The-Forgetful-Spy-Santiago

by The Forgetful Spy (lit)

  “You hacked the Witness Protection files, Colin. And you got caught. For Christ’s sake what is your problem?”

  “Ken—”

  “No, shut up.” Ken paced before him like a caged animal. “Our agency’s primary directive is to strive for invisibility. Even some of our own people don’t know half the shit we’ve done and you’re blundering around every database available on a fucking personal search.”

  Colin did his best to look contrite, but remained silent. He wasn’t too repentant. He wasn’t sure whether Ken was angrier about him hacking the files or that he’d gotten caught. Probably both were equally offensive.

  “I don’t even want to know how you got so far into the WitSec database.” Colin shifted uncomfortably in his chair like an errant schoolchild before a lecturing principal. “You crossed the line and I want it to stop.”

  “I’m looking for—”

  “Damn it, I know who you’re looking for. A ghost, that’s who. You have a bug up your ass because you think an imaginary woman saved you. Well, that may be, but I’m more inclined to think you got yourself out in a drug induced blackout and have dreamed up an angel savior for God only knows what reason.”

  “She isn’t imaginary. She saved me from Raoul Ortega’s daughter in Colombia and—”

  “Are you listening to yourself? You don’t even know whether she’s a criminal or not.”

  “Let me have a glance through the WitSec files and maybe I can tell you.” Crap, did he just say that out loud. One glance at Ken’s flaring nostrils and open mouth said he had.

  Ken clamped his lips shut and shook his head. He turned and focused his eyes out the window. “I want you gone.”

  “You’re firing me?” Colin’s eyes widened.

  Ken’s furious gaze turned from the window. “I should. Fortunately for you, I’ve invested too much in your training. As of this minute you are on administrative leave. I’m logging it as vacation time instead of the reprimand, which you deserve.”

  “I don’t need a vacation. I’ll just—” Colin stood up to plead.

  “This is not a request. It’s an order. I want you out of my sight today. Go visit your family. Go get laid. I don’t care.

  “When you return, I want this ghost woman out of your system. I don’t want to hear anything except enthusiasm over the details of your next mission. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Crystal.” The additional petulant response that had been dancing on the tip of his tongue dissolved as his boss’s growled command struck a chord in his memory.

  Colin exited Ken’s office as the word ‘family’ swirled in his mind followed by the phrase ‘go get laid’. Family made him think of his cousin, Billy. Thinking of his cousin made Colin remember where he’d seen his girl before. Alabama.

  He immediately booked a flight to Millbrook by way of Montgomery to visit his favorite family member and cousin, Detective Billy Hubbard. Then he’d do his best to achieve Ken’s demand that he get laid.

  * * * *

  “Did you call your agent off or do I need to do something more permanent?” Paul Kelly, director of the ultra secret Protocol Agency, queried his old friend Ken Davenport once he was seated in the chair across from the pristine desk Paul maintained.

  Ken squinted briefly. “I took care of it.”

  “Good.” Paul stood again quickly to usher him out.

  Ken remained seated, not taking the hint to leave, and asked, “You want to explain to me what the big fucking deal is? The only reason you got into Columbia in the first damn place was because my deeply embedded undercover guy provided the crucial information you needed.”

  Paul smoothed his tie against his shirt and sat back down wishing the art of diplomacy didn’t piss him off so much. He hated his dependency on other groups at this critical juncture. Unfortunately, he needed access to Ken and his black ops assets for the time being.

  “While I’m eternally grateful for your help, the Protocol Agency is, shall we say, experimental. I won’t get permanent funding unless I’m able to complete very critical testing. My agents aren’t common knowledge even in the secretive circles where we travel, Ken. I trust you’ll keep this information very close.”

  “Of course.” Ken smiled again and added, “So was your girl the one Colin claims saved his ass?”

  “No comment.” Paul had been furious when he’d read the DataStream transcript from Rachel’s mission profile handler. She’d been so far out of the parameters of her mission it was a wonder she’d been successful at all. If it had been any one of the other agents, he would have removed them from the program without explanation.

  Ken smiled. “Let me guess. She was supposed to ignore him in order to fulfill her Protocol mission.”

  Paul inhaled and exhaled loudly. “No comment.” He longed to say, “Yes, goddammit, she was supposed to ignore him completely.”

  “Fine. I’ll just say this.” Ken pierced him with a sincere expression. “Between us? Thank her for me. Colin is one of my best agents. I’d hate to have lost him in the eleventh hour of a two-month mission to the unexpected prurient sadism of Serena Ortega.”

  Paul shook his head and glanced at the ceiling. Rachel was a good-hearted soul and completely wrong as a participant for the Protocol Agency. She wasn’t in the program because she fit the profile and he resented the position he’d been put into by his immediate supervisor to keep her at all costs.

  Rachel was damned lucky she was so special.

  Ken stood and extended his hand. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

  Paul also stood and took his hand. “Like I said, no fucking comment.”

  * * * *

  “Please be here, darlin’.” Colin closed his eyes and sent up a little prayer. “I don’t know where else to look for you.”

  He climbed out of the mid-sized rental sedan and into the humid Alabama summer evening. He slammed the door, checked his watch for the umpteenth time. Leaning a hip against the front quarter panel of the vehicle, he studied the building before him. The front door area was covered with stacked up cement circles. Artistic expression, he supposed.

  This particular public library in Montgomery was almost thirty miles from his cousin’s police station in Millbrook. But after a careful search of the local unpublished phone records, this was the cross referenced address assigned. His elusive mystery girl had listed it as a home phone number on the cryptic notes from his cousin’s interview over two months before.

  Colin felt in his bones that he was on the right track because the phone number ‘Laurie Peterson’ had left as the only clue to her existence wasn’t public information.

  He took a deep lung full of humid hot air, exhaled and headed inside to the cool air-conditioned quietness of the library.

  There was no one at the front desk. He blew out another deep breath and stifled his disappointment that his dream girl wasn’t parked by the phone pining for him to call. He searched the front lobby for a library employee to inquire about a beautiful prim blonde who might work here.

  He carried with him an official ‘FBI’ badge that he could flash to subvert nosy questions should the need occur. No one needed to know he wanted to speak to her for purely sexual reasons.

  Colin searched the rows of shelves on his immediate right for any sign of life, but saw no one. Across the naturally quiet space of the library, he suddenly heard a loud squeak as if from a metal wheel in desperate need of oil. He turned toward the direction of the noise in search of a live person to question.

  Passing several more rows of shelves, he was rewarded by the abrupt vision of his mystery girl, Rachel, shelving books as if merely biding her time.

  After all the fruitless searching he’d done over the past couple of weeks, Colin wanted to shout with glee. He restrained himself since it was a library. Intelligent words dried up in his mouth, he was so stunned to find her. The vocal affliction was due in part to the fact that the majority of his blood fled south out of his brain at the first glance of her lov
ely body.

  Settling a shoulder against the nearest shelf of books, he forced himself to calm down. He watched her work until his mind and verbal skills reconnected.

  Flashes of various sexual positions lit up his imagination and didn’t help his blood flow. It did, however, give him an excellent list of possibilities in preparation for what tonight’s motel room experience would entail. If he could talk her into it, which shouldn’t be too difficult. She knew what he was capable of. He mentally smacked his lips in memory.

  Rachel was dressed very conservatively compared to the sexy blue evening gown and fuck-me heels she’d been wearing in Columbia. Instead of a French twist, her hair shaped into an unflattering bun at the nape of her lovely neck, but it was definitely his dream girl. Even from ten feet away he could smell her unique fragrance amidst the dust and old paper scents floating in the musty air of the library.

  Colin watched her put books on the shelf methodically for several seconds before an intelligent thought occurred to him. Time to break the ice, so to speak.

  He cleared his throat and in a raised voice asked, “Could you recommend a good book for me to read, darlin’?”

  She shrieked, twisted toward his voice and promptly dropped the volume she was about to put on the shelf. Her hand went to her chest and her cheeks flushed a most lovely shade of crimson. She took a step backwards and bumped into the book cart with enough force to make the squeaky wheel protest. Her frightened gaze found his face. She opened her mouth but no sound came out.

  “Sorry.” Colin grinned. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Her hand dropped from her chest and her beautiful lush mouth closed, but she remained silent. She swallowed hard and her focus slid to his lips momentarily. Seconds later she lifted her gaze to his eyes and stared as if entranced.

  “So how ‘bout it?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “How about what?”

  Colin crossed his arms. “Any books you could recommend for me? Or perhaps we could think of something else to do.”

  “I’m sorry.” Her wary-eyed look scanned his upper body. “I don’t know you well enough to recommend a book…or anything else to do.”

  Colin smacked a hand to his chest in mock wounded despair. “I’m crushed.”

  “Why?” Her eyes narrowed again this time in puzzlement.

  He gave her a chin check and a single nod. “You know why.”

  “I do?” Her gaze swept from his face to his feet and back up again. Her eyes widened slightly and a blush tinted her cheeks as if her memory had just returned.

  “I helped you escape. Remember?”

  She averted her eyes and he knew she recalled their previous encounter. Colin wondered why she wasn’t a little more eager to see him. He was certainly excited. The ridge forming in his jeans was proof of that. Had her visual body scan discovered his ultimate intentions? Was she now as energized as he was?

  She swallowed hard. “How did you find me?”

  “The phone number you left at the Millbrook police station traced to this building.” He shrugged. The process hadn’t really been as easy as that. Gaining the elusive information took repeated promises and threats of violence to force his cousin, Billy, to cough up the number. The unpublished number was used only in emergencies when the Montgomery public library building reverted to use as a city shelter during inclement weather.

  She closed her eyes. “What are you going to do to me?”

  “Wicked things.” He grinned again.

  Her eyes popped open. “What?”

  “You owe me. I kept you from getting caught.”

  She crossed her arms as if her limbs were a solid enough barrier between them, arched one eyebrow and asked, “What do you want?”

  Colin closed the short distance between them easing close enough to bump his torso against her folded arms. She was effectively trapped against the book cart. Her breathing increased noticeably but she didn’t try to get away. He had her exactly where he wanted her.

  He lowered his face as close as he could without any skin touching and whispered, “For starters, I want another taste.”

  * * * *

  A thrill of anticipation drilled though Laurie’s body when his muscular chest trapped her crossed arms. He was close enough to kiss her.

  The second he’d appeared at the end of the row she thought she might be dreaming again. There hadn’t been a single day in the past two months that she hadn’t thought about that kiss. She regretted her hasty exit from the police station. She hadn’t wanted Detective Hubbard to catch her though.

  Two weeks ago she’d had another dream. A very sexy dream. The gorgeous man currently occupying her personal space had garnered a starring role. She’d been toying with the idea of returning to Millbrook to drive by the police station on the off chance she’d see him again. Foolish junior high school memories of chasing boys kept her from embarrassing herself.

  Towering over her this minute, she realized he was right. He’d helped her get away. And more that that, he’d kissed her, inspiring repeated wet dreams like no man in her past ever had. She did owe him.

  Now he wanted another taste? So did she. An involuntary shudder ran through her again. She’d been having sexy dreams about him since that day. Up until recently they’d involved fairly tame kissing, hugging and touching. She always woke before anything ‘good’ happened, although she’d longed for more.

  Laurie got her wish after another blackout a couple of weeks ago had sent her dreams into the erotic zone. She’d had a flash vision of this man’s head beneath her dress doing scandalous things with his tongue.

  The very thought of that salacious dream made her core gush in anticipation. With him here in the flesh, she fairly throbbed with unquenched desire. He was the first man to make her so sexually aware.

  She found her voice. “How…how much trouble am I really in?” The quiver in her tone forced her to take another breath as she tried her best to calm down.

  There was still the matter of her foolish confession to the other detective. Perhaps they’d discovered new evidence. What if she’d killed that man from her first blackout and it wasn’t simply a nightmare?

  Just when she had convinced herself it was all a stress-induced anxiety dream, Mr. Gorgeous appeared like an apparition to…to…what was he going to do? Wicked things involving tasting her again? He crowded her personal space. She found she didn’t mind. If any other man had been this close, well, she didn’t ever allow any other men such liberties.

  “Oh, darlin’, you’re in a world of trouble.” His hands lifted to rest on either side of narrow space they shared trapping her. Not that she wanted to escape. A thread of rational fear crept into her mind. How did she know this man was even from the police station? Just because he knew someone there didn’t make him an authorized officer of the law.

  “I want to see your identification.” She didn’t know where the question had come from or the nerve to ask, but she decided it was a good idea.

  He stopped crowding her. “What?”

  Laurie raised her chin. “You heard me.” Fortified by her newly found courage, she demanded more. “I want to see your badge.” Her request seemed to throw him off balance, but only for a second. Not even long enough to calm the heartbeats pounding a steady rhythm in her chest.

  Without taking his eyes off of hers he reached into his back jeans pocket and pulled out a black bi-fold wallet. He flipped it open to reveal a badge. She sucked in a surprised breath.

  FBI.

  Oh Lord, she was in more trouble than she’d thought if it was now a federal offense.

  She skimmed over it quickly before he snapped it shut and pocketed it again. At least she could finally put a name to the man in her dreams. Colin Riley, FBI agent.

  “Are you going to arrest me?”

  “Nope.”

  “What then?”

  His easy grin relaxed her. “Let’s start with a kiss and see what happens.”

  At the mere mention of
the word kiss, Laurie’s eyes went to his beautiful mouth. She wanted to kiss him.

  He lowered his mouth to hers and paused a breath away from touching her. He didn’t connect. She waited as anticipation curled along her nerve endings. He exhaled and the warm air from his minty breath danced across her sensitive lips, but he didn’t move quite close enough to touch her.

  Impatience guiding her, Laurie boldly closed the short distance and pushed her lips firmly against his. Electric sensation buzzed across her face outward from the sudden union of their mouths.

  Her bold kiss was a catalyst for his further action. Wrapping his arms around her willing, and now very languid frame, he pulled her tight against his muscular body. She moaned in utter pleasure unable to think beyond the pulsating sensation of the intimate contact with a delectable man. His lips shifted and softened. The kiss deepened as his tongue slipped inside her mouth and sent a battery of shivers along her spine. His mouth brushed leisurely and thoroughly over her lips as his tongue explored every surface of her mouth.

  Was she dreaming this time? She hoped not. Laurie slid her arms around his neck and pushed her breasts complete with ultra sensitive nipples into his brawny chest. He groaned and the sound of his voice sent another gush flooding between her legs.

  His hips ground rhythmically into hers. The firm ridge of his erection pressed against her lower half now weeping in readiness. His hands trailed a circular finger massage down her back and stopped at the base of her spine for only a few seconds. Fingertips slipped even lower until he cupped her butt and squeezed her cheeks.

  The lower half of Laurie’s body fairly pulsed with the need to connect physically. Her hips pushed forward of their own volition against his stiff shaft.

  He broke their kiss and trailed his mouth to her ear. “I’m so glad I finally found you.”

  She was too.

  His hips nudged forward to meet her gentle thrust. “Where can we meet?”