Domino Effect (2019 Edition)

looked around the restaurant at the deluge of patrons. Most appeared to be salty-seamen, but others could be anyone, and anyone could have followed Sawyer to Spanky’s. “After contacting you, I have no doubt you read my dossier.”
“That’s just the thing, Agent, I couldn’t find anything on you; nothing recent anyway. Don’t get me wrong, what I read was impressive, maybe too impressive. That’s where my doubt comes from.”
“How about a compromise,” she said. “I’ll put President Lancaster and Director Graham on a three-way and pass you my cell phone. That way, you’ll have your confirmation, and I can end this farce before it begins.”
Sawyer was about to speak when a large man, as round as he was tall, came out of the kitchen. He wiped sweat from the stubble on his face with his dirty, white apron and looked around the diner. “I’ll be damned,” he barked. “I thought I heard your bike roll up. How’s my favorite girl?”
Sin’s eyes sparkled as she stood and wrapped her arms around the man. “How did you know it was my bike?”
“When you pulled up, the rumble of your exhaust loosened a couple of my fillings.”
She laughed at the old line Spanky had been repeating since she was old enough to ride. “It’s good to see you, Spanky.”
Spanky hugged back, lifting her off the ground. “You, too.” Putting her down, his smile disappeared. “Sorry to hear about Charlie. He’ll be missed.”
She swallowed hard. “Thanks.”
Spanky nodded toward the table. “It looks like you have business. I’ll leave you two alone; come say goodbye before you leave.”
“Promise.”
“So that’s Spanky,” Sawyer said as she sat. “It seems you two are old friends.”
“Friends come in handy in our line of business.”
“Agreed.” Sawyer’s eyes narrowed as his brow pinched. “How about we start over? I’m Jason Sawyer, nice to meet you.”
“Sinclair O’Malley, but I prefer Sin.”
She relaxed her posture, slouching a bit in her seat, giving off an air of harmlessness, but she never let her guard down. She sat silently waiting for Sawyer to make the first move. Sin knew that nervous people always want to talk, even when they shouldn’t.
“Why did you say this meeting was a farce?” Sawyer said.
She smirked. That was her opening. “Your file is a piece of shit. I figured if that was all the information you and your entire team could muster up, this meeting would be a waste of time.”
Sawyer grunted and took a sip of his drink. “You don’t mind if I change the subject for a moment, do you?”
“Not at all.”
“I received a message this morning from my boss, telling me my detail has been pulled from the case. Was that your call?”
“Yes, it was,” Sin answered.
“Why?”
“Since you’ve asked a direct question, I’ll give you a direct answer. Something about this case doesn’t add up. That means that either you and your team or Lancaster is holding back information. Either way, I see you as a liability. And while we’re talking about your team, I need a list of names.”
Sawyer’s chin dropped. He pulled a worn half dollar from his pocket and ran it through his fingers like a seasoned gambler would a chip. But he said nothing. His silence more telling than words.
“Care to respond to anything I said?” she asked, leaning over the table.
Sawyer pinched the coin between his thumb and finger and used it to punctuate his words. “Becca gave me this coin on the day of her father’s first inauguration. I never asked why, I just took it.” Sin watched as the corners of his mouth drooped and his eyelids closed. “I regret that, now.”
Sin said nothing, just stared, looking for tells.
“I’ve been with the Secret Service for eleven years,” Sawyer said. “The last six as the head of Becca’s security team. She’s not an assignment, not to me. She was a little girl I had the privilege to watch grow into an amazing young woman, and I would do nothing,” he fisted the coin, his expression hardening, “that would lead to her harm.”
She sat back and clapped her hands together, hard and slow. “Nice speech. If all that’s true, then why are your notes so shitty? Why are you holding back information?”
Sawyer opened his mouth to answer but didn’t. Instead, he stood and pulled a thumb drive from the inner pocket of his suit coat. He handed her the drive and his card. “I’d like to stay on and help you find Becca. After you read this, if you still think I’m a liability, I’ll pack up and head back to D.C. It’s your call. My private number is on the back of the card.”
She stayed seated and watched Agent Sawyer walk out of the restaurant and drive away in the rental she spotted on her way in. She bit her lower lip as she played with the thumb drive. He seems to be telling me the truth, she thought. Hopefully whatever is on this drive will clue me in to what the hell is going on.
While saying goodbye to Spanky, they headed out back where her bike was parked, so he could light a smoke. Shaking out a second, he offered it to her.
She waved him off. “No thanks. I quit the day Charlie died. He was always after me to quit, and it seemed like the right time.” Showing his cigarette to her, he asked if she minded. “Not at all. I’ve spent the better half of the last two months hanging out in a bar. I’m used to it. In fact, I find it comforting in some strange way.”
Spanky smiled a sideways grin as he lit his smoke. “Comforting,” he exhaled, smoke passing his lips with each syllable. “I like that. The next time someone gives me a dirty look when I light up, I’m gonna tell them it’s comforting.”
She looked out at the pier which stood about fifty feet from the restaurant. The sun was setting behind the boats tied up for the night, forming a postcard view.