by Diana X Dunn
“But you do have a confession,” Suzy reminded him. “I’ll bet you get the confession over and over again, too. He’s a broken man, suffering terribly from the loss of the woman he loved. He will want to talk about it now that you know everything. You’ll probably struggle to shut him up.”
“You seem to know a lot about the criminal mind,” Luke remarked.
“I read a lot of true crime,” Suzy answered airily.
Alex smothered a snort as Suzy opened her door and ushered the two men into her suite.
“Drinks?” she offered.
“No thanks,” Luke shrugged. “I’m working.”
“No,” was all that Alex said as he dropped heavily onto a chair.
Luke raised an eyebrow at the monosyllable. “Anyway,” Luke said eventually. “I would appreciate a quick statement from each of you about what happened on that ship today. I don’t have time to get that now, but I’ll have an officer here in a few minutes. Alex, will you be here or in your own suite?”
Alex glanced at Suzy before replying. “Suzy and I have a few things to talk about, but it shouldn’t take long. After that I will be in my suite until I get the all-clear to head to the airport.”
Luke nodded, obviously taking in the uncomfortable atmosphere in the room. “Right, well, I would love to stay and talk to you both a bit longer, but I have some more wrapping up to do. Apparently, Captain Grayson wants to make a formal statement with his lawyer present, so I need to get back to headquarters to take care of that.”
He headed toward the door and Suzy followed. “So what’s next for you?” he asked her as she opened the door for him.
“Max has kindly invited me to rejoin him on The Mirage for a little while,” Suzy answered.
Luke nodded and then looked over her shoulder at Alex. “I’m guessing your new friend doesn’t care for the idea?”
Suzy grinned at him. “You could say that,” she agreed.
Luke looked at her awkwardly. “I still have a lot of things I want to discuss with you,” he began uncertainly.
“I need to be back on The Mirage later today,” Suzy told him. “How about if I have Max drop me back off here in a week or so? We can have that talk. There’s something I want to discuss with you as well.”
Luke nodded. “That sounds good,” he told her. “I’ll keep in touch via messaging between now and then.”
“Perfect,” Suzy grinned. She glanced behind her, well aware that Alex was boring holes into her with an unhappy glare. She shook her head at him and then gently kissed Luke on the cheek. “Talk to you soon,” she whispered to him. She watched him walk down the hall toward the elevators, in no hurry to shut the door and deal with Alex. Luke waved as he stepped into a car and Suzy reluctantly closed the door behind herself.
Alex stood up immediately. “I’m just going to go and pack and go home,” he told her. “I don’t really think we have anything to discuss.”
Suzy tipped her head to one side and studied him for a second. Then she took the necessary steps toward him. She grinned. “Nothing to discuss?” she asked. Without waiting for a reply, she put her arms around him and pulled him close. For several minutes they both simply got lost in the kiss that reminded them of their powerful attraction. Finally, Alex lifted his head and sighed. He pulled gently away from Suzy and stomped into the kitchen. He tapped up an ice-cold beer and downed half of it in a single swallow.
“I hate your job,” he said eventually.
“I know,” was the only reply Suzy could make. She got her own glass of wine and then moved next to him where he was leaning against the kitchen counter.
“I’m sorry,” Suzy said after a while. She took a big sip of her wine and then turned to face Alex. “I can’t change what I do or who I am,” she told him. “My job will always have to come first.”
“What if I can’t live with that?” Alex asked quietly.
“Then we need to say good-bye now,” Suzy said sadly.
“Just like that?”
“I’m sorry,” Suzy repeated. “I really am. But while I am really very attracted to you, I won’t promise you anything more than I can actually deliver.”
“So, you’ll call me when you get back to New York and we can go from there?” Alex asked.
“Pretty much,” Suzy shrugged.
“And in the meantime, you can sleep with whomever you want, including Luke or Max or whomever?”
Suzy shook her head. “I don’t have any intention of sleeping with anyone between now and my return to New York,” she told him firmly. “You have to understand, though, that if I suddenly found that I needed to sleep with Max or Luke in order to protect my identity, I would do it. I’ve gotten very good, over the years, at getting out of awkward sexual situations. But my body is just another tool that I use for my work. My mission is always the most important thing.”
“I’ll never understand that.”
Suzy sighed in frustration. “My job isn’t like yours,” she told Alex. “You might not like what I do, but my organization is doing a lot to keep our world on track. You know enough about history to know that chaos and anarchy are much closer than anyone wants to admit. The Wars of Religion and the Eco-Wars nearly destroyed our planet and our civilization. Organizations like mine are what managed to bring back order and stability. Now we have to work hard, all day, every day, to protect that order.”
“Very noble,” Alex said disgustedly. “But what about what you want?”
Suzy shook her head. “What I want has never ever been a consideration. I’ve been raised to do this since before I was born. The agency adopted me when I was still in an ex-utero pod after my parents abandoned it. They kept me alive and brought me up to serve them and, by extension, our entire planet. I can’t let them down.”
Alex shook his head again. “This is crazy,” he told her. “I can’t compete with that sort of mindless dedication.”
“It isn’t mindless,” Suzy retorted angrily. “If you don’t respect what I do, then a relationship with you is what’s crazy.”
Alex stared hard into her eyes. “I respect what you do, but I think you’re cheating yourself. You need to do some things for Suzy whatever your name is, or Julia Randall or whoever you happen to be.”
Suzy nodded. “I do sometimes do things for me,” she said slowly. “Hanging out with Pixie was just for me,” she told him, thinking of an old friend she’d left behind when she had been forced to change identities. “And you,” she said with a sexy smile. “You are totally and completely just for me.”
Alex grinned and then pulled her close into another kiss. Suzy finally pulled back just before the kiss took them too far. “That police officer is due any minute,” she chided Alex.
“I know,” Alex sighed. “So what do we do now?”
“I need to pack and get back to The Mirage,” Suzy told him. “I need to spend another boring week sailing around and seeing how all of this tragedy affects Max and his business deals. Then I need to come back here and have a talk with Luke. I think he would be a great asset to my agency. And then, I need to get myself back to New York so that I can have dinner with you. We have envelopes to open.”
Alex grinned. “I’d almost forgot about that,” he told her. “So I guess I just need to pack up and head back to New York.”
“I guess so,” Suzy told him. “Unless you want to join the cruise?”
“No way,” Alex answered. “I’ve spent as much time as I’m willing to with Max Hart and his friends.”
Suzy nodded. “I know how you feel,” she agreed.
“I’m still not happy about any of this,” Alex told her as they walked toward the door to her suite.
“I know,” Suzy told him. “I’m not happy about a lot of it myself, but I have a job to do and you have a life to lead. In ten day’s time you can buy me dinner and we can laugh about it all.”
Alex frowned. “I doubt very much that I’ll feel like laughing, but I am looking forward to dinner!”
; Suzy grinned. “That’s the spirit,” she told him.
She let him out and did her packing. After giving her statement to the police officer that Luke sent, she checked that she was no longer being monitored, then she sent a quick message to her office in New York, requesting a new M-ped with all of the features that she needed.
An hour later she checked out of the hotel and shortly after that she walked back on board The Mirage for another week in the sun.
It turned out to be a very long and boring week for Suzy. Max decided to invite everyone from the party on SunInc to join him onboard, so he ended up with a ship full of Genifer's old friends, all desperately trying to show how sad they were about her death by drinking heavily, talking copious amounts of drugs, and having as much random sex as they could manage.
Max mostly watched from the sidelines, being indulgently amused by their antics in a way that he never would have been had Genifer still been alive and joining in. For a few days, Max clung to Randy and there was even fresh talk of a quick wedding, but as Max's shock and grief began to dim, his eye began to wander again. Suzy could only hope that Randy was mentally and financially prepared for the inevitable split.
Suzy threw herself into repairing any damage her contributions to capturing the killer might have done to her party girl reputation. She made sure she drank and danced and partied as fast and as hard as anyone. Of course she kept her neutralizing tablets close by, but no one watching would have guessed. By choosing carefully, she managed to make everyone believe that she was having an active and exciting sex life as well.
Always choosing partners who were only minutes away from a drunken or drug-fueled unconsciousness, she managed to sleep with five men in six nights, without ever going further than a very quick fumble. No man, when assured the morning after that he was amazing, is going to argue.
Michael had a new M-ped delivered to her before they’d left SunInc, and Suzy was relieved to be back in touch with her home base. She happily spent a few hours in the sun sending Michael a full and detailed report of everything that had happened from Chrystal’s death onwards. Michael knew her well enough to not question anything that she had done, at least not until he had her in his office and could talk to her properly.
It felt a long week later, when Suzy was finally dropped back off at SunInc. She’d pretended to accidentally let it slip that she was hoping to get to know Luke better as the perfect excuse for her return to the island. That had led to a lot of teasing from the others onboard, especially from Randy, but it all went with the job.
By the time she left The Mirage, Michael had completed an extensive security review on Luke Nolan. Suzy was pleased, therefore, to be able to share with him a few key facts about herself, her agency, and a position within that agency that was available if he was interested.
"If I take the job, will I have a chance of seeing or working with you?" Luke asked.
"It's unlikely," Suzy told him honestly. "Of course, if you don't take the job you’re equally highly unlikely to see me again."
Luke wanted time to think, of course, and Suzy was on a flight back to New York before he’d made his decision. Suzy was naturally curious about what he would decide, but she knew that Michael was unlikely to tell her anything if she were to ask him later. Agent recruitment, training, and assignments were not meant to be her concern.
About ten days after Captain Grayson's arrest, Suzanna Barr, now officially Diana Jackson again, met Alex Knight for dinner at the very expensive and very exclusive Bartholomew Club at the top of the newly built Hart Superscraper. Diana was a member, when she needed or wanted to be, as was Suzanna Barr.
She had dressed carefully in a long white evening gown covered in sequins and beads, with matching high heels and a sparkly evening bag. It was an outfit that Suzanna Barr might have liked, although it was a bit more modest than Suzanna’s usual attire. Diana felt more comfortable now, with her body and face returned to her current normal, rather than the artificial contours that made Suzy so striking. Alex looked amazingly handsome in a custom fitted tuxedo that would have even impressed Max.
The seven-course feast was served slowly with appropriate wines for each dish. Diana kept the conversation light throughout the meal, touching on the things she had been doing in the last twenty-four hours since she had returned to New York and catching up on what Alex had been busy with over the past ten days.
After dessert, as they enjoyed yet another glass of wine, Diana slid open her satin and sequined handbag.
"So," she grinned, pulling the envelope that Alex had sealed up nearly two weeks earlier out of her bag. “Who’s paying for dinner?”
"I guess we’ll have to split the bill if neither of us was right," Alex smiled as he pulled her envelope from his suit jacket's interior pocket.
Diana grinned and opened Alex's envelope. The slip of paper inside said "Peter Palmer". She smiled broadly.
Alex tore eagerly into her envelope. In neat script, the paper read “Captain John Grayson.”
"How did you know?" Alex demanded.
Diana shrugged. "He was the obvious answer when you looked at it," she told Alex.
Alex shook his head. "He wasn't obvious to me.”
Diana laughed. "I'll split the bill with you," she told him. "I had an unfair advantage. I saw how he looked at Chrystal when she was still alive. It was creepy and strange and it gave him away, to me at least.”
Alex motioned to the waiter for the bill and a moment later he came over, carrying a tray with an envelope on it.
“Your account was taken care of by the gentleman at the bar,” he informed them both. “He asked me to give you this letter.”
Diana’s blood ran cold and her stomach clenched. She stared at the envelope on the tray, instantly recognizing the expensive paper and the flowing handwriting.
“What man?” Diana demanded, looking toward the bar.
“The gentleman on the end,” the waiter replied, gesturing toward the bar that ran along one side of the room. Aside from a couple sipping wine in the middle of the long expanse, the bar was empty. “He must have left,” the waiter offered helpfully.
Alex reached for the envelope, but Diana caught his arm.
She took a deep breath and counted down from ten. It wasn’t until she got to three that she could speak at all, let alone calmly. “Please just set the tray on the table,” she told the waiter. “I'll grab the letter on my way out.”
The waiter just shrugged. No doubt was used to strange requests from the wealthy patrons of this restaurant. This one probably barely registered on his weird-o-meter.
“Is one of your admirers buying us dinner?” Alex queried in a joking tone, the words trailing off as he stared at Diana. He waited to continue until the waiter was out of earshot. “What is going on?” he asked, keeping his voice low.
“I can't really tell you right now,” Diana answered. She glanced around to see if she was being watched and then carefully lifted the tray. She tipped it up, sliding the envelope into her bag without touching it. Unfortunately the letter was bigger than the fancy and fairly useless evening bag that she was carrying, but it was the best she could do.
“Time to go,” she told Alex grimly as she slid off the bench seat next to him.
Alex frowned as he stood up to follow her. “Should I guess that we aren't going back to your place for a romantic evening?” he asked angrily.
Diana shook her head and strode out of the restaurant, tapping impatient fingers against the elevator call panel as she waited for a car. Outside, she flagged down a taxi transport and gave the driver an address that Alec wouldn’t recognize. In the transport, she ignored Alex, firing off a quick succession of messages on her wrist-con. Throughout the journey she kept a death grip on her handbag, carefully not touching the letter that was sticking out of it at an odd angle.
She was out of the taxi as soon as it stopped, having swiped her M-ped for payment during the ride. Alex followed her, staring at the front of the no
ndescript building, in a row of uninteresting offices, where they had been left.
“So is this spy headquarters?” Alex hissed at her as she walked across the sidewalk toward a door marked Henderson Marketing. Diana didn’t bother to reply. She used her M-ped to unlock the door and then headed through the darkened lobby after she’d made certain that the door had locked behind them.
They walked through the lobby to a set of elevators and Diana keyed in a code that made one set of doors open quickly. The elevator rose silently and when the doors opened again, men and women in white contamination-style suits surrounded Diana and Alex. One of them took the letter from Diana, carefully using some sort of mechanical gripping arm, even though he was wearing gloves. The others waited until he had the envelope in the grippers and then they all disappeared through a high-security door.
Diana turned left and walked down the long corridor, heading to the office at the end of the hall. Michael was already behind his desk. Diana didn’t know where he lived, but it must have been nearby, because her taxi journey had only taken a few minutes.
“He needs to leave,” Michael’s first words revealed how upset he was. He was rarely so abrupt, especially in front of total strangers.
“I know,” Diana answered, “but he deserves some sort of explanation.”
“Hello?” Alex interjected. “I’m just here. I can hear you.”
Diana smiled briefly. “I know, I’m sorry,” she shook her head. “I think it’s best if Michael explains.”
“Why?” Alex challenged. “Has he got a clever lie already thought up? I think I deserve the truth. I flew down to SunInc to try to rescue you from a tough situation. I put up with knowing that you were back on that damn boat, probably sleeping with Max, for an entire week, and now that you’re back, we have a nice romantic dinner and when a mysterious letter turns up we rush out of the restaurant to some top secret location. After all that, I get greeted with ‘he needs to leave,’ which is completely unfair. I demand an explanation.”