Break Away

by Robin Edwards

  “Who’s the case file about?”

  “Aleksandr Baladin. Heard of him? Must have, since you’re from Russia and all.”

  “I was born here.” Amelia lied as she laughed to herself.

  “Well, I’m sure you’ve heard on the news nonetheless that he’s the #1 on the Most Wanted List of every intelligence agency in the world. The agency has been trying to track him down for years, but fortunately, we’ve been receiving a lot of intel lately and are coming close to his whereabouts. Looks like he’s starting to get sloppy.”

  “Or he could be purposely leaving tracks to distract the agency from what he’s really doing?” Amelia suggested.

  “Could be, but we highly doubt it but let's go over the history in a couple of hours, okay?”

  “Sure thing, I’m going to head out for a smoke break. I need to calm down a little.” Amelia said grabbing her keys.

  “Yeah, that’s also what I want to talk to you about. Higher ups know how incredibly talented you are, but they also believe what is holding you back is your tendency to go off the deep end quickly and become more reactionary and frustrated. Being frustrated makes you sloppy and risky, especially to the lives of the other agents. You have to find a way to keep a level head especially when out on the field.” Greyson instructed.

  “Got it,” Amelia said as she walked out of the training room doors and headed outside to her used Jeep to assess the damage to her lip. She felt the need to go for a drive and have a long smoke. Amelia did this whenever her adrenaline was running too high, which was quite often. If she didn’t learn to get her emotions in check, her body would generate enough rage to be a force of nature. When she got to that point, other people would suffer in her wake, and some of them were already dead.

  These were things that Amelia was trained to do, and if she wanted to execute her plan successfully, she would need to learn how to keep her emotions in check as not to arouse suspicion and she didn’t want to do anything to Greyson either.

  Amelia started the Jeep’s engine and grabbed the cigarette pack from the glove compartment. She purchased the Jeep a couple of weeks after she had arrived in Virginia. Amelia took another look at the damage to her lip in the rear view mirror and blew cigarette smoke out of the window. She was a mess – a severely cut lip, bruised face and from embarrassment.

  As she put the Jeep in the wrong gear instead of reverse and stepped on the gas pedal too hard, the car drove right into the brick wall in front of her separating the parking lot from the building next door.

  “Dammit!”

  Amelia got out of her car immediately to assess the damage to the grill of the Jeep and the wall. Shaking her head in almost expected disappointment and cursing to herself she resigned to another faux pas that was common in her life. She walked back towards the agency building in her steel-toed boots and climbed onto the walkway railing. Amelia sat there perched, sinking back against the wall to one of the emergency exit doors of the building with her half-smoked cigarette.

  She crossed her propped up legs and contemplated how her life was one disaster after another, and this incident was just another one on her rap sheet. If her family were here to see what had just transpired, it would definitely confirm what they already knew about her.

  “You’re too careless.” Nicolai Petrovich had said. “I’m sorry, but you aren’t doing your best to fit in here.” Uncle Nicolai’s way of saying the Code of Honor

  The Petrovichs, Baladins, and all represented families had to follow an unspoken system of ethics their bloodlines kept intact for generations. If you weren’t in the bloodline (born into it) but were initiated in after years of proven dedication, you had to follow it all the same. You had to follow the code and show honor to the family name. If you were asked to do something you had to do it, or you were seen as dishonoring the family, and no one dishonored the family.

  Family, Amelia learned growing up wasn’t the traditional kind. The family was her father, mother, uncles and aunts of course but it was also the bodyguards, security guards, members of the military or the random employee working for your parents while they were away completing a job. It was also Aleksandr Baladin.

  “But I have been trying to do my best work!”

  “You’re just too careless and fragile. You’re too much of a hazard.” Uncle Nicolai always said.

  “But I can handle anything!”

  Nicolai sighed. It was an argument they’d had a million times before. “Take my advice, myshka (мышка - little mouse), will you? Stop fighting your own personality and be who you are and improve on that. Not who you think you should be or what you are not. Try working on the skills that you do have and one day you’ll join us. You have the potential to be very talented. I am sure you will join us one day, but not now. You’re still too careless.” Nicholai suggested.

  Careless? Fragile? Amelia scoffed at the words. She wasn’t weak, and she wasn’t a hazard. Amelia could dish out damage though and could control herself. She should have laughed at him, except the situation wasn’t funny at all. No one, let alone her parents, knew how desperately she wanted to join them – the action, the power, the lifestyle – she had wanted it all.

  That was the exact moment Amelia made the decision to make her own way through the ranks day after day and prove she had what it took to be at the top where she could help with the crime jobs and eliminate enemies. That is what she did for the next ten years, showing through her ability to keep her emotions in check and defuse situations with ease. She even surprised the family with her ability to navigate through complex network systems without any formal training by anyone.

  Now at 26 years old, she had fought her way into some of the best assignments. Sure, it was still a petty crime and nothing too hefty, but she knew deep down that one day Aleksandr and the family would get into bigger things if they weren’t already. Now it seemed, her subconscious mind or maybe she needed to prove herself again had brought her back to Virginia. Some time had passed as Amelia sat perched there smoking her cigarette down to the filter before she threw it on the ground below her.

  “Careless, aren’t you?” a mystery voice said behind her.

  Chapter Three

  His voice startled her awake, a kind of menacing growl, behind her. Amelia turned around and jumped off the railing quickly and instinctively. She muttered profanities under her breath clutching her chest in shock.

  The mysterious man pointed to the sign next to her that read: NO SMOKING WITHIN 50 FEET OF THE PREMISES.

  “Do you want to burn the building to the ground?” he snarled.

  “Fuck,” Amelia gasped, still clutching her chest, out of breath. “I didn’t hear you coming. Where the hell did you come from?”

  She looked directly at him then. The man was tall, built, had a five o’ clock shadow and was wearing a sharp, black suit with a gray patterned tie and matching black dress shoes. His neatly combed dark hair had hints of gray on both temples. Features that made him seem that much more masculine.

  He picked up the cigarette butt and walked over to the other side of the parking lot and dropped it into the ashtray. He walked back to her with menacing body language, deep blue eyes that looked directly at her as he grimaced. She noticed his sharply cut jaw line and cheek bones with blunt facial features. You didn’t start trouble with a man of his looks and self-assurance.

  If you also took into consideration the lines on his face, one would think he was in his late 30’s, and that was probably pushing it a little, but it was his voice rather than his appearance that commanded her attention. It was almost like a deep rumble in his chest that finished with a controlled, menacing tone. It was the voice of a man that did not need to raise his voice or shout to make his point.

  “I am in no mood for lectures today, so…” Amelia said matter-of-factly as she eyed him up and down.

  “Neither am I, darlin’, but I’d like an explanation just the same. Who are you?” Jack snapped.

  “I should ask you th
e same thing. Who are you exactly?” Amelia shot back.

  “Answer the question or leave the premises before I arrest you. Are you trespassing?”

  “I’m Amel…uh, I mean Mel.” She rolled her eyes.

  “Mel…” he repeated, and something dawned in his dark, brooding eyes – something akin to recognition as he looked into her face for what seemed like the very first time. She stood there studying her, and she started to feel self-conscious.

  “I see. I suppose you’re Mel Antonov. The recruit.”

  “How in the hell do you know who I am?”

  “An educated guess,” he replied staring at her with a penetrating, sidelong look.

  “My superiors already debriefed me about you. You are the ‘talented, pain in the ass with the smart mouth’ they said.” He grinned.

  “Wow. Well, it’s good to know that I am recognized here.” Amelia rolled her eyes. “What else do you know about me?”

  He seemed on the verge of telling her some backhanded comment designed to insult and rile her up, but he held back. He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a handkerchief and stepped within a foot of her. “Your lip is bleeding.”

  The man was very tall, around 6’1”; his calloused hand touched hers briefly as he handed the handkerchief over. As Amelia pressed the fabric to her lip, he said, “I also know that you have impressed a lot of people in the agency.”

  “That’s a first. I’m used to being told I’m fragile or careless. Most of the time, both.” He took that as an invitation to observe her more closely. He studied her face and demeanor that showed she was either trying to make a statement or prove herself.

  It was an attitude she expressed that made her feel good about herself. She was ambitious, robust and wanted people to know that she could do anything to anyone. She wanted to be feared but mostly respected. She was tired of not being taken seriously.

  “You seem like you’re careless and I hear that you have a tendency to be careless too.”

  “Who are you, judge and jury?” Amelia retorted.

  The mysterious man shrugged, “I am not the one losing focus. You are.”

  She gave him another unamused grin and rolled her eyes.

  “From what I hear, when you lose your cool, you get frustrated and sloppy. So far, it seems to be an accurate analysis, if you ask me.”

  “Well, I didn’t ask you for your opinion, asshole. Just who in the hell are you, anyway? I told you who I was.” Amelia asked angrily.

  “I’m Jack West,” he said holding out his hand. “Senior Director Agent of Field Operations and you are in my division.”

  “Woop de doo, Mr. Senior Directing Agent of Field Operations. You must be doing a fantastic job obviously,” she cracked and stepped away from him. His standing so close pairing with him staring directly at her was making her uncomfortable. “What are you supposed to be in charge of, besides being the cigarette police and all?”

  “That is none of your business and out of your classification,” he retorted, dropping his voice into a rumbling growl.

  “Are you injured?” he asked then. “Besides your lip and jaw?”

  “I’m fine, I guess. Besides this.” Amelia said as she held up the fabric. “Do you think I will need stitches?”

  With one swift move, he reached out and grasped her chin and tilted her head as he took a closer look. At that instant, Amelia got goosebumps as she felt the warmth radiating from his masculine body. She subconsciously sucked in her breath and closed her eyes and stood there under his gaze in the sunlight.

  Amelia opened one eye and took a peek at him, and for a grumpy guy, Jack wasn’t too bad to look at. He seemed like there was no sense of humor there or he did not do a lot of laughing, however. The look in his eyes told Amelia that he probably led a hard life outside of the CIA. Almost as if time had been hard on him. As tall, built and assertive as he seemed, she wasn’t afraid of him.

  She wasn’t afraid of anything, yet she felt almost unworthy and defensive in his presence. As if she wasn’t good enough and wanted his respect.

  “Nope,” he said releasing her gently as he took a step back. “No stitches, at least I don’t think so, but you may want to stop by the medic’s office and get checked out as a precaution. What’s wrong?” he asked suddenly.

  Amelia had goosebumps and started shivering. “Nothing is the matter. I’m trying to leave anyway. Could you help me with my car or do you have more cigarette policing to do?” she asked defensively.

  “I’m not busy at the moment.” He said ignoring the taunt in her voice.

  “What are you doing back here in the first place? Someone could get hurt you know, with you sneaking up on them and all.”

  “No one usually hangs out behind the building, let alone in a parking lot.”

  “What do you think I am? Invisible?”

  He put his car keys into his pocket and walked towards Amelia. “No, but you could have been seriously injured accelerating in the parking lot like you did. What were you trying to do speeding like that?” he said as he grabbed her car keys out of her hand.

  “What is wrong with the way I drive? I always drive like that!”

  “Reckless you mean? Why anyone would smoke also, is beyond me. I could smell it all the way from my car.”

  “Look, West. Why don’t you just leave me alone?” Amelia said annoyed as she tried to grab her keys back from him.

  Moving his hand out of the way before she could grab the keys back, Jack put his hand on the small of her back, “Come on, let’s go inside and you can call yourself a tow truck from there before anyone puts out a missing person’s report on you. Why anyone would want to live recklessly like that…”

  “There is nothing wrong with the way I choose to live my life,” Amelia said as she shrugged him off.

  “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Ms. Antonov. Are you naturally defensive all the time?”

  “Ugh! You know what? If you don’t like it,” Amelia said, fed up at last, “Then you don’t have to be in the same room as me!” and she turned towards the stairs as she stormed inside.

  Jack West heard a lot about Mel Antonov since she had joined the agency several weeks ago. Either she was a pistol with a chip on her shoulder, or she was regarded very highly. Her file stated that she hightailed it out of Virgina after high school for her college studies in London and only returned to the states a couple of times over the years. She wanted her independence.

  She was incredibly beautiful as everyone said, he admitted and seemed to be as tough as the stories claimed. She was lean and toned mixed with the look of a supermodel. She’d be a great catch for anyone, but her attitude killed it.

  Her auburn-brown hair shined in the sunlight, and she had a mesmerizing smile he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off. Her cold stare challenged his, and her cocky demeanor somehow exhilarated him. She probably was the only one who could match his stubbornness and need for control.

  She regularly tapped her toe, swung the mane of her sun-kissed hair and rolled her eyes. All of these qualities bothered Jack enough to want to irritate her.

  Her necklace caught the daylight and beamed brightly. The pendant was a silver stake, and he wondered if he should ask her if she used it to hunt werewolves. He didn’t know of course, but he was sure she would have been enraged to hear it, but he was aware that she tried terribly hard and unnecessarily to keep up a bad girl façade in place. Too bad she was defensive all the time.

  “Take it easy,” he said, determined not to let her get the best of him. “If you do something reckless, it’ll be me who has to deal with your mess.” As he placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

  Her look burned into him, “I’d hate to trouble you.”

  “Then, calm down.” He took his hand off her shoulder and turned to focus on the damaged vehicle.

  She followed him as he walked around the vehicle assessing the damage. “You must have been with the agency for a long time to have such a high position.” />
  “I’ve worked hard to make it here.” He kicked some of the shattered glass away from the tires before he took a closer look at the front end of the vehicle where the damage was the greatest.

  “Have you met the President yet?”

  “A few times.” Jack examined the damage to the front end of the vehicle where the hood of the car had bent.

  “Does he visit here often?” Amelia asked, standing behind him by the shattered glass.

  Jack glanced at her, “Nope.”

  “How is he? I mean is he a cool guy?”

  “What is with all the questions? Is this an interrogation?” Jack asked.

  “What? It’s just that I haven’t met him before; that’s all.” Amelia said defensively.

  “I’m glad. Lord knows what would happen if you did.”

  Amelia got flustered as her mouth dropped open. “What is that supposed to mean exactly?”

  “Nothing. I wish I could say I read your entire file, but I haven’t. Conversations about the infamous Amelia happen all the time.” Jack kicked more of the glass away from the car and squatted next to the front driver’s side so he could kneel down to get a better look under the car. “I’ve even heard the story about how you decked Agent Woods, Smith, and Johnson all in the same evening. No one knows how you managed to punch all three of them with a straight face.”

  She shrugged, “They kept acting like assholes, so I went for it.”

  “Alright,” Jack said, guessing that she said that only to test his reaction. He decided not to react and said, “Well, you damaged the car pretty bad. If you try to start the vehicle to move it, you might start a fire in the engine.”

  “I want to move it anyway; I have to get home somehow. It’s good to know that people talk about me now and then, people usually despise me quicker. My family always said you can always catch more flies with honey because everything I did wasn’t good enough.”

  “Maria Antonov is your mother, right? Your adopted mother?”