As the car pulled up through an empty concrete lot with hangers pced on either side, Dorian cocked his brow as he finished off the st swig of his coffee. The mention of an airport conjured images of having to go through security, check some bags, maybe even having to figure out a good pce to ditch his pistol if it came to it. Even more would be the awkward expnation as to why Dorian had a wallet thick with cash and how he knew the people he was traveling with. Dealing with TSA once before, he already knew that saying that they knew as much as he did wouldn’t bode well.

  “Expecting something different?” Keeva asked as she pulled the car into one of the hangers located off to the side of the concrete runway. The doors opening up as they approached as the car stopped off to the side of a pristine white jet sitting idle.

  “You said airport and I got nervous, not even sure what name is in this wallet anyway.” Dorian said before opening his door and watching Keeva step out to open Nicole’s.

  Nicole rousing Ashley gently from her sleep with a soft hand squeezing her shoulder as a quick jump from Ashley seemed to startle both of them. Ashley’s head swiveling around as her eyes went wide and her mouth opened before she took in her surroundings and shut her eyes tight. Exhaling the breath she gasped a moment ago.

  “Were gonna go straight home honey,” Nicole said as she cupped Ashley’s face in her hands. “Straight home with no side trips no business, nothing. Is that okay?”

  “Where’s Dorian?” Ashley asked as she peered past Nicole.

  Dorian hearing this, stepped around Keeva and gave her a wan smile at the way she seemed to ease at his presence. Her shoulders dropping with a sigh as she nodded her head and leaned into her mother’s touch.

  “Yeah, let’s go home.” Ashley said as she filed out of the car with Nicole leading the way before taking up her position beside Dorian. Nodding to Keeva who opened the side hatch that deployed down into a set of steps for them. “My mom and I practically live out of this pne more than we live at home. I think you’ll like it too.”

  “You mentioned that you traveled with her a lot but this isn’t what I imagined.” Dorian said as he curled his arm at the feel of Ashley wrapping her arms around it. The two of them starting towards the steps before Keeva pced a hand at Dorian’s chest to stop him.

  “Just because this is a private jet doesn’t mean we don’t have our own rules.” Keeva said as she gestured to Dorian with her other hand. Not needing to say another word as Dorian reached behind his back to pull out his pistol. Though before handing it to Keeva, he made a dispy of removing the magazine from the handle and pulling the slide back to empty the chamber. The bullet flying out with enough force for Dorian to catch in his hand before he shoved the weapon into Keeva’s chest. “Best behavior, understand?”

  “Yes ma’am.” Dorian said as he locked eyes with Keeva for a moment only to have their contact lost by way of Ashley pulling him along up the stairs. Dorian’s eye twitching at the feel of Ashley pinching the back of his arm as she gred up at him. “I’ll behave I promise.”

  “This your first time flying in a private jet?” Nicole asked as Keeva brought up the rear and closed the hatch. Keeva’s scoff answering before Dorian could manage.

  “I’ve flown in private jets,” Dorian said as he took in his surroundings. The first being the stark contrast of the white leather pying against the amber glow of the wood. Giving off this almost aurora to the cabin that cshed stark against the smell of the freshly polished leather. A kind of funk that stuck in the back of Dorian’s throat. “None this nice though.”

  “Gd we’re able to exceed your standards.” Nicole said before offering the pstic bag she had from the gas station out to Dorian. “Now there is a shower at the far end of the cabin, with all due respect you’ve been wearing a sweater in the Arizona heat for god only knows how long and I refuse to be in an enclosed cabin with you smelling the way you already do.”

  “It’s been a while since you’ve had a shower too, do you want to take one?” Dorian asked Ashley after taking the bag from Nicole.

  “I think you’ll find the showers are a little snug and usually only accommodate one person at a time.” Nicole interjected as she watched Dorian’s eyes widen for a moment.

  “I didn’t mean-” Dorian began before thinking better of expining himself and walking to the back of the cabin. “I’ll be sure to save you some hot water Ash.”

  “Thanks pup.” Ashley said before giggling at the way Dorian flung his head around the wall, his brow set into a stern position as if testing her to say that again.

  “Word of warning,” Keeva whispered to Ashely. “Unless you’re willing to swing on him I wouldn’t call him pup anymore.” Starting towards the cockpit Keeva called out to Nicole. “Taxi is on its way, should be wheels up within the hour and another two till we get home ma’am.”

  “Thank you, Keeva.” Nicole said before turning her head towards the back of the pne where she heard the shower turn on and nodded for Ashley to take a seat as she did the same. “Rather interesting friend you made.”

  “I’m not even sure if Dorian knows what the word means.” Ashley said with a chuckle before sitting beside her mother.

  “What do you mean?” Nicole asked, her brow knotting with curiosity.

  “Ms. Nicole.” Dorian called out from the doorway to the washroom. “Is there anywhere you’d prefer I put my clothes?”

  “There should be a trash can in the bathroom you can toss them in there.” Nicole began before seeing the way Dorian paused in the doorway, his eyes blinking for a moment as Nicole followed up. “I have some company swag. A t shirt and a pair of sweats you can wear till we get you something else if that’s alright.”

  “Thank you.” Dorian said before shutting the door and turning the lock. The steam billowing up around the confined room as the edges of the mirror began to fog. Not quite enough for Dorian to keep from seeing his own face in the mirror though. The strands of greasy hair stretching out like the gnarled branches of a long dead tree. His dirt caked complexion making it almost impossible to tell where his hair started and where the grime began. The sweater he peeled from his body feeling crusty from sweat as he crumpled it up and tossed it onto the floor and winced at his own reflection.

  A body marked with pits of discoloration from various gunshot wounds long since healed. Several jagged lines of raised skin where his body healed over a knife wound. The way his skin pulled taut around his waist as the bottoms of his ribs stuck out enough to count the first three. With a raise of his brow and a puff of air between his lips, Dorian turned away from his reflection as he dropped his pants around his ankles. As he grabbed the toiletries that Nicole bought for him, he used the pstic bag to dispose of his old clothes, tying them off to ensure Nicole wouldn’t have to handle them too much.

  Stepping into the shower, Dorian braced his hand against the wall and let the water run over him. The rivers of bck that washed across his body and circled across the drain slowly turning grey before becoming mostly clear with a slight tinge of muck. The water feeling good on his body and most of all his back as he felt the tendons ease their tension from the hours sitting in a chair the night before. The dead skin piled up around his body falling away with the stroke of a luffa left hanging in the shower. Each scrub and stroke darkening the off-white color just a little bit more as Dorian closed his eyes and let himself enjoy the shower as the soap worked its way through his body and hair.

  When he finally finished his shower and shut the water off, Dorian let out another puff of air as he looked down at the luffa and felt himself taken aback by a step. He’d already felt lighter in a way, as though the grime of his own body had somehow weighed him down but he hadn’t realized how much he needed it till he looked at the now grey stained lump he held in his hand. Tossing it into the sink, Dorian grabbed the towels hanging around him and draped one around his shoulder and tied another around his waist. His hands working to dry himself off as he heard a knock at the door.

  “Were about to take off so get dressed and come sit down when you’re ready. I’ll leave your clothes by-” Nicole began before Dorian opened the door enough to take the clothes from her. Her expression widening at the sight of his body as he took the clothes she had in her hand and nodded to her.

  “Thank you.” Dorian said as he set the clothes down onto the counter and stepped aside while nodding to the sink where the used luffa now sat. “I’ll umm… I’ll buy you a new one.”

  “Oh, you know I think that’s alright you can just toss that in with your clothes while you’re at it.” Nicole said.

  Dorian nodded as he shut the door and continued to dry himself off. Slipping on the sweat pants and pulling the t shirt over his head as he assumed the shoes would likely see the same fate as his clothes. Opting instead to walk out barefoot.

  “Smile!” Nicole called out as a blinding fsh struck Dorian’s eyes.

  “God damn it!” Dorian cursed as he blinked to try and regain his vision. “Don’t… please don’t do that again.”

  “I needed a head shot from you because,” Nicole began as she sat herself down in front of a ptop, setting the phone she used to take a picture of Dorian right beside it. “You my friend are an absolute ghost.”

  “Sorry about that Dorian.” Ashley said as she walked up to Dorian and led him by the hand to come and take a seat as she sat beside Nicole with Dorian fnking her other side. “What do you mean ghost though?”

  “What I mean is that your friend isn’t on any data base. No birth certificate, no country of origin, nothing. Not even facial recognition is picking up anything.” Nicole said before pulling her hands back when her daughter swiped the ptop from her.

  “That’s impossible I literally wrote this program myself; it can find anyone.” Ashley said as she looked through the program.

  “Did you say you wrote that program yourself?” Dorian asked as he peered over his shoulder at what Ashley was looking at. The screen long since turning into a mess of characters and code. None of which Dorian knew how to comprehend but a quick gnce at the way Ashley’s eyes darted line after line, her lips moving as she mouthed what she was reading, it seemed as pin as English to her.

  “Yeah…” Ashley trailed off. “Yeah, sorry. You remember I told you I graduated from MIT with a computer science degree and pulled from a security and defense agency data bases around the world.”

  “You failed to mention that when you sent it to me the first time around. That,” Nicole began. “Sounds very illegal.”

  “It’s considered treason in most countries.” Dorian said as he watched Ashley’s shoulders drop and groan.

  “I don’t know how but you’re not on any data base I’ve used for this program which is almost anyone and everyone.” Ashley began. “My mom and I use this to background check clients and employees and it’s brought up old social media accounts they didn’t even remember having which apparently you don’t even have yourself.”

  “What business are you in again?” Dorian asked.

  “I own and run a financing and investment firm. We handle money for some very big-name clients and make them more money while taking a small cut for ourselves.” Nicole said with a practiced stream as though she’d recited this exact line a million times before.

  Dorian nodded and hummed to himself before saying “Right so what do you actually do?”

  Dorian’s shrewd response earned a slight twist of Nicole’s lips. A sour expression as she pressed her lips together but remained composed all together. Dorian waiting for her to respond and when she didn’t, he continued.

  “Because the only thing that makes any sense about this is the private jet.” Dorian began as he stood and sat across from Nicole, crossing his arms over his chest. “What doesn’t make sense is why you have a former Special Air Service Lieutenant as your personal bodyguard, why your daughter was held in captivity for six months, or how you managed to even track me down which as we can damn well see is not an easy task.”

  Nicole, in response only kept her eyes steadily boring into him as she cocked her head slightly to the side. As if considering something for a moment before her eyes narrowed to an edge, consideration pying on her features as she pyed with an idea before finally deciding to vocalize it.

  “Is Dorian your real name?” Nicole asked and just then Dorian reminded himself the kind of woman she was.

  Business was done with deals, nothing ever left anyone’s hand or lips without first gaining something in return or something promised. Dorian failed on both accounts when he made these remarks but knew just as well as anyone in any line of business, legal or otherwise, that the ck of an answer was an answer unto itself.

  “It’s a name I chose for myself; I had a…” Dorian paused as he pulled his lips into a ft line, trying to think of the right word. “Handler, we’ll call them. He liked Oscar Wilde and when I finally learned how to read, I read The Picture of Dorian Grey. So no, Dorian isn’t my real name but I never had one till I chose that one.”

  “Dorian,” Ashley chimed in as she leaned in closer. “What did you mean when you said “handler”?”

  At Ashley’s question, Dorian decided this transaction could be paid in silence. At least till Nicole’s own end of the bargain was honored.

  “Listen Dorian,” Nicole said though the statement were more directed at the room as a whole. “We’ve all had a very eventful day today. If you want to discuss business then we can talk business tomorrow.” Nicole said as she narrowed her eyes at Dorian before standing and circling around him. Dorian’s eyes remaining fixed on the spot where she was before. “I made a promise to my daughter that we’d be heading straight home without any interruptions and that includes talking about work. You’ve earned yourself a day off Dorian, Ashley is safe and so are you.”

  Feeling Nicole’s narrow hands press into his shoulders, Dorian had to avoid his first instinct to throw her off. His body easing into her touch as she squeezed his shoulders though noticed the way she pulled back after the first initial squeeze. No doubt feeling his shoulder bdes and colr bones poke through his skin at this initial touch. Though he couldn’t deny that the smallest squeeze in the massage eased up some tension in his body. Though perhaps to avoid bringing more attention to the state of Dorian’s form, either for herself or Dorian, Nicole opted to rub her palm across his shoulders before releasing him and starting over towards the cockpit. Just shy of that area sat a small kitchen with a stove, range, microwave. The usual suspects along with a cupboard that Nicole opened and produced a small protein bar.

  “You’ve had a cup of coffee today and I’d imagine you’re a little jittery, maybe something to weigh down your stomach will make this flight a little easier.” Nicole said as she offered out the bar.

  “Maybe some food will do us some good Dorian, when’s the st time we ate something that wasn’t from a gas station?” Ashley asked as she took Dorian’s hand in hers and ran her thumb across each of his knuckles. Her rough dry thumb scraping against the calluses of his knuckles as her eyes pleaded with him.

  Seeing this look in her eye, Dorian turned to face Nicole and held out an open hand. Snatching the bar out of the air as she tossed it over to him as he pulled it open and took a bite. Maybe Ashley was right, Dorian thought to himself as he then thought that even the act of chewing something felt enjoyable. The swallowing however was more difficult as the dryness in his throat required him to force back even the chewed bits of what would be breakfast.

  “You mentioned a while back that Dals was your home. I don’t think I’ve ever been to Texas.” Dorian said to Ashley, watching as her face lit up.

  “It’s not nearly as hot as Arizona.” Ashley said as she squeezed Dorian’s hand.

  “And were originally from Washington so you’ll hear some people with funny accents down there too.” Nicole said as she approached Dorian with a bottle of water in hand.

  Looking down at the bottle then back up at Nicole, Dorian took the offered drink and nodded his thanks. Cracking open the bottle, he smmed down half its contents with a single swig before coming up for air.

  “So you’ve seriously never been to Texas; have you ever had barbeque before?” Ashley asked.

  “That’s the pces where they put the stove in front of you and you sear your own meat, I’ve had that before.” Dorian said.

  “Oh no that’s Korean barbeque; American barbeque is incredibly different.” Nicole said with a roll of her eyes before taking a seat next to Ashley. “What do you think?”

  “That we could maybe make a stop in Houston first and pick some up?” Ashley said with a beaming smile.

  “I think we can make that pitstop.” Nicole said with a wink and a smirk. “I’ll go tell Keeva we’re pnning on a pit stop and Dorian,” Nicole said as she approached the cockpit door. “Feel free to grab anything you need. You’re our guest now.”

  “Thank you, Ms. Nicole.” Dorian said.

  “How about you just call me Nicole from now on?” Nicole said with a smirk before Ashley brought Dorian’s attention back to him.

  “You’ve seriously been like all over the world but you’ve never been to Texas before?” Ashley said.

  “If I’m being honest, I haven’t ever really been in the United States that much beyond the coast and even then, I don’t stay long enough to remember the names of the cities. I remember you telling me about MIT before but I don’t even know where that is.” Dorian said with a bashful shake to his voice.

  “Well, my mom and I travel a lot for work so maybe you could come with us one of these days and get to see more of the US?” Ashley proposed.

  “Yeah I…” Dorian paused and thought about it for a moment before finally choosing to nod his head and feel a smile curling across his face. “Yeah, I’d like that.”