Jae's Assignment

by Bernice Layton

  Jae sensed his unspoken message loud and clear. She also felt a part of his body she shouldn’t be feeling. Guiltily, she wondered if he had on a pair of those boxer briefs that she found sexy. The fact that she was perched atop him didn’t do anything to control her lustful and wayward thoughts. If anything, she thought she was losing control. Damn. Why him? she wondered. Inhaling deeply, she attempted to lift up from him, but when a deep moan resonated in his chest, Jae’s stomach muscles involuntarily reacted. Instinctively, she wanted to lower her head to his chest just so she could hear the sound of his heartbeat that was oddly pleasing to her ears.

  Jae gazed into the blue eyes staring up at her. She thought it best at that point not to acknowledge his hammering heart or her own for that matter. “Where’s my digital picture frame?”

  “In the car, but seriously, Jae, is that all you have to say after a kiss like that?”

  “What should I say?” she asked quietly, in no hurry to move away from him.

  “How about, you’re under arrest? Will that work for you, Doctor?” Darius Hall’s baritone voice suddenly filled the room and resonated off the walls.

  I should have guessed.

  Jae glanced over her right shoulder and saw Darius standing in the now fully open doorway. She should have expected this because that was how Darius worked. He called it the sneak up; so quiet in his approach you wouldn’t know he was there until he let you know it. And he wasn’t alone either. Iverson and Mike were now trying unsuccessfully to squeeze into the room on either side of Darius’s large frame.

  Feeling as if she’d been doused with ice water, Jae watched Darius’s crooked finger, aimed at her while he pointed to the large window with the other. To her mortification she watched as Amil and McGuire eased in through the window. She saw their weapons were drawn but downward, indicating there was no immediate threat. And now that she wanted to get up, she couldn’t because she was trapped with Trevor’s hands plastered onto her backside and he was definitely not cooling down. Aw, damn!

  In the next instant, Mike barreled across the room with Iverson behind him, Mike’s weapon aimed at Trevor’s neck. “Let her go,” Mike growled out.

  Trevor raised his hands up from where he had them, splayed across Jae’s backside. With the hollowed barrel of the Glock pressed against his jugular by a pissed-off Mike, Trevor lifted his hands and Jae scampered off him.

  “Mike?” Jae was relieved when McGuire moved Mike aside and told Trevor to get up. Then to her chagrin, she heard McGuire sarcastically suggest the shrink might want to take a few minutes to cool off first. Groaning inwardly, Jae averted her gaze as she walked slowly toward Darius. She didn’t need to see what she’d felt while lying atop Trevor.

  She met Darius’s unwavering and somewhat perplexed stare.

  “Well, Jae, go ahead and tell me what I’m thinking.” Stuffing his hands into his pants pockets and spreading his jacket open, Darius waited.

  “Uh…that I should consider asking Randy if I can share his cubicle?”

  “Wrong. Try again.”

  “That I’m facing suspension after you submit your report?”

  “Wrong, you’re zero for two,” Darius said.

  “That you’re really not mad that I took your spanking new Lexus.” She expected that would pop his cork…and it did.

  “Wrong! Where’s your weapon, Agent Randall?” Darius roared, looking beyond her head to Grant, who was now able to stand without embarrassing himself or her.

  “It’s…” Jae turned to look at the nightstand. It wasn’t there. She sent Trevor an accusatory look. There was no doubt in her mind they would shoot him if they suspected him of having it.

  “It’s right here.” Trevor reached underneath the pillow.

  It was a bad move on his part and what took place next happened so fast, Jae didn’t have a chance to warn him. She could only watch as he was suddenly hurled back against the bathroom door by McGuire and Iverson as Amil charged in from his post just outside the window which left Mike open to swing a meaty fist into Trevor’s stomach.

  Darius shouted for Mike to cool his heels but Jae knew he certainly wasn’t going to admonish Mike. After all, the “ape-man” had caused them a lot of trouble. She saw that on their faces. When Amil was passing her weapon, Jae wasn’t surprised to see Darius stretch out his hand and take it before she had a chance to get it.

  Jae felt it prudent to remain silent while she evaluated her position. Glancing into the mirror above the dresser, she saw that Trevor was still doubled over in pain. He had the same pained expression that he had when she saw him come out of the chapel at the cemetery earlier.

  “Dr. Grant, not only are you in a hell of a lot of trouble, but you’ve been a royal pain in my ass since I first heard your name,” Darius said, ignoring Jae’s steady gaze locked with his. He then gave an order for the crew to sweep the room for any recording devices. “I would think the last thing we need is for a videotape to surface showing how a special agent had compromised herself. And somebody, please, turn that TV off. I hate that damn show.” Darius turned back to Jae. “So, Jae, what’s going on here and don’t say nothing,” he said.

  “Nothing,” she said, watching Trevor’s face in the mirror again. She hoped he wasn’t thinking about taking off again.

  “Leave her alone, Darius. You want me. You’ve got me,” Trevor said, standing.

  It took Darius half a second to march across the room and get in Trevor’s face. “You shut the fuck up because I wasn’t talking to you!” Darius’s voice was rich with authority.

  “Well, I was talking to you because this isn’t necessary,” Trevor said.

  Standing toe-to-toe with the doctor, Darius struggled not to punch him in the face. “You see, Doc, I don’t want to chew her out because she’s a damn good agent. Yet because of you and some poor decisions that she’s made,” Darius said, thumping the doctor on the shoulder, “she may no longer be an agent.” Darius waved his hand in the direction of the bed. “This dalliance with you is bullshit to lose a promising career over, wouldn’t you agree, Doctor?”

  “I’m sorry, Jae, and I hope that doesn’t happen,” Trevor told her.

  “Well, you should’ve thought about that before you left her holding the bag while you ran off after stealing her car.” Darius sucked in a breath then added, “And that’s another charge I plan to stick on you.”

  “I didn’t run,” Trevor said, staring back unflinchingly at Darius.

  “The hell you didn’t. I saw you,” Amil said, going back to stand post at the window.

  “But I was still at the apartment prior to that.” Trevor chuckled. “I was on the patio, just a few feet away from all of you. By the way, Jae, that was a nice move letting that swing bang into Darius’s knees. Guess he was a quick man after all.”

  “Where the hell were you?” Darius asked, his temper boiling over.

  “Close enough to hear you call me ape-man, and close enough to glance back into the bedroom window. Don’t worry, Jae, bonehead one and two didn’t riffle through your underwear drawer.” Trevor sent Iverson and McGuire a mocking smirk.

  Why is he taunting them? Jae wondered in exasperation. He was only making things worse.

  “Where the hell was this joker hiding?” McGuire asked Jae.

  “I didn’t know,” Jae said defensively. “But I’m guessing he was behind my Egyptian screen.”

  “That’s correct, and I went over the railing while you and Darius were still talking.”

  “You’re lying, Spider-Man. I was down on the ground with two patrol cops and we didn’t see you scaling down the side of the building,” Mike said.

  “Yes, I know where your post was. That’s why I paid those young ladies in their itsy bitsy bikinis to distract all of you. It worked because the second you followed them to the pool area, I snapped out my web and scaled down from the patio t
o the one below, and kept going until I reached the ground.”

  Mike punched Trevor again just as Amil whispered that four thugs were circling a familiar-looking Lexus across the road.

  “You might want to go check and see what’s happening to your Lexus before it gets stolen, Darius. Damn, I might not have locked it when I got out,” Jae said.

  As realization sank in that Jae had taken his car, Darius, Iverson, and McGuire went running outside, Mike was told to stand guard in the room.

  Jae turned to Mike. This was an opportunity, likely the only one she would get. “Mike, you owe me a favor,” she said, hastily.

  “Forget it,” Mike said, looking over her head to the doctor with a contemptuous glare.

  Pressing on, she said, “I didn’t rat on you about what happened on that Vortexride and now I’m asking you to look away for two minutes.”

  “Forget it, Jae. Besides, Darius knows.”

  “He doesn’t know that you kissed me and tried to fondle me. Those are grounds for a harassment charge and getting kicked out of the unit, possibly even out of the Bureau.”

  “Have you lost your mind, Jae? You’re trying to corner me into letting him go?” Mike thrust a finger toward the doctor. “That ain’t gonna happen,” he said, scornfully.

  “I’m asking you to look away so Trevor and I can leave here. Mike, I had an assignment and now that assignment is leading me in another direction; one that I believe will help us find Grainger.”

  Just then, Jae dropped to the floor and swung both legs behind Mike’s ankles, throwing him off balance. Mike fell backward into Trevor’s outstretched arms, while she swiftly relieved him of his weapon.

  Stunned, Mike had no time to react. He was unable to move with Trevor’s forearm pressed into his throat.

  Pulling a roll of duct tape from her bag and taking the plastic flex handcuffs off her wrist, Jae quickly bound Mike’s hands and taped his mouth, while Trevor held his arms positioned behind his back. Then meeting Mike’s accusing and angry eyes she told him that she was sorry, but she had to find Grainger. She ignored Mike’s mumbling behind the duct tape. But when he tried to kick the nightstand over she duct-taped his ankles together.

  “Mike, listen up, tell Darius to check deeper into the federal database or better yet Grainger’s personal computer. I tried but couldn’t find anything. Tell him that I’ve noticed a lot of computer patches over some files on the database where they hadn’t been before,” she said hurriedly. She sent Trevor a look and a head tilt in the direction of the bathroom.

  Together with Trevor lifting Mike under his arms and Jae carrying his feet, they managed to get a squirming, fighting mad, Mike into the bathroom. It was not an easy task for someone who looked and felt like a linebacker but they got it done. Once they made it into the bathroom, Jae pulled out another pair of flex cuffs and secured him to the toilet’s sewer line. “I wouldn’t pull that pipe, Mike. You’ll create a real stinky mess in here if you do.” After patting down Mike’s pockets and taking his cell phone, Jae turned to Trevor. “Get your stuff, Buck Rogers.”

  Ten seconds later, Jae and Trevor crept from the room.

  * * * * *

  Staying flush against the wall, Jae and Trevor crept around the upper landing until they reached the front of the motel, then they tiptoed down the steps to the first landing.

  From there, Jae’s car was just a few feet away from the motel’s office; still parked in front of room 106. Jointly peeping around the soda machines, they watched Darius, Iverson, McGuire, and Amil standing in the lot as a local police officer questioned the four youths.

  All of a sudden a high-pitched scream pierced the night and all eyes turned to the second floor landing of the motel, to Trevor’s open door. A young woman was running from that area and down the steps shouting, “Polizia… Polizia!”

  Jae thought they couldn’t have planned it any better.

  When another police car pulled up to transport two of the youths for questioning in response to Darius’s call to the local police to report an attempted car theft, Jae guessed the poor woman, possibly a motel guest or a maid had walked by the opened door and heard Mike’s loud mumbling coming from their motel room.

  Hearing the woman’s screams, everyone ran across the road from the parking lot and up the steps to Trevor’s room while she and Trevor ran to her Mustang. She tossed him her keys, since he knew the town better than she did. Seconds later, the car quietly left the parking lot, sans lights until Trevor reached an access road and sped out of there as fast as they dared. The farther he drove from the motel, the more Trevor chuckled.

  “So you think that woman was just a little bit shocked to see Agent Mike all taped up like that?” Jae chuckled also until she saw Trevor’s expression turn serious. “Jae, I need to ask you—”

  “What do you want to know? Why I decided to ditch my crew back there and come with you?”

  “No, I was going to repeat my original question, the one you’ve yet to answer.”

  “What question?”

  “What do we do now after a kiss like that?”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “No, I’m not kidding. I’m still feeling aftershocks, or something.” Trevor stole a glance at her across the darkened interior of the car. Jae remained tightlipped. “Or was the kiss just a part of your ruse to throw me off guard again?”

  Jae was taken aback. Not because he’d asked, but because she knew the kiss had nothing to do with the case and more about the budding feelings she was beginning to have for Trevor. So much so she’d let him relieve her of her weapon, something even a rookie agent wouldn’t have let happen.

  “Yeah, that’s right,” she mumbled, closing her eyes. “It was a ruse.”

  Jae knew she’d been too busy enjoying that kiss and the feel of his hands caressing her back, drawing her closer to his body. She’d become tantalized, whispered his name and caressed his chest where she felt his heart hammering under her hands. I acted like some hard-up nympho instead of the agent I am. Heat rose to her face both with shame and pleasure, causing a soft sigh to escape her.

  “Jae? Sweetheart?”

  Deep in thought, Jae heard his voice coming through a fog and feared she was losing her mind. Yes that had to be it, she reasoned, that would explain her lapses of sense and good judgment. She turned away from him, looking out of the window, trying not to show her emotions. It didn’t help when he reached over and massaged her shoulder.

  Jae cringed inwardly, hearing Darius’s accusations when he’d confronted her about her feelings for Trevor. When Trevor’s hand continued to massage her aching shoulder, Jae stiffened to ignore the sensuous ripple that traveled through her chest. “I told you to keep your little endearments to yourself,” she said, shrugging off his hand just as Mike’s cell phone sitting in the console vibrated. Snatching it up, she glanced down to see the text message for her to call ASAP. She ignored it.

  “It’s midnight. So tell me where we’re going?” Trevor asked with both hands on the steering wheel.

  “I’m going with you. You’re my only lead to finding Grainger.”

  “I see. So we’re back to business now, huh?” Trevor asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Jae, I can’t risk anything happening to you. Let me do what I have to do on my own, please.”

  “Save your breath,” she said, tiredly.

  “Enough said.”

  It barely registered when he inclined his head to the hotel straight ahead. Pulling into the parking lot Trevor said nothing as he got out and walked the few feet to the office. He didn’t even turn around when Jae called out the window for him to get two adjoining rooms.

  Minutes later, Trevor returned with two key cards, passing her one.

  Ignoring his bemused expression, Jae plucked the key card from his outstretched hand. “Thanks,” she said, giving a visu
al once-over to the ten-story building and the grounds. “We shouldn’t park on the same level as the rooms.”

  “It’s a Sheraton. I spent a wonderful night here when I was eighteen,” Trevor said.

  “Oh, jeez, let me guess…I’ll bet it was prom night.” Sarcasm laced her words.

  “Close, but no, it was graduation night and it was great.” He chuckled as he started the car and drove into the connecting garage where the Mustang would be well hidden.

  “What did you do after your prom, party with your friends all night?”

  “Is that what you did, Jae?”

  “Yes, sort of, and my dad grounded me for staying out until three in the morning. He didn’t believe me when I told him the after-party didn’t start until two a.m.” She turned to face him. “So now that you’ve evaded my question with your own, what did you do prom night?”

  “I didn’t go to my prom. I was supposed to go. I’d dressed up in a tux, brought the corsage, you know, the whole nine yards, but…” Trevor’s voice trailed off as he drove up to the fifth floor parking level of the hotel garage. Finding an out-of-the-way spot against a back wall, he cut the ignition before exiting without another word.

  Curious as to why his face grew dark and his demeanor had changed, Jae exited the car and met him at the open trunk. When he pointed to her digital picture frame, she nodded. “But what?” she asked, reaching in for her emergency tote stored under the spare tire. It was filled with an extra set of clothing and toiletries.

  “My mother passed away that night. Just as I was about to leave to pick up my date, we got the call. We rushed to the hospital in the limousine that was idling in the driveway.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Jae murmured. They rode the elevator in silence up to the seventh floor then walked down the carpeted hallway to their rooms.

  “704 is your room, Jae,” Trevor said. “You want me to go in and check it out for you?”

  “I’m the one with the weapon, remember?” Pulling the key card from the small envelope, Jae murmured thanks. “Would you like me to go in and check out your room? I’d feel terrible if you got jacked up in there.” His sudden smile held her immobile for several seconds and once again she found herself drawn to him. “Listen, Trevor, please don’t open your door for anyone. If anyone knocks, just tap on the connecting door to my room.”