FBI Damsel: Foreign Affairs

Nineteen: Taking Flight

The bottles of beer slammed onto the table.  Shouts and cheers rang out from every member of the team.  It was a tradition to celebrate after a successful case.  Some celebrations were more elaborate than others, depending on how hard the case was or how evil the criminal.

“You’ve been awful quiet all night, Eddie.  What’s gotten into you?”

He sighed.  “It was too easy.  I hate cases like this.  She practically gave herself up, and the man gave himself up.  Perfect timing.  Far too perfect.  There were picture evidence and everything. Again, all too perfect.”

“It’s the best we can hope for.  Stop the whining,” Simone said.

“I just feel that some things are far too easy and when they are it’s because something worse is about to come our way,” he replied.  His head rested on the table, that ridiculously perfect spiked dirty blonde hair that everyone both admired and hated shined in the dim bar light.

“C’mon, Eddie.  You’ve still got Brittany to go home to!  I know she’s a great girl.  Why not go home to her and see if she can’t lift your mood?” Parker suggested.

“I don’t know… does Harold lift Valerie’s mood?  Do Victoria and Mitch always manage to lift each other’s?  Does Vaughn lift his wife’s – what’s her name?  Amber?  Simone, do you and your boy toy make each other happy?  Heath and Andrea – are they still doing fine?”

“What’s up with this Debbie downer attitude?” Valerie asked.  “It’s depressing.”

“And to answer your question, no.  We don’t always make each other happy.  It sometimes takes a while.  Everyone has their depressive moments.  It’s natural,” Vaughn shrugged. 

“Um, guys… were we expecting a call from anyone in London?” Parker asked, staring at his phone.  At the same time all the other phones lit up.

Mitch and Victoria, the only two who knew exactly what had been going on overseas, paled with worry.  What had their friends gotten themselves into, now?

“I’ll put it on speaker,” Simone decided.  Everyone leaned in to hear.

“Hello, this is Detective Carraway in London, England.  I’ve been working on a case with your team member Heath Martinez and his wife Andrea.  I’m afraid that something has gone a little wrong.”

“What do you mean ‘a little wrong’?” Parker asked.

“I mean to say that the two we were chasing escaped.  And they’ve managed to take your two agents with them.”

“Where are they?!” Valerie exclaimed.

“The last we gathered, they boarded two separate flights.  One is on their way to Mexico, and the other is heading towards Colombia.”

Vaughn silenced his team.  “How did it happen that they managed to get a hold of my agents and slip away without you stopping them?”

“I’m not sure,” Lisa hesitated over the phone. “I had one of them detained at the airport, but she managed to convince them to let her go.  They’re the best at what they do; lying.  Lying, stealing, and killing.  As far as I know, the Martinez’ are unharmed, but I’m concerned about Andrea’s health.  I think she had slowly started to come into labor.”

“She’s with the female, right?  She told me she thought the girl was also pregnant, so Andrea will be fine.  Right?” Victoria asked.

“No, I’m afraid not.  She’s with the male, Luca.”

“So that means Heath is with the girl,” Vaughn muttered.  “He’s more likely to escape than Andrea.  We can count on him getting himself out of the situation, but Andrea…”