Free Hybrid Zone Recognition by C.E. Glines

elbow. This vehicle wasn’t any taller than my truck, and I climbed into it unassisted all the time.
    Once inside, he made me move over to the middle seat next to another Goon already in position. Then he climbed in beside me, taking up all the free space.
    In the front of the SUV, there were two more Goons dressed exactly the same as the others. “Do they clone you guys?” I asked jokingly. Nobody laughed. Given what I did for a living, it probably wasn’t that funny. They could be clones or more.
    After a few minutes of driving in silence, it became clear to me that no one was going to volunteer any information. We were going to have to do this the old fashioned way.
    I angled myself to face my Goon. Since he’d been the one to fetch me, I’d designated him as mine. “Who’s we?” I asked.
    I got the eyebrow raise again. It was kind of funny watching the one eyebrow ascend above the sunglasses. I couldn’t help smiling as I explained my question further. “You said we plan it that way. Who’s we?”
    “All of your questions will be addressed by the Director.”
    At least, he’d dropped the Ma’am. “We is the Director?” I teased. He didn’t find my comment amusing. Tough Crowd.
    “And that would be Director of…?” I drew out the of for emphasis, but he didn’t answer. “When do I get to meet the Director?”
    Still no response. I guess I had gotten all I was going to get on that, so I changed the subject of my questions. “Can you tell me where we’re going?”
    The only sound was the whistling of the wind against the SUV. The old fashioned way was annoying.
    “How about, when will we get there?” I tried again.
    Nada. Were these guys breathing? I looked at Goon Number One’s abdomen. His jacket was still unbuttoned and underneath was a nicely fitted white t-shirt. Yep, breathing.
    He caught me looking, and I innocently batted my eyelashes at him, but I couldn’t wipe the stupid grin off my face. I was trying to stop smiling, but the harder I tried not to, the stronger the urge became.
    I sat back between the Goons again, laying my head against the back of the seat until I could stop grinning like an idiot. There really wasn’t anything funny about the situation.
    “Sure would be nice to know why you’ve kidnapped me,” I said to the quiet interior of the SUV.
    They didn’t even bother to acknowledge the fact that I was speaking. They were going to sit here and ignore me. They really were.
    I could make it difficult for them, but they could probably make it difficult for me too. I was betting there difficult would be a lot worse than mine.
    Using my hands to cover a huge yawn, I squeezed my eyes shut. The driving combined with the ebbing adrenaline was starting to make it hard for me to keep them open. I hadn’t slept since five this morning. Counting backwards, I calculated I’d been awake for twenty one hours. It was definitely time for a nap. Lucky for me, I had my own personal Goon snuggly, and I was going to use it.
    I laid my head against my Goon’s shoulder. He smelled like a bonfire and fruit, an odd combination on a man. Turning my head slightly, I pressed my nose into his bicep and took a deep whiff. Maybe it was his fabric softener. I’d never seen one labeled backyard bbq with grilled fruit, but that didn’t mean it didn’t exist.
    I could feel him looking down at me. He probably even had that eyebrow raised. That made me grin again, and I pressed my face tighter against his arm to hide it. If he objected, he never said a word.
    As I waited for sleep to overtake me, I revisited the events of my day. Assuming that Miranda didn’t become too distracted to store it properly, I had obtained the last sample I needed. The one official reason I was still on the job. It would take me a little while to complete the analysis, but then what?
    Did I trust the HCF enough to hand over my report? Not currently. There would be trouble either way. Turning it in was probably the safest