcome to stay here tonight if you like. You can have my son’s room.”
“Ah, that’s okay, David. I better get going. My roommate will have a fit if I don’t come home.”
After Kathy had left, Agent Daniel went back downstairs to sleep.
I poured myself another shot of Jack, turned out the lights, and sat watching the front door, my service revolver lying on the lamp table beside me.
Lanning Lee 