Andrew called Karl. He wouldn’t be able to collect the wares that needed to be sent off anymore. So, he would need someone for that. Karl picked up, he sounded excited.

“Hey, how is my manager doing?” Asked the man, and Andrew grinned.

“Karl, I got drafted in a government intelligence agency. I would need some help with the sending of the things,” said Andrew, and he heard Karl hum.

“Is this about some archeological work? Did they find an ancient settlement and want you to piece together if the first humans hadn’t come from America?” Andrew shook his head. Karl was a patriot to his bone marrow. But, the odds of what he spoke of being true were close to zero. Even if Andrew had liked the prospect too.

“No, Karl. I can’t tell you, but I can arrange for proof. I will be traveling a lot, so I will only be able to take care of the online aspects of the store. Furthermore, I still require the job as a front,” if Karl decided to fire him now, Andrew supposed that it wouldn’t be so bad. After all, the agency work was paying handsomely. But, this was Andrew’s first real-world job. Babysitting didn’t count.

“Bring the proof and I will get you an assistant. Furthermore, I won’t ask questions. I wouldn’t want to lose the online stores. They bring in more money than this one. Anyway, I have to hang up. A child has been staring at a vintage doll for five minutes. I think she will be asking her mother for it, soon,” and Karl hanged up.

Andrew opened his front door and looked at one of the suits clad men in front.

“Yes?” One of them turned to him, the other kept on staring at the stairs.

“I need proof for my employer that I have been drafted by you guys. Can he be sent something?” Asked Andrew, and the man pulled his phone.

“Agent Jackson requests us to give him some proof of his involvement with us. Standard CIA badge. Over,” and the man hanged up. “It will be done in an hour. You will be going out with an escort. Go back inside, agent Jackson.”

Andrew nodded and went inside. Agent Jackson sounded like a James Bond level thing. With martinis, dry, two olives. He smiled and giggled. Daphne saw him and raised an eyebrow.

“You are seemingly quite chipper for someone who is going to die,” she said, and Andrew tilted his head to the side, considering her words.

“We won’t die, Daphne. We will get training,” he countered, but she smirked sourly at him.

“Yes, training. But, I bet you they will only teach us how to hold a gun, makes us run some, and yell at us for eight-ten hours a day for no more than three months. Then, they will send us after a killer. Thereafter, the two of you are going to die,” Andrew raised an eyebrow at that. Just him and Erin? Why not her?

“I will run away as soon as they release us in the wild. I have some offshore funds. I hear that Spain is wonderful during the entire year,” she smirked. Andrew promptly went to the door and opened it.

“Agent Socros wants to run away,” he tattled, returning Daphne the favor.

“That will be impossible, agent Jackson. Considering, you will have ankle bands with trackers on your ankles starting tomorrow. You will be tracked and, if you go to someone without asking for permission first, a slow acting poison will be injected in you by the bands,” finished the man as Andrew became as pale as a ghost. 

“I…really?” The agent sent him an unamused look and rolled up his pants to show he, too, had a band around his ankle. It looked metal and had a green light on it.

“Standard procedure. The pay is never enough when it is put next to the risk,” said the agent, and Andrew went back inside. A pillow connected with his head, and he saw that Daphne was practically fuming.

“What was that for, asshole?” She snapped.

“You told on us first. Erin could have ended up in a lab,” snapped Andrew. He didn’t like Daphne. But, they would need to work together. It wasn’t fair.

“But, he didn’t,” snapped Daphne. She let out a huff and took a sheet of paper from the stack and went into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Andrew fumed. She had no right to go in there. He was just about to march to the door and tell her to tell the agents to get her back to the club, when Erin grabbed his hand.

“Leave her. You have to remember we are in this together. So, no going back, eh?” Erin looked tired, but, at least, his hands weren’t shaking.

“No. I guess we will have to skip the birthday party. None of us are in any state to attend,” said Andrew, and he sat down on the couch. Everything had gone wrong. And he didn’t know how to fix it. He could only go with the flow and hope there was not a waterfall nearby.

“No, we will weird everyone by coming with the suits,” retorted Erin. “But, we can give Paul the toy set tomorrow.”

“If we are let to go freely tomorrow,” said Andrew. He felt arms around him, and he leaned into Erin.

“Do you think they will send us somewhere nice?” Asked Erin, sounding thoughtful. “Or just to small towns?”

“I think they will send their top agents to the cities. They have more ground to cover. So, my bet is that we will be sent to small towns. Like ours,” Erin nodded. He sighed.

“Well, I suppose we will get to city level threats. Just imagine. Us, bringing bad guys to the labs,” Andrew nodded. It sounded exciting. But there was a danger behind the glamour.

“I just hope we live long enough to see our thirtieth birthdays,” said Andrew. Erin stood and scooped him up.

“Daphne is in the bedroom,” reminded him, Andrew.

“The bathroom is free,” Erin retorted. Andrew shrugged. It was.