Free Smoke and Shadow by Gamal Hennessy

hidden under her
bruised arms and ravaged hair. Drops of blood began to pool on the
floor beneath her head. Chu felt the echoes of her pain with every
convulsive spasm of her body.
     
    “ Hope is not a
plan Stanley. Mrs. Maas might not last much longer. If
we ’ re going to
preserve this operation, we need to--- ”
     
    “ We
don ’ t need to do
anything. ” Ganesh
snapped off the headphones and jumped out of his seat as if
he ’ d been
shocked. “ You have
no authority to intervene. We have clear rules of engagement. You
cannot expose this operation to the police because you are too weak
to do your job. ”
     
    “ You think
I ’ m weak because I
don ’ t want to
watch a man beat on his wife every night? ” Chu eased the chair out of his way
to give himself a clear shot at Privti. The larger man thrust his
finger out in anger, but backed away with a trembling
lip.
     
    “ It is weak to
not do your job. It is weak to not mind your own business. You have
no right to interfere with a man and his wife. It is not your
place. ”
     
    Chu took a slow
step towards Privti. He held his hands up to signal peace, but the
tone in his voice had a predatory edge. “ It ’ s not my business,
Neshi? ”
     
    Kean stepped
between Chu and Privti, holding up his own hands with a more
sincere display of pacification. “ Cut it out, Smoke.
We ’ re on the same
team. Let ’ s just
take it up with Ghost in the morning. ”
     
    “ I am not like
him! I am not on his team! I do not want his pet
names! ”
     
    Chu stopped his
advance and dropped his hands, but his voice became darker, more
menacing. “ Is it
none of my business because of the job, or is it because I
don ’ t have a
wife? ”
     
    “ Leave it alone,
Smoke-- ”
     
    “ Spit it out,
Neshi. Do you think I want to stop Maas because
I ’ m a fag, or is
it because you just like to watch women get beat
up? ”
     
    “ Do not call me
pet names! ”
     
    “ Do you hate it
when I call you Neshi because you think I ’ m flirting with you? Huh? Are you
afraid I ’ m going
to try and fuck you in the middle of the night? ”
     
    “ Leave me alone!
I ’ m not on your
team! ”
     
    “ Enough,
Chu! ” Kean raised
his voice without conviction.
     
    Chu stood close
enough to crack the taller man ’ s sternum with his knee, but he
didn ’ t. He had the
range to reach out and crush Privti ’ s trachea in a single step. He never
made an aggressive move toward them. But he thought about it and
they knew it. Chu let the knowledge sit with them when he turned to
leave the room with one more glance at Maria
Maas ’ s body on the
cold stone floor.
     
    “ This
isn ’ t going to end
well, gentlemen. ” Chu left the surveillance room, leaving the men to wonder
what he meant.

Chapter Three: You ’ re
Not Batman
     
    “ Smoke, can you
explain to me why my field technician is threatening to sue us for
sexual harassment? ”
     
    Baker
didn ’ t sound
pleased, although his voice retained its laid back, harmonious
tone.
     
    Chu glanced over
his shoulder as he walked down Prospect Park West. He
didn ’ t plan on
using any names or saying anything out loud to compromise the
mission, but he checked for eavesdroppers out of habit. “ Your tech is a backwards
homophobe who sees everything as a threat to his
manhood. ”
     
    “ That may be
true, but it doesn ’ t explain why he ’ s so upset. ”
     
    “ He knows how to
get upset? That ’ s
funny. He doesn ’ t
seem too upset watching the nightly video. ”
     
    “ He ’ s focused
on the job, and he ’ s coming at this from a different cultural
perspective-- ”
     
    Chu stopped in
his tracks and threw his back against the low stone wall of the
park. “ Fuck his
perspective. Have you seen the video? ”
     
    “ I ’ ve seen
the highlights and I ’ ve read your reports. I know how bad it is and how hard it is
for you to watch. ”
     
    Chu fought to
control his breathing. “ This isn ’ t
about me, Ghost. What