THE DEAL

34 Midnight conspiracies

Lisa woke up from high pitched beeping sounds that kept coming in regular intervalls. Gosh these tones were annoying. She sat up in her huge bed that was facing one of the balconies looking out over the ocean. A glance at her phone told her it was something after four in the morning. Was this some kind of alarm Bam had set, that she didn't know about?

The con-woman pressed her eyes closed only to open them up again in an attempt to shake the sleep off. What in the world was this noise? It sounded like an old-

And then it hit her. It was the emergency burner phone she had set up a while ago. 

It had been part of her getaway plan that she and Bam had put in motion weeks ago. She had bought two of them and the only number saved in either of them, was the number of their twin. She had kept one with herself. And the other she had stashed into a book at Jisoo and Rosie's place. 

Sherlock Holmes wasn't just a random book she had chosen for a hiding place. Jisoo didn't really read in her free time. She rather played video games. Lisa knew that. And Rosie did read but not good old Sherlock Holmes, which was more like a classic staple in her library, that she had read once and since then it resided within her shelves. It had been a tactical move. Lisa hadn't told anyone about this phone.

So now, that it's twin was ringing, Lisa was suddenly wide awake. She scrambled up off the bed and went for the big wooden trunk at the foot of it. She threw blankets and decorative throw pillows over her shoulder to empty it faster. 

And there it was. 

The number 'Unknown' flashed up at her from the bright screen. Click.

"Chu?" Lisa asked carefully. The likeliness of the caller being Jisoo was higher than this being Rosie. Although the odds of Rosie finding the hidden phone were higher, Jisoo would undoubtedly be the one to make the call. Rosie would know to follow Lisa's instructions. Jisoo maybe not so much. 

Had the married couple found the phone? And if so, was this an emergency?

"It's uhm... it's me actually... hi..." The faint voice of non other than Jennie came through the receiver and instantly made Lisa's heart stop. How much had she missed Jennie's voice! All husky but soft at the same time from the night. 

"Hey..." Lisa breathed out carefully, suddenly very nervous. She sank down to the floor next to the trunk. The big window front onto the balcony was open because Lisa appreciated the white noise of the waves coming to shore rythmically at night.

"Is everything ok?" She asked her unexpected caller because this was still an emergency line. 

"Uhm yeah... sorry, I disregarded your instructions, I'm afraid. I found this phone by accident and just... I didn't think, I needed to hear your voice. Are you ok?"

Lisa noted how quietly Jennie was speaking to her and how very shy she sounded. Lisa wasn't used to that from the tough agent. She swallowed the lump in her throat.

"It's alright. I actually completely forgot about this phone but I'm really glad you found it. Only problem is, we can only use it once. You're gonna have to take it apart and destroy the simcard when we hang up."

"I exptected nothing less."

There was silence for a few seconds, then the words burst out of Jennie. "Lis, I'm so sorry! They were going to take you away from us. From the division, from me. They wanted you in the high risk union and I know for a fact that CIs potentially get really mistreated there. Their death rates are... high... I couldn't do that to you. I tried to fight it! Keep you in my team for the remainder of your sentence but they weren't having it. I had no choice, I-"