Fiction Friday: Naked Came the Jayhawk, Chapter Four (Part II)

Veronica opened her mouth to follow up, but quickly closed it. There was something almost wistful in his voice. She was considering following up, but decided it probably wasn’t the time to do so.

The only sound that filled the cabin of the plane for the rest of their journey was the clacking of Veronica’s manicured nails on her laptop keyboard.

Michael always found the final approach into Las Vegas fascinating. Going from the red, copper and browns of the natural, untouched desert southwest to patches of green from the copious golf courses, parks and lawns of the Las Vegas Valley. The plane touched down at McCarran Airport, located in the center of the city. After taxiing for several minutes, the jet carrying the two agents turned towards a waiting SUV.

Michael and Veronica juggled their luggage as they exited the small plane and approached the vehicle. Two agents were standing next to the SUV; a jolly, husky white man and a tall, thin African American woman. Both were wearing sunglasses.

The woman stepped forward and offered her hand to Veronica first. “Welcome to Las Vegas, agents. I’m Lisa Savage, the director of this office. This is James Murphy, one of our most senior agents.” Once a round of handshakes were completed, Lisa took a remote out of the pocket of her jacket and hit a button to open the tailgate. Michael and Veronica tossed their suitcases in and headed for the backseat.

“So, normally when we have visiting agents during this month, they’re escaping the snow,” James turned around and said to Veronica and Michael. He chuckled. “But I don’t know if Vegas is an improvement on Miami this time of year.”

“We’ll take the scenic route to our office,” Lisa said as she eased the car onto Sunset Road. “Marshall mentioned to me that you’ve been to Vegas many times, Michael, but he thought this might have been your first time, right Veronica?”

Veronica was in awe as the SUV turned on to the Las Vegas Strip. She pulled out her smartphone and started taking pictures as soon as she saw the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign.

Michael looked over at his partner and couldn’t help but smile. It was the first time he had really seen such youthful enthusiasm from his partner, and it warmed his heart. Of course, he would never tell her that.