Firebomb (The Jewel Project #2)

03.2|| The Call

Sam dialed Christine's number for what seemed to be the hundredth time, but it went straight to voicemail. Again. She must be really angry at him for leaving her at the movies. He would've explained if he could actually reach her, but she didn't answer any of his calls or texts. He thought about going over to her house to apologize, but decided that it was a bit too much. It was pretty late at night and he didn't want to crowd her. She'd talk when she was ready.

Except they were leaving in a few hours and he hadn't even gotten around to telling her that. And it was something he couldn't send in a text or even tell her over the phone.

"Still no answer?" Kyle asked, his nose buried in his laptop.

"No. I think I really did it this time."

"She should be more understanding," Jerry said, searching inside his packed rucksack for something. "After all, our field of work requires us to leave on short notice. If she wants a real relationship with you, she should accept that."

Well, that was very mature of Jerry. "Did Tina accept that?" Sam asked.

"Are you and Tina even together?" Kyle asked shutting the laptop.

Jerry froze in his search though he kept looking at the rucksack. He was quiet so long Sam didn't even think he would answer, but he finally whispered, "I'm not sure."

"How can you not be sure?" Kyle asked, trying to hold back a smile.

Sam understood. Jerry and Tina were in a place where they talked and hanged out a lot, but never talked about their feelings for fear of ruining everything.

A crease appeared between Jerry's eyebrows as he seemed to be thinking hard. "I don't know. I was never in a relationship before, so I'm not sure what's supposed to happen."

"God, Jerry, do I need to draw you a diagram? Do you even know where babies come from?" Kyle could hardly hold back laughter now.

Jerry turned red and looked away from them. Sam gave Kyle the evil eye. There was no need to be so insensitive. Kyle seemed to notice that he messed up because he turned serious.

"Sorry, it's just hard for me to understand how you could not know. It's very simple. You either like her or you don't."

"I do like her."

"Yes, she's very nice, I like her, too."

Jerry turned to Kyle, a look of shock on his face.

"But I don't like her like that." Kyle smiled. "You do want a relationship."

"I guess I do. But we've never really talked about it."

"Trust me, don't talk about it," Sam said. He shuddered remembering how he'd put his foot in his mouth with Christine. Talking was the worst possible idea when it came to starting relationships. It was always stressful and awkward. "Just take her by the hand. If she doesn't pull away, it means she likes you, too."

Kyle pursed his lips, trying very hard not to start laughing, but said nothing, obviously leaving them to their geeky, weird ways of determining if a girl likes them.

"How did you and Kay get together?" Jerry asked on a tone that showed he'd only asked to shut Kyle up.

Kyle flinched the slightest bit and the amused expression vanished from his face.

Jerry's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, that came out wrong."

"No, it's okay," Kyle smiled though it didn't reach his eyes. "I just miss her a lot and it sucks that I can't even call her while she's at home. Kay and I started out like you and Tina. We were friends before we hooked up."

"And how did you hook up?" Jerry asked.

Kyle shrugged. "I realized I wanted to kiss her like really bad. So I did."

Jerry stared for a second. "Yeah, I'm not doing that." He turned back to his luggage. "Has Billy come home yet? Where does he keep going? I haven't seen him in ages."

Sam frowned, trying to remember when he'd last seen their cousin. It was true that after their grandmother came over, Billy had fled over to Harry's house, but he hadn't returned even after she left and it had been a week already.

"We should tell him we're leaving," Jerry continued, closing his rucksack. "Or he'll come back to a locked house. Speaking of which, we should be going."

Kyle and Sam got off their seats and Kyle picked up the luggage and headed for the garage while Sam took his phone out again and dialed Harry's number. He answered almost instantly.

"What's up?"

"Looks like you're stuck with Billy for like... ever. We're leaving," Sam said following Jerry out of the house and pulling out his keys.

"Where are you going?" Harry asked, though from his wary voice, Sam could tell he had a clue.

"It's exactly what you think."

Harry hesitated for a moment and Sam felt really sorry that he couldn't actually talk properly, assure him that he'll be back, that everything will be fine. But it wasn't safe.

"Okay," Harry finally said. "When's Billy coming over?"

Sam froze, the key halfway to the door. "Wait, you mean he's not there already?"

"No, I haven't seen him in like a week or so. He's not at your place either?"

Sam stared at the door, his mind doing cartwheels. Where was Billy? Could he be the agent captured by Snitch Gravel? Impossible. Herrison would've told them if it were anyone they knew. Could Billy have gone home without telling anybody?

"Sam?"

"Yeah, I'm here. I'll call Billy and see where he is. I'll text you later." He hung up, locked the darn door already and turned around to hurry towards the car. He almost jumped out of his skin. Christine stood right behind him. "You scared the crap out of me."

"Where are you going at this time of night?" She asked, frowning.

"Look, I'm sorry I left you at the movies. I tried to call..."

"I ran out of battery. You still didn't answer my question." She now sounded worried and Sam had the feeling Tina might've let something slip.

"I'm going on a mission."

Christine just stared at him for a second, her amber eyes wide, then threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Don't go. What if something happens to you?"

Sam put his arms around her waist, hugging her back. Don't go. How the heck was he supposed to respond to that? He couldn't not go. This was his job.

"I have to, but don't worry. This shouldn't take long. It's a lot easier than last time..." He faltered.

Christine had pulled back and glanced at him with teary eyes. The wind picked up, sending her chocolate brown hair flying around her face, making her look like the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He almost groaned. Why did it always have to be like this? Why did she have to make him feel like the biggest jerk in the world for leaving her standing there?

"I'd die if anything happened to you," she whispered and Sam felt like screaming.

She was making this so hard. What was he supposed to say? Yeah, I know I'm hurting you, but my thirst for adrenaline is more important than the girl I love? He finally settled for, "I promise I'll be really careful."

Christine didn't answer, just kept staring, and Sam stared back. She closed her eyes and lifted her chin, obviously waiting for a goodbye kiss. He bent over and pecked her on the lips. Christine put her hands on his face to stop him from pulling back. He jumped at the contact and pulled away. He gave Christine a weak smile and rushed towards the car, leaving her in the threshold with tears in her eyes.