“Like Flynne did?”
Ouch.
Before he could respond, she began kneading his shoulders. “I guess that depends on if you want me to.”
“If it protects lives or The Agency, yes. Avoid it where you can, definitely. Living in lies is never good, but think of it like that woman in Jericho in the Bible. She lied to save those lives and the lives of her family. Keith told me once that it’s how he can justify it to himself. He said that woman became some kind of great grandmother a few times over to Jesus.”
“Rahab. That’s right. Okay. Well, I just hope I don’t have to. I won’t like it, and you might be able to figure it out.”
You could always quit being an agent and start being my partner—kind of a trial run for a longer-term partnership. A closer one.
To keep himself from blurting out thoughts he probably shouldn’t be having, Mark spread out the paperwork before him. The summary pages he laid on top and began reading. Pacing. Reading some more. He sat. Stood. Paced. Read.
Claire said nothing. When he sat, she stood close and offered whatever comfort and support she could. As he paced, she leaned against the table with her arms folded and that secret smile that made him feel twelve again on her lips.
No matter what he did, Mark arrived at the same conclusion every time. “Something isn’t right here.”
“Not right, how?” She leaned against his chair, one arm around him, her chin propped on his head.
“That’s just the thing. I don’t know.”
“Can I read them? Maybe I’ll see something.”
No agent had ever been privy to the notes before—not all of them, and certainly not the private ones meant only for his eyes. Those contained details about other agents—even about her. She’d not like everything she saw. But perhaps if someone else had been reading all along, the recent mess wouldn’t have happened.
I can trust her. She’s Keith’s cousin!
A latent doubt—one he’d shredded ages ago, in fact—resurfaced and pasted itself together. The surface, though bumpy, was still legible in his mind’s eye. She was with Anastas. Trafficking. Brent’s daughter. It was so easy to get to her that time. What if someone else…?
The idea—ludicrous. He dangled it over his mental shredder again, but new thoughts burned into the page. Wouldn’t have to be a new group. They know who she is—who I am. Or, rather, was. They might know she works for me—even with Keith “dead.”
“Mark? What is it?”
He gazed up at her and tried to read something duplicitous in those eyes. Tried and failed. “Just thinking. It’d be a breach of protocol. Does the situation warrant it?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It doesn’t have to be now. If you want another pair of eyes, I’d do it. Or…” Her eyes brightened, and she kissed him before saying, “Really, you should have Keith look at them. He knows way more than I do. I just want to help, but he actually can.”
And that just wiped out one irrational fear. Mark smiled. “Let’s see if we can catch them before they get out of town. We’ll do dinner. I’ll ask if he thinks it’s too much for you. I’m probably being paranoid.”
They’d made it to the parking lot where Keith and Erika sat against the hood of Keith’s ’39 Packard and watched the sun set before Claire spoke again. “I think it’s good that you were concerned—looking for trouble. You’d be crazy if you didn’t.”
“How do you figure?”
She stopped him just behind a commuter van and kissed him until he’d almost forgotten what she said. “Your agents were targeted. Someone was trying to buy you out with fear and intimidation. If you didn’t keep looking for threats…”
“I wouldn’t be doing my job.” He tugged her forward and handed her the security case. “Let’s drop this off at Wexfield before we go eat. We’ll go over them together tonight.”
“I thought you were getting Keith’s input. He’s still with The Agency, after all.”
Mark wasn’t one for public displays, but at the sight of her smile, he stopped in the middle of the parking lot. Cars coming and going slowed and honked. Keith and Erika probably gawked. He didn’t care. As much as he had shown her what he hoped for, he hadn’t. And he hadn’t told her. “If you haven’t figured it out, I’m in love with you.”
“I had.” She kissed him without any of the awkwardness a public place like that should cause. “I promised myself I wouldn’t say it first. I always do, and then when I do, I always regret it.”
“Well, I took care of that for you...”
She kissed him again. This time, he deliberately lingered. A wolf whistle from a passing car prompted a giggle, but she didn’t pull away. Another horn blared, making them both jump. He didn’t step away, either. When he’d said all he could without words, he pulled her into a hug and buried his face in her hair. “I meant it.”
“I know. I love you, too.”
Seconds passed, and this time he didn’t hear the horns that probably still blared and the curses that were probably hurled at them as cars passed. This time, he just waited for some shift in her—something that hinted at the regret she spoke of.
It came in a faint sigh. “In case you’re wondering,” she whispered, “for the first time, I don’t regret it.”
“That’s probably because you didn’t say it first.”
Author’s Note
Whew! It’s been a while since we’ve visited Mark and his crew, and I’m sorry for that. When I got the idea of Flynne going “rogue,” I knew it had to be a thing. And it had to be epic. Or is that “eptastic”? To ensure that happened, I called in my torment expert, Clark.
We talked. We schemed. We brainstormed until book five became books five, six, and seven. These three books are all connected to each other and the overall series, but each stands alone, too. (At least I hope they will!) If you don’t read the next bit, you can end the series here. Flynne saved the day, they caught the bad guy, and life is good.
But if you dare, I invite you to read the opening scene of book six (and book two of the miniseries) and get a tiny look into, Pointed Suspicion.
Despite the full moon outside, darkness shrouded the room. A lone desk lamp bulb illuminated a fuzzy-edged circle in the middle—a spotlight on the center stage of unfolding plans.
Click—click. The pen served as a diversion more than a writing instrument. Click—click.
One sticky note occupied the center of that circle. It was green, and on it, one name. Jehnson. The pen clicked open and a check mark appeared beside the name. Click. It closed again.
A few taps of the keyboard prompted a password box. Another few taps brought up a file. Inside, another file. Click.
An image opened. The entrance sign to Mayflower Trust filled most of the page. But behind it two people leaned against an antique car. The man wore a beard. The woman—Erika Polowski. You’re supposed to be dead.
With a few clicks, the image grew until that bearded face filled the screen. The hand reached for the pen again. Click—click.
So are you.
The green sticky note was, once again, set aside. The hand fished through the wastepaper basket on the side of the desk. A crumpled, pink sticky note appeared.
Long fingers worked to smooth it against the table until the circled name could be read again. Auger.
Leaning back in the chair, pen still in hand, two eyes stayed trained on that paper. On the circles around the name. Click—click.
The edge curled up a little too much. The green sticky note was moved to overlap it enough to hold it down. Click—click.
“Let the games resume.”
Chautona Havig’s Books
The Rockland Chronicles
Aggie’s Inheritance Series
Ready or Not
For Keeps
Here We Come
Ante Up!
HearthLand Series: A Serial Novel (Six Volumes)
Past Forward: A Serial Novel (Six Volumes)
HearthLand Series: A
Serial Novel (Six Volumes)
The Vintage Wren (A serial novel beginning 2016)
The Shopkeepers of New Cheltenham
The Ghosts of New Cheltenham
Something Borrowed, Someone Blue
Marriages of Conviction
Blessing Bentley
Tempting Tait (Coming 2020)
The Hartfield Mysteries
Manuscript for Murder
Crime of Fashion
Two o’Clock Slump
Front Window
Silenced Knight (A Christmas Mystery “Noella”)
* *
Argosy Junction
Discovering Hope
Not a Word
Speak Now
A Bird Died
Thirty Days Hath…
Confessions of a De-cluttering Junkie
Corner Booth
New Year’s Revolutions
Premeditated Serendipity
Random Acts of Shyness
Operation Posthaste
The Agency Files
Justified Means
Mismatched
Effective Immediately
A Forgotten Truth
Hashtag Rogue
Pointed Suspicion (Coming 2020)
Sight Unseen Series
None So Blind
Will Not See
Ties that Blind
Christmas Fiction
Advent
31 Kisses
Tarnished Silver
The Matchmakers of Holly Circle
Carol and the Belles
Christmas Stalkings
Christmas Embers
The Second Noel
Silenced Knight
Merri’s Christmas Mission
The Ghosts of New Cheltenham
Sand & Mistletoe
Tangoed in Tinsel
* *
Meddlin’ Madeline Mysteries
Sweet on You (Book1)
Such a Tease (Book 2)
Fine Print (Book 3)
Dead Letter (Book 4)
* *
Ballads from the Hearth
Jack
* *
Gold Diggers Collections
The Trouble with Nancy
* *
Legacy of the Vines
Deepest Roots of the Heart
* *
Journey of Dreams Series
Prairie
Highlands
* *
Heart of Warwickshire Series
Allerednic
* *
The Annals of Wynnewood
Shadows & Secrets
Cloaked in Secrets
Beneath the Cloak
* *
Not-So-Fairy Tales
Princess Paisley
Everard
* *
Legends of the Vengeance
The First Adventure
Hashtag Rogue Page 25