text: Phil wanted to put one of his team in the car with Johnny on their way to Miami International but of course, the bounty hunter refused. "There ain't enough room in the truck anyhow."
  
  "Well, what about that Jeep?"
  
  He glanced at Sheila parked in her usual place at the edge of the large gravel lot in front of his house and chuckled. "You've lost your damn mind."
  
  The director persisted in his mission to fully capture Dwarf the Bounty Hunter on their drive to the airport. Every time Johnny glanced in the rearview mirror, one of the white vans was gaining on him from behind. Whoever sat up front in the vehicle with Phil held a smartphone up to the window, filming, and the dwarf stepped on the gas again. "Determined bastard, ain't he?"
  
  Lisa lurched forward when the white truck increased speed down the freeway. "He's only doing his job."
  
  "Well, I ain't payin' him."
  
  The one time the crew's other driver tried to pull into the right lane on the highway to get a good shot of him driving the truck was the only time. Lisa grabbed the oh-shit handle above the passenger door when he made quick work of blocking the van's attempts to drive next to his truck. He cackled the whole time. The hounds bobbed and swayed in the back seat of the cab, panted, and cheered their master on.
  
  By the time they reached Miami International, the dwarf felt damn good about things. They unloaded their luggage—and the hounds—as the film crew set up their gear to start the camera rolling again. Checking in with their tickets was a cinch, mostly because Lisa handled all of it, but they were intercepted by airport security.
  
  "Agent Breyer? Mr. Walker?" The huge man in uniform glanced at the hounds. "Come with me, please."
  
  Johnny leaned toward Lisa and muttered, "What did you do?"
  
  She darted him an insulted glance. "Don't assume it was me."
  
  Grumbling, he followed the security guard with Rex and Luther on his heels.
  
  Lisa waved for the crew to follow and waited for Phil to catch up. "I want to reiterate this yet again. Nothing that reveals my real identity gets broadcast anywhere. Not my name and not my face. At least, not looking the way it is right now."
  
  "Only the redhead. Got it." He winked at her. "We'll save the live streams for the 'paint the town' shots."
  
  "The what?"
  
  "We have it covered, Agent Breyer. Don't you worry."
  
  She glanced at the crew. Cody led the way with slow, careful steps to keep his hand camera steady as he closed in on Johnny from behind. "Okay…"
  
  They were taken through a private security screening and led not to the main terminal gates for a commercial airline flight but out to the tarmac reserved specifically for private aircraft. A warm, muggy breeze blew across the expanse of black asphalt that shimmered in the August heat. It ruffled Johnny's hair and beard and made his hounds' fur stand on end.
  
  Lisa adopted her green-eyed, redheaded Stephanie illusion as they approached the Gulfstream 450 waiting for them and nodded at Phil.
  
  "All right, people," the man called and clapped before he pointed skyward. "We're takin' it to the skies."
  
  The security guard nodded and returned to the building and a flight attendant stepped down the wheeled staircase pushed up against the jet and waved. "Are y'all ready to get this bird up in the air?"
  
  The woman was tall, blonde, thin, and with bright-red lipstick that stood out harshly against her pale skin and the white exterior of the aircraft. Phil giggled nervously and stared at her and his mouth hung open slightly.
  
  The bounty hunter snorted. "Oh, look. Dimples."
  
  Lisa frowned mockingly. "That's what does it for you, huh?"
  
  "I don't mind one way or the other, darlin'." He gestured toward Phil with his thumb. "But Mr. Nosy-Ass Director over there might have a thing or two to say about ʼem if he could talk."
  
  Rex looked at the man and sniggered. "Shut your mouth, two-leg. You're gonna slobber all over her."
  
  "Yeah," Luther added and spun in a tight circle as he sniffed the tarmac, his tail pointing straight up. "That's our job."
  
  "The captain's almost ready," the flight attendant crooned, "so you're welcome to board anytime you like."
  
  "We, uh…I mean, we'll… That's…" Phil's mouth opened and closed.
  
  "Thank you," Lisa said for him.
  
  "Uh-huh." The woman smiled briefly at Agent Breyer, then scrutinized Johnny with almost avid curiosity before she turned to walk up the stairs. "We're happy to have you aboard."
  
  "Oh, boy…" Nudging Johnny's arm with the back of a hand, the agent nodded at the jet. "This is gonna be a fun one, huh?"
  
  "Well…maybe." He rubbed his mouth and frowned at the small aircraft. "What the hell is Nelson up to?"
  
  "He booked us a private flight. Why are you complaining?"
  
  "Naw. See, that's where all this smells too fishy." He wagged a finger at her and narrowed his eyes at the jet. "For about ten years straight I worked with that stuck-up Yankee and he ain't never sprung for a private flight, even when he flew with me. Are you sure there ain't something special about this case you're still keepin' on the down-low?"
  
  She raised an eyebrow. "Johnny, I just told you there's a super-fan Dwarf the Bounty Hunter site on the dark web and convinced you to start filming another season so we can deal with two magical criminals with one case. Why would I keep anything else from you?"
  
  "Good point. All right, boys. I guess it's time to—what the fuck?" He turned to Cody who held the camera in his face while Dave, the boom dude, dangled the stupid microphone over his head. "Back the hell up, son. What do you think you're doin'?"
  
  Cody stepped away but kept his camera rolling slowly and steadily.
  
  "Put that away, man."
  
  "Come on, Johnny," Phil said, fully recovered now that the flight attendant had disappeared into the jet. "This is a very good time to get a few more shots in. Right before you take off from your home in Florida, you know?"
  
  He wrinkled his nose. "Why the hell does that matter?"
  
  "Okay, look. As far as our viewers—your viewers—are concerned, you haven't left the state since you moved out here fifteen years ago. No one knows you've taken other cases with…clients." He nodded at Lisa like they were the only ones in on her alias secret. "So for them, this is like a new chapter for Johnny Walker, right? A rebirth, if you will—"
  
  "Jesus, what kinda hole did Nelson dig you out of?"
  
  "What was that?"
  
  "Look, I ain't panderin' to a horde of crazies I don't know simply to make ʼem feel some kinda resolution fifteen years after the fact. And I sure as shit don't give a damn about network ratings. So you can move along with this whole 'create a story' nonsense and let me do my job."
  
  Insulted, the director stepped away and glowered furiously. "Well, for this to work, Mr. Walker, you need to let me do my job."
  
  The dwarf growled and thrust a finger in the man's face. "Don't tell me what I need to do."
  
  "Don't you dare threaten me." Phil puffed his chest up. "I'm the director!"
  
  "You're a nut."
  
  The hounds tittered. "Good one."
  
  "Yeah, bet he's as salty as one too."
  
  "As salty as the other two-legs you hate but keep letting into the house, Johnny."
  
  The dwarf spun away and almost stepped onto Dave's foot. "Goddammit. And get that"—he slapped at Cody and the camera narrowing in on him—"fuckin' camera outta my face."
  
  Phil snapped and turned around to wave at another crew member with a second camera. "Get over here."
  
  "Nuh-uh." Johnny pointed at the second cameraman. "I ain't doin' it like this. You stay right where you are."
  
  Lisa stepped toward him. "Johnny, this is all part of the plan, okay?"
  
  "Nope. It's not okay at all. Nelson thought he could recreate some goddamn nostalgia and instead, he gives me this."
  
  "A private jet?"
  
  "A film crew with extra balls and no brains—I said back up!"
  
  Cody jolted at the dwarf's sudden outburst in his direction, then sighed heavily and lowered the camera. "Well, that shot's ruined. Thanks."
  
  Johnny folded his arms. "I want Travis."
  
  Lisa shook her head. "Who?"
  
  "Howie Travis. The guy who handled the filming for me the last time I did a real show."
  
  Phil scoffed. "This is real—"
  
  "I ain't talkin' to you. Zip it."
  
  The flight attendant poked her head out of the open jet door and grinned at them. "Y'all can come on up now. The captain says we're clear to go."
  
  Lisa gestured toward the jet. "Everything's ready. Let's go. It's only a few days."
  
  He stared at her with a deadpan expression. "Darlin', I ain't gettin' on this flight unless Howie Travis gets on it with me."
  
  She glanced at the waiting crew and frowned. "You want the director of your bounty hunter show from fifteen years ago?"
  
  "That's what I said. Travis knows what the hell he's doin' and he learned way more of it over seven years with me than what these bozos are tryin' to pretend they know."
  
  "Wow. Okay. Fine." She pulled her phone out. "I'll make the call. Can someone tell the captain or flight attendant or whoever that we're…uh, running a little behind?"
  
  The woman with the bandana—Alicia—rolled her eyes and trudged toward the rolling staircase. Lisa stepped away from the group and the idling private jet to call Agent Nelson so they could play Find The Director.
  
  Johnny glanced at his hounds. Rex sat perfectly still beside his master, and Luther had sprawled on the tarmac to soak in the heat from above and below.
  
  Phil cleared his throat. "You can't fire me from this project, Mr. Walker. You're not the one who hired me."
  
  "I ain't fixin' to fire you. Stay on or go home. It makes no difference to me." He regarded the man disdainfully, then turned his head slowly toward the plane. "But if you don't hand the reins over to Travis when he gets here, I'll send you packin' myself."
  
  "You can't force me to get on a plane."
  
  "Honestly, it's fairly easy if you're in a body bag."