Page 35 of The Heart of a Capricorn
“Chauncey, I need you to come in. We just got some information that I need to update you guys on. It shouldn’t take long, but I want to tell you all in person.”
“Okay. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.” I looked at Lyric while I talked, and noticed her shoulders drop.
I hung up the phone and put it back on the table. I leaned forward and kissed Lyric’s shoulder. She only had the sheet wrapped around her since we had a morning sex session after breakfast.
“Everything okay?” she asked with concern.
“Yeah. My boss needs me to come in. It shouldn’t take long.”
“Oh, okay,” she mentioned as she swung her legs over the bed. “I could go to my room and chill out there.”
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to my chest. I didn’t want to leave her, but duty called. I just hoped whatever my boss had to say wouldn’t keep us too long and that I wouldn’t have to cut my time here short.
“No, I want you to be here when I get back.” I kissed the curve of her neck and held one of her breasts in my hand.
Her eyes roamed across my face like she was searching for something. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” I kissed her lips. “Let me go so I can get back.”
“Okay.”
Lyric got back in bed, while I got up to take a quick shower and get dressed. Once I was done, I kissed Lyric goodbye as she worked on another puzzle, then left.
Twenty minutes later, I walked into the conference room. Everyone was already seated, so they were just waiting for me.
“Listen up, guys. We just got word that our guy will be leaving out of here to fly to the Atlanta airport, where he issupposed to plant some type of device or something. We are still unsure of what it is, but we know when and what time he is supposed to be leaving.” He focused his attention on me. “Chauncey, I want you to lead the team. I put my trust in you to solve this shit before it gets out of hand. Do you think you can handle it?”
“Hell yeah, I got this.”
“Okay, then. He’s supposed to fly out in forty-eight hours on flight MN1223. I need you and your guys on that plane.”
“Yes, sir.” I looked around at the guys who were on my team, and I knew we had a good chance of catching this guy before something went wrong. I had plenty of faith in them, as they did in me, to lead them.
We stayed in the conference room for another twenty minutes or so, finalizing the departure time and going over any information we had. We at least tried to figure out what the guy’s motive was, or what he could have possibly been trying to do, but we didn’t get anywhere with that.
I was on a high when I first left the meeting, because this was moment I had been waiting for. This mission could increase my pay and responsibilities if everything went according to plan. But as I headed back to my room and thought about Lyric, my mood changed. How was I going to tell her that I would have to leave her so soon, and I didn’t have a clear idea of when I would be back? Things between us had started going well to the point where I felt like maybe we could pick this up once we left. My leaving like that might set us back.
Lyric perked up when I walked back into my hotel room. She was in the living room area watching something on television.
“Hey,” she greeted me.
“Hey.”
Lyric tore her eyes from the movie and looked at me. It was like she could tell that something was on my mind.
“You good?” she asked.
I walked closer to her and sat down. I couldn’t look at her because I knew she would be able to tell I lied just by looking at me. Lyric had always been good at spotting bullshit.
I ran my hand down my face. “Yeah. I’m good. I told you I wasn’t going to be gone long.”
I had to say something to ease the thick tension in the room. I knew I should have told her what was going on, but I couldn’t bring myself to. I didn’t want to, because I didn’t want her to leave prematurely. If I only had two days left to spend with her, I needed that time. I didn’t know what would happen on this assignment. I hated to think of the negatives, but I had to. It was unlikely, but something bad could really go wrong.
She narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure you are okay? I can give you some space if need be.”
I pulled her onto my lap with her legs draped on the side.
“No space is needed.” I kissed her lips to reassure her.
