Tangled Mark

by Becky Harmon

  Sandra stood as Nikki approached. “Hey, Mom.” Nikki kissed her on the cheek.

  “Iced tea?” Sandra asked, stepping into the house with the dogs on her heels.

  “Yes, thank you. Please don’t give them human food,” Nikki called to her mother’s disappearing back. She bent down and kissed her dad on the cheek. “How’s retirement?”

  He rolled his eyes. “How’s your job?”

  Nikki laughed. She was traveling so much in college that she told Bob and Sandra she worked as a flight attendant. That lie had stuck, and now it was easier than trying to explain a portion of the truth. “The job has been better.”

  “Well, retirement could be better too. Your mom doesn’t want me in the house all day and, honestly, I don’t have anywhere else to hide. I was thinking about building a workshop in the backyard.”

  “Sounds good.” She smiled at him. “With a television, of course.”

  “Of course.”

  Sandra stepped onto the porch. “I put the dogs in the backyard with some bones.” She handed Nikki a glass of iced tea. “The quiche needs about ten more minutes in the oven, but the salad is ready if you’re starving.”

  “No, I can wait, if you guys are okay.”

  “We slept a little late today so it was almost eight when we had breakfast,” Sandra explained.

  “If you can even call it breakfast,” Bob grumbled. “Half of a grapefruit and a piece of toast is not even a snack.”

  Sandra laughed. “I’m dieting and your father feels he is being punished.”

  “Why are you dieting, Mom?” Nikki looked at her mother closely. She was curvy, but Nikki would never refer to her as chunky.

  “Oh, I don’t know.” She smiled shyly.

  “Now, Sandy.” Bob looked his wife and then at Nikki. “That Sheila Andrews across the street made a comment and now your mother thinks she’s fat. It’s just crazy.” He shrugged. “Maybe you can talk some sense into her. She won’t listen to me.”

  “Sheila Andrews has always been a little chunky, plus she’s short. You are neither of those things.” Nikki reinforced her father’s argument.

  “You are both very kind, but those jeans I bought last fall barely button now. It has nothing to do with Sheila.” Sandra stood. “The quiche should be almost done now so let’s go inside.”

  Bob shrugged and gave Nikki a quick hug as they stood to follow Sandra into the house. “We tried.”

  Nikki hugged his waist and then held the door open for him to enter first. Though she enjoyed the comfortable banter her parents shared, she still didn’t believe that kind of happiness would ever be in her future. Her stomach gave a twinge as she thought of the walk yesterday with the no-name agent and how comfortable it had felt. Her reminiscing quickly turned ugly as she remembered the evasive answer she had received when she asked her name.

  The sound of a car door slamming pulled Nikki’s attention back to the street. “Unbelievable.” She mumbled under her breath as she took in the form in the faded jeans and button-down shirt leaning against the dark SUV parked behind her Ford. Even at a distance, Nikki could feel the dark eyes boring into her. She stepped into the house, allowing the screen door to slam behind her.

  “Please, don’t let the screen door slam, Nikki,” her mother called from the kitchen.

  “Yes, Mom,” Nikki automatically answered her mother as she stared across the street. She should have known she wouldn’t be able to lose her that easy.

  * * *

  Mel climbed back into the vehicle to wait. She knew from the file on the seat beside her that this was the home of Nicole’s foster parents, Bob and Sandra Tillman. Mel had read and reread every shred of information about Nicole, but there was no explanation on why she had never been adopted. She had lived with Bob and Sandra from age ten until she left for college.

  The blinking GPS tracker on Mel’s phone caught her eye and she turned the application off. Thank goodness for the technology that allowed her to track people via their cell phones. She could have called into the office at Parker Street and had the GPS device on Nicole’s car tracked, but her ego hated asking for assistance. Just calling in status checks annoyed Mel, and she felt bad for dumping that detail on Angela yesterday. The guilty feeling pushed at her until she dialed the phone.

  “Mel?”

  “Yes, I’m just checking in.”

  “It’s been a while since we heard from you,” Bowden said, stating the obvious.

  “Nothing to report.”

  “And where is she now.”

  Mel felt a moment of protectiveness toward Nicole’s personal life and hesitated before answering. “At her foster parents’ house.”

  “Okay. I understand Garrett covered the night shift last night.”

  “Yes.” She hoped Angela had cleared that before bringing Garrett in.

  “Make sure he comes in with you tomorrow for the debriefing.”

  “Will the surveillance continue after that?” Mel asked.

  “I’m not sure. Nothing has stirred up yet.” She paused for several seconds and Mel could hear her typing in the background. “That’s the problem with marks being agents, they don’t throw out the red flag for every event. When they all return to the office tomorrow and start talking, we’ll see what happens.”

  “Okay. See you in the morning.”

  * * *

  Sitting at the stoplight, Nikki studied the agent’s features in the rearview mirror. Unfortunately, she was exactly what Nikki looked for in a woman. Tall, dark and disturbingly handsome. Nikki couldn’t help but wonder if things would play out the same way if she went back to the bar again. She couldn’t stop herself from wanting to kiss her again. Her heart raced with the possibility.

  Nikki dialed Brad. “Can I stop by?” she asked as soon as he answered.

  “Sure.”

  “Meet me outside. I have the dogs in the car.”

  “You can bring them in.”

  “I’m not staying. I just need to run something by you.”

  “Okay, but pull in the driveway. My tail is still on the street.”

  “See you in ten.”

  Brad was waiting when she pulled into his driveway, and he handed her a can of soda when she climbed out. “So what’s up?”

  Nikki took her time opening the can. Now that she was here, she wasn’t sure she wanted to ask his opinion. She knew what he would say. She was making this personal and neither of them had any idea who this woman was.

  “Nikki?”

  “I talked with her yesterday.” Nikki took a sip of the cold soda.

  Brad frowned. “Your tail?”

  “Yep.”

  “And?”

  Nikki looked at the two dark SUVs parked across the street and then back at Brad. She leaned against the car, turning her back to the agents. “She implied someone in our organization is dirty.”

  “That doesn’t explain why they’re the ones investigating it or us.”

  “No, but they showed up at Flagler before I left Thursday night. Josh said their snitch was killed after we left the party.”

  Brad turned his back to the agents and leaned against the car beside her. “Wow. Interesting.”

  “She asked me if things were off on any missions.”

  Brad frowned again. “What did you tell her?”

  “Nothing. Have you made contact with your tail?”

  “I wave at him as I come in and out.”

  Nikki laughed. “Does he wave back?”

  “No, just the customary CIA asshole nod.” Brad imitated the stone-faced head bob before he continued. “What I don’t understand is the blatant in-your-face surveillance.”

  “Unless it’s not really us they are trying to put pressure on.”

  Brad nodded. “Josh?”

  “Maybe.”

  “He hasn’t returned my call, by the way.” Brad looked back at the surveillance vehicles. “Wait a minute.” He turned completely around, staring directly at them. “Is that the same woma
n we saw at the airfield?”

  Nikki grinned. “The one and only.”

  “Damn. She was hot.”

  “Yes, I felt the same way when she was sticking her tongue down my throat the other night.”

  Brad laughed and then his face grew serious as he stared at her. “You’re not kidding?”

  “No.” Nikki took another drink of her soda. “She followed me to the bar Friday night.”

  “Holy crap! That’s above and beyond the call of duty.”

  Nikki laughed.

  “Don’t hold back. Tell all.”

  “I came home and she sat outside in her car. End of story.” Well, not completely, she thought.

  “But you made out with her at the bar?”

  Nikki shrugged. “It wasn’t my idea. It happened really fast and then we were interrupted. I left before anything else could happen.”

  “So she was trying to seduce you?”

  “Yes…no.” Nikki laughed. “It’s not like I resisted.”

  “And you would do it again?”

  “In a heartbeat.” Nikki turned to stare at the vehicle behind them and sighed. “Which is why I am going home now.”

  “Good idea.” Brad smiled. “We’ll hash this all out tomorrow with the team.”

  Nikki smiled back at him before climbing into her car. Brad always had a way of making her feel better.

  Chapter Twelve

  Mel arrived outside Nicole’s house on Monday morning while it was still dark. Garrett had no information to pass on so she sent him home to sleep for a couple hours before the debriefing. She used the quiet morning hours to type her notes for the last couple of days into the laptop. She entered only the facts, leaving out any specific personal details. After wrapping up her notes, she drove to the nearby coffee shop. She picked up two large cups of black coffee before returning to her spot outside Nicole’s house.

  She picked up her cell phone and punched in the number her fingers had been itching to dial.

  “Mitchell,” Mel said seductively, using Nicole’s last name when she answered.

  Nicole’s breath caught and Mel wasn’t sure if she was shocked or pleased to hear from her. “Now what?” Nicole asked arrogantly.

  “What kind of reception is that?” Mel asked with a hint of laughter in her voice. “I have coffee. Want to let me in?”

  “No,” Nicole said too quickly.

  Now Mel laughed openly. “I thought we were becoming friends, Mitchell.”

  “Friends? Really?” Nicole couldn’t help but laugh too. “I’ll be out in five. Keep my coffee warm.”

  Not for the first time, Mel wished she had met Nicole in a different situation. She liked the sound of her laughter and longed to hear it again.

  A few minutes later the garage door opened and Nicole’s SUV backed out. She didn’t stop at the end of her driveway, but backed into the street and lined up her driver’s window with Mel’s window.

  Mel passed a cup through the window. “We could be friends,” Mel said with a smile.

  Nicole tilted her head, as if in thought. “No, I think I know all of my friends’ names.” She smiled as Mel laughed. “Thanks for the coffee.”

  “To the office now?” Mel asked.

  Nicole laughed. “I’m not going to make your job easier.” Nicole dropped the SUV into gear and hit the button to close the window. “Try to keep up.”

  Mel spun the SUV into a U-turn and gunned the engine. At the first intersection, she went right instead of left to follow Nicole. She had enough time to enjoy breakfast before her meeting at Parker Street.

  * * *

  Nikki saw the dark SUV turn right instead of left and frowned. For the next several blocks she scanned the vehicles behind her to see if she had a new tail. Traffic thinned as she approached the dead-end road to Flagler and she was confident there was no one following her.

  She pulled to a stop at the security gate, and the uniformed officer gave her a wave as she swiped her access badge. The gate arm lifted, allowing her to enter the secure facility. She circled in front of the Flagler building before choosing a parking spot in the first row. Flagler was a popular name in Florida, dating back for centuries. When she first came to work here, she was told that the building had been used by soldiers in the 1800s. As she approached the stucco wall that surrounded the one-story building made of the same material, she glanced through the archway into the courtyard. With its arched windows and clay-tile roof, she always felt the Spanish-style building held as much history as the name Flagler.

  At the heavy wooden front door, she swiped her badge again and was walking the empty halls before her shift started. She smiled to herself as she refilled her empty coffee cup in the break room. The coffee had been a pleasant surprise this morning, but now it reminded her again of her irritation at not knowing this woman’s name. She looked at the hard plastic coffee cup with the local store’s logo on it and then at her watch. She quickly dumped her fresh coffee into a Styrofoam cup and bolted from the room. Five minutes later, she exited the lab and jogged down the hall to the receiving department to join her team in unpacking their container from the last mission. The lab would have fingerprint results for her by noon; she couldn’t help smiling again.

  “Nice of you to join us, Mitchell.” Mike harassed her as soon as she opened the door.

  “Did you have trouble losing your tail?” Brad asked.

  Nikki frowned. “I don’t think she followed me this morning. If she did, I didn’t see her.”

  Jewels put down her rucksack and looked at Nikki. “Are you being followed too?”

  “I think we all are.” Tyler jumped to his feet to address the group. “I’ve already talked with Josh this morning and he said he would be in shortly. When we finish here, I want everyone to write this up. Something is not right and we need to have it all documented.”

  “The CIA has never intruded into Flagler like this before, have they?” Nikki asked.

  Tyler shrugged. “Not that I’m aware of. That’s why I want to make sure we keep a record of everything.”

  Everyone nodded and then went back to unpacking. Josh arrived about an hour later.

  “Okay, here’s what I know,” Josh began as soon as he entered the room. “The individual that made the package exchange was killed about an hour after we cleared the scene. Our only guess is the CIA thinks we were involved.”

  Josh held up his hand to silence the mass grumbling and continued. “We have produced all of our voice transmissions and flight paperwork to prove we were out of the area before it went down. Lewis and I compiled all of your after-action reviews and have already briefed Mr. Flagler. He has all the details and I am confident he will make this—and them—go away.”

  “It sounds to me like the CIA has a leak,” Mike said.

  Josh nodded his agreement. “I think so too.” He waved his arm around the equipment-strewn room. “Finish up here and then go to lunch. Be in the conference room at thirteen hundred hours.”

  Everyone nodded and went back to work. Nikki listened to the conversations around her as everyone complained and told their stories of being followed. She gave Brad a look to let him know she didn’t intend to share. She carefully cleaned and repaired her personal equipment so it would be ready for the next mission or practice exercise, whichever came first. She completely agreed with Flagler that the way they trained would be how they would perform in the field. There were no shortcuts.

  All equipment was cleaned and stored with an hour and a half to spare until they needed to be in the conference room. The team gathered around their personal lockers.

  Brad slammed his locker shut and looked at Nikki. “Mexican?”

  “Sure.” She nodded but lowered her voice. “I need to make a stop first.”

  Brad raised his eyebrows. “I’ll follow.” Turning to the rest of the team, he said, “We’ll meet you at the restaurant.”

  Nikki headed for the lab with Brad giving her questioning looks. The analysis technician
handed her a printout when she walked into the room. She quickly folded it and stuffed it in her pocket.

  “What’s that?” Brad asked.

  “I’ll tell you when we get in the car.”

  Nikki had barely slid into the seat when Brad turned to her. “Spill it.”

  “Just drive and I’ll tell you on the way.”

  She waited until Brad put the car in gear before she pulled the paper from her pocket. Brad watched her and the road while she read.

  Nikki absorbed the information. Melissa Jean Carter. Height 5’9.” Weight 165. Hair brown. Eyes brown. University of Tennessee Bachelor of Science, Criminal Justice. US Army Military Intelligence, current employment classified.

  Nikki waved the piece of paper at Brad. “She brought me coffee this morning and I had the cup printed.”

  “What?” Brad laughed.

  “I have talked with her several times over the last couple of days, and every time I asked her name she would avoid the question. I was starting to get annoyed. I wanted to know who she was.” Nikki stared at the black-and-white photo on the sheet in her hands.

  “So, what’s it say?” Brad asked.

  “Absolutely nothing on her employment. Classified. But at least now I know her name.”

  Nikki folded the paper and stuck it back into her pocket as they crossed the parking lot to the restaurant. She couldn’t wait to see Melissa again. She wondered if her friends called her “Mitzy” or maybe “Jean.” She wasn’t sure either name fit. “Carter,” though, that stuck in Nikki’s mind. She repeated it over and over in her head until Brad nudged her to follow the rest of the team to their table.

  * * *

  Mel arrived at Parker Street with a full stomach and her second cup of coffee. She squeezed her SUV into a corner space and took the elevator to the briefing room.

  “Hello, Melissa.” Joey motioned to the chair beside him.

  Mel smiled. For once his use of her full name didn’t bother her. “Hello, Joseph.” Mel earned herself a frown from Joey as she took a seat beside him.

  “Hey, Mel.” Liam leaned around Joey to see her.