I dropped my fork and leaned into the back of my chair. “Congrats, Sherlock. No, I didn't pick it out. Look at you, solving mysteries and shit.”
John cleared his throat. “Jeanine,” he pressed in a reprimanding voice.
“What?” I snapped. “He's being rude.”
“No he's not,” John argued. “You're just being defensive for no reason.”
My eyes widened in exasperation. “Okay, you know what, fine. He's not being rude? Okay then.” I pointed at Liam. “Continue then. Tell us your hypothesis about my blonde hair.”
“What hypothesis?” John asked.
I raised an eyebrow at him, holding up a finger to silence him. “Oh, trust me, John. There definitely is a hypothesis.”
Liam folded his arms. “John picked it out, didn't he?” His voice was as fast as lightning.
“Yeah, what's it to you?” I shot back.
“It's against signature you.”
“Yeah, well a girl has to make sacrifices, doesn't she?”
“There are other colors that would have worked.”
“Yeah, what's you point?”
He shrugged. “I don't know, it just reminds me of—” He paused.
“Of what?” I demanded.
He shot a fleeting glance at John before responding, “John's girlfriend.”
A chill shot up my spine at those words. My heart thudded to a stop in surprise and hurt. The events of this morning washed over me like a blur as I realized that this was always a possibility, I was just too love struck and stupid to acknowledge it. With trembling fingers, I placed the mug I had been holding back down on the dining table and proceeded to glower at John. “What?” I snapped.
Liam just nodded. “Yep. She's a pretty little blonde girl. Owns a boutique she inherited from her parents and performs every once in a while because 'it makes her feel alive'.”
“You checked up on me?” John demanded, his face turning red in embarrassment.
“You have a girlfriend?” I countered.
He rolled his eyes. “Jeanine. It really is nothing. We aren't working out anyway. Your boy here must be really bad at his job, considering the fact that he conveniently missed the teeny bit of information that we broke up last week.”
Liam shrugged. “Not what she said.”
“And I'm sure she'll get her own version of that bit about it not working out between us, and it's nothing, once she finds out,” I retorted.
John leaned toward me. “No, she really won't. Jeanine, wait what? Finds out? Are you going to talk to her?” he demanded.
“I for one, think that would actually be a pretty good idea,” Liam chimed in.
“Oh will you shut the fuck up?” I snapped.
Liam put both of his hands up, palms facing me, as a sign of defense. “Fine.”
“Who is this woman?” I hissed at John.
John sighed, pressing his back against the chair. “No one, she's just—”
“Stop.” I held my hand up at him. “I'm pretty sure she wouldn't much like you referring to her as 'no one'”.
He just rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well she didn't much like us breaking up and me moving out but here I am.”
“You lived with her?” I squeaked.
He nodded.
“And you just didn't think to mention it at all?” I demanded.
His eyes widened at this. “Well, you didn't think to tell me anything about this guy,” he replied, jabbing his pointer finger at Liam.
“What are you talking about?” I demanded.
“Oh come on, it's obvious.”
“What's obvious?” I snapped.
“The sexual tension between the two of you in my foyer last night was so obnoxiously obvious that I could almost feel it.”
Liam scoffed. “Yeah, I doubt it was our sexual tension you were feeling.”
“Seriously, it's like the two of you have some sort of common wavelength you communicate on that no one else can tap.”
“Well, we lived together,” I commented.
John dropped his fork. “Yeah, and the truth comes out.”
I rolled my eyes. “Honestly, John, I don't understand what the point of any of this is.”
Liam chimed in, “Yeah, I mean, I’m sure you and Marge are done for good, even if she doesn't quite know it yet.”
“John, what exactly is going on?” I demanded.
He sighed, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table in front of him. “Look, I met her about four years ago—”
“Y'all were together for four years?” I demanded.
“Yes, and—”
“Four years doesn't seem like nothing,” Liam murmured.
John glared at Liam, and then continued, “After a while, we just stopped chiming together, you know?”
“No, I really don't.” I shook my head.
“Okay, well one night we got into a really bad fight, so I left the house to cool off. Then I saw in a newspaper headline that you had been arrested, so I came back to the house as soon as I could to explain the situation to Marge, but she wasn't home. I couldn't waste anymore time so I just packed up my things and left.”
“You just ditched your girlfriend of four years?” I demanded.
“To come and find you!” he cried defensively.
“I know, but you could have at least said goodbye or something like that,” I replied.
“I didn't know it was goodbye at the time. I had a lot of time to think about it when I was away, and that's when I decided it was over.”
“Was this before or after you realized that you were devoted to me?” I mocked in a dry voice.
“I knew it,” Liam whispered to himself.
“Shut up, Liam,” I groaned.
“Before,” John answered.
I nodded. “So you're rebounding.”
John ducked his head in disbelief. “What the fuck, Jeanine? That doesn't even make any sense. I've been in love with you for years. That's not even—”
“Okay. I've had enough of this. There are more important things to worry about right now.”
I turned my gaze on Liam, raising an eyebrow. “Really, Liam? You started it.”
He shrugged. “I was just curious.”
“Right,” I muttered.
“Jeanine.” John extended his hand out to me.
I stared at his worried face. “Look I believe you. I just feel sorry for Marge. I can only imagine what that must feel like.”
“Oh, so you're all compassionate now?” Liam retorted.
I rolled my eyes. “Oh my God. Can we please move on to more important things?”
Liam just shrugged. “Fine.”
***
Chapter Three
The three of us sat in John's sun room overlooking the garden that took up almost half of his backyard. The sun didn't come out this morning, so we were experiencing an overcast and uncharacteristically cool day. I sighed, reaching both of my arms back so that I could draw my hair into a ponytail. Once that was accomplished, I tilted my head to either side in order to stretch out my neck. I was still not completely used to the short length of my hair.
Liam took out a pack of cigarettes, pulled one of them out and passed it to me. I grinned in gratitude, then snatched one out of the pack and placed it on the table.
“When did you start smoking?” John demanded.
I took the lighter from Liam, lit the cig and then placed that on the table next to the pack. “Does it matter?” I countered.
Liam just averted his gaze.
I sighed as the smoke entered my lungs, allowing myself a moment to stop thinking about anything. I stared out past the screened window to the garden beyond, taking in every rose, every bush, every blade of grass and every meticulously placed cobblestone. I cocked my head to one side, having not realized how beautiful this all was. Well, maybe I once knew it was beautiful and had just forgotten somewhere along the line.
Liam took a particularly aggressive swig of his cigarette, then
exhaled. “Alright, Jeanine. Are you ready?”
“If by ready, you mean prepared to listen to you struggle to come up with a justification for leaving me in a state prison all by myself, then yes. I'm more than ready. In fact, I have been waiting for this moment for the better part of the last five months.”
Liam just ignored my comment. “Okay well here goes.”
“How'd you break out of prison?” I demanded.
He raised an eyebrow at me. “You're eager.”
“Well, yeah. I mean I've been thinking about it on and off since it happened and I just can't knock how you did this without any outside help.”
A triumphant smile spread across his face. “Yeah, that's you trying to justify to yourself how I managed to do something you couldn't manage.”
“Oh come on, it's not even about the competition.”
“Oh, it's not?” Liam asked sarcastically.
I chuckled. “Oh my God, Liam. Just tell me what happened.”
“Okay well, when I moved in to my cell, there happened to be a hole near the ground in front of my bed. I thought it was a little odd, so obviously my first assumption was that it was the government's doing and there must be something in the hole for me.”
“Right,” I replied, tipping some of the ash from my cigarette onto the concrete.
“So I glanced in it the first time and found nothing.”
“Obviously.”
“But two nights later, I saw my cellmate stick something in there right before he went to sleep. So, the next morning, I go up before him and went to check what it was and saw that he had left a straightened paper clip. So I waited for a few days, and observed everything while still waiting to hear anything from the government. But that's when I realized something—”
“That they weren't coming,” I interjected.
“Right. But think about it. Our information was intercepted on a mission. Whoever did that must have known more about the government than anyone should. And on top of that, we were framed. This whole thing is bigger than you or me. After all, why would anyone care what happens to two field operatives? Whoever framed us was trying to get back at the government, thus the best strategy for the government to handle this would be to wash their hands of us completely.”
“So that's when you decided it would be best to ditch,” I concluded.
He sighed. “Don't be so condescending, Cat.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. Sorry.”
“Why does he call you that?” John interrupted.
“Inside joke.” I waved him away.
He shrugged.
“Anyway,” Liam continued. “One morning, when I knew the guards would come for me, I pocketed the clip. I waited until the right moment, unlocked my handcuffs and killed both of them.”
“How?” I leaned in, eager to hear about his method.
A smile spread across his face as he answered my question. “Okay, well, I kicked the guy behind me—”
“In the balls?” I asked.
He nodded excitedly.
I giggled in amusement. “Nice.”
“Then I wrapped my handcuffs around the guy's neck who was stand in front of me, twisted him around and bashed his head into the first guy. Once he had strangled to death, I snatched his tranquilizer gun, shot the other guy and busted out of there.”
I nodded in approval and opened my mouth to say something but John cut in.
“You killed him?” his voice sounded light and airy.
Liam raised an eyebrow. “Ugh, yeah? That's kind of our job.”
John shot me a look I ignored.
“Okay, so what did you do once you got out?” I asked.
“I started looking for ways to help your case, since, from the looks of it, there was no way you were going to get out of there on your own, and I knew better than to even attempt to break you out of a prison. But then this guy showed up,” he pointed at John, “And made everything a lot easier.”
“I decided it made more sense to find out more information about what was happening with the government than just break you out without a plan. So I went searching on the Internet—”
“Underground?” I asked, referring to the alternate World Wide Web that served as an information archive for members of the government.
“Yeah and it took a while for me to connect the dots but eventually I found that someone had leaked that note I gave you last night. Once I had that, it got really easy to figure out what is going on.”
“Which is?” I pressed.
“The government has low key been aiding terrorist groups for years. But then MI6 caught on, so the government had to do something to cover their asses, so they arranged for two assassins to get rid of the single most prominent underground terrorist official.”
“And that was us,” I concluded.
“Right. And now, to get back at them, they have seized the British Prime minister and are threatening to kill him if the government doesn't cough up some fabricated evidence reversing the previous finding that that Saudi official we were meant to kill that night is indeed connected to terrorism.”
“Wait, but I thought the prime minister was already dead.”
Liam shook his head. “They only want everyone else to think that. If the terrorists get what they want, they hand him over and the government will look like massive heroes. If not, the exact opposite will happen.”
“So, how does this help us?” I asked.
He broke into excited laughter. “Jeanine, don't you get it? If we can prove that even part of this is true: we prove that the government exists and that we were real contracted assassins for the UN, which means our record is clear!”
I nodded. “So what do we do?”
“Well, we need whatever that Saudi official is planning to use to incriminate the government, and we need that prime minister.”
***
Chapter Four
There was a click as Liam placed the surveillance tape into John's laptop and pressed the CD receiver shut. I grabbed my glass and took a small sip of John's expensive red wine.
Liam glanced at me and smirked. “I see John is turning you into an alcoholic.”
I raised an eyebrow. The video sprouted onto the desk top, but I jammed on the pause button. “You know, your life would be a hell of a lot easier if you would stop blaming John for everything.”
“I don't know what you're talking about,” he snapped.
I took another swig of wine, then pressed the play button. “Fine. Let's watch this then.”
He scoffed. “I hope you're ready to get torn to pieces.”
I grunted as the image of myself came on the screen. It was a bird's eye posterior view of the hallway where Liam left me.
“Why do you constantly assume that you're so much better than me?” I demanded.
He just shrugged. “Let's watch this to find out.”
I gasped as the video version of me stood up and I caught a clear view of my own naked body. “Cover your eyes,” I hissed.
His eyes widened in exasperation. “Jeanine! We've had sex!”
“Yeah, well I am not aware of how I look while we are actively banging on the bed, so this is different.”
He shook his head in disappointment. “When did you get so damn self-conscious?”
“Oh, I don't know, when I got thrown into an asylum for being crazy,” I snapped.
He just laughed and returned his gaze to the screen. “Why'd you just dart behind that wall like that? That's so messy.”
I rolled my eyes, then glanced at the screen so that I could see what he was talking about. “I panicked, okay?”
He shook his head. “You wasted so much time, Jeanine.”
“Yeah, well I got out okay?” I countered.
He narrowed his eyes at me.
“What?” I demanded.
“I can't figure whether I like foxy, reckless Cat, or this new classy, wine drinking, safe Jeanine better.”
I instinctively opened my mouth,
expecting some natural come back to sprout out, but nothing came. I just stared at him, confused by what he said. I considered myself a lot of things since I spent my time in prison and at the hospital, but the least of which was changed. Was I changed?
“Whatever, Liam. I don't even know why we're watching this anyway.”
He pursed his lips. “Well, isn't it obvious? So that I can make fun of you.”
I giggled, closing the laptop and putting it away. “Don't ever use this against me, but I actually missed you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Careful, Jeanine, John might hear you.”
“Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?” I taunted.
It was his turn to get sentimental. “No, Jeanine, I actually wouldn't.”
“Why aren't you calling me Cat anymore?” I asked.
He folded his lips into a half smile. “You hated that pet name.”
I just shrugged. “Yeah well, whatever.”
“No, but seriously, where is your new boyfriend?”
“He went into the office for a few hours,” I explained.
“Oh,” Liam replied. “So, are you clear with the plan?”
“Oh my God,” I breathed. “For the thirtieth time, Liam, I know what to do.”
***
Chapter Five
Three days and one calm, cautious road trip later, we were in New York City. Being in the same car with Liam and John for 96 hours started out as torture and slowly mellowed out to where it was just silently deadly.
I wrapped my arm across my torso, stretching out my muscles again for the thirtieth time already. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught John peering at me. “What?”
He shrugged, averting his eyes. “I'm just in awe at how good you look in that—”
“Stealth suit,” Liam interjected.
“Whatever,” John muttered.
“Why are you here again?” Liam demanded, taking an aggressive step in John's direction.
“Why? Are you threatened?” John countered closing the distance between the two of them.
I straightened up, double checking my belt as I peered at them through the darkness, watching this scene unfold.
Memoirs of a Retired Assassin (Trilogy Bundle) (Romantic Suspense) Page 7