It worked, apparently. Phil’s grip on the case tightened, and he drew himself up to full height. He was a man with a mind made up.
“Okay, it will be my honor to handle it for you.” His face softened a little bit, waiting expectantly for my reaction to our parting.
“Well, call me once you’ve figured it out. I’m starving, and I need a martini. Talk to you later,” I said, then turned away and walked briskly down the hall to the elevator. I snuck a peek back before I stepped in, to see the hall was empty.
Chapter Twenty-One
“You think he took the bait, then?” Asked Vaneesa between bites of her pastry.
I had ridden the elevator to the hotel lobby to find Alonso, who confirmed that Phil had left the premises already. Instead of breakfast in the lounge by myself, Alonso and I stopped at a bakery on the way to base. I’d much rather have breakfast with Vaneesa. The mmm sounds she made eating sweets just did me in every time. It also helped me to shake off the memory of Phil’s hands and mouth.
“Tess?”
“Sorry, just thinking,” I said. “I’m pretty sure he did, though.”
“He was pretty upset about something when you two were in the hallway. Whatever you did or said in your room struck him pretty hard.” Vaneesa licked her finger, then swiped up the powdered sugar at the bottom of the pastry box.
“You didn’t see what happened? Isn’t the room bugged?” I had assumed it was, but then another thought occurred to me, “oh god IS it bugged?”
“Don’t freak, no I didn’t bug it. Privacy is important, ya know,” Vaneesa said with a wink.
A huge sigh of relief escaped me.
“Why, what did happen in there?” Now Vaneesa was eyeballing me with curiosity.
“Oh, you know, I just dropped my towel while he could see is all.”
Isaiah had picked this moment to walk into the room, of course. “That’s all? And he didn’t maul you? If I were him, I wouldn’t have let you leave the room,” Isaiah stated, grabbing a éclair.
Holding back from calling him a perv, I replied calmly, “Well, yes, he did kind of maul me. But only after I had dressed. He is somewhat of a good man, even if he’s selling arms.” I eyed Isaiah hard, but of course, he was oblivious to my meaning.
“What did you do?” Vaneesa drew my attention with her question. Her mock nonchalance was not fooling me at all.
“I let him get worked up, and just when he thought I would stop and strip for him, I announced I was hungry, and we should go eat.”
“Ooh, you dropped a bomb on his manhood, Tess. No wonder he ran.” Isaiah grabbed another éclair.
“He ran?” Vaneesa gasped.
“Oh yeah, that’s what I came out here to tell you. I was watching the tracker on the monitors and zoom, away it went. It’s stopped at a warehouse on the waterfront. Cavalierri’s territory,” Isaiah said around a mouthful of pastry.
“Why did he take the money to Cavalierri? I thought he was selling to him?” I was confused again. I hadn’t believed that Phil might be an agent of Roberto Cavalierri’s. If he was, he was a good actor. “That’s who messaged him before he left. He referred to him as an ‘investor’ last night, and that’s what he said after he read the message in the hallway.”
“Well then maybe he’s not taking the money to him. Maybe they are just meeting,” Vaneesa suggested.
“It seems he’s inadvertently led us to one of the thug’s active workhouses, then. I’ll set up a team to watch it, and try to bug the place.” Isaiah stood up and brushed the crumbs from his lap. “Good work, Tess.” He winked and walked across the lobby to the elevator.
“Wow, a real compliment from Isaiah Turelli. I’m in shock,” Vaneesa said, laughing.
“Oh, I am sure he thinks all of his compliments are real.” But she was right; it seemed the strain between my partner and I had dissipated. But I still needed to tell him who I was. I needed to trust him again.
~
Nine pm found the three of us huddled around the large 3D display in the surveillance room, waiting for the infil team to check back. We all wanted to see how successful the team would be in bugging the place before we left for the night. We had only seen one bug pop up so far, but the team was being slow and cautious.
My phone buzzed. It was a message from Phil.
“Oh shit, look at this you two,” I said, shocked.
Charity found, Children’s Hospital.
If you can donate a few more bucks, they will extend an invite to their investors’ gala tomorrow night. Came the second message.
“You think maybe he actually did find a charity?” Vaneesa asked.
“Only one way to find out,” I said as I punched in a reply.
Totally! A gala is perfect publicity! Will you be my date?
Send.
I believe we have some unfinished business between us.
Send.
“Playing right into his game, Tess. Maybe you enjoyed your little romp with him this morning, huh?” Isaiah chuckled.
Pick you up at 8 sharp. Came Phil’s reply.
“No, actually I didn’t. I don’t like….” But I was cut off by the voice that came across our comms units.
“Agent Turelli, your presence is needed in Intel One.” The disembodied voice commanded.
“On my way,” Isaiah replied, and without another word ran from the room to the elevator.
“I’ve never seen him hurry without a good reason.”
“Maybe there’s some busty babe up there,” Vaneesa snorted.
“Really? I’ve only seen guys in Intel.”
I am so looking forward to it! See you then.
Send.
“Tess, Vaneesa, the team is pulling out.” Isaiah’s voice came across the comms. “There’s too much activity at the warehouse. They’ll try again tomorrow night.”
“Copy that. We are going to shut down here, too, then,” I replied, and pulled the comms from my ear.
Vaneesa closed down the monitors while I waited.
“Were you just about to tell him when you got interrupted?” She asked, eyes fixed on her task.
“Yeah, I was. I’m ready to let him know,” I said to her.
She turned to me, and I traced my fingers along her cheek. “I’m not hiding anymore.”
Vaneesa threw herself against me, squeezing so tight I thought my ribs would break.
“Can’t… breathe…”
“Oh my god, I am so sorry. I’m just so excited for you!”
“For us, Van. You are why I can do this now.”
I kissed her softly then, not caring who might walk in to see.
~
We had taken our celebration back to my room, where Vaneesa promptly ordered white wine, a fruit platter, and chocolate cake. We stuffed ourselves silly, well it was probably the wine that made us giddy. But the fruit was gone, the cake was only crumbs, and Vaneesa had drained the last of the wine straight from the bottle.
She let out a huge yawn, stretched out on the bed, and was breathing hard within a few seconds. I chuckled at her while pulling off her sandals. All I could think of lately was Vaneesa in my bed, and here she was. But it was all okay; there would be plenty of time for us in the future.
I pulled the extra blanket over her and climbed in to snuggle up to her back. I was asleep in moments.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Vaneesa was up before me, and already gone when I awoke. A note sat on top of a covered tray next to the bed.
Had to run, surveying the building of the Gala this morning. XXXX – Van
I loved that she signed the note with the nickname I had given her. Stretching out on the king sized bed, I wallowed in the luxurious sheets for a few more moments; until I spied a silver tray on the bedside table. Lifting the lid on the tray to reveal pancakes, bacon, biscuits and iced coffee, I had the thought that my life couldn’t get any better.
After breakfast and a long bath, I tried to call Isaiah to see if anything else had happened last
night after we’d left, but he wasn’t picking up. Maybe there had been a busty babe in Intel last night after all, and he’d got lucky. Good for him.
The rest of my morning was spent doing the laundry that I didn’t trust the hotel staff with, then folding clothes and repacking everything back into ‘ready mode’. Not that I expected to exit Italy quickly, but it was a habit to always be prepared for a sudden move. By early afternoon everything was done and tidied up, so I drove over to Base to check in with the team.
No one was in either the lobby or surveillance room on Sub-Level Three when I stepped off the elevator. I wandered up the stairs to the main floor to find it as deserted as normal, with the door to Colonel Lyons’ office shut as he paced back and forth on his phone. The cherry wood blinds in the large window in front of him were wide open, though. Before he could see me, I hit the stairs again, running down to Sub Level One where the Intel operatives worked. Stepping off the stairs, I walked past Intel Room Two on my right, and the Base Monitoring room to my left. Just past those were a few containment cells, which currently sat empty. And the room across from the cells housed Intel room One, where Isaiah had been spending most of his time during this mission.
Making my way down the bleach-white hallway, I approached the door to IR One and heard a deep laugh, and a second one joined in seconds later. Isaiah was never one to take much seriously, but this sounded different. It was obviously his laugh, but it sounded deeper. Huskier.
I cracked open the door so as not to disturb anything private that may have been going on, and stopped in my tracks. Towards the back of the room Isaiah was leaning across a desk, his face mere inches away from a young man seated there. The young man reached up and pressed his fingers against Isaiah’s lips, stifling his laughter. Their expressions left no question as to how they felt about each other. They were so engrossed that I was able to back up and retreat down the hall without them noticing.
I walked onto the elevator and stood there with the doors closed for a few minutes before I remembered to push a button. I was stunned. I would never have pegged Isaiah as interested in other guys. He was so flirty with women all the time. Not to mention all the crude remarks he threw my way almost constantly.
A few moments later, I entered the Gadgets room where Vaneesa was working on auto-pilot.
“Oh my God, Tess, what happened?”
“Oh, nothing disastrous. But… I think… I mean I saw…” I trailed off.
“You are freaking me out. Spill it, girl,” Vaneesa commanded.
“I just saw Isaiah coming on hardcore to another guy,” I whispered.
“What?” Vaneesa’s eyes widened. “nooooo…. But you know, it makes sense!”
“It does?” I stared at her, incredulous.
“Yes, it does. When he was flirting his way around the ball at the hotel, he wasn’t singling women out. He was working his charm on everyone. And I have never seen him, you know, with a woman.”
“I always saw him flirting and charming his way through people; I figured it was all part of the job. He always has girls hanging on him at parties. But you’re right; I’ve never seen him with any women outside of missions. I was wondering the other day if he had anyone.”
“Well, he obviously does,” Vaneesa giggled. “That must be why he was in a hurry to run to the Intel room last night.”
“Jeez. Here I was, afraid that my career would be ruined if I came out. I never once considered that my partner would have a secret, too. I really have been self-centered. Isaiah was right about me.”
“Well, it’s a good thing I came along to set you on the right path,” Vaneesa said, wrapping me in a hug.
I was pretty damn happy she had, too.
“You know, I feel awful. Isaiah has always been open to me, even if it came off as constant flirting. He just accepted me. I never returned that. I wasn’t able to accept myself, and watching him move so easily through work and life made me a bit jealous. Kept me from seeing the real him. I hid behind professionalism. His jokes and attempts at flirting were probably all ways to get me to lighten up.”
My head spun. I couldn’t believe what I had seen upstairs, yet knew that it shouldn’t have surprised me. Isaiah has only ever been himself. More than I could say for myself.
“Well, there’s always time to fix things between you and him,” Vaneesa said, letting go of me.
“And I will. Soon.”
“Oh! I have your dress for tonight, and I sent a tux over to Phil’s room. Your dress is a modest number, to help you regain favor with the press.” Vaneesa winked.
“You are amazing, as always,” I pressed a kiss to her forehead.
“Help me get all this gear put away, and we’ll head to your room to get you ready.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I didn’t see Isaiah at all the rest of the day, and time had come to get ready for the Gala. If I found him there, I would have to let him know I wanted to talk to him. The talk itself could wait, but I needed him to know there was something important for us to discuss. All the chances to speak with him kept slipping past me, and I didn’t want to keep putting it off.
Vaneesa had picked out a floor length black and cream dress, which covered all of my cleavage but left my arms bare. I decided to wear the black elbow length gloves she had given to me the first night she dressed me up, just in case. I wasn’t going to be fully armed tonight, and I wanted to have any weapons I could get away with.
My small arsenal included two slim knife-holster garters, with nylon composite blades sheathed inside them. These blades would pass through any civilian metal detector unseen as they were not made of any metals. The picks hidden in my hair net had been forged of the same material. A firearm would be too dangerous to take, but since my specialty was hand to hand, I wasn’t worried going in without one.
“I’m not placing any bugs on your person until I meet you there. Not gonna take the chance to set off any detectors and have them find you all strapped up under that dress.” Vaneesa backed up and eyeballed me head to toe. “You are ready. You look gorgeous.”
“Thank you, for everything. I’m not much good with fixing makeup and hair. I only look this good because of you,” I was grateful for her help, and wanted her to know that.
I let out a deep breath and cleared my mind.
“Okay, the whole building is bugged so not much of a worry if you don’t get to place one on me right away.”
“Right. The bar and patios are the most heavily tapped. I’ve covered the restrooms as well.”
“I’ll make sure to beg off to the ladies’ room by eight – thirty. We’ll compare observations then,” I sat to slip on my Jimmy Choos.
A knock sounded at the door, and Vaneesa answered it. I had just slipped the moonstone pendant over my head, carefully so as not to muss my hair, when I heard Alonso announce that Mr. Townsend was downstairs awaiting my company. I adjusted the pendant to make sure it didn’t slip under the neckline of my dress and made my way to the door.
Alonso had a case identical to the one I had already given Phil tucked under his arm. Another donation to match the previous amount was inside it. He extended his other arm to me, and I slipped mine inside his and let him lead me down the hall to the elevators.
Before I stepped in, I turned to blow Vaneesa a kiss. She returned the gesture, then moved back into my room to take the private lift to the garage.
Philip was his usual charming self when he greeted me in the lobby. I sensed a touch of nervousness, though, and that put me on edge. Never once had he been nervous around me. But he offered me his arm in a familiar manner, and I removed the glove on that hand before looping mine through. I had no bag or clutch to put it in, as my ID cards were stashed in the strap of my brassiere, so I folded it the best I could with one hand to make sure I didn’t scratch myself. Alonso passed the case over to Phil and walked down the hall towards the garage.
We waited for a moment outside for Alonso to bring the car up but decided to walk a
couple of blocks when he didn’t appear right away. I strolled slowly, wanting to stay within easy spotting distance from the hotel driveway, but Phil was moving us along at a decent clip.
Once we reached the end of the block, he stepped around the corner and drew me after him. He pulled me flush against him and pressed a kiss to my forehead. The sad look on his face when he drew back had my senses fully on alert, but I had no time to react and only vaguely registered the stinging sensation in my neck before the ground rushed toward me.
Darkness greeted me when I came to. My heartbeat raced, and my pulse beat against the stinging spot on my neck. I sat still for a few moments, breathing deep and slow to get my pulse back under control. I opened my eyes wide to help them adjust faster, and in a short time, I began to see the inner shape of the building I was being held in. It was possibly the inside of an old warehouse and smelled strongly of brine. I guessed this was the warehouse Phil had met Cavalierri in last night since it was the only one we had tracked that belonged to him next to the waterfront.
I looked around as much as I could, but being tied to a chair, my sight was limited to what was in front of me. But as I scanned the bare space, a glint of light drew my eye to an aluminum briefcase and wondered why on earth the kidnappers had left it. They must have either been in a hurry or were interrupted after they dropped me here. That is, if it was the same briefcase I had given to Phil earlier. If Cavalierri did business here, it could contain valuable intel.
The ropes were beginning to chafe my wrists, but much more so on my left. I realized why, and I thanked Vaneesa silently for her first gift to me. I was still wearing one of the crystal-studded gloves on my right hand, and the crystals ran up the back of the glove. Right under the rope. I held my breath for a moment to listen to the blank space around me, in case someone else should be close by. There was someone breathing close by, so I craned my neck hard over my shoulder to spot Phil tied to a chair behind me, unresponsive.
[Colt Information Agency 01.0] Agent Colt: Classified Pride Page 9
