Kayne

It turns out that Heather and I had all but two classes together. The afternoon without her was peaceful enough. It also gave me some time to think about the situation. 

Honestly, I feel backed into a corner, so I'm going to have to let her help me. 

Otherwise, I'll have to call the chief back home and tell him I've been compromised. Shortly after, I'll be the laughing stock of the FBI and the Pasadena P.D. 

I doubt Liza would admit to being disappointed, but I know she certainly wouldn't be proud.

Alright. Game Plan: I'm going to tell Heather as little as possible in case she gets bored and wants to quit. Then I won't have divulged all the case secrets.

When I walked to my car that afternoon, I couldn't help the drop in my stomach at seeing her again, waiting for me. 

Now sunglasses-clad, she was perched on the hood of her car in the parking lot, leaning back to soak up a bit of sun.

I'm ashamed to admit that the stomach drop feeling wasn't due to my cover being blown. It was a different sentiment entirely.

"So, where are we off to?" She asks, standing up and smoothing her clothes.

"You can follow me to my house," I tell her. She nods.

I walk through the parking lot to where I left my motorcycle this morning. I glance back at Heather as she is watching to see what vehicle I drive. 

Sliding the helmet over my head, I see her slip into her car.

I tear out of the parking lot, and her red car quickly follows suit. 

Fifteen minutes later, I signal a right turn into the long driveway leading up to the farmhouse. After we park, Heather follows me to the smaller cabin on the property where I live. 

Before we can get past the door frame, I'm stopped by someone calling my name from the main house.

"Kayne, dear!" I turn to see Alice standing on the porch, obviously waiting for me to come home. "Would you mind coming over to fix the water heater? It's not working again, and I would like to take a hot shower tonight."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be right over!" I call across the yard. 

Turning to Heather, I say, "You can just stay here for a minute. It shouldn't take me too long."

"No way, I'm coming with you," she says, and I groan.

"So do you live in that cabin? Why don't you live in the house? Did the Pasadena P.D. pay for it all?" 

I ignore her questions and continue walking into the house. We enter the open-concept living room, which gives view to the kitchen and a dining set that overlooks the expanse of acreage behind the house.

"Wow, the Pasadena P.D. really sprung for a nice place, huh?" She says, soft enough that Alice doesn't hear. 

Without making introductions, I walk back to the master bedroom to check the water. I hold my hand under the faucet, waiting for it to warm up.

"It's my grandma's house," I say instinctively. "Well, actually—."

She interrupts, "Ohmygosh. Do you have a fake grandma for this?" Her chipperness about the undercover assignment is starting to annoy me.

"Well, yeah."

"Why couldn't you have your own place?"

"I do. I live in that cabin," I reply. 

Giving up on the water heating up, I turn the faucet off. 

Heather follows me through the house and downstairs, where I grab the tools and begin working on the water heater. Immediately I notice that the pilot light is out on the heater.

"Why not an apartment or something?" Her questions have an insistent tone.

"Heather," I say sharply. "Think about it. A supposedly 17-year-old kid living by himself in an apartment with no job to pay for it seems a bit suspicious.

"It raises unnecessary questions about where the parents are and how I ended up in Nowhere, Idaho, without a family connection of sorts."

"Very true. I didn't think about that. So, is there more to your backstory than just a grandma?" She asks. 

I detach the thermocouple and clean it out with steel wool in the tool bag.

"I had a whole backstory. It seems kind of pointless now since you know who I really am."

"Well, let's hear the backstory," she pleads.

"Well, my parents were supposed to have died in a car crash, and I moved in with my grandma." 

Reattaching the now clean thermocouple, I turn the gas knob to Pilot and light the flame with a long lighter. When it ignites, I hold the knob a little longer before letting it go. The pilot light stays on, so I'm sure that the water heater should work now.

"Wow. What a story. I would never think there were any holes in that," she says sarcastically. I roll my eyes at Heather's comment.

"Well, the water heater is fixed, so we can start the assignment debriefing now." 

The tools are put back, and Heather follows me out of the basement. 

As we reenter the kitchen, Alice is standing there with three glasses of sweet tea.

"It's fixed," I tell Alice.

"Thank you, Kayne," Alice replies, before turning to direct a question at Heather. "Are you staying for dinner, honey?"

"No," I interject, shaking my head.

Heather shoots me a look and quickly corrects me, "Yes, ma'am. It would be my pleasure."

I huff, and my face falls into a pout.

"Wonderful. Dinner is at 6:30. So, you two have some time to get your homework done," Alice says. 

Blamelessly, she's trying to keep up the facade of the undercover operation. I don't correct her. There isn't enough time in the world to explain the situation.

"We'll leave you to it, then," I grab Heather's arm to pull her away from Alice before they make plans for Friday night Canasta.

Shaking my head, I look at Heather and scold, "Really?"

"I'm excited for some Idahoan delicacies," she replies simply.

When we are inside the cabin, Heather takes a turn about the room, looking at the very few non-identifying belongings that I brought.

"Are you done nosing around, or should we postpone the debriefing?"

"You sure are in a hurry," she responds, leading me to roll my eyes. "Alright, let's get down to business." She takes a seat across from me at the dining table.

"I'll make it short and sweet. Mean drug lord sells drugs to innocent people. I take down a drug lord, and innocent people are freed from drugs."

"Way to treat me like a child." Heather scoffs. "I'm a big girl, and I can take the full debriefing. Don't be an asshole." 

I resign to her, realizing how uncalled for my snideness was.

"Alright. In Pasadena, we were following a drug lord," I begin, hesitating to give her exact details. Heather catches on. "We followed him—"

"What's his name?" She interrupts.

"What?"

"Drug lords have funny nicknames usually," Heather explains.

"El Farma," I say.

"How'd he come up with that name?"

"Farmacéutico means pharmacist in Spanish." 

Heather nods in understanding, so I proceed.

"For years, he's been transferring prescription pills from Mexico into the L.A. metropolitan area. We had a couple of eyes watching El Farma's operations, but it all went quiet a few months ago."

"How can you tell he's here now?" She asks.

"He uses a symbol on his product. It's a cartoon cow in a meadow," I say.

"How cute."

"Far from it. Some officers in Idaho confiscated some pills and put a call out for information. We were able to tell them what we knew, but before either department could get involved, the FBI caught a whiff of it," I finish. 

Heather stares at me, soaking in the information.

"How did you get involved?" She inquires.

"My superior recommended me to the FBI." 

I wait for more questions, but Heather stays silent.

"Who is Alice? I assume she knows about all this."

"Yes. Alice's late husband used to be the Sheriff a few towns over, so they asked her to be my host family."

"What else should I be asking?"

"You're the one who has read all of those so-called mysteries," I snide.

"Excuse me. Some of them are crime novels."

"Then interrogate me." The words come out a bit more sensual than I intend, so I try to move the topic on before Heather notices. "Our job is going to be to identify the lower tier dealers in the community. Then, we will hopefully gather enough information on their larger operations as well as gather evidence to bring down El Farma."

"That seems easy enough. Except that both of us are new. What's our strategy?" 

My stomach grumbles in response, and I glance down at my watch.

"It's 6:28. Let's go get dinner," I say, moving across the room to the front door.

"You're not off the hook, mister. You need to tell me about your strategy later."

"I will," I promise.

Heather follows me to the main house again, where Alice has created a spread of delicious food. 

She invites us in, and we take our seats around the table. Alice says a prayer for the meal. Then, she tells Heather what each dish contains.

"We've got finger steaks, sweet corn, and pineapple baked beans." 

It seems like a strange combination, but I have gotten used to Alice's cooking in the past two weeks. The diverse dishes are surprisingly complementary.

"Huckleberry and cheese pie is in the oven," Alices concludes.

"Huckleberries?" Heather asks.

"It's an Idahoan favorite! You'll see that a lot around here."

Heather's face falls as she looks at the spread. Alice catches on immediately.

"What's the matter, dear?" Alice asks.

"This all looks delicious," Heather replies, avoiding the question. 

After a pause, she says, "Honestly, I was expecting a potato dish of some kind, it being Idaho and all." I chuckle beside her.

"Oh, my goodness, dearie. I didn't mean to disappoint you."

"Not at all. As I said, this all looks delicious." Heather says, grabbing the bowl of sweet corn to dish out a hearty helping. 

The bowl winds up in my hands next, and I fill my plate before passing to Alice, who looks a bit downtrodden by her potato-less meal.

"Next time you come over, dear, I'll make sure to serve only potatoes!" Alice exclaims.

"You've asked for it, now," I mumble loud enough that only Heather can hear me. 

Her eyes go wide at my comment, and I can't help but throw my head back and laugh at her expression.

After dinner, I lead Heather to her car. She drives off, waving goodbye.

I stand in the driveway, staring up at the sky full of constellations, wondering how I got into this situation.

I turn back to the small cabin and prepare myself for a long night's rest. 

(A/N) This chapter is dedicated to @SugarGoddess, who was the first to comment on Chapter 4!

If you want to see your name in my next chapter and have it dedicated to you, be the first to vote and comment on this chapter! I will also give you a follow!

Answer this in the comments: Who is your favorite character so far?

Mine is Alice! I have big plans for her!

BONUS Question: What would you eat from Alice's dinner spread?