Reid ran his fingers through his hair. He sat down and took a huge bite of donut. “Anything suspicious while I was gone?”
“You were only gone ten minutes, but no,” she called through the door.
Like that mattered. Last time she’d been abducted was in less than three minutes. Anxious for her to come out of the bathroom, he finished his donuts while he paced. “Your coffee’s getting cold.”
“Kind of busy here!”
***
Julianna zipped up her jeans and stared at the plastic fortune tellers lined up along the sink. She’d peed on all five just to be safe. She washed her hands and glanced at the round wall clock. In three minutes her whole world could change once again. Tick Tock. Tick Tock. She was tempted to shoot the darn thing off the wall.
She tapped her foot up and down. She bit down on her thumbnail. Oh God! One was getting a blue line! She looked over at the mess of boxes in the floor. What did a blue line mean? She looked back over and another was turning pink. She took a deep breath and read the instructions over. Thank goodness. The blue line was a minus sign. The pink line was a test line… the pregnancy window was blank which meant not pregnant. Why then did she feel a twinge of disappointment when she scooped the negative tests into the trashcan, like she’d failed something?
She opened the bathroom door. Reid turned to her, a look of mystification covering his face. “All five were negative.” She forced a grin. “We’re good.”
He smiled and hugged her. “That’s a relief. The more I thought about it, a baby would have been a mistake right now.”
She took a drink of her lukewarm coffee. “I guess we dodged that bullet.” She bit down on the donut to keep from crying. What the heck was wrong with her?
Reid kissed her cheek. “Finish breakfast, we need to get that laptop to Weasel.”
“Reid, I’ve been thinking, we need to get that kid out of town for a while. I don’t want his death on my hands. I have enough already.”
He grinned. “And you said you weren’t the motherly type.”
Julianna tossed a pillow at his head.
“Sorry.” He grabbed the soft missile from the floor that had just missed his face. “Okay, I have an idea.”
Chapter 12
“You’re one awesome dude.” Reid slapped Weasel’s back with approval. Not only did the genius hacker find the connection to Boss, he’d found a secret agent that reported directly to Senator Grant. The agent was hired by the senator to keep tabs on Boss and most likely all of ETE 7. With a phone number, Weasel was able to trace the agent to an address in Washington D.C. If they couldn’t find Boss, maybe they could find agent Fuller.
“Good job, Weasel.” Julianna smiled and lit up the otherwise mundane apartment.
“Thanks guys. You know, I think I may need to get a gun. This hacking you’re having me do seems pretty dangerous.”
Reid looked at Julianna and she nodded.
“Hey, we were thinking, it’d be a great time for you to take your mom on a cruise.” Reid took the tickets out of his pocket that they’d purchased for him. “Think of it as a perk.”
Weasel groaned. “A cruise… with my mom?”
The kid didn’t know how lucky he was. Reid would give anything to take Julianna on a cruise to get away from everything. “It’s for the best. The ship’s so big you won’t even know she’s there.”
Julianna nodded and placed her hand on Weasel’s shoulder. “Just for a couple of weeks.”
Weasel sighed and looked at Reid. “Is this payback? For me begging you not to kill my dad? Are you sending me to my death, too?” He paused and whispered, “You know, he died from a car accident a few weeks later.”
Julianna drew her brows together. She opened her mouth and Reid stood up. “No, I didn’t know. Sorry. Kid, if we were going to kill you, we wouldn’t be sending you off on a vacation. I’d remove my Glock and shoot you in the head. No need to be sneaky.”
Weasel glanced at Julianna with wide eyes.
“Time to go, Jewels. Weasel has a boat to catch.” He hadn’t exactly told her about how he had met Weasel.
Julianna shrugged apologetically. “Have fun.” She followed Reid outside. “You scared him.”
Reid sighed. “That wasn’t my intention. I was just being honest. I guess you want to know what that was all about.”
She eyed Reid as they walked down an alley. “I think I got the jest of it. Weasel’s dad was a hit that you chose not to go through with, but why? And how did you not follow instructions and live to tell about it? Or did you? Car accident?”
Reid kept his eyes peeled for Boss or anyone suspicious. “About three years ago, Boss gave me a name, told me the man was a traitor—” He rubbed his face. “When I got to his office parking garage, I was ready to pull the trigger. Until a kid, came out of no where and called to his dad. He’d seen me pull the gun. The guy and the kid both begged me to let him go. The kid told me he’d do anything if I let his dad live, that he wasn’t a bad man, he’d just made a mistake.
“According to protocol, I should have walked and just taken the guy out when his son wasn’t around, but instead I told the guy that he should leave and never come back. And no I didn’t kill him later. Not saying Boss didn’t find out and have someone else complete the task. But doubtful, since I didn’t get reprimanded. Anyway, Weasel owed me, I collected.”
Julianna kept walking without saying anything.
Reid paused. “Do you think I was wrong to let him go?”
She stared straight ahead.
“Or you think I was wrong to collect my favor from his son?”
She wasn’t anyone to judge. “I don’t know what is right or wrong anymore.”
He stopped walking. “Julianna, I never signed up to take a boy’s dad away, no matter what the guy may have done. And we needed Weasel to survive otherwise he would have never seen me again.”
That was the problem with killing… one never knew just how much they were really taking away from the world. Most times she forced herself not to think about the bigger picture. She turned to him. “How do you know that your other marks didn’t have a child, a wife? Someone that mourned their death?”
“I don’t. And neither do you. We did as we were told, for the greater good.”
He was right. How many times had they been told the greater good was all that mattered? She frowned and started walking again. He followed her. They got to the end of the street and turned the corner.
Julianna paused. “I don’t want to do this anymore. When I believed what I was doing was saving lives, it made it okay. Justifiable. That belief is crumbling, Reid.”
He took her hand. “I know, Jewels, I know.”
***
Reid peered through the rain-streaked glass of the hotel window. Ever since they’d gotten to Washington D.C. Jewels reverted into assassin mode. The change in her almost scared him. Maybe it was her way of coping. “If Agent Fuller is still in Washington D.C. we’ll make him tell us where Boss is.”
Julianna pulled her hair into a tight bun. “We are the best. Isn’t that what Boss always told us?”
He watched her slip into the provocative red dress. The fabric clung to her thighs and around her toned butt. Her favorite color complimented her well. They’d made a stop on the way to the hotel for the outfit. Julianna would get Fuller’s attention all right and Reid didn’t like it one bit. “I don’t really see the need for you to seduce the man.”
She applied red to her lips. “Because seducing is what I do or at least did. We go in there guns blazing, we’ll scare him off. We can’t kill him. We need him to talk.”
“Okay, but if he so much as lays a finger on you, I’m shooting him.”
Julianna grinned and kissed his cheek. “It’s kind of nice having a partner. Someone that has your back. I could get used to that.” In general, being an assassin was a job they’d done solo.
“I’m happy to hear you say that, because from now on, Jewels, I’ll always
have your back.”
She pressed her lips together and put her soft hand on his cheek, then turned to walk to the door. He shoved his gun into the waistband of his jeans and followed her. Fuller wouldn’t know what hit him. Then again, none of their targets ever did.
***
The exterior of the one-story brick building was aged. Trimmed boxwood shrubs flanked the entry. Reid held the wide door open for Julianna. She walked up to the secretary who was wearing a conservative blouse. The woman had a nose as sharp as a hawk and the look on her face was no nonsense. Maybe Reid would’ve been better for the job after all.
The secretary narrowed her eyes at Julianna. “Can I help you?”
Julianna pretended not to be intimidated by the woman. “I’m here to see Mr. Fuller.”
She flipped through an appointment book on her glass desk. “Did you have an appointment?”
“No, but Mr. Fuller is going to want to see me.” Julianna leaned in and whispered, “You wouldn’t want to disappoint your boss.”
The woman wasn’t buying what Julianna was trying to sell. “I’m sorry Mr. Fuller is booked. You’ll have to call and make an appointment.”
She stood firm. She’d been through a lot worse than this uptight secretary. “Tell Mr. Fuller I have very important information about Senator Grant.”
“Senator Grant?” The woman pressed her lips together and darted her eyes toward the office door. She picked up the phone. “Sir, there is a rather persistent woman here to see you without an appointment. She says she has information about a senator.” She nodded and hung up the phone. “He’ll see you.”
“Thank you.” Julianna went over to the black door and knocked. She took a deep breath. It had been a while. Reid had made her soft.
“It’s open,” he called through the door.
She turned the black handle and walked inside. A man in his fifties sat behind a glass desk. A little on the plump side and not very attractive. He had dirty blond hair parted to the left and a thick moustache. This would be a piece of cake.
“You have information do you?” He motioned for her to sit down in the black leather chair in front of the desk.
She sat down and crossed her legs, giving him a show as she did. “I do.”
He kept his eyes on her legs. “Well, let’s hear it. I have an appointment in thirty minutes.”
She stood up and walked over to him. She placed her hands firmly on his thick shoulders and massaged her fingers into this jacket. “You’re going to want to cancel that appointment.”
He looked up at her face and then at her chest. Sweat beaded on his forehead. “Oh, really?”
She swallowed back her disgust at the pervert as she walked back over to her chair and sat down. “I know you worked for Senator Grant.”
He shrugged. “I work for lots of senators.”
“Mmm, and I know you were keeping tabs on Boss. The head of ETE 7.”
He loosened his shirt collar with his sausage fingers and picked up the phone. “Marge, cancel the rest of today’s appointments and take off early.” His hands were slightly shaking as he hung up the receiver. “Are you one of them?”
“One of who?” She raised an eyebrow and smirked.
“ETE 7?”
“I’m going to be the one asking the questions. There is a sniper outside your window, so make sure you answer honestly, Mr. Fuller.” Only half a lie. Reid’s gun wasn’t as precise as a sniper rifle.
He nodded. “Senator Grant’s death wasn’t an accident was it?”
“Again, I’m asking the questions.”
He removed a hankie from his pocket and dabbed his forehead.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Agent Fuller. So please, be careful about how you answer. Why were you following Boss?”
He cleared his throat. “Senator Grant trusted no one. He wanted me to follow him and report anything I saw.”
“Did you ever see the members of ETE 7?”
“No, Boss was careful and very sneaky. The man has to be former military.” He took a drink from the coffee mug perched on his desk.
“So what did you report back to the senator? Surely he was paying you for something.”
“What I just told you. I suspect Boss knew I was following him for Grant, otherwise I would probably be dead.”
She studied his plump face. There was something he wasn’t telling her. “If Boss took out Senator Grant, why are you still alive?”
He removed a hankie from his pocket and dabbed his forehead. “I don’t know.”
“I need Boss’ location.”
His eyes darted to the window. “I need to get to my file cabinet.”
“Okay, go ahead.” Julianna motioned for him to get up.
He stood up and turned his back to her. The tall black file cabinet was in the corner of the room behind his desk.
Julianna removed the gun from the holder around her thigh. Fuller was acting too shifty for her liking. He slipped his hand behind the cabinet. Instinct took over and before he could turn around, she pulled the trigger. A gun fell from his hand. Blood and brain matter covered the back wall creating a big mess. Her hands trembled and her mouth went dry. She hated messes. Seconds later, Reid was behind her.
“He was going to shoot me.” She turned into Reid’s arms. Her tears wet his shirt.
“Shhh, it’s okay.” He hugged her tight, then pulled her out at arms length. “We need to clean this up and get out of here.”
“I’m not used to killing this way. It’s too real. Too gruesome.” Her stomach felt leaded and her chest ached. She wasn’t the same. Meeting Reid changed her. She looked at life and even death differently now.
Reid squeezed her shoulders. He took a couple of latex gloves out of his pocket and handed her a pair. “Go get Boss’ file and anything to do with ETE 7.”
She swallowed and nodded. Like a programmed robot she did as Reid said.
After a few minutes of searching she found the files she was looking for. Reid trashed the place. He overturned chairs and ripped the cushions with his knife. When the place looked enough like a robbery gone bad, Reid told Julianna to shoot up the computer’s hard drive. Reid walked over and grabbed a couple dozen files to make the file they took undetectable, then overturned the metal file cabinet. He checked for security cameras and found none.
“Let’s go.”
Julianna followed him out. Reid had taken care of everything. Taken care of her. If he hadn’t been there. Her hands shook. She was losing it, losing her control. Before they headed back to the hotel Reid stopped in a deserted parking lot and set the unwanted files on fire. She watched the random files of who knows what go up in smoke. When there was nothing left but ash, he put out the fire.
***
Reid was worried about Julianna. She hadn’t said a word, since they’d left Fuller’s office. She just sat there on the bed with a blank look plastered on her face. He convinced himself that she’d be okay. They were both survivors. As much as he wanted to read the files on Boss, it would only be a matter of time before Fuller was discovered. They needed to get out of D.C. Yesterday.
Reid nudged Julianna’s leg. “Are you okay?”
She stood up, the blank gaze still on her face.
He placed his hand over hers. It was ice cold.
“Why do I feel like I’m the enemy?”
He kissed her hand, letting his lips linger. “You’re not. I promise.”
Chapter 13
Julianna sipped the hot liquid, letting it trickle down her throat. She was happy to be back in Baltimore at their little apartment over Chopstick Kitchen. The place comforted her. When she was there, she didn’t even miss her luxurious apartment. She felt close to Reid inside the little space they had created together, even though she didn’t remember how it had felt when they painted the walls, how excited she must have been furnishing it and how complete she must have felt making love to her fiancé in their clandestine place for the very first time.
Reid ref
illed his coffee and smiled. “Feeling better?” Wearing only black sweat pants, the man looked hotter than the steam coming up from his mug.
“Yes.” She paused to take another therapeutic sip. “Sorry I kind of lost it back in D.C.”
“That’s okay. You’re only human.”
Julianna nodded as she glanced over to the papers spread out on the counter. “I’m disappointed there wasn’t more information in the files.”
He shuffled through the documents again. “Yeah, me too. But we have a few more locations we can try. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find Boss at one.”
She placed her empty mug in the sink and turned to him. “I guess the only way we’re going to get all the answers we want, is going to have to be from Boss himself.”
Reid walked over to her. His finger glided over her cheek causing her eyes to close. His touch calmed her more than sweets ever had. “I promise we will find him, because until we do, we can’t go on with our lives and that is not acceptable.”
She opened her eyes to look into his. She believed him. “When you look at me that way, I wish I could remember.” She swallowed. “Why can’t I remember, Reid?”
His muscular arms wrapped around her. She pressed her ear against his smooth hard chest and listened to his steady heartbeat, the rhythmic sound almost putting her into a trance. She could easily fall asleep, standing there in his embrace.
“Living life as a weapon, as an assassin can get dark… even if you are killing for good. We were each other’s light in the dark, Julianna. That is all you need to remember.” He picked her up and carried her over to the sofa bed. Without taking his eyes from her, he grabbed the protection he’d picked up at the gas station. She let her silk robe fall open as he climbed on top of her. His kisses were a mixture of sweetness and raw desire. She dug her heals into his thighs bringing him deeper into her body and her heart.
When they woke up an hour later, they went down to the restaurant to eat. Julianna took her last bite of sweet and sour chicken. “That was delicious.”
“It was. You know, us eating here… it almost feels like old times, normal.”
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