*Sorry for the long wait, it's been so busy around here! Thankfully volleyball season just ended, so I can have more free time on weekends... provided I can finish the piles of homework I have. (: Anyway, keep reading!

Chapter 19~

(Ainsley's PoV)

 "Kyle?" I asked, incredulity laced in my voice. My heart thumped rapidly from the surge of adrenaline. In response, I sagged against the freezer until my heart rate slowed down to the normal level.

 "Yeah, hey," he smiled. For some unexplainable reason, my heart began to pound against my ribcage once again.

 "Why are you here?"

 Kyle chuckled and casually walked into the open garage. He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at me. "I wanted to check on you because of the storm last night. Rosemary and I know that you're petrified of the-"

 At the mentioning of my best friend, I stood up straight.

 "Rosemary? Is she okay?"

 Kyle's eyebrows pulled together, scrunching in the middle of his forehead. "Why wouldn't she be?" he asked curiously, pinning his gaze on me.

 I looked away in discomfort. "No reason, I just haven't heard from her for a few days. I was just wondering if you knew what was up."

 "From what I know, she's doing fine. Although I think she might be a little under the weather."

 "I'll call her," I suggested and dug my phone out from my pocket.

 "No, don't!" Kyle boomed. Startled, my phone fell from my hand and clattered on the concrete garage floor. The battery skittered over to Kyle's feet, and the back of the phone clanked by the freezer door. I bent down to collect the pieces.

 "Why not?" I asked suspiciously. "We call each other practically every day. It's not an unusual occurence," I said, rolling my eyes slightly.

 Kyle cleared his throat and looked away from me. "Um, yeah, well she, uh... she's got a sore throat."

 "Then I should make her some sou-"

 In the middle of my sentence, my parents pulled up in their forest green Toyota Highlander. Great. Right in the middle of my subtle interrogation.

 "Where are your parents coming back from?" Kyle asked, eyebrows arched.

 "A boring benefit dinner," I waved my hand dismissively.

 "So you were alone this whole time?"

 I swallowed. "Yep..."

 His brow creased in worry. "Oh."

 "Mmhmm."

 An awkward silence settled over us both. Outside in the driveway I heard the car doors shutting and Seneva babbling. Keeping my face neutral, I prayed that one of my parents would call me to go help them.

 "Ainsley, are you in the garage?" my dad asked from the driveway. Prayer answered!

 "Yes, is there something you need?" I asked.

 "Some help with unloading would be nice. Oh and, Seneva wants to see you."

 I turned to Kyle with a blank face. "Do you want to stay for dinner? My parents won't mind." I watched his face as he debated my invitation.

 "What's for dinner?"

 "Don't know yet. Wanna raid the fridge?" I asked, fidgeting a little bit.

 "You're on." Kyle grinned. He was so guilty, and now I had to find out what he was hiding.

~

(Geek's PoV)

 When I got back to my temporary apartment, I immediately got my suitcase out from under the king-sized bed. Little time was spent as I threw over-night necessities and clothing into the bag, running around my house like a tornado for important items, in order to prepare for the meeting with Boss.

 My phone rang while I was buckling my suitcase up.

 "Peters here," I answered absentmindedly.

 "Agent Peters, I presume you have been notified about the meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning?" Boss's voice spoke over the phone.

 "Yes, sir. Tomorrow morning at nine a.m. at the headquarters, sir," I recited flawlessly.

 "Correct. Do you know what it is being held for?"

 "It was reported that we found them, sir." I stated, hardly able to control my eagerness.

 "Them being-"

 "The infamous drug dealing group we've been tracking for well over a year now," I sighed.

 "U.E.L.," Boss confirmed. "You're on the case, Peters. If we have a repeat of last time, I will revoke the privilege on working on that case that is so dear to you until it is taken care of by one of my groups of trained specialists. Do you copy?"

 "Copy," I answered glumly.

 "Agent Peters, it has also come to my attention that you had a little... episode with a drunk man at a shooting range within the last twenty-four hours. The man was killed?"

 I cleared my throat. "Yes, sir."

 "Was he armed?"

 "With a gun, sir."

 "Did he have the intent to kill?"

 "Affirmitive, sir."

 Boss blew out a hefty sigh. "I will cover your tracks this time, agent, but do not be so hasty in killing. Next time you will be harshly punished for such a sloppy job," he warned.

 "I apologize. Thank you, sir."

 "I will see you at nine sharp in the morning."

 Without another word, he hung up. I groaned and chucked my phone onto my bed. There was still a little bit of last-minute packing to be done and my flight was in a couple hours.

 Although, I thought with a smirk on my face, if worst comes to worst, I could always fly the jet...

~

(Ainsley's PoV)

 Kyle followed me out to where my parents were, taking their stuff out of the trunk.

 "Oh, Kyle, it's good to see you. Ainsley, you didn't tell us he was coming over," Mom scolded lightheartedly. We both knew that she actually loved surprise guests, especially if they were my friends-- unless the house was messy. But seeing as I had already taken care of that aspect, him visiting wasn't a big deal.

 "Come on and have dinner with us, Kyle. You haven't been around in ages. Are sports occupying the majority of your time? Going for a scholarship, now, are you?" Dad grilled Kyle while simultaneously gathering most of the luggage. Kyle eagerly began gushing about the workout he got at basketball practice, and how a couple colleges were already offering him semi-scholarships.

 Yawn.

 "Ainsley, you're okay!" Seneva cried out in relief, attacking my legs. My knees almost buckled from the force with which she threw herself at me.

 "Of course I am, Neva," I laughed. She peered at my face and frowned before briefly turning her attention to Kyle as he followed Dad and Mom into the house.

 "Mommy said Toby got hurt," she informed me, jutting out her lower lip in a cute little pout. I swallowed, feeling my eye twitch, and nodded.

 "She's right. Toby got attacked by a neighbor cat," I lied.

 "You just blinked two times," she pointed out, holding up two fingers. "That means you're lying."

 "No I wasn't!" How the hell did she know that? I wondered.

 "Yeah-huh. You teached me before."

 "Oh... yeah..." I deflated when I remembered all the times she had coerced me into playing Top Spy with her and all the knowledge I had actually taught her.

 "You remembered that?" I smiled at her. That's so cute.

 Seneva looked up at me with her dark, nearly-pulsing blue eyes, arching her brows and pursing her lips softly.

 "I remember everything," she said bluntly. Her frankness took me by surprise, and I frowned, wondering if she really was just a three-year-old.

 Sometimes it really didn't seem like it.

 "Oh... well, that's a gift," I said with forced cheerfulness, and swung her up onto my hip.

 She giggled darkly. "Or a curse," she whispered.

 My head snapped towards her. "What did you just say?" I demanded.

 She blinked and narrowed her eyes, looking away. "I don't wanna go inside. It's scary in there," she mumbled, burying her strawberry-blonde head in my shoulder.

 "Why do you say that?" I asked, my heart thumping.

 "I'm scared," she whimpered.

 "Of what?" I asked gently, trying to coax the answer out of her.

 "Kyle."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

VOTE

FAN

COMMENT

*What do you guys think of Seneva? She's creepy, hilarious, adorable, and smart. I love her! Anyway, thoughts? What did you guys like/dislike about this chapter?