SIX YEARS AGO

Fred and Mansura were on vacation at a secret resort. Mansura walked out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her and walked over to Fred, who pulled her onto the bed and kissed her breathless.

Still deep in her lips, he flipped her over and placed his hands under the small of her back, which made her crazy. She pulled his face in deeper and damn-near suffocated both of them.

They finally came up for air, and Fred looked into her eyes and spoke softly, “Hello you, crazy woman.”

Mansura held his face and responded, “Hello you, goddamn motherfucker.”

She was about to dive in again when she heard her phone go off. She slipped out from under him and went to look at it.

“New assignment is in. I’m expecting the Bali mission. So much sun, so much fun. I’m meant to play an…wait a minute. That doesn’t seem right.”

Mansura settled into the chair by the bed and read the details. Fred sat up. “What’s wrong?”

Mansura distractedly answered him, “This mission was not even supposed to be active until next year.”

Fred leaned over and put his arm out, and Mansura came over to him with the phone. He took a look at the notice. “Oh, I recommended you for this mission. Good that they listened.”

Mansura’s eyes narrowed as she gave him a menacing look. “You did what now?”

Fred saw the look but he did not seem the least bit bothered. “I was asked who I’d recommend for this op and I said you’d be the best agent for the job.”

Mansura got up, cracking her knuckles as she spoke. “Lucius. Ohhh Lucius. Lucius, Lucius, Lucius. Lucius my darling, my baby, my lover and fuck buddy. Did you, per chance, per adventure, hear me talk about how much I was looking forward to a holiday in Dubai after my BALI mission?”

Fred kept his hands on his laps and remained calm as he watched her every move. “I might’ve. Why, is something the matter?”

Mansura began a slow walk, like a tigress sizing up her prey. “I had my bikini picked out. I had my reservations all set up, my list of places to go, I had the perfect vacation planned.”

She was now a foot away from him with a face as peaceful as a sleeping baby. Fred remained on the bed with his hands on his lap, casually watching her.

She smiled. And then it was time for all hell to break loose.

*****

PRESENT DAY

“Omega Two, this is Omega One. Operation Fresh Air is in progress. Verifying Phase One is complete. Verifying Phase One is complete. You are clear for Phase Two.”

Marica put the headset down after relaying the instructions and proceeded to sit in her comfortable seat in front of the screen, watching the action go down in the suite.

*****

Linda pushed the cart of assorted foods to Sena, who had just woken up. “What would you like to eat, please?”

Groggy, Sena looked up at Linda like she’d been speaking an otherworldly language. “Would you like any breakfast? Maybe a drink? A snack? Anything?”

Sena was barely awake, but she finally seemed to understand Linda. “Apple juice and cookies, please. Are we close to Addis at all?”

Linda took a cup and a can of juice from the cart, and began pouring it while she responded, “Not yet. We had a delay before takeoff, so we left extremely late. We’re still a few hours away.”

“Damn. I really must’ve slept long.”

Linda served her the drink and pulled out two small packets of cookies. “You were tired after all the running you did to avoid missing the flight. It’s only right that you slept through the madness. Let me know if you need anything else. We’re having some difficulty with the in-flight entertainment system, but we’re working on it. I’ll let you know once it’s fixed. For now, enjoy your meal, and thank you for flying Express Air.”

Linda left Sena to enjoy her snack. As Linda walked away, Sena noticed the echoing of her footsteps, but she didn’t make much of it. She turned around and saw no other passengers around her.

“They must be asleep or in comfort plus.”

*****

SIX YEARS AGO

The aggressive tussling was on. It had been ten minutes already and the fight still raged on. Mansura had currently pinned Fred to the floor and was trying to hit him, but he kept throwing her off balance. She finally clocked him in the head and proceeded to attempt to disfigure his face with her fists.

She punched and punched and punched until Fred finally managed to use her momentum against her. He rolled her off of him and reversed the roles, so now she was pinned under him. He got both her hands before she could throw them at him and locked them with his.

“Get off me. Get off me, Lucius. You goddamned snake. Get off me!”

She was small but she was an explosive unit. Fred had her under control but even with his considerable bulk and strength, he knew it wouldn’t be for long.

“I made a deal for your freedom, Mansura! This is going to be your last mission. You can have all the vacations you want after. Now stop fighting!”

Mansura continued to resist him until she’d fully processed his words. She slowly calmed down until she’d stopped moving entirely. Still with his guard up, Fred slowly let go of her hands. She didn’t try to punch him.

He slowly slid off her, both of them barely breathing. She didn’t try to hit him then either. So he put his hands on the floor as she sat up.

Out of nowhere, she swung a fist right into the heart of his gut.

*****

PRESENT DAY

The utter horror of the situation could not be understated: Fred was in proper hell.

This woman was once the object of his affection, the lady of his dreams. She had now become the dame of his nightmares, an earth-shattering blast from the past. This woman was not supposed to be alive, let alone running a full op on a goddamn plane!

“Amazing, isn’t it? Unbelievable that the dead could rise, huh? It would’ve been shocking to me too if I wasn’t the receiver of such a great benefit. Mansura Brahimi, conqueror of the great F baby or whatever the hell your new bitch calls you, once dead but now alive. The universe does exist after all. Or, maybe, my cute little ass just did not die that day. The good news for you is that this is not the afterlife; you are very much still on earth, you back-stabbing ass hat.”

Fred fixed his mouth to speak but the pain from the slap which hit him rocked him into silence. One would’ve thought she would be angry but her facial expression exuded peace.

She stuck her tongue out and slowly ran it up the cheek which she’d just smacked. She looked him dead in the eyes and softly said, “I’m sorry, baby. I know you sometimes like it a little rough. I may have gone a little overboard there.”

She then kissed him passionately on his lips, and then slapped him again. “You won’t respond to my kiss because of that goddamned bitch, huh? Don’t worry, we’ll take care of her. By the time this plane lands, she won’t even want to know that you exist, let alone kiss you, let alone fuck you.”

She licked his lips like a cat, and then stepped back.

Wow, looks like we’re about to find out why Mansura is coming for Fred. It’s gotta be bad if she’s gone all the way like this…