by Marie Astor
“Oh no? And who’s to blame for it, Marion, if not me? I’m the one who slept with her to get her to spy on Asafo Abarca, Venezuela’s largest oil tycoon. I’m the one responsible for her death. She wasn’t a bad girl, Marion. She was so young, only twenty. Sure, she was vain and a bit of a bimbo and she liked nice things, but that hardly qualifies as a crime. And it most certainly does not sanction death.”
“No, it doesn’t, but the results we achieved certainly sanctions it. I believe in sacrificing one for the good of many.”
“I don’t. Now if you’re through, I need to head back to Connecticut. I need to start working on training modules.”
“I don’t think so, Jake. As of next week you’re being transferred back to field duty.”
“Says who?”
“Says me.”
“But I wasn’t informed.”
“You’re being informed now. Of course should you choose not to accept your reassignment, your employment with the agency will be terminated.”
“You wicked old—”
“Temper, Jakie, temper.” Marion smiled victoriously. “You might reconsider once you hear about the assignment I have planned for you. One of the new recruits, Allyson Roberts, I want to try her out in the field and I want you to partner with her. I think she’s got the skills for the job, but just in case not you’re going to be the safety net.”
It took all of Jake’s self-control to maintain composure under Marion’s cold stare. Had he been that obvious that rumors of his tender spot for Ally reached Marion, or was it just a stroke of bad luck? Safety net—he was the opposite of what the expression stood for. “I can’t, Marion. Don’t make me do this. There are plenty of agents who are more qualified than I am.”
“So are you choosing to resign?” She pushed the paperwork across the table. “You haven’t been with us long enough to receive a full pension, but you’d be able to get by on the reduced payout,” she added dryly.
So this was the thanks he was getting after all those years of bending his morals and sacrificing his principles until he no longer knew right from wrong, as long as it provided him with the means to successfully complete his assignments. Now he was being kicked out the door like an old, useless dog. He contemplated signing the papers; after all, there was nothing tying him to the agency anymore. He didn’t have to prove himself to anyone anymore. He could collect his reduced pension and head out to Calgary and work for his uncle, like he’d planned to what now felt like an eternity ago. Or he could while away his days at some remote spot in upstate New York or Wyoming or Arizona or wherever suited his fancy. He reached for the pen. It’d be so easy to just walk away. There was just one problem: no matter how far away he went, his inner demons would always be with him. In a way, choosing to work as an instructor had been his penance; he fancied that if he proved himself useful again it would redeem his failure, his sin. And now Marion was threatening to take that away from him.
“She’s really a very bright girl,” Marion said. “Her technical skills were excellent to begin with and the training had little to improve there, but she also showed promising results in the behavioral section of the training and did surprisingly well in the sex ed class. All in all I think she could be a very good field agent.”
At the mention of sex ed, Jake felt his throat go dry. Of course he knew that it was part of the program. He taught that part of the training for the male recruits himself—his past escapades having provided him with an ample knowledge base. But he refused to think of it in connection with Ally. He still remembered the look of shock on her face when she collided with him right after the first sex ed class. She must’ve been so embarrassed that she wasn’t even looking where she was going. She had dropped her bag and he had picked it up mechanically, wishing he hadn’t seen the two plastic dildos sticking out of it. He’d seen the curriculum from Instructor Burton’s class and the mere possibility of Ally using these “skills” on an assignment sent his blood boiling. How dare they corrupt this young, innocent girl? She was way too good for this. The agency would chew her up and spit her out until there was nothing left of the Ally who caught his eye on the first day of training. But maybe if he stayed, he could find a way to protect her. He placed the pen on the desk. “Have it your way, Marion. I accept the assignment.”
She rubbed her hands together, looking like a cat that had just swallowed a canary. “Excellent. You won’t regret this, Jake. Just wait till you hear the details.”
Chapter 17
Ally stared at the phone on her desk. It had been two days since she’d seen Doug about running the tests on the spare parts from the Pollux plant, and she hadn’t heard from him since. It was so tempting to pick up the phone and check up on him, but she resisted the urge. She hadn’t known Doug for long, but she knew that he was finicky and fiercely territorial about having his ‘creative freedom.’ While most people wouldn’t describe being stuck in a lab with nothing more for company than test tubes and research equipment as creative, Doug likened his work to that of an artist creating a painting or a sculpture, so Ally thought it best not to disturb him lest his brush or chisel might slip. Still she worried. What if Doug got caught doing her a favor? A myriad of possibilities stormed through her mind as she sat there, trying to look busy and worry-free.
When the phone on her desk rang, she literally jumped up in her chair. She looked at the caller ID screen and thought she was going to have a heart attack at the sight of Marion Phillips’ name on the screen. Marion usually communicated with everyone through her assistant, so why on earth would she be calling Ally directly?
Her hand trembling, Ally picked up the phone. “Allyson Roberts speaking,” she said calmly.
“Ally, how are you? This is Marion Phillips.” Marion continued without pausing for Ally to answer her question. “Would you mind stopping by my office for a few minutes?”
Ally gulped. Of course not. How could anyone at the agency ever object to Marion Phillips’ will? “I will be right there,” she replied.
“Wonderful.” The line went dead.
Ally rose from her desk. She smoothed her skirt, put on her suit jacket, and grabbed a notepad.
Just be calm, she told herself as she hurried down the hall. You don’t know what she wants, so there’s no reason to get all worked up. Not yet at any rate.
When she reached Marion’s office, Ally saw that the door was already open. She was about to knock on the door for formality’s sake, but Marion saw her and waved her in.
“Come in, Ally, come in,” Marion greeted her. “Please, sit down and close the door.”
Ally did as she was told and waited for what was to come next.
“We haven’t had a chance to catch up since the training,” Marion said. “I make it a point to keep a close eye on all new recruits, but it’s been very busy here, so my apologies. I didn’t mean to make you feel neglected.”
Ally forced herself not to squirm under Marion’s piercing gaze. “I’ve had nothing but great experiences so far,” Ally assured her. “I’m learning the ropes and hope to be useful to the agency.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it. I received very positive reports from your instructors and your line supervisor, and I think you’re ready for an assignment.”
Ally felt a tremendous weight lift off her shoulders. So this was about an assignment, not about her being discovered abusing her work powers. Good. She could handle an assignment.
“Now, the nature of this assignment may seem personal to you, and if you have any doubts about your ability to complete it, I want you to be completely honest with me.”
“Of course.”
“The target is Blaine Platt, the CEO of Infinity Capital.”
“I know who Blaine Platt is,” Ally replied solemnly.
“I thought so. And do you think you’re capable of undertaking an assignment that would require you getting close to him?”
“There’s nothing I’d like more,” Ally said quietly.
“I
didn’t ask if you’d like it. I asked if you’re capable of successfully completing the assignment.”
“Yes, ma’am. I am.”
“Good.” Marion nodded. “I think so too. You’re not going to disappoint me, Ally, are you?”
“Not in a million years.”
“Good. Now listen up. Blaine Platt is a man of extraordinary wealth and power. He was born into money, but he built an industrial empire that allowed him to multiply his net worth several times over. He has more money in his bank than the GDP of a small country. Now I have nothing against entrepreneurial spirit, but some people let their money go to their heads. They start thinking they can play God and run the world. Not on our watch. We want you to get close to Platt. We have a suspicion that he may be conspiring in a scheme to target major players that service energy producing plants, such as Roberts Enterprises used to be,” Marion added.
Ally’s eyes blazed. “Do you think he was the one who destroyed my father’s company?” Blaine Platt had been her father’s most vicious competitor. After Roberts Enterprises was declared bankrupt, Blaine Platt was called a savior when he scooped up Roberts Enterprises’ facilities and patents for mere peanuts. Although she had no proof to base it on, Ally felt it in her gut that Platt was connected to her father’s demise. She had voiced her suspicions to her father’s lawyers, but they had merely dismissed her words as the babblings of a grieving daughter. Now she was being given a chance to get close to Platt. It was all she could ask for.
“It’s possible. But it’s also possible that we’re mistaken and Platt is completely innocent. You’re a smart girl, Ally, and you must realize that I thoroughly vetted your file before I accepted you into the program. Most would say that you’re too green to be given this assignment, but I say that your instincts and your thirst for revenge are just what we need.”
Ally felt completely naked under Marion’s amused stare. Were even her thoughts no longer private?
“Don’t look so alarmed, Ally. I’m no mind reader, and it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out your motives. You want revenge and I don’t blame you. Your father was an important member of the business community. The loss of his life and the loss of his company were most unfortunate. But even more unfortunate was the incident with Pollux plants—the scale was too large and I don’t want to see anything like that happen again. We’ve been running an independent investigation into this matter and so far we don’t have much to go on. I think Platt may be the key we need to get answers. Your partner will give you more information on the case.”
“My partner?”
“You’ve got great potential, but you’re way too inexperienced to be assigned a case like this on your own. Jake Morrissey will be your partner on this case.”
“Instructor Morrissey?”
“It’s Agent Morrissey now—he’s been reassigned. But I’m sure he won’t mind if you call him Jake. He’s never been one for formalities.” Marion smiled. “One more disclosure, Ally, before you accept this assignment. I’d like to make sure that you understand that this assignment may require use of untraditional methods in order to successfully complete it. The right agent for the job will need to have an open mind.”
Ally nodded. She was willing to go to the ends of the earth to find the bastards who ruined her father. “I’ll do anything it takes, Marion.”
“Good. In that case I’ll tell Rebecca Burton to give you a call.”
“Rebecca Burton?”
“You remember her from the training? She works with the agency as an instructor and consultant for these special situations,” Marion added.
Ally’s eyes widened. “Do you mean that I’ll have to use what we learned in the sex ed class on Blaine Platt?”
“I thought you were going to keep an open mind about this.”
“Not a problem. Whatever it takes,” Ally assured her. She wanted this assignment more than anything and she was going to get it, whatever it took.
“Good. We’ll have to move quickly. There’s a charity ball in two weeks that Platt is a major contributor to. He’s very finicky about events he attends, but we have it on good authority that he’s going to be present at this one. I wish we had more time to prepare, but we just got this information. You’ll attend the event with Jake Morrissey. Your task will be to get close to Platt. Here are some basic details on Platt.” Marion handed her a folder. “Jake will brief you on the rest of the plan.”
Great, Ally thought as she left Marion’s office. She didn’t know which part was worse—the prospect of having to seduce Blaine Platt to get information out of him or having to do it with Jake Morrissey watching her.
***
After leaving Marion’s office, Ally locked the Platt folder in her desk and headed straight for the part of the building where the lab was located. Now that she was being officially assigned to trail Platt, she had a reason to justify testing Pollux’s equipment. Knowing what a worrywart Doug was, she knew he’d be happy to hear the news.
She spotted Doug through the glass wall of the lab, seated at his desk, studiously poring over yet another set of reports.
“Any news?” she asked hopefully.
Doug swung around on his chair and stared back at her. “You must have psychic powers. I was just going to call you. I’m finally finished with all the tests and I think you’ll be interested to see what I found.”
“Let’s hear it.”
Doug unlocked one of his desk drawers and pulled out a folder. “I started with the x- rays,” he began. “At first everything was looking legit,” he added, placing the x-ray images on the desk. “But then I tested the chip,” he added, placing another image on the desk.
“Seems to be no different from the rest of the images.”
“Exactly. This is a radiation hardened chip, by the way,” he added, clearly pleased with himself.
“The x-ray should’ve never gotten through the outer coating!” Ally exclaimed.
“That’s right. This perfectly clear image got me thinking that the coating had to be deficient. I ran spectrographic analysis and found that the alloy used was subpar. This chip was not manufactured to withstand the levels of radiation it would be subjected to.”
“So do you think it was a one-off mistake?”
“These are manufactured in batches, so I’m pretty sure that all the chips from this production batch would have had the same problem.”
“And since the specs for these components are standardized, my guess is that someone deliberately deviated from the spec.”
“Possibly. Or it could be human error that caused the deviation,” Doug pointed out.
Ally shook her head. It was hard to believe that a mistake of such magnitude had been caused by pure negligence. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this,” she muttered.
“Unless you test all the remaining chips from the Pollux plants, there’s no way to know for sure. Ally, you’re not going rogue, are you? You’ve got to report this to your supervisor.”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do. From now on it’s all going to be legit. I can’t tell you the details yet, but let’s just say that from now on any tests I’ll ask you to run will be part of an official assignment.”
When Ally got back to her desk she saw that the message light on her phone was blinking. She picked up the receiver and listened to the voicemail: “Hi Ally, this is Rebecca Burton. Marion told me to give you a call. Please call me back when you have a chance.”
Ally took a deep breath and dialed Rebecca’s extension. They agreed to meet the next day.
***
“Come on in, Ally,” Rebecca Burton welcomed Ally inside. Rebecca’s office looked more like a boudoir than a government office. The lighting was dimmed and instead of regular office furniture there was a plush loveseat and several plush armchairs. There was also a vanity table with an ottoman seat, and several poufs scattered throughout the room. Instead of plastic blinds the windows were draped with silk curtains. And then there w
as Rebecca Burton herself, who instead of a business suit was wearing a silk robe.
“Hello.” Ally took a deep breath. To say that this was weird would be an understatement of greatest proportions.
“Make yourself comfortable,” Rebecca said with a wide sweeping gesture.
“Thank you.” Ally took a seat on the loveseat.
“Would you like something to drink? Tea or coffee? Or perhaps something stronger?” Rebecca winked.
“Oh no, I’m fine,” Ally lied. The truth was that she was anything but fine. She was uncomfortable beyond belief, but she was going to suffer through this, come hell or high water.
“I’ll have an herbal tea,” Rebecca announced and disappeared behind a set of curtains that hung in the far end of the room and must’ve served as a partition to a kitchenette.
A few moments later Rebecca returned carrying two mugs. “Made you one as well,” she said, placing the cup in front of Ally. “In case you change your mind.”
“Thank you.” Ally reached for the cup not out of thirst but to have something to occupy her hands. A calming scent touched her nostrils as she took a sip of the soothing liquid. “Mmm, this is nice,” she said, almost forgetting her embarrassment.
“I’m glad you like it.” Rebecca smiled, sipping her tea. “So tell me about this man you’re supposed to charm.” Rebecca smiled, wrapping her fingers around the cup.