Chapter 13
Thanksgiving begins with Drew Travers threatening me with poultry.
My phone rings at six seventeen in the evening, France time.
I ignore it.
It rings again.
I ignore that too.
The third call comes through NULL's emergency bypass because at some point years ago I made the catastrophic mistake of giving Kane access to a priority channel.
I answer.
Drew's face fills the screen.
He is wearing an apron that says KISS THE COOK over a black T-shirt, holding a carving knife in one hand and what appears to be a turkey leg in the other.
“You better be preventing a coup.”
I lean back in my chair.
“Hello to you too.”
Behind him is chaos.
Drew's Miami kitchen looks like a catering company collided with a fraternity.
Kane is at the island attempting to carve a turkey while Hannah keeps moving the platter every time he gets close to it.
Vale has a bottle of wine open.
Stella is taking something out of an oven.
Leo is standing beside Jade with the expression of a man who has already been blamed for something he didn't do.
Isa walks through carrying an enormous bowl.
Jalen is eating directly from another.
I count at least four pies.
Something is smoking.
Nobody appears concerned.
“Where the hell are you?” Drew demands.
“France.”
Vale looks toward the phone.
“France?”
Kane leans into frame. “I thought you were in London.”
“I was.”
“You missed Thanksgiving.”
“I'm aware.”
Drew points the turkey leg at me.
“We invited you.”
“I declined.”
“That is not how friendship works.”
“It literally is.”
“No. Friendship is when I invite you and you show up.”
“That sounds more like kidnapping.”
Jade calls from somewhere behind him, “Don't joke about kidnapping around Blackwell.”
Fair.
Drew lowers the turkey leg.
“Right. Sorry.”
There is a brief, surprisingly sincere silence.
Then Jalen pops into frame with a dinner roll in his mouth.
“Did you find Miss London Bridge?”
And we're back.
I close my eyes.
“Can we retire that name?”
“No,” Drew says.
Kane points the carving knife at him. “Put the turkey down before you drop it.”
“I have excellent grip strength.”
Isa walks past.
“Put the turkey down.”
Drew immediately sets it on the counter.
I watch this with interest.
“Excellent grip strength.”
“Marriage requires compromise.”
“Fear,” Vale says.
“Respect.”
“Fear.”
Drew ignores him and looks back at me.
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“Vesper?”
Every person in the kitchen slows.
Even Stella turns.
I should have anticipated this.
For weeks, I have managed to avoid discussing Sabine by staying busy enough that nobody questioned the excuses.
ARGUS.
Blackwell.
Travel.
Security.
All true.
I simply left out the part where I married the woman they've spent years hearing about.
Drew narrows his eyes.
“You found her.”
I say nothing.
His grin disappears. “No.”
Kane stops carving.
Leo looks toward the phone.
Jalen removes the roll from his mouth.
Vale straightens.
Drew leans closer.
“You found Miss London Bridge?”
“Maybe…”
The kitchen erupts.
“I KNEW IT.”
“Holy shit.”
“When?”
“Who is she?”
“Where?”
Jalen shouts over everyone. “Is she hot?”
I look directly into the camera and roll my eyes.
Silence.
Absolute.
Then Drew slaps both hands against the island.
“OH, THIS IS BAD.”
“What?”
“He’s refusing to speak.”
Isa laughs.
Kane points at me through the screen. “He's right.”
Vale takes a drink. “Immediate.”
Leo's eyebrows lift. “No qualifiers.”
Jalen grins. “Blackwell is gone…cooked.”
“I am not gone.”
“You didn't say she's attractive,” Drew says. “You didn't say objectively, yes. You said yes like somebody put a gun to your head.”
“The metaphor is unnecessary.”
Hannah appears beside Kane.
“Xavier, where is she?”
“In France.”
The women react differently than the men.
Hannah smiles.
Stella immediately looks delighted.
Isa says, “Oh my gosh.”
Jade's eyes narrow.
I recognize danger when I see it.
Before I can redirect the conversation, Drew notices my hand.
It happens because I reach for my glass.
His face changes.
“Wait.”
I keep moving.
“Blackwell.”
I take a drink.
“What?”
“Put your hand back.”
“No.”
“PUT YOUR HAND BACK.”
Everyone starts looking.
Kane squints at the screen.
Vale moves closer.
Leo says, “What am I supposed to be seeing?”
Drew points so hard at the phone I half expect his finger to come through it.
“His left hand.”
I look down.
Wedding ring.
Right.
Apparently I have adjusted quickly.
Drew has not.
He goes pale.
Then red.
Then makes a sound I have never heard from a grown man.
“WHY ARE YOU WEARING A WEDDING RING?”
The kitchen explodes again.
Hannah nearly drops a spoon.
Stella gasps.
Jalen chokes.
Kane says something that disappears beneath Drew's shouting.
Leo simply stares at me.
Vale closes his eyes.
Jade takes three slow steps toward the phone.
That is somehow the most threatening response.
I set my glass down.
“Oh. Yeah.”
Drew's jaw falls open.
“OH YEAH?”
“I got married.”
Nobody speaks.
For approximately two seconds.
Then every person in Miami loses their mind.
“You WHAT?”
“WHEN?”
“TO WHO?”
“You got fucking married?”
“Without telling us?”
“Are you joking?”
Drew disappears from frame, then reappears closer.
“You do not get to say I got married like you changed cellular providers.”
“I wasn't aware there was an approved tone.”
Kane grabs the phone out of Drew's hand.
“You're serious?”
“Yes.”
“Married-married?”
“I don't know another kind.”
Vale appears over his shoulder.
“There are several kinds if Travers's Vegas history counts.”
“Not relevant,” Drew yells.
Leo steps closer.
“Who?”
I look at him.
He knows the answer before I say it.
His eyes widen.
“No.”
“Yes.”
Kane glances between us.
“Who?”
“Vesper.”
Silence again.
Then Drew screams from somewhere off camera.
“YOU MARRIED MISS LONDON brIDGE!!!!?”
“Her name is not Miss London Bridge.”
“You married her?”
“Yes.”
“How long after finding her?”
“That's complicated.”
“That means fast,” Vale says.
“Extremely fast,” Leo adds.
Jalen pushes his way between Kane and the screen.
“What's her real name?”
“Sabine.”
“Sabine what?”
I look at him.
“Blackwell.”
Drew stares.
Then something unexpectedly wounded moves across his face.
“Hold on.”
Nobody listens.
He raises his voice.
“NO. HOLD ON.”
Kane looks at him. “What now?”
Drew presses one hand dramatically to his chest.
“I’m hurt.”
I stare at him.
“Why?”
“Why?”
He looks around the kitchen as though somebody else might appreciate the depth of his betrayal.
“Because I basically made this marriage happen.”
I actually laugh.
“You did not.”
“I absolutely did.”
“Travers.”
“Who got into NULL at Haverhill's bachelor party?”
“You stole my authenticated device while intoxicated.”
“Details.”
“Extremely relevant details.”
Drew points at himself with both hands.
“Who invited Miss London Bridge to the wedding?”
“You.”
“Thank you.”
“Without my permission.”
“You were moving too slow.”
Kane starts laughing.
Drew keeps going.
“Who pushed you to actually admit you liked her?”
“You threatened to delete her from NULL.”
“That was later.”
“That was the same weekend.”
“Protective best-friend phase.”
“You told her I looked like I wanted to murder Sergei.”
“You did.”
“I grabbed his lapels.”
“That was your fault.”
Drew taps his temple. “And I predicted them. Fifty-eight-year-old Russian, two gold teeth. Visionary.”
“Sergei was sixty-three.”
“Close enough.”
Vale takes a long drink.
“This is an extraordinary rewriting of history.”
“Shut up, Prince. I am having a moment.”
Drew turns back toward me.
“I facilitated your first real-life encounter.”
“You drunkenly invited an unidentified hacker to somebody else's wedding.”
Kane lifts the carving knife.
“My wedding.”
Drew points at him.
“And look how well it worked out.”
Kane considers this.
“Actually…”
“Do not encourage him.”
Too late.
Drew slaps his palm against his chest again.
“I’m basically your matchmaker.”
“You are basically the reason I had to rewrite Haverhill's entire security protocol.”
“And now you have a wife.”
“Those things are not causally related.”
“They are absolutely causally related.”
Jalen nods thoughtfully.
“He has a point.”
“No, he doesn't.”
“I should have been at the wedding,” Drew says.
“No.”
“I should have been best man.”
“Absolutely not.”
“I should have given her away.”
“You had never met her.”
Drew points furiously at the screen.
“I met her before you did.”
“You saw a disguise.”
“I saw enough.”
Isa slowly turns toward him.
Drew notices.
His face changes.
“Not like that.”
“Careful,” I say.
He ignores me.
“And this is the thanks I get. I launch your love story, shepherd you through the emotional turmoil, personally stop you from assaulting an elderly man, and you run off to France and get married without so much as a fucking text.”
“You did not shepherd me through anything.”
“You smelled your jacket.”
Kane bends over laughing.
Vale closes his eyes.
Jalen makes a choking noise.
I stare at Drew.
“That was evidence collection.”
“You put your whole face in it.”
“I was identifying fragrance.”
“Orange blossom,” Drew says dramatically. “He practically inhaled the fucking lapel.”
“I hate you.”
Drew folds his arms.
“Still basically your matchmaker.”
Hannah laughs from somewhere behind him.
“I think he deserves partial credit.”
“No.”
Kane lifts his drink.
“I'll give him five percent.”
“Ten,” Drew says.
“Three,” Vale counters.
“Fuck you, Prince.”
Leo sighs.
“You encouraged Xavier to invite an unidentified cybercriminal to Kane's wedding.”
“Romantically.”
“That does not improve the sentence.”
Drew looks back at me.
“You owe me.”
“For what?”
“A matchmaker fee.”
“Send an invoice.”
His face lights up.
“I will.”
“I'm not paying it.”
“Then I'm adding interest.”
Isa grabs the phone.
“Enough. Move.”
Drew protests as she shoulders him away.
“I'm having an emotional moment.”
“You'll survive.”
She looks at me.
“Xavier, I need details.”
“No.”
“Wedding photographs.”
“No.”
“Dress?”
“Yes.”
“Helpful.”
“White.”
She glares.
Stella appears beside her.
“Where did you get married?”
“France.”
“Where in France?”
“Her hometown.”
Every woman goes quiet.
I immediately regret supplying additional information.
Stella's expression melts.
“Oh.”
Isa puts a hand over her heart.