Free Uneven Exchange by S.K. Derban

she said, patting his shoulder. “Your secret is safe with me.”
    Alexandra walked back to the sofa, ready to resume watching the recordings. She sat down before looking up at Kevin. He stood at the door with his hand poised on the light switch.
    “I’ll let you get back to work,” he said.
    “You can stay and keep me company if you want.”
    “That would be a lot better than the piles of paperwork on my desk. But thanks anyway. I better go.”
    “Kevin?” Alexandra asked, stopping him. “Do I have any privacy?”
    “It’s only the phones, Alex. Not the house.”
    “You know, I still don’t completely comprehend your reasoning.”
    “I know you don’t, but thanks for not pushing.”
    “You’re welcome.” When she pushed the play button, he flipped the light switch.
    When Alexandra didn’t hear his footsteps walking away, she whispered, “Kevin?”
    “I’m still here,” he said from the dark.
    “I’ll be okay. I know I can do this. I can really do this.”
    “You know, kid.” Alexandra could hear the smile in his tone. “I never doubted you could.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER SEVEN
     
     
    GET A LIFE
     
    On the first Saturday in November, Alexandra met with her coach, Natalie Burke, and they spent the morning concentrating on Alexandra’s pitch. She pressed hard, ignoring all suggestions of taking a break until Natalie left for additional materials. Only then did Alexandra stop to catch her breath.
    She leaned back in her chair, looked around at the drab walls, and wondered if all government facilities were this dismal. A window would be nice, she thought, missing the inviting warmth of the autumn sun. Alexandra also reflected on the photography class and how well the charade was working. After more than six weeks, they had experienced only one minor blip.
    One night, when Jake was planning to work late, he told Alexandra he would drop her off at school. “That way,” he had suggested, “we can go out for coffee afterward and catch up.”
    Alexandra was caught completely off guard and struggled to think of any plausible excuse to turn him down. When none came, she frantically called Kevin. Remaining calm as usual, he instructed Alexandra to have Jake drop her off at the front of the campus and then walk confidently toward the rear. Once out of Jake’s sight, she should hunt for classroom 710. Either he or Scott Riggins would be waiting there to take her to work.
    In a panic, Alexandra had fired rebuttal questions at Kevin. “But what if Jake decides to pick me up early? What if he happens to talk to the instructor? The teacher doesn’t even know me, or my name for that matter!”
    “Alex, Alex, Alex, trust me. First, I can’t believe Jake would interrupt your class. Second, if he did talk with the instructor for whatever reason, it wouldn’t be a problem. It’s handled. Okay?” Kevin’s tone had suggested he wanted to move on.
    Alexandra hadn’t given up though. “Handled? How can it be handled? Does the instructor work for the DEA too?” she asked facetiously.
    “Not anymore.”
    “Oh good grief,” Alexandra exclaimed at yet another unexpected surprise. “I’ll see you later.” She hung up without waiting for a response.
    In the end, everything worked out perfectly. Scott had been waiting for Alexandra right outside classroom 710. She wondered if he had gone in to talk with the photography teacher before she arrived, but Alexandra dared not ask. Scott seemed friendly enough but was always professional and distant.
    However, on the way to the Administration, he did volunteer a “wee bit of information,” as Kevin would have said. It turned out that the mystery instructor was the one providing the pictures Alexandra took to the office as samples of her classwork.
    Alexandra returned to the present when Natalie returned to the training room carrying a digital tablet and high-quality noise-cancelling headphones. She placed both on the table in front of Alexandra