The Boarding School

Broke

An arm reached out and jerked Hugh into the alley, slamming him against the wall. "So what's your play?" Luke asked skeptically.

"What are you doing here?" Hugh shoved Luke off him, irritated at having being taken by surprise.

"Sarah told me to come."

"I told her to tell you it was a scouting trip."

"She doesn't trust you alone." Luke replied with a shrug.

"She should've this time." He shrugged again. "I told you what I was doing."

"Yeah, but what could I tell her?" Luke protested weakly. 

"You could have pretended to come." Hugh pointed out.

Luke shrugged again. If he hadn't wanted to come along anyway, he would have come up with something. But he was a mildly upset Hugh hadn't brought him along to begin with, so any excuse to join him was welcome. "I have the basics, by the way."

"We don't need it. I've seen enough. We can leave as soon as I get my stuff." Hugh started walking towards the sidewalk.

"Oh, I already got your stuff."

Hugh stopped for a second, "Alright. Meet me 2-4 southeast." He ran out and found Scott who had just come out of Starbucks. "Hey, Scott."

"Yeah?" Scott was wondering where he'd gone.

"I have to go."

"Okay," he waited expectantly for an explanation. While this was sudden, Scott wasn't particularly surprised. He had the idea that Hugh was a spontaneous sort of person.

"My brother's here and," Hugh searched for the words, "He took the liberty of getting my stuff from your place. Do you think maybe you could..." his voice trailed.

Scott started laughing, "I hear you. Don't worry about it. I have it covered."

"Great! You're the man, Scott. See you later!"

"Stay safe." Scott waved.

"Thanks! You, too!" Hugh found Luke two blocks south and four blocks east at an open bar under an awning. "Any good?" he asked, pulling up a chair. Luke handed the glass to Hugh who took a gulp. Shrugging, he handed it back to his brother, "It's a little light."

"The way I like it," Luke responded.

"Hmmm," Hugh replied, standing abruptly and ordering one for himself. "You know, we're almost broke," he remarked when he received his drink. Luke nodded.

"So this job's a no-go?" he asked breaking the heavy silence.

"Yeah," Hugh nodded. He gave a short laugh, "What sort of crazies are willing targets for potentially the most dangerous assassin?"

"Maybe they haven't had a chance to hear your girlfriend rave about how impossible you are," suggested Luke.

Hugh scoffed, "Overconfidence. Cheers, Luke," he held up his glass. Luke looked at him curiously. "We know their plans, but they don't know ours."

Luke nodded and clinked his glass to Hugh's. "That's worth celebrating. Another day we get to live."

"That's right! Next week, you and I will be officially broke when I pay Heinen everything I have to stage a failed assassination attempt and let phony info on a phony Mercy leak."

"Not so cheery."

"Nope. We'll be on the road again taking client jobs. But, hey, we're still alive, and even better, we're not in prison." Hugh took another gulp as though to congratulate himself.