So Night Follows Day Pt. 02

Rob and Eric, their neighbors across the street, had a yard full of people. Smoke bellowed from a large barbecue and classic rock blasted from tall speakers. A professionally-made banner hung up over the living room windows and read "Green Family Reunion." A badminton net was being raised, and Frisbees were being tossed around. Troy and Susan looked over at the men and women partying, all well-built, attractive people in their late 20s and early 30s.

Troy and Julie Equals and Susan Bailey had known for some time that Rob & Eric Green, their neighbors, were soldiers of La Squadra de Ultimados, San Finzione's elite Special Forces unit, which also served as the personal guard of La Contessa Helena de San Finzione. After an experience that she'd had with a warlord abducting Lady Maria in Africa, Helena had secretly bought the house across from them and moved in a pair of Ultimados; Roberto and Enrique. They posed as a gay couple who ran an unspecified web business out of their home; thus, justifying big deliveries and someone always being at home and awake at odd hours.

Their true purpose had been to provide protective surveillance for Troy, Julie, and Susan; in case someone tried to come at La Contessa through her loved ones again. The fact that Emerald Green was the royal color of San Finzione and other unsubtle clues led to the three of them figuring out who they were very quickly.

The three of them had met some of the other Ultimados recently, when Helen had been injured and they went to San Finzione to be by her side. Some of the faces in the crowd were familiar to them. Troy recognized Dr. Tenente Paul Maisson; one of the Ultimados who'd shot the assassin that injured Helen, aided her medical team, and was now also La Contessa's personal physician; flipping burgers behind the grill, wearing a "Kiss The Cook" apron.

"No," Troy said, pulling into their driveway, and pressing the button to open his spot in their four-car garage before moving in. "This quite clearly has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Helen. I like the government, too."

He turned off the car and they got out. As the garage door was closing, someone from across the street ran over to their front door and rang the bell. He and Susan heard the voice of Julie Equals coming from within the house, shouting for whomever it was to just fucking come in, dammit.

As they entered the house, Julie could be heard giving someone bored directions to the bathroom and telling him to just leave the front door open. She ran up to her husband and gave him a welcome home hug with accompanying kiss.

"Hey, Boy." Julie greeted Troy.

"Hey, Girl." He replied. The special greeting was one of many little love and

friendship rituals they'd developed over the course of their life together. Julie turned to Susan.

"Hey, Girl." She greeted Susan. As with Helen, the two of them loved Susan enough to extend it to her, as well.

"Hey, Other Girl." Susan answered.

Julie talked, guiding them toward the living room.

"They started showing up about half an hour after you left." Julie told them, as Troy reached out and gently rubbed away a spot of paint that had gotten on her forehead. She handed Troy's phone back to him. "Found this when I tried to call you. How was lunch, anyway?"

"Great," Troy said. "She's got the new high score."

Julie looked at Susan, puzzled.

"You ate, figured out how to rob a bank, AND had time to suck him off during your lunch? Man, Claire really IS the best boss, isn't she?" Almost on cue, Claire's vehicle slowly made its way down their street.

As they looked, another Frisbee landed in their yard, and a woman with bright blonde hair the same shade as Julie's after the dark brown inches on her head that somehow, at her age, faded naturally to that shade, wearing a bikini top, short skirt, and a floppy, white sun hat; ran after it, and looked over the top of the large red sunglasses she wore at everyone in the Equals house that was staring out the window. She then smiled and waved, tossing the Frisbee back to the neighbors' yard, before quickly running to re-join the party.

Claire pulled into the Equals' driveway. As she got out of her car, holding

Susan's purse that she'd left at the office; a blond man ran toward the Equals' front porch. The TV had been on for background noise while Julie had been painting. Susan looked over and saw the afternoon news, where Contessa Helena de San Finzione walked down a red carpet, saying something to a reporter without breaking stride.

"Try asking nicely next time?'" Susan thought aloud. "That's not very..."

Her thought was interrupted by the doorbell.

"And there's that again." Julie said, walking toward the door with Troy

following. "Guess they've only got two bathrooms over there, and I counted about forty..."

Julie opened the door. At this range, the horrible attempt at a surfer dude

toupee on his bald head was obvious.

"Pardon me, DUDE," The man said, putting emphasis on the 'dude.' "But, like, WE'RE staying at your NEIGHbors' place a couple days, and I was all, LIKE..."

"Lose the rug and the accent, Capitan Ortega." Julie told him. "You're causing an international incident with both. Bathroom's the first door on the left. If not, there are two off the master bedroom, but only if there's someone in there. And use the one on the right side; Mr. Equals' bathroom. You'll know if you're in the wrong one."

Claire walked onto their porch, unable to take her eyes off the scene across the street. Julie turned to greet her with a smile and gave her a welcoming kiss.

"Aren't those the guys who..." Claire started to ask her.

"Yeah." Julie told her, gently pulling her toward the inside of the house.

"But aren't they..."

"Uh-huh."

"So, shouldn't they..."

"That's right."

"But they're not..."

Julie lost patience. Not with Claire, but how the day was turning out.

"Yes, Claire, it's REALLY fucking suspicious, now get inside!"

Once they were back inside with the door closed and Ortega in the bathroom, Julie allowed her friend to speak sentences again.

"I thought those guys were Helen's Green Beret bodyguards or something."

"Green with black stripes." Julie said, leading her into the living room with the others. "And yeah. Ultimados are great at the 'unstoppable killing machine' part of their job, but they suck at undercover."

"I thought she was going to busy at the summit." Claire responded.

"Yeah, she was just on the news there. We're going to try to squeeze in going to dinner a couple times while she's in town, but it seems like she'd be too busy to hope for more time with her than that."

"So, what are they doing here?" Troy asked, joining the conversation. "Backup security after last month?"

"I'm not sure yet." Julie said as the toilet flushed. "So far, my interactions with them have been having my painting interrupted until I lost focus and telling them where the bathroom is."

The doorbell rang again and Julie Equals stomped toward it.

A tall woman with short, blonde hair and wearing a bikini was at the door.

"Don't bother faking an accent, Tenente Marisol Velasquez. I'd think Helen would have given you guys some kind of accent training besides old Baywatch episodes. And the whole world saw you shoot that fucker and kick that other fucker in the balls on TV. A new 'do is not fooling anyone. Door on the left; If Ortega's not done, there are two bathrooms in the master bedroom, go ahead and use the left one." As she walked past, Julie shouted after her. "And congratulations on the medal!"

Ortega emerged from the hall bathroom. Julie turned to him.

"Capitan, would you please just tell everyone else where the bathroom is and to come in? I'm about to just put up a sign and leave the door open, but I haven't had time for it since you guys showed up. And hey, aren't all of you commandos? Aren't you trained to hold it in for days?"

"We apologize for the intrusion, Señorita Equals. We are attempting to keep a low profile while La Contessa is in Seattle."

"I got that. It's not working." Julie said as the doorbell rang again. She

stomped toward it, raising her voice. "What possible need could there be for so many of you here, though?"

Susan came out of the living room and into the hall where all the conversation seemed to be happening."

"Guys," she said. "I don't think..."

Julie opened the door. The blonde woman who'd waved from the yard earlier was there, a black Prada Arcade purse over her shoulder, and an emerald pendant on a chain around her neck. She removed her sun hat, revealing that her hair under the hat had the same color combination as Julie's. She took off her sunglasses and smiled at Julie.

"Hey, Girl." Contessa Helena de San Finzione said to her oldest friend in the world. "Can I use your bathroom?"