Beyond The Banks (Patreon)

Laylana, in this PicStory (8 pictures) set out from The Outer Banks in North Carolina on her way to D.C. to take the next step in unraveling the mess her life had become.

After talking to Mason on the phone, Laylana started preparing to get to D.C. to find the woman, Eva, hoping to get some idea of what was going on. Mason getting burned by the agency was a shock. It proved only more clearly that something dark and deep was going on, and it had tendrils even into the CIA itself.

"Beyond The Banks" is a part of the Secrets Of The World storyline.

Laylana checked out of her room. She told the reservation desk that everything had been wonderful, but something had come up and she had to leave. She forfeited her deposit and a night’s rent, but she expected that.

She rented a car and headed for the independent gun dealer who was holding the 9mm FPC for her. When she found the place, a small rural homestead a few miles outside the town limits, the dealer directed her to a garage detached from his farm house.

When she went in, she immediately thought he must be arming the local militia. Or stocking up for some very big gun show.

The transaction was easy and simple. She gave him the cash. He gave her the gun and magazines. He had a couple boxes of 9mm ammo, too, so she bought that as well.

Laylana folded the small rifle as it was designed, then put it into her go-bag. It was a tight fit, but it went in. She figured she’d need to get one a little bigger, but for the time being, it was okay.

“Don’t be reckless,” the man said. “And if you are, don’t tell anyone where you got the gun.”

Laylana smiled. “It’s only for defense, I promise. I hope I never need it.”

“Don’t we all…” He shook her hand and watched her until she turned the rental car out of his driveway onto the road.

Laylana got the car up to speed, then set the cruise control. She thought the last thing she wanted to deal with was a traffic stop.

She had a lot of miles to cover, so she tried to focus on driving. However, her thoughts had other plans.

As the miles rolled by under the car, thoughts rolled through her mind. She was exhausted from thinking about all the whys and whats related to her and all that had happened since Indonesia. Though those thoughts lingered, her mind was more occupied with thoughts about Mason.

His reaction to her telling him she was sitting on the floor naked had surprised her. She found herself continually processing his reaction, wondering, guessing what it might mean.

She thought, perhaps, too many years looking for clues and watching out for dangers had twisted her thinking such that everything had to be examined from every angle. She couldn’t dismiss the possibility that it had no meaning beyond the moment. But she wasn’t sure that a deeper meaning existed behind his candid admission of his reaction to the idea of her nude.

There was another comment that, at the time, she made little of, but which kept creeping into her thoughts. He had reminded her that she didn’t work for him anymore. It had come at the end of their phone call.

He had said after a long pause and a laugh, “Hey… you know, you don’t work for me anymore, right?”

Clue hunting… Laylana felt like she was surely reading more into it than was warranted.

But, there had been a time early in their work relationship that she thought he might have ideas or even feelings. Whatever he was doing to give her that idea, though, had abruptly ended. Of course, as her boss—as her case handler—it would have been against policy for them to be socially involved.

Was his comment a way of opening the door to… Laylana checked her thoughts.

Am I projecting how I feel? And how do I feel anyway…

At that point, Laylana’s thoughts spiraled back around to the beginning and she reprised all her ideas and questions. 

Despite the intrusive thoughts, she made good time and reached a little town about halfway to D.C. where she had planned to stop. She found a fast food restaurant and got something to eat.

She parked the car and slung her go-bag over her shoulder, then went in and ordered. She was only a little hungry, but she figured once she got into her motel room, she’d be safer and it would be simpler if she just stayed in.

As she sat down with her meal, she planned the next few hours. Looking across the road, there was a large chain grocery store. I’ll get a new burner phone there…

Behind the grocery and further off the road was a big discount department store. She could look there for a bigger go-bag, one that would make carrying her new gun easier, and she could pick up some shampoo and other bathroom supplies that she was running low on.

Living out of hotels and being always on the move was hard in a lot of ways. And lonely most of the time. It didn’t bother her, being by herself, when she was on a mission. It was between them that she was even aware of it.

After eating she picked up a new prepaid-phone from the grocery and activated it. She decided she’d wait until she was in her room before contacting Mason.

While she could have picked up her bathroom supplies, she didn’t. She did that at the department store where she did, indeed, find a suitable, larger backpack to use as a new go-bag. It seemed durable enough to last months—long enough to get her to… whatever came next.

Shopping complete, she went to the motel to check in.

It was an independently operated unit, and it was a little tricky to get them to take her prepaid debit card.

“You know we have to actually take off the deposit balance, and it might be a few days before it goes back, right?”

Layalana said that would be fine. The clerk checked and double-checked Laylana’s alias driver’s license, but eventually, handed over the access card to the room.

Laylana took it, thanked her and went to her room.

She opened the door, carried in her luggage and shopping, then found a place for everything suitable for spending a single night. Once done, she sat down on the bed.

She sent Mason a text, then put her phone down. She turned on the TV and settled in to watch… anything.

As she sat there, she was surprised to find herself wishing Mason would call. Or text. I guess I’m just worried about him….

She pretended to watch TV for about half an hour, then she picked up the phone and called Mason. He answered right away.

“Lay?”

“Yeah, of course… who else has this number?”

Mason laughed. “Okay, good point. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine… I…” Suddenly Laylana didn’t know what to say, how to explain why she called. “I… wanted to make sure I got the numbers right.”

Mason answered immediately. “I was thinking I should call or text you. I was… wondering what you’re doing.”

“I’m in a motel in North Carolina. I… found an independent gun dealer. I’m on my way to D.C.”

Mason let the silence linger a few seconds. “What did you buy?”

Laylana explained about the S&W FPC and the ammo she picked up. “All I have with me is my Shield. I dare not go to my storage in Mclean, and my off-ledger storage… Well, …haven’t made it there, yet.”

“Don’t go to Mclean, Lay… It will be watched. I feel sure about that.… We can talk more soon. I’m…”

Laylana waited but Mason didn’t go on. She guessed he was trying to figure out how to word something. “Just say it… what’s up?”

“Based on the message,” Mason replied, “for you to go to D.C. and find Ava, then contact me… Well, I’m going to be in D.C. late tonight. I’ll get a rental car and a motel outside the city… There’s a Courtland Suites in Waldorf… I… wanted to see if I should get adjoining rooms and we could meet there…”

Laylana immediately thought it was a good idea. “Yes. Do that… But…”

“But what?”

“Mason, I’m burning down the balances on all my prepaid debit cards pretty fast. I’ve not touched Laylana’s assets, so I’m pretty low.”

“I’ll cover it… don’t worry.” Mason replied.

“You can’t do that… You’ll run out of money, too,” Laylana replied.

“It will be okay…”

An impulse had her saying words before she had time to stop her tongue. “What if we just…”

She caught herself before suggesting they share a room. While it would be practical, she didn’t want to imply… anything.

“Just what?” Mason waited for a reply.

“I was going to say…” Laylana’s mind was racing, and she created an alternate suggestion. “…just stayed in the hotel one night, then maybe find a campground and… you know… camp out.”

Mason laughed a little. “I’ll think about that. If things drag on before we meet Eva… we could…”

The way he trailed off told Laylana that “could” was not the last word he planned to say. He had cut himself off.

“We could what?”

“Um… like you said… camp out or something.”

Laylana smiled. She was pretty sure he had come up with an alternate suggestion to whatever he was thinking, too.

“Okay,” she replied, “I’ll see you at the Courtland Suites in Waldorf. I’ll be there tomorrow.”

Mason then said, “Okay… great… Look, Lay… stay safe, okay. I’m looking forward to seeing you.”

“Same,” Laylana replied. “See you tomorrow.”

Laylana put away her phone, undressed, put her Shield on the nightstand, and went to bed. She slept well, and awoke early.

After a quick drive-through breakfast, she headed out. She made it to Waldorf, Maryland early in the afternoon. She looked up the Courtland Suites on her map app, and went directly there.

She texted Mason: “I’m in the parking lot.”

Mason replied within a few seconds: “Meet me in the lobby.”

Laylana moved the car to a more convenient space and went inside. Mason waved her over to a sofa and they sat down.

“Wow…” Mason smiled as he looked at Laylana. “You look really good. How long since we actually saw each other?”

Laylana couldn’t remember. “It was over a year, I think. There’s been a lot of…”

She started to say “lonely nights” but she didn’t know why. She never thought that way, as a rule.

She finished her sentence with an alternate ending. “…fast food and carry-out since the last time I saw you.”

“A lot of missions, too,” Mason replied. “You’re a good agent. You really are.”

Laylana shrugged and looked down. “I do my best. I guess. You made it easy.”

Mason laughed. “I got you some numbers and some tickets. You did the work.”

Neither of them spoke further. The mention of the past begged to talk about present or future, neither of which Laylana could understand or predict. Mason’s ousting from his position only added confusion in some ways, while assuring that whatever was going on was connected to someone inside the CIA with some degree of influence or authority.

Laylana didn’t want to taint the moment with her worries, theories, or concerns, nor did she want to press Mason into discussing his thoughts about his situation. She really didn’t know what to say.

Mason shifted to the then and there and said, “We should get you checked in. Come on… I hope you still have your Chandice Wellford credentials.”

Laylana nodded. “Let me find her.”

Laylana went to her rental car and brought in her suitcase, then sat back down with Mason. She opened the suitcase and began the process of accessing the hidden space where she kept her alias credentials.

As she was doing this, Mason remarked, “So, that’s the clothes you were washing when we talked?”

Laylana felt her face flush with embarrassment; she had told him she was naked sitting on the floor doing laundry when he had called earlier.

She replied as calmly as she could. “These are some of them. I have an agency-issued duffel bag too. Still in the trunk.”

She found what she was looking for, but her mind was stuck on Mason’s remark. Clearly he was still thinking about what she told him. Laylan wondered how to interpret that.

“Here she is. Or rather, here I am… Chandice… US citizen from Billings, North Dekota… ”

Mason stood up as Laylana put her suitcase back together. When she was done in a gentlemanly fashion and in a totally unnecessary gesture, he offered her his hand to assist her to her feet. She took it and stood up, thinking it was a nice gesture that she utterly did not need, but that… but that she… appreciated at least. 

As soon as she was on her feet, he let go of her hand. He led her to the front desk and waited for the clerk. “Chandice is here, now. We can finish checking her in.”

The clerk asked to see Laylana’s ID and they went through the process of checking in. Then Mason showed her to her room. 

“Let me have your keys and I’ll get your duffel,” he said.

Laylana handed him the keys to the rental car. “In the trunk. And… thanks…”

She watched as Mason hurried from her room, then she situated her suitcase and opened it. Immediately her thoughts flashed back to what Mason had said when she was getting Chandice’s credentials. She closed her suitcase and smiled. He’s still thinking about laundry day…

She wasn’t sure why that made her smile. But, she wasn’t sure of very many things of late, so one more confusion atop the others didn’t bother her.

A knock on the door triggered Laylana’s precautionary reflexes. She tapped the waistband of her jeans where her MS 2.0 Shield was concealed and approached the door. Checking the peephole, she saw Mason holding her duffel and he seemed at ease and unconcerned. She relaxed and opened the door.

Mason was smiling. “Hey… you got a swimsuit on one of these bags?”

Laylana raced her mind through what she had with her and remembered having packed one for when she was swimming laps, which she hadn’t done in months—not before her mission to South America.

“Yeah, I do,” her mouth said, but her mind was still racing through her recent past.

Her duties as a field agent had been steady. Mission had followed mission and the months had ticked off with them. She couldn’t even calculate how long it had been since she had been to her home; her off-leder storage unit in Atlanta. A wave of awareness washed over her suddenly. She had become a loner. Isolated from people by her need for secrecy and the pace at which she had worked.

Mason was responding to what she had said. “How about we go hang out at the pool. No CIA conversations out in public. We just… hang out for a few hours? Does that sound good?”

Laylana thought it sounded amazing. “Sure, that would be great. Really great.”

Mason went to the door to the adjoining room where he was staying. He opened it. Laylana was a little surprised that the second door to his room was already opened, but then she realized that he had planned ahead so as to not have to go back outside to get to his room. 

He stopped before closing the door on his side. “I’ll see you at the pool.”

His eyes met her as the door closed and he was smiling. Laylana realized she was smiling, too.

Is something happening here? She decided to not over analyze. It wasn’t a mission. It wasn’t an objective. It was just a man she had known for a few years who she was going to hang out with.

As she put on her swimsuit, her thoughts reprised his comments about no longer being her boss. She let her memories drift back to her early days working for him and her feeling he wanted to have a relationship that was more than professional, only for him to abruptly change how he acted, dialing back the friendly gestures and sticking to business.

What if, she thought, he has rekindled that interest?

She told herself she needed to calm down. His interest coupled with her loneliness was a dangerous combination. She decided not to jump to any conclusions, nor read into things meaning that wasn’t there.

Her swimsuit on, she grabbed her new go-bag, believing it would pass for a pool tote, grabbed a few towels to complete the picture, made sure she had her room key, then headed to the pool.

She could see Mason already there, already sitting on the side of the pool watching for her. He waved as soon as he saw her, got up and met her at the gate.

“Go-bag?” Mason nodded to the things she carried.

“Yeah… You know…”

Mason looked around. “I know that we don’t know… but we’re not talking business right now. We can set up camp on the far side of the pool, though. Maximize…”

Laylana nodded. “Max out our reaction opportunity… in case something… did happen.”

Mason nodded, then sighed. “Put your bag down and let’s relax.”

And that is what they did. For the next two hours, they alternated between sitting on the side of the pool, slashing around, and basking on the hotel lounger chairs.

“Look at this place,” Mason said at one point. “An innocent little oasis of Americana just sitting here alongside the highway.”

Laylana thought he was totally correct. She looked around, too. The typical stopping place for families on vacation. Get checked in and take the kids to the pool…

“This is what we’ve been protecting, you know… Innocent little places like this that don’t know about the dirt under the rug, and we dare not let them know either.”

Laylana nodded.

Mason went on, “But… we’re not talking business, are we?”

Except for that, they hadn’t. They had talked about  growing up, families… Her mother had died when she was in college. Her dad was in the navy and currently out to sea. His parents were living in a retirement village near Tampa Bay, Florida. They didn’t ask about his work, and he hadn’t told them about getting cut off. 

They talked about high school, college, and everything they could think of besides work, besides the situation that had turned their routines into chaos. Layalan knew they would have to talk about that soon—working it out was their whole reason for going to D.C. But not then.

When they had enough of the pool, they went back to their separate rooms and cleaned up for dinner. They walked across the parking lot to a National House Of Waffles and sat in a booth—one where they could see the entrance and would have easy, direct access to the emergency exit. They didn’t even have to discuss the choice; it was obvious to both of them for the same reasons.

Habits, Laylana thought. Survival training.

Dinner, Laylana decided, was utterly delightful. It had been a very long time since she had been on a date, but if she recalled correctly, this was what it felt like. 

Is this a date? Laylana wasn’t sure. She also wasn’t sure if she wanted it to be a date. But it was nice, whatever it was.

Mason seemed to be enjoying himself, too. Somehow the conversation had managed to get to his high school sports career, but he was not talking about the big game or all the points he scored. He had been a wide-receiver for the football team and had played shortstop for the baseball team. He was talking about funny anecdotes from when the team had gone away to tournaments. He was talking about concession stand antics he and his teammates pulled off.

Laylana was in no way bored, and she reciprocated by talking about her achievements playing high school softball. He was as interested in hearing what she had to say as he was talking about what he had done.

By the time they were done eating, Laylana had decided that if it had been a date, she was glad for it. As they walked back to the hotel, she half-expected that Mason would reach for her hand.

But he didn’t. And Laylana was half-surprised that she felt half-disappointed.

Once they were back to the hotel, it seemed like the day of ignoring their problems came to an end. Mason’s tone even became more determined and focused.

“So, tomorrow, we can head into D.C. to that park and see if we can rendezvous with Eva.”

“Yeah, we can do that.” Laylana felt herself slip into agent mode, too. “How about you keep your distance? You can take my FPC and…”

“Cover you… Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Mason nodded. “And if everything looks good, then you can introduce me to the contact for their team.”

“Team?” Laylana hadn’t thought of the people she was dealing with as a team.

“I just assume…” Mason shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out.”

Laylana nodded as they made their way to the doors; Mason to his, and she to hers. “Okay… well, noon… we should be moving by… say 10:00 a.m.? Let the commuter traffic clear, but still have plenty of time.”

“Sounds good…” Mason unlocked his door then said. “Let me check my room, then I’ll cover you as you check yours.”

Laylana nodded as Mason opened his door fully. She wanted to draw her 9mm Shield from her inside the waistband holster, but decided that was too much. Mason took a quick look inside, then looked in the bathroom, then came back out.

“Okay… your turn… Are we doing an overkill here?”

“Hopefully,” Laylana replied as she opened her door.

She did a quick sweep of the motel room, checked the bathroom, and behind the shower curtain. As she had hoped, it was clear. She went back to the door.

“All good.”

Mason nodded and looked back behind himself across the parking lot, then turned back to Laylana. “Well… I guess I’m out of reasons to keep hanging out with you… So… I guess I’ll say goodnight and see if I can get some sleep.”

Laylana smiled, liking what he had said, and the way he had said it. “It was a fun day. Maybe…”

Mason waited and she finally finished her thought, this time truthfully. “…maybe we can have more days to just hang out, soon.”

Mason smiled widely. “That would be nice. Goodnight, Lay.”

He waited for her to go inside, then she closed the door. Should could hear him closing his door a few seconds later.

She put her gun on the night table, kicked off her shoes, and flopped onto the bed. What is happening to me?

She lay there for a little while replaying the delightful evening she had spent. Then, she got up, did all the before bed things she needed to do, undressed, and got in the bed.

{{{{ FIN }}}}}

• The “AGI” logo used in some images was created by Instagrammer, Luna Fit
  (@luna_fit_gamer)

• Whereas this storyline is fictional and includes NSFW content, some of the agencies or teams mentioned in this story are also fictional, though they might remind readers of real organizations.

• Please remember that Laylana Vals is an AI model, a character in Ailana Geven Imagines stories.

• Please remember that Mason Graham is an AI model, a character in Ailana Geven Imagines stories.