Covert Affairs

by A. C. Grey

  Meg was getting annoyed. This woman had been on her team for less than an hour and she was already trying to tell her how to do her job. "I appreciate your input. But just because you've watched a few action movies does not make you an expert on these things. I'm not just going to give you a weapon and let you go play G.I. Jane, when you're more like Tech-Geek Barbie.”

  "Barbie? I don't think so. I'll have you know that I spent six years in the Marine Corps. So don't act like you're some big shot while I’m some geek who has never been out from behind my computer screen. I'm every bit as badass as you are.”

  Meg exploded, the combination of stress and distrust, mixed with more than just a little pent up sexual frustration finally fraying at her nerves. "Listen. I don't know who you think you are, but this is my show. I'm the expert here. Not you. I call the shots. You are simply here to help. You work for me. Understood? And if you do anything, I mean anything, to compromise this mission, so help me God, I will show you exactly how much of a badass I can be.”

  "You know what? I don't need this. This is exactly why I quit this business to begin with. I'm out of here,” Lucy said, rising and storming from the room.

  * * * * *

  As the door slammed, Meg slumped back onto the couch. What the hell was that all about? One minute, the woman was clueless about the mission, the next, she expected to be calling all the shots? Ridiculous. In a fit of rage, she called headquarters.

  Meg breathed a sigh of relief to find McManus at his desk. "Tom. You've got to find me another hacker. I can't work with that woman.”

  "Murphy. What have you gone and done?" McManus asked, exasperated already.

  "Nothing, Tom. It's her. She waltzes in here and expects to be in charge. Expects to tell me what she thinks is best and for me to just go along with it. She's an amateur. I'm the professional.”

  "Meg. Calm down. First of all, did it ever occur to you that someone else might be right? I'm not saying she was right in this situation, but . . .”

  "She wasn't,” Meg cut him off. "She wanted to go and storm the compound, just the two of us. Like some crazed Thelma and Louise on steroids.”

  "Like I said, she might not have been right here, but you're going to have to learn to work with her. As. A. Team. Not your strong suit, Murphy. Teamwork. But you're going to have to try, because she's the best and we're not getting you a replacement.”

  "But Tom . . .”

  "No buts, Murphy. You work with her.”

  "What about the fact that I can't trust her?" Meg said. "I met her. Here in Antarra. Days before we even knew there was a need for someone like her. Isn't that just a little too convenient? And she lied to me about her name. I met her at the bar and she flat out gave me a fake name. How can I work with someone who's hiding something?"

  "Murphy. I understand your concern, but you have to trust me on this. She checks out. We knew she was already there. We have checked out every move she’s made for the past ten years. Remember that we here at headquarters are just as good at our jobs as you are at yours. And I’m not stupid, Murphy. If I'm not mistaken, and let's face it, I'm not, I'm guessing part of your anger is from the fact that she turned you down. Isn't that right?"

  "What? No!" Meg replied a little too quickly.

  "Murphy. You and I both know how you act when you don't get what, or who, you want.”

  "Fine. Whatever. It's a moot point anyway, Tom. I can't trust her. And I can't work with her. So let's move on.”

  "Murphy. I said it before and I’ll say it again. You're going to have to work with her. So go make nice.”

  "I can't,” Meg protested.

  "Why not?" McManus asked, frustrated.

  "Because we didn't exactly end things on nice terms. She stormed off. Said something about not needing this job.”

  "Murphy. You are to go and apologize. This mission will not be compromised because you overreacted to the fact that this woman didn't fall into bed with you,” McManus said, his voice firm.

  "That's not it at all.”

  "Well, I don't care what your excuse is. With this mission, there are no excuses. Now go clean up your mess. There are lives at stake.”

  "Yes, sir,” Meg replied dejectedly before hanging up.

  She threw an exasperated arm over her eyes and let out a sigh. She certainly had made a mess of things. Granted, she was right and Lucy was wrong. Clearly. Even so, she did feel a little guilty about the way she'd handled things. She didn't usually fly off the handle like that. McManus might have been partially right. She was frustrated, in more ways than one.

  But even so, could she really apologize? McManus had emphasized the importance of doing so. The importance of working as a team with this woman. But despite what McManus had said, she still didn't trust Lucy. Not completely. And in her business, trust was everything.

  * * * * *

  As Lucy stormed into her room and threw herself onto the bed, she felt the tears come. She hated it. Hated herself. When she was angry, she cried. It looked and it felt weak, but she couldn't help it. Growing up in a family of Marines, weakness was frowned upon. She'd even proven her toughness by doing her own stint with the Corps. Eventually, unable to live her life as a lie under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," she'd quit for a life of civilian service. She'd still served her country, working for the NSA, before leaving to work in the private sector. Recently, she'd just lost all passion for her work, for her life in general, but this new assignment seemed like a bright prospect. A chance to make a difference , to fix things. But now this . . .

  Things had started out so promising. A little relaxation, a little flirtation with a gorgeous woman. A little mystery, a little adventure. But it had come back to bite her in the ass. And hard. Who knew that her counterpart in the secret, flirtatious game would turn out to be the very person she was supposed to work with. And who knew she’d turn out to be a royal control freak. And a royal bitch. Could she really work with her? Was it worth it?

  She had left in a hurry. Not so much because she was sure she could never work with Meg Murphy, but because she didn't want the woman to see her cry. One could only insist on being a badass for so long. And tears were not exactly a convincing display of badassery. So she'd made an angry excuse and fled.

  Lucy sat up and wiped her tears. She needed some time to think this through. Did she really want this? All the frustration. All the stress. Was it worth it? If so, she had some major apologizing to do. Even if she didn't mean it. After all, the woman had basically called her weak and stupid. But even so . . .

  Chapter Four

  Meg paced back and forth across her hotel room. McManus was insane! Why the hell couldn't they just replace this Crane woman? She couldn't be that special.

  And to think, Tom had thought she was just pissed off because Lucy hadn't immediately fallen into bed with her. Meg scoffed out loud. Like she, the consummate professional, would let a little rejection skew her judgment. Please . . .

  Sure. Dr. Lucy Crane was attractive. Okay. She was fucking gorgeous. Hot. Breathtaking. But that had nothing to do with Meg's reaction. Or so she'd keep telling herself. If she repeated it often enough, maybe she'd start to believe it . . .

  After taking a few more moments to calm down, Meg headed to Lucy's room, hoping to find her. She still didn't trust the woman, at least not completely. In her job, trusting too easily could have disastrous results. However, McManus had assured her that Lucy had passed a thorough background check. Meg knew that Tom wouldn't risk this mission – it was too important – that much was clear. If her boss had had any doubts about Lucy's trustworthiness, she wouldn't be here. No question. So, Meg reminded herself, she needed to do her best to trust the woman, to treat her like a valued team member, to respect her. After all, they'd be working closely together. Very closely. Which was both good and bad. Meg definitely wasn't going to object to having to spend so much time with a bombshell like Dr. Lucy Crane. But on the other hand, she needed to focus, and Lucy might turn out to be a giant distractio
n.

  Meg hesitated as she approached Lucy's door. This wouldn't be easy. Even if Meg could admit to herself that she might have overreacted, apologizing wasn't her strong suit. She hated admitting that she was wrong . . . not that she was all that wrong here. Still, she had to swallow her pride for the good of the mission. She stared at Lucy's door, willing herself to knock.

  * * * * *

  Lucy lay on her bed, a hand flung across her eyes. How had she let things get so out of control so fast? Meg had completely lost it. She hadn't even taken the time to listen to Lucy's reasons for urgency. Sure, Meg had a point. This was her mission. But Lucy had been under the impression that they were working as a team. Meg's intense and sudden fury had taken Lucy completely by surprise.

  Lucy couldn't help but wonder if part of Meg's rage was due to the fact that they'd been flirting like crazy for a few days. Lucy knew that her emotions were already running high from her anonymous interactions with Meg prior to their professional meeting. And now, Meg had discovered that the very woman she'd been flirting with was the one she had to work with on a top-secret mission? Lucy could understand how the wash of emotions – the interest, the desire, the curiosity, and now, the suspicion, could be a dangerous mix when put in a stressful situation.

  And, Lucy admitted to herself, she hadn't exactly made things easy. Though neither of them had even mentioned their prior interactions, she knew without a doubt that Meg remembered. And remembered that she'd used that stupid fake name. Lucy regretted that. She didn't even know why she'd done it. It had been an impulse, just part of the game of cat and mouse that they'd been playing. But now it had come around to bite her in the ass. There was no way Meg could trust her now.

  Lucy pondered her options. She could just throw in the towel. Quit. Wish Meg well and head back to the United States. It would be the easy thing to do. She'd quit the business to avoid situations just like the one she was in now – the unneeded stress and pressure. She could go home, spend time with her family, and figure out what to do with the rest of her life.

  But deep down, Lucy knew quitting wasn't an option. She knew that she needed to see this mission through. She knew she’d never forgive herself if she quit just because she couldn't get along with Meg and then the mission went south. She wouldn't risk the lives of thousands of people just for that. Also, with a retired Marine colonel for a father and time in the service herself, she had a overgrown sense of duty. Of seeing a commitment through to the end. So quitting was not an option, as her father often reminded her as a child. So she needed to go find Meg, apologize, try to make things right.

  Just as Lucy was summoning the courage to head back to Meg's room, there was a knock at the door. She rose and headed to answer, the opening door revealing a slightly (though not totally) repentant looking Agent Murphy.

  "Hey,” Meg said, a bit sheepishly.

  "Hey,” Lucy said in response, her blue eyes studying the woman before her.

  Meg couldn't help but feel just a little flush, just a little increase in her heartbeat as Lucy stared at her intently. Something about this woman just got under her skin.

  "Come in,” Lucy said, gesturing for Meg to enter.

  "Thanks.” After taking a seat and setting down her bag, Meg eyed Lucy cautiously. "So . . . I'm sorry for blowing up the way I did. I need you to know that I have the final say on how this mission is run, but I shouldn't have treated you the way I did. I guess, I'm just, I don't know. Frustrated.” She offered Lucy a small smile, hoping the woman understood her meaning. "Anyway, I hope you'll still agree to work with me. Director McManus assures me you're the best. And I need the best for this operation.”

  Lucy nodded. "I'm sorry too. I had no right to just barge in and start telling you how to do your job. Not that it's an excuse, but I had good reason. The last project I worked on, a hacking job for the FBI, we waited too long. Partially because I wanted more time to figure out a particularly difficult encryption system. As a result, lives were lost. I still carry that burden with me. So I'm sorry if I pushed too hard. My emotions were running high and I just got caught up. It won't happen again, but you're going to have to trust me to do my job. When there are decisions involving my area of expertise, I need you to trust me.”

  Meg nodded. "I can do that.”

  Both of them were thinking about the elephant in the room. The trust issue.

  Lucy took a deep breath. "So, I should also apologize for giving you a fake name the other day. I don't really have a good excuse for it. I just wanted to get away, be someone else, live a bit dangerously for while. So I said it on an impulse. Which, given our new working relationship, isn't exactly a way to build trust.”

  "Fake name? I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, Erica,” Meg said teasingly. Meg was glad that Lucy had broached the subject. While it might take her a while to fully trust her, this was at least a start.

  Lucy was relieved that Meg had brushed it off and relaxed a bit. "So, we're okay?" Lucy asked tentatively.

  "We're okay,” Meg said, smiling a bit. Neither of them could completely forget their past encounters, both the near seduction and the fight, but both were willing to try and look past it.

  "Super. It'll be a pleasure working with you Meg,” Lucy said, offering her hand to Meg.

  Meg took her hand and shook it. Both women were rendered temporarily speechless as their hands touched. The jolt of feeling, every nerve ending standing on edge. If Meg hadn't known better, she would have been sure that sparks were literally flying between them. Neither of them seemed in any hurry to release the other's hand. Meg gazed into Lucy's bright blue eyes, a slightly bemused look on her face. "A pleasure indeed.”

  Slightly uncomfortable, Lucy finally broke eye contact, let go of Meg's hand, and nervously cleared her throat. "Anyway. Perhaps we should discuss the mission. Where we go from here. As you made very clear earlier, we can't just go storm the compound. So how do we get in?"

  "Well, I haven't quite figured that out yet. Right now, we need to try and uncover exactly what we're dealing with. We'll go in blind if we have to, but if there's any way we can get some specs on the property beforehand, we need to do so. We need every advantage we can get.”

  Lucy nodded. "So how do we go about doing that?"

  Meg offered a knowing smile and pulled out a file. "One of things that the agency provided me with was a list of possible targets.” Meg looked up and saw Lucy looked a bit perplexed. It was a look that was, on Lucy, damn adorable. Meg caught herself grinning goofily before withdrawing back behind her professional façade. This was no time for personal attachments, no time to let her growing attraction for this woman get in the way. There would be plenty of time for hooking up with pretty women later. "What I mean by targets," Meg continued, "is people with access to the compound who might either be turned to our side, or who at least might be tricked into divulging information. The key is picking the right person. This game is a bit like baseball. You only get so many strikes and you're out. If we try, and fail, too many times, we'll start to raise suspicions. Asking too many people the same questions and we'll stick out. And in this business, one can't afford to stick out.”

  Meg spread out several pages – dossiers on various Antarran citizens, complete with photographs, addresses, personal histories, habits, vices and the like. She studied the files, an intense and focused look on her face. Lucy struggled to steady her breathing as she watched Meg work. She was gorgeous. Stunning. And the intensity and intelligence that oozed from every pore of Meg's body as she pondered her options had Lucy's nerves on edge. She was instantly and irreparably drawn to this woman. No matter that just a short time ago they'd come to blows. No matter that they'd begun their relationship with insults and mistrust. No matter what she did, Lucy could not focus on anything but the woman before her.

  Struggling to find something, anything to distract her from the urge to jump Meg then and there, Lucy grabbed the nearest dossier and began to read. After finishing her reading, Lucy
handed it to Meg. "What about this guy?"

  Meg took the paper and studied the photograph of a small, skinny, rather nerdy looking guy. As she read his file and pondered, she nodded slowly. "This could work. Ray Mortano. One of the main tech support guys at the compound. Could come in handy if we can get him to give us information on the computer systems. Even if we can get him to just tell us the layout, what it's like, how we get in, that would be great. But the fact that he knows their computers is a bonus. So now the question becomes, how do we arrange a chance meeting with him?"

  Lucy smirked, as she already knew the answer to this one. She pointed to a line about halfway down the page.

  "Yes!" Meg looked up at Lucy with a brilliant smile. "Great idea. He likes to spend his spare time counting cards at the blackjack table.”

  Lucy nodded. "Typical geek hobby – loves calculating the odds of card games. Anyway, we head down to the casino, act like we're just tourists there to have a good time, and bide our time. Wait for good old Ray to make his appearance. We strike up a conversation, flirt a little, and see what happens. Trust me. After hanging out with as many computer geeks as I have, I know. A tiny bit of female attention and guys like this are putty in your hands.”