Moonstrike 17: Sugar Mama

CHAPTER 17

It was dark by the time that she ditched the car at the rental agency, one of those short winter days that always tugged her mood down. The walk back to the hotel was much slower than she'd taken it in the morning.

Ji Min felt tired. Not physically tired, but worn out in a way she couldn't put a finger on.

There was so much to do.

She used the walk to sort out her thoughts and priorities. She absolutely needed to have a call with her siblings tonight, if they wanted to talk to her. Based off of that conversation, she might need to swing back to her hometown and put the fear of god into her parents.

'I'm spiraling already, buying trouble,' she told herself. 'What is actionable tonight?'

Fine. She'd…. She'd read through the information that Issa sent her and pick at least one specialist that she wanted to train under and tell Issa about it.

What else?

'I need to contact the Investigator again. I ended our conversation abruptly.'

Whoops.

That would probably be enough for the night. Tomorrow she absolutely had to find Barry in the convention center and get the money for his job. Sabotaging the car and typing up fake communications from the insurance company would take at least a couple hours– she should get that all done first thing in the morning, she decided.

Other than that, she needed to spend maybe two hours in the gym. She had to do her regular agility workout, but she also needed to spend time working on her weapons technique.

'I should review my parkour, too.'

She felt better after she'd picked her priorities. She got back to the hotel and changed out of her business clothes into something that made her feel good about herself. Then she sent a message to her sibling group chat asking if they wanted to call.

It took a while for someone to answer. She'd read through Issa's dossiers and was considering the merits of taking laser accuracy tutoring vs learning about the engines used for space flight when Ari got back to her.

Yes, we wanna call. Twenty minutes?

Ji Min sent back her agreement, set a timer, and decided that she wanted to contact both of those trainers. She messaged Issa with that information and then reviewed her agreement with Barry to confirm the payment amount and what exactly he wanted from her.

"I might need that sooner than I thought," Ji Min said dryly. She had been thinking it would go the way most of her money did- a split between her overseas savings and between college funds for Ari and Min Joon. But if he was going to stay with them, they'd need a bigger place.

Issa got back to her with a cheerful emoji and the information that both of the trainers were available in Rat City for the next month. Ji Min groaned, but she messaged back an enthusiastic thank you and a promise to be in town next Monday for three straight weeks for as much training as Issa could schedule for her. She could go spend Saturday and Sunday with the kids and then come back. It was close enough that if she had her car, she could actually go home overnight if she wanted. The commute would be terrible but she might choose that over a hotel for the duration.

"If I'm in town, It'll be a good chance to do that surveillance," she told herself, trying to be positive. She really needed the training. She had a very basic heroic skill set. Bare minimum, really.

'I might be able to work with someone else in the same time frame,' Ji Min realized. 'Depending on when I get to see these trainers. Or I could look into some online resources?'

There were lots of hero adjacent skill sets that were not suspicious for a civilian to study. She could look back at her papers from basic training for a list of recommendations.

Off of the top of her head, Morse code, cryptography, and sign language were all innocuous but useful. It wouldn't hurt any to pick up another language in general, really. She had excellent Korean and decent Spanish, on top of being a fluent English speaker.

The timer went off, telling her to call. Ji Min settled on the hotel chair with crossed legs, angled her laptop to a less heinous perspective of her face, and started a video call.

Min Joon, Ari, and Issa all answered on the same screen.

Ji Min waved, pleasantly surprised that Issa was still there. "I love the hats," she said.

"They're friendship crowns," Issa said at the time time Min Joon said, "Thanks!"

Ari touched her glitter paper crown absently. Then she leaned in towards the camera. "Where are you?" She asked, peering at the background. "That's not one of your usual hotels."

"My sugar mama paid for this one," Ji Min said airily. She waved a hand in a circle. "It's more expensive than I usually pick."

'That cat burglar wants to impress me.'

Ari snorted. "I think I'd know if you had a sugar mama."

Issa laughed. "Keep it classy," she said. "Darling dolly, we've been having fun here! How was your day?"

"Oh, good," Ji Min lied. "I had to do some work this morning, though."

"Work?" Min Joon's forehead crinkled. He looked a little guilty. "Isn't it your time off?"

"Emergency call from a priority client," Ji Min explained, not hiding her disgust. "The kind of person that we need to keep happy at all costs, so the closest person with any availability gets tapped on the shoulder."

"Sounds like the life," Ari groused. "I wanna be an MVP."

Issa looked at her sideways. "You wish to be able to summon insurance agents to your house at your whim?"

Ouch.

"Yes," Ari said, and did not elaborate.

The conversation went on like that. Ji Min asked a couple probing questions about their day and what had happened. Min Joon dodged specifics and Ari's smile looked stuff whenever Ji Min tried. So she dropped it.

'Maybe Min Joon just isn't ready to talk about it. Maybe he isn't comfortable talking in front of Issa,' Ji Min mused. 'Or maybe… he might not want me to get mad at mom and dad.'

That would be like him. He was a peacekeeper.

She wasn't happy with it. But Ji Min respected her siblings' lead and kept the conversation light. She did manage to get Min Joon to agree to stay at their apartment for a while. "You can have my room for now," Ji Min offered. "I'll be back tomorrow night but I have a lot of obligations starting next Monday."

"Yes, Issa told us," Ari said.

"Thanks!" Min Joon flashed a slightly weak smile. "I appreciate that. At least tonight I'll sleep there."

They ended the call not long after that. Ji Min felt better as she got ready to go out for dinner.

The next morning, Ji Min started out feeling fresh and determined. She dressed for shadow work, in dark and inconspicuous clothes that she could move easily in. She put a few basic tools in a bag. She got her first 1000 calories in at the hotel buffet and then prowled to the conference center on a personal mission.

She hadn't gone to the vendor section since the first day with Alex. Ji Min kept an eye out for pickpockets and anyone suspicious as she wound her way through the long hall.

A braying laugh cut the air. Ji Min felt a spike of adrenaline. She darted out of the walking path and into the narrow space between two canvas tents for vendors.

She didn't consciously know the voice that had sent off such danger in her mind. But Ji Min kept to the shadows and watched.

Gene Colmer and Hammer ambled by. They were mid conversation. Gene had his thumbs hooked into the pockets of his right jeans while Hammer was gesturing broadly.

Ji Min bit her lip to contain any sound that she might want to make. Her whole body was wound tight with tension.

'There's Harmes,' she noted internally. The event planner must be heading to get a drink from the coffee shop at the top of the stairs. Barry's coworker passed Gene and Hammer without any sign of noticing two celebrities.

Gene noticed Harmes. His head turned to watch Harmes pass. Then Hammer said something and Gene turned his attention forward again.

Intellectually, she still liked Gene. But on a very real hindbrain level, he scared the shit out of her.

'I hate that Hammer saved my life.'

The two passed without even glancing at her. That's about what she'd expect. They didn't even seem to notice how much attention they were drawing in the crowd.

She waited for a solid minute after the sound of Gene's voice faded to come back out.

She immediately made eye contact with Barry, about 200 feet further down the hall.

Ji Min sidled out into the flow of pedestrian traffic. The wave deposited her at Barry's table.

He gave her the slightest smile, that enigmatic expression he had. "Echo," Barry said.

Ji Min suppressed a frown. She didn't often use that alias anymore.

"Mr. Grivus," she greeted, pointedly avoiding using his first name.

He was unbothered, so maybe he missed the subtext. "Did you get my message?"

'Of course I did. I responded to the first one, didn't I?'

She hated redundant conversations. "Yes. What did you need?"

Barry made a subtle glance in both directions, as if he was worried they might be overheard. She took a half step closer.

He reached into the secret pocket of his blazer and pulled out a thick envelope.

"Instructions and cash. Non-consecutive bills." Ji Min reached out to stash it away, but he whipped back the envelope. He leaned down. He lowered his voice.

"Just make sure it gets done."

'Controlling. Working with him would drive me up the wall.'

"I can do any job related to my skill set," she retorted. Barry smiled faintly and handed over the envelope.

Christ. Ji Min stalked out of the conference center. Whatever he'd paid her wasn't enough for this bullshit. She left the center for the last time this year and thought good riddance. She didn't stop until she was near Harmes' apartment.

She opened the envelope. She left the money in it for now and extracted the letter.

Ji Min glanced at the top, noting subtle embossed detail. She didn't recognize the sprawling shape. Hmm. She focused on Barry's clear, blunt handwriting.

The instructions didn't really different from what she'd understood over the phone. He was right to be clear, though. She did appreciate how thorough he was. Ji Min tucked the letter away to be destroyed later.

Harmes' car was haunting the parking lot behind the building. Ji Min recognized it from a distance.

She popped open the hood and got to work. There were a few easy ways to make this happen. Ji Min picked the alternator for sabotage. She found it, examined it– and let out a sigh of disgust. "Look at the bearings on this," she scowled.

They glistened at her from under a thick coat of ancient motor oil.

"This car is already about to die." Ji Min resisted the urge to hit something. Her professional pride was wounded. It was one thing to betray her oath to do no car harm. But for the piece she planned to sabotage to already be busted? The indignity was too much to bear.

"I could fix that, and then destroy the battery instead…." Ji Min looked at the engine, forlorn. No, that was silly. It would be a waste of effort.

Disappointed, she closed up the car. She wiped her hands and then typed up a message to Barry saying that the job was done. Because it was. She hadn't had to do anything, but the car was not going to drive for much longer.

'At least there's the forgery to do,' Ji Min consoled herself. 'I'm going to write the most biting condemnation of Harmes' car maintenance plausible from an insurance company.'