The-Forgetful-Spy-Santiago

by The Forgetful Spy (lit)

  Sighing, Paul brought the phone back to speak and decided to fib a little. “One of my agents got hurt.”

  Another juicy cough erupted over the phone line. “Which one?”

  “The one we always discuss.” Paul squeezed the drive securing it in his palm and pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger. “The one who shouldn’t be in the Protocol Agency at all. Rachel should be eliminated from the program and you know it.”

  Senator Bremer grunted. “She stays. You know why. Make it work with her as a member of your group, or no permanent funding.”

  Paul didn’t give a shit about the permanent funding for the Protocol Agency and especially not more than he cared about Rachel’s health. He only let Bremer think that was the reason for his continued acquiescence. If Paul was removed from the project there wouldn’t be anyone in authority to watch over and protect Rachel. He refused to allow anything bad to happen to her.

  Ignoring the dig about funding, Paul sighed deeply and grated out, “The Protocol program has a negative impact on her health. She should be removed before we injure her.”

  “Bullshit. You just want her out so I won’t have leverage over you any longer. Suck it up. She stays. Send me that report, pronto.” Senator Bremer slammed the phone down in Paul’s ear.

  “Bastard,” Paul said out loud to the buzzing dial tone. He studied the silver flash drive again as he placed the phone in its cradle.

  After he made a copy of the contents, he’d give this original flash drive to Ken as a token of his regret for getting Zack in trouble with local law enforcement. Then he’d mention the true problem of his agent, Colin, contacting Rachel during the mission and shift the blame there.

  His other Protocol agents were all flawless in performance of their missions. Paul kept Frankie permanently attached to Rachel to keep her in line and alive. Even as unfair as it was for Frankie to partner with an inferior agent, Frankie never complained about Rachel.

  Perhaps she understood his unspoken pressures. Maybe she viewed Rachel as a necessary component of her own continued existence in the ultra secret business where they made their living. Rachel’s participation being required was, after all, the truth. Senator Bremer made certain of it.

  Frankie was the only other protocol agent who knew even a hint of the truth about Rachel and why she was allowed to stay. Regardless of the ‘challenges’ Rachel created and Frankie faced during each mission they went on together, Frankie stood up for her like a valiant sibling if anything went wrong.

  Things didn’t always go wrong, but enough that he had to cope, and explain more often than he wished.

  Later in the day, Ken Davenport arrived on his doorstep in a full fury to extract a pint of Paul’s blood the hard way.

  “My agent was compromised.” Ken’s fists resting on Paul’s pristine desk was a formidable enemy to face.

  Paul merely smiled, leaned back in his chair and tried the light approach. “I know. I was there.”

  A vein in Ken’s forehead bulged. “What the fuck happened?”

  “I haven’t received the full report yet.” A big lie, because he’d already read the file and altered it to suit himself before submitting it to the senator.

  Ken lifted his fists and folded his arms across his chest making him look even more belligerent. “And when you do?”

  “I’ll give it all the attention it deserves.” Paul smiled and leaned back in his chair.

  “Not good enough.”

  Paul pushed his sleeve up. “Would you like a pound of flesh or a pint of blood?”

  Ken inhaled deeply as if trying to either make a choice or temper his wrath. It didn’t seem to be working. “I’ll take both unless you get my agent out of trouble.”

  Paul shrugged and forced a dispassionate expression to register on his face. “It’s already taken care of.”

  “Really.” Ken’s voice dripped with disbelief and distain. “How did you manage that?”

  “I have connections. Powerful ones. Relax.”

  “I want assurances that Zack’s face isn’t now plastered all over every local yokel watch list now.”

  “The tape was destroyed and all traces of the film were melted by a nasty virus at the source.” Thank God Frankie was a computer genius.

  “Send me proof.”

  “You’ll have it by the end of the day.”

  Ken’s posture deflated slightly and he sat in the chair across from Paul’s desk.

  “I understand that Senator Bremer’s people want our departments to work together again. You can understand my reluctance in this.” His eyebrow lifted expressing utter discontent over partnering in the future.

  Paul snorted in agreement, but said, “Well, we were successful. You got your bad guy killed without involving any of your agents and his stolen possession is already back in the rightful hands of the family it was stolen from.”

  “The cost was too high,” Ken gritted out between clenched teeth.

  “There was no cost. I told you. It’s taken care of.”

  “It better be. Any more problems on the next mission and I’ll talk to all the powerful people I know.”

  Paul nodded agreeably. “Noted. Without admitting any fault, I do have a bonus in compensation for your troubles, Ken.”

  “Oh yeah? I can’t wait to hear about it.”

  Paul opened his desk and pulled out the flash drive he’d received from Rachel. “My agent was miraculously able to retrieve this from a hidden place in Salerno’s hotel suite.”

  Ken’s eyes narrowed. “Why were our agents together?”

  “Thanks for the segue, Ken. That’s an excellent question and one I also want an answer for.

  “Apparently, your agent used mine to help get access to the penthouse after he failed to secure cooperation from Glenda. And for the record, my agent got sick which is why Zack was used to pull the fire alarm.”

  “Is that so?” Ken tilted his head and cracked his neck.

  “Yes. Perhaps you could ask your agent to stop fucking with mine like I asked you to do before.”

  Ken’s brows scrunched in question. “Colin?”

  “Yes. He is obsessed with Rachel and it needs to stop.” Paul shot him a glare that would have had any other foe squirming in his chair. Not Ken.

  “I don’t understand. How were they able to meet?” Ken leaned forward in his chair relaxing his arms to the sides.

  “A miscommunication sent my agent to the party and they saw each other. However, I thought I told you to keep Colin away from her.”

  The corners of Ken’s lips curved up slightly in a cynical smile. “No. You told me to keep my agent from looking for her. And I did. The fact that you sent them into the same party is not my fault.” The smile dissolved and Ken’s belligerent attitude came back.

  Paul allowed a mirthless smile to shape his lips. “Be that as it may, I suggest you talk to him. Keep Colin away from Rachel or you’ll find out which important people in this town that I’m acquainted with after they crush you.”

  Ken smiled genuinely for the first time since entering his office. “I highly doubt that.”

  * * * *

  Rachel’s bill for paying the devil was due and her boss stood before her ready to collect. The pilfered thumb drive no longer burned a hole in her pocket as Paul had taken it earlier. She’d hoped it would save her.

  “What were you thinking?” Paul asked her. She guessed that since she’d passed the earlier scientist’s Protocol test she was fair game again. The nosebleed confession only bought her a little extra time.

  Sitting in the exact same chair in his office, Paul stood between her and his desk. He towered over her, arms crossed and sporting a tight-lipped frown. The only difference was that this time Frankie wasn’t here to offer moral support.

  Rachel mentally armored herself for a difficult meeting and forced a shrug. “There were complications—”

  “You were not where you were supposed to be!” His callous tone was expressed
between gritted teeth.

  She sat up straighter in the uncomfortable wooden chair. “I had to help another agent up into the penthouse—”

  Paul’s angry gaze swung to the ceiling before shifting back to her. “You shouldn’t have distracted him from his mission in the first place. And by the way, how did you know he was an agent?”

  Her mouth opened to speak and then closed abruptly. She didn’t know why she instinctively trusted Colin. “I just guessed.”

  Paul’s eyebrows rose practically to his hairline. “And what about Columbia? Did you ‘guess’ he was an agent then too?”

  Rachel’s eyes popped open. She’d hoped Paul wouldn’t bring up the Columbian mission. “No, I didn’t know who he was at first, how could I?”

  “You helped him get free from a bad situation in Columbia. You had to have guessed he was in the intelligence community.”

  She shook her head. “No. I didn’t know he was an agent back then.”

  “Why did you release him if you didn’t think he was a fellow agent?” Paul bent at the waist, lowered his face to hers and waited. His breath brushed her cheek. She lowered her gaze to her lap. She longed for Frankie’s presence and her unwavering support, but she was on her own this time.

  “I thought he was one of Serena Ortega’s victims. I was just trying to be humane, given what I knew about her and what she does to men.”

  Paul straightened to tower over her again and huffed. “So you admit you shouldn’t have released him from those handcuffs attached to the bed?”

  She gasped and looked into Paul’s sardonic gaze. How did he know that? Rachel declined to respond. He stared a hole through her waiting for her answer. She didn’t want to respond.

  Rachel sighed as if deeply affronted. “What makes you think I released him from a bed?”

  Paul laughed mirthlessly. “He told us. Besides, I already knew you’d released him. Why did you let him follow you out using your secret escape route?”

  “Because the only other way out of the room was blocked. Besides, it was a good thing he came with me. He helped me escape the perimeter of the compound to meet with Frankie in the woods on time.”

  Paul’s eyes narrowed. “How?”

  “I was almost away when the guard came back unexpectedly. Colin returned and took him out for me.”

  “Oh? It’s Colin, is it?” Paul rolled his eyes. “And big deal. You could have handled one single idiot guard all on your own. If Colin hadn’t showed up, you could have taken the guard out in five seconds or less. Hand-to-hand combat is something you’re actually good at.”

  Rachel narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips at the back-handed compliment. “Perhaps. But thanks to him I didn’t have to. Besides, he said he had a life or death thing to do.”

  Paul’s arms raised to the ceiling as if seeking the heavens for answers. “Which you shouldn’t have cared about.”

  Rachel shrugged. “I’ll endeavor to have an apathetic attitude from now on. Is that what you want?”

  Arms dropping to his sides abruptly, he sighed. “No. What I want is for you to stay away from him. He isn’t helping your career as a Protocol agent. The Las Vegas mission was compromised because of your failure to complete one simple task.”

  Rachel lifted a practiced regretful expression to Paul. “The mission wasn’t a total failure. The goods were secured.”

  “With the exception of the other agent being forced to do the single thing you were supposed to accomplish. And he got caught on tape doing it. Rachel, you have made an art form out of breaking mission procedures. It needs to stop. Quit chasing after Colin. I expect you to ignore him next time.”

  “I’m allowed a private life. I’ll ‘chase’ whomever I want to on my own time.”

  “Now that is where you’re wrong. You belong to me twenty-four seven. You don’t have time to ‘chase’ anyone, especially not another agent.”

  Rachel crossed her arms defiantly and remained silent. The word flashing in her mind wouldn’t be helpful.

  “And you wonder why I always have Frankie partnering with you?”

  The dig while accurate was painful. Before she could stop it, she sent a willful angry gaze across his desk.

  Catching her eye, his only response was a single eyebrow lift in challenge. She knew he hated when she defied his authority.

  Rachel would find a way to meet Colin. She’d just have to step up her efforts to hide it. Never seeing him again was an unacceptable option.

  Chapter 9

  Colin entered the cool confines of the Montgomery Public Library exactly five days after kissing Rachel goodbye in the penthouse suite of a Vegas hotel.

  Today he carried flowers to give to Laurie since the last time he was with her he’d ditched her in a motel room after their first sexual encounter. He fully expected to pretend that he hadn’t fucked her over the back of a chair in the penthouse suite in Las Vegas when she’d been Rachel. He most assuredly wasn’t going to mention the hickey he’d put beneath her shoulder blade. A part of him wondered if he’d stepped into a Twilight Zone episode but if he had it didn’t matter. He longed to see her.

  If he mentioned the Las Vegas mission to Laurie, he knew she’d have a sudden headache and blood would shoot out of her nose. That had to be bad. He’d decided easily not to pressure her faulty memory any longer. There was no need for bloodshed.

  Colin didn’t understand the phenomenon, but put off the need to solve this particular mystery. He just wanted to see her. Talk with her. Kiss her. Hug her body tight. He missed her. Exhaling the breath he didn’t mean to hold, Colin proceeded through the library’s lobby.

  Searching the front desk area he didn’t see her right away and headed to the left to check through the rows and rows of bookshelves housed here.

  The telltale squeak of a wheel still in need of oil sounded at the very back corner of the building. Laurie. The beat of his heart sped up at the prospect of just seeing her again. He couldn’t wait. At least he hoped it was Laurie. He’d be heartbroken to find anyone else.

  He’d gotten a lecture from Ken instructing him that he was no longer allowed to speak to Rachel. Additionally, if they ever saw each other on future missions Colin was to ignore her beyond the confines of the mission task. He’d been required to swear an oath, thankfully not in blood, that he wouldn’t engage her in so much as polite conversation.

  Fat fucking chance. He never promised he wouldn’t chase after Laurie.

  Luckily for him, he knew of this secret alternative way to get to see her, even if it was strange because she wouldn’t remember him from Las Vegas. Colin wasn’t going to test her any more. He would just enjoy spending time with her.

  Rounding the corner to enter the last row of books, Colin internally sighed in relief when he beheld Laurie. Her back was to him, but soon stiffened as if she sensed his presence. Her hair was in the unflattering bun once again. She turned her head around enough to glance at him out of the corner of one eye then turned halfway back to her task. A smile lit her face. He could see it from the side and in the sigh of her shoulders.

  After shelving the book in her hand, she twisted her body around to face him.

  “Hello,” came her sultry whispered voice. His heart pounded in his chest giddy with relief that she didn’t seem mad at him.

  Colin strode quickly up the aisle. “Hi. I brought you flowers.” He wished he didn’t sound like such a goofy nerd around her.

  “I see. Thank you.” He handed her the bouquet making sure to brush her fingertips.

  Glancing around Colin uttered the first inane thing he could come up with as conversation. “Are you all alone here tonight?”

  She looked around and nodded. “As usual.”

  Colin stepped close enough to ease into her personal space. “Will you be closing up soon? I’d like to take you out.”

  A wan smile lit her face and she tilted her head to one side. “Take me out where? Another motel?”

  “No.” God, she thought he was o
nly here for sex. “I wanted to take you out to dinner.” He certainly wouldn’t turn sex down if it entered the picture, but he didn’t want her to think it was the sole reason for his interest. “Please?”

  Her intense gaze shifted to the floor beside them. “I can’t be seen with you in town.”

  Colin smiled. Laurie was hiding from her aunt and he was hiding from the secret chain of command in her other personality’s life. Twilight Zone, here I come, he thought with amusement. He justified his forward actions by telling himself he’d promised Ken that he wouldn’t engage Rachel.

  “I know.” Colin leaned in and kissed her cheek. “We can drive back to Millbrook or wherever you want.”

  “And then what?”

  “I don’t care what we do.” He shrugged. “For right now, just please kiss me.”

  Her impish grin relaxed him. She slipped her arms around his neck negotiating the flowers to rest against his upper back.

  Rising on tiptoes, she pressed her mouth to his in a soft gentle kiss that sent a warm bolt of endearment straight to his heart. He wanted her. He wanted her to want him in return. She held some invisible power over him and he’d never been as comfortable and satisfied with any other woman in his past.

  “I’ve missed you,” she murmured. Her breath brushed across his lips. She promptly trailed kisses back and forth across his mouth until he wanted to wrap her up and take her away forever.

  “I’ve missed you more.”

  “I didn’t think you’d come back.”

  He clutched her tight. “I told you I would.”

  Laurie kissed his cheek. “So you did.”

  “I know you want to keep things a secret between us and I’m perfectly content to do that. Just let me see you and we don’t have to tell anyone.” Colin pulled back to observe her expression as she mulled over his offer.

  “Thanks for understanding about my family. Why don’t we meet in Millbrook? I told my aunt I was going to the theater to see the Cary Grant movie festival. She knows I’m a fan. Tonight is the last night.”