Blown Away

by Stephanie Julian

  She tried to contain her smile but couldn’t quite manage it. She liked Nic. Oh, not like she liked Jimmy, but Nic had a no-bullshit attitude that she appreciated. Reminded her of a lot of the NSA field operators, like Mal had been. Most were former armed services, usually from special forces.

  Nic had been an Army Ranger, and he still had that air of danger surrounding him. She knew she didn’t really have to talk to Nic. He’d tell her what he wanted, she’d do it, and they’d get along just fine.

  “No problem. It shouldn’t be that hard to crack. Most people use a standard numerical formula. Shouldn’t take me more than a day or two unless they got fancy and actually made their own. Then it might take three or four days.”

  Nic’s mouth curved in a smile. “Confident. Good. I like that. Let me know when you get it finished. Be my pleasure to put that bastard away for good.”

  Unwinding himself from the chair, he nodded and left.

  Yeah, she liked Nic, though he definitely wasn’t her type in the looks department. He and Jimmy did share the same dark hair and blue eyes, but otherwise, you wouldn’t really be able to tell they were brothers if you didn’t know. Nic looked like their dad. Jimmy favored their mom.

  Anxious to get started on the letters, she realized there were more of them than she’d thought.

  Good. This would keep her brain occupied for hours.

  Sorting them by date, she started with the earliest and made her way through the pile. On her first pass, she knew Nic was right.

  The code was here, she could practically see it in the words. She just needed to find the keys to make it visible.

  By the time someone knocked on her door, she’d eliminated a straight numerical code and had moved on to ciphers.

  She considered telling whoever it was to just go away, but she wasn’t at Fort Meade, tucked in the corner of her office where no one dared bother her when the door was closed. Usually she was out with her guys on the floor, especially when they had a major project going, which was almost always.

  “Come in.”

  “Hey.” Janey leaned in, smiling. “Annie and I realized you probably didn’t pack a ton of clothes since you weren’t expecting to stay for a while. We thought we’d take a few hours and head over to the King of Prussia mall so you could pick up some stuff.”

  “Uh…”

  “Mom said not to take no for an answer and to tell you since she basically coerced you into staying and working for us, she’s giving us free rein with the company credit card.”

  “Oh no, I couldn’t—”

  “And again, Mom said not to take no for an answer.” Janey opened the door even wider so she could stand in the doorway and put her hands on her hips. “Come on, Merri. You’re doing us a favor helping Nic with his case. Let my mom repay you. Besides, we’ll have fun.”

  Janey’s smile twinkled like it was Christmas Day. Of course she was one of those women who loved to shop.

  Practicality finally won out over her hatred of shopping. She needed clothes. But there was no way she’d let the DeMarcos pay for them.

  “You’re right. I do need to pick up some things. But aren’t there any stores in the city we can go to?”

  Janey looked like she wanted to rub her hands together in glee as Merri grabbed the small Coach backpack her sister had given her one year for Christmas. She’d been shocked that her sister had actually found a purse she would carry.

  “Oh but there are a lot more at the mall.” Janey grabbed her arm and practically dragged her down the hall. “We’re going to have so much fun.”

  *

  Through sheer force of will, Jimmy focused on completing cleaning up his notes for the compound.

  The sooner he got it out the door and handed to his contact at the DOD for testing at the Army Research Lab, the sooner he’d be able to… What?

  He had other projects in the works, including one in the final stages of testing. But rather than the high that came with success, he had the curious sense of dissatisfaction.

  He refused to believe it had anything to do with his house guest.

  And now that he’d thought of her, he couldn’t stop.

  The office she’d been given was directly above his head, but because the lab was constructed as strongly as the White House’s nuclear bomb shelter, he couldn’t hear a damn thing from above. Usually that was okay.

  Today…it made him wonder what she was doing.

  How was she getting by upstairs? Was she overwhelmed? Worried?

  Maybe he should go check on her, just to be friendly?

  He was halfway up the stairs before he’d made up his mind to do it.

  When he emerged into the sunlit first floor, he realized she wasn’t in her office. And neither Annie nor Jane were anywhere in sight.

  “Hey, Nic.” He stuck his head through his brother’s open door. “Where’s everybody?”

  Nic looked up from the photos spread across his desk. “Hey, take a look at these, will you? Tell me what you see.”

  Rounding the desk, he looked over Nic’s shoulder. “I see the same street from several different angles.”

  “Anything look strange to you?”

  “Other than the cross-dressing giant on the corner?”

  Nic grunted. “Yeah, besides the cross dresser.”

  Jimmy had already dismissed the line-backer-size dude in the miniskirt and tank top and continued to examine the photos.

  He didn’t recognize the alley, but it looked like it could be in the city. Brick row homes, mostly in good condition. A few midsize sedans parked along the curb—

  “Is that a body in the backseat of that car?”

  “Is that what you see?”

  Jimmy picked up the picture so he could get a better view. “Yeah. Pretty sure.”

  “Me too. Thanks.” Nic leaned back in his chair, his full attention on Jimmy. “What’s up?”

  “Everybody else who works here… Where are they?”

  “Girls went shopping.”

  “All of them? Together?”

  Nic’s mouth twitched though he didn’t outright smile. “Problem?”

  Janey and Annie and Merri—three women on their own with clothes and shoes added into the mix?

  Oh hell.

  “No, no problem. Why would I have a problem with that?”

  “No reason.” A pause. “I’d be worried.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Because when our sister and Annie get rolling, you never know what anarchy follows in their wake.”

  Shit, Nic was right. Janey’s and Annie’s names were still remembered with reverence by the students and fear by the teachers at the all-girls high school they’d attended.

  “So, you wanna tell me what’s up with you and Decepticon Barbie?”

  Jimmy’s face hurt, he frowned so hard. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Nic just raised his eyebrows. “She’s so damn cute but you know underneath that sweet exterior is a deadly assassin, right?”

  Was Nic serious? He looked serious.

  “What the fuck? Merri’s not Mata Hari, for Christ’s sake. She’s practically still a kid. She has no experience with men and she’s fucking smarter than me—”

  “Well, that last might be true but… You do realize the woman is in charge of one of the largest and most important teams at the agency, right? That she has almost as high a clearance level as Mom and Dad? And, for some reason, she likes you? And I’m not just talking about your brain.”

  Jimmy opened his mouth to tell Nic off then snapped it shut. Shit. Shit. Was he being that much of an idiot?

  Yeah, probably. Wouldn’t be the first time.

  He’d been looking at Merri as a sheltered blonde creampuff who needed his protection when, in reality, for the past five years she’d been clawing her way up the NSA ladder.

  Logically, he’d known everything Nic had just said. So what the fuck was his problem?

  “So when are you gonna ask her out?” N
ic said.

  “She wants me to teach her how to pick up guys.”

  Nic’s eyebrows shot up before he started to laugh. “Oh, she’s good.”

  “What’re you talking about?”

  “Dude, you are so outmatched here, it’s a little sad.”

  Jimmy shot him the finger. “You’re a pain in my ass.”

  “And you still don’t have a clue, do you?”

  “A clue about what?”

  “Jim, the girl wants you. Why, I have no idea because you’re so fucking clueless sometimes. But for some reason, she sees something in you that I’d rather not think about. I’m assuming you said yes. But just to save her from going out and picking up guys on her own, right?”

  “Uh—”

  “Of course you did.” Nic rolled his eyes and Jimmy thought for sure their sister had been giving him lessons. “Brother, do you want the girl?”

  “Wait, did you just make a Lost reference?”

  Nic gave him the look he generally reserved for clients who hit on their baby sister. “Do I really have to—”

  “Yes! Okay, yeah, I do.”

  “So you’re not as much of an idiot as I thought you were.”

  “But you’re still a dick.”

  Nic’s toothy grin made Jimmy look for something else to throw. Something harder this time.

  Instead, he took the high road and left—after he gave Nic another one-finger salute.

  Nic’s laughter followed him back down to the lab.

  *

  Merri looked down at herself, trying to decide if she liked what she saw or simply didn’t want to disappoint Janey and Annie.

  She had to admit the black pants that hung low on her hips and fit snug around her thighs were pretty comfortable. And they even fit length-wise, which was a minor miracle.

  Had she known they made entire stores devoted to petite sizes, she might have made her way to a mall much sooner.

  Or maybe not. But at least she would’ve known she didn’t have to shop in the boys department for pants that didn’t expect her to be six feet tall.

  “What do you think? Do they fit okay?”

  Janey looked at her expectantly and Merri could honestly answer, “Yeah, they do.”

  Which apparently meant she wouldn’t be able to simply buy a few pairs and leave. No, that meant she had to try on forty different tops, another five pairs of pants and at least six pairs of jeans.

  And when they were done in that store, five shopping bags later, they had to go to some fancy lingerie shop. At least it wasn’t Victoria’s Secret. That store was so…pink. And frilly. It made her eyes hurt.

  This store didn’t have as many ruffles and didn’t make her nose twitch in response to the twenty million kinds of perfumes in the other half of the store.

  And they actually had pretty decent underwear. She was a little embarrassed to admit she actually liked purple lace and shiny silk. But they also had pretty cotton undies and bras, and she left there with another two bags of stuff.

  Janey and Annie each had one, as well, so she didn’t feel so bad.

  By the time they grabbed lunch at a retro diner with decent burgers, Merri was feeling a lot less stressed.

  “You know, I never got that whole retail stress therapy thing before, but I’m kind of seeing the appeal now.”

  Annie nodded sagely as Janey settled the bill. This time, Merri didn’t argue about it. But she’d refused to let the DeMarcos pay for her clothes. It wasn’t like she didn’t have the money. Hell, she had more than enough money socked away.

  “I’m glad you’re finally coming around,” Janey said as they ventured back out into the mall, which, for a weekday, seemed unusually crowded. Didn’t people have jobs?

  “So are we going back to the office now?”

  “If you don’t mind,” Janey said, “there’s one or two more shops I’d like to check out. Don’t worry.” Janey laughed as Merri couldn’t quite wipe the look of horror off her face fast enough. “Not for you. I need a dress to wear to a wedding. I saw one the other week I really liked but didn’t have time to try it on. Might as well do it now.”

  A few minutes later, Janey was in the dressing room and Merri was roaming restlessly through the store. She didn’t want to be ungrateful and she had actually had fun.

  But she itched to get back to the office and that code. There was something about it she recognized, something just out of reach. She knew if she stared at it long enough, she’d figure it out.

  She wanted—

  That dress.

  She really wanted that dress.

  Dark green. Simple enough that she wouldn’t feel stupid wearing it and casual enough that she might actually be able to wear it to dinner tonight and not feel like she was pretending to be someone she wasn’t.

  “That would look amazing on you.” Annie reached for the dress, checked the tag, then searched for another until she found one that looked like it would fit Merri. “Go try it on.”

  “I don’t need a dress. It’s not like I’ll wear it to work or anything.”

  “It doesn’t hurt to try it on and you never know when you’ll need a dress. Aren’t there all kinds of military cocktail parties and balls? What do you wear to those?”

  “Nothing. I never go. They’re so boring.” And she never had a date, not a real one anyway. Sure, one of the guys from the team would go with her if she asked, but she didn’t want them to feel obligated. Then she’d spend all night making small talk with a guy who usually felt more comfortable talking about the politics of their World of Warcraft guild than actual world politics.

  Not that she didn’t enjoy talking WoW, but as a team leader, she was expected to know what was going on in the real world. And she did. Sometimes more than she wanted to.

  “Merri, try the dress on.” Annie gave her a look that reminded Merri of her mom. She’d gotten that look a lot.

  She took the dress and headed for the small, really nice dressing rooms at the back of the store.

  When she pulled the dress over her head and it fell perfectly to just below her knees, she sighed. And when she ran her hand over the silky material that draped perfectly over her small breasts, she knew she had to have it.

  And couldn’t help but wonder if Jimmy would like it.

  She smiled and turned to check the back view. Pretty damn good, if she did say so herself.

  You know, maybe she would need a dress tonight.

  *

  Jimmy finally managed to get back to work, but he knew himself well enough to realize he shouldn’t work on anything too important.

  His brain wasn’t in the right gear. So he finished paperwork he needed to transfer the compound to the Army lab.

  He’d just emailed the encrypted file to the DOD, making plans for the compound to be picked up tomorrow, and was trying to figure out what to do next when his phone pinged.

  They’re back.

  Nic’s text made his stomach do a weird little flip, which he attributed to not eating lunch. He hadn’t been hungry earlier, but a minute ago he’d been thinking about getting a burger.

  All thought of food fled and he made his way upstairs. He didn’t actually run but he did take the stairs two at a time.

  The sounds of feminine laughter drifted down the hall from the reception area.

  By the time he reached the party, the laughter had died down to conversation between the girls. Which died when he showed up.

  “Hey. You guys have any …fun?”

  Merri had been standing by Annie’s desk with her back to him, but she turned at the sound of his voice. And Jimmy nearly swallowed his tongue.

  She’d left in jeans. He knew that not because he’d really cared what she was wearing but because he remembered she’d been worried about her clothes not being appropriate for the office.

  Now she wore black pants that made her ass look amazing and a tight green top with short sleeves and a v-neck that showed off a hell of a lot more cleavage than she’d been
showing when she left.

  “Of course we did.” Janey lounged on the couch along the wall, where clients very rarely waited long for a meeting. “Something wrong, Jim? You look a little…wiped.”

  Tearing his gaze away from Merri, and those lips that were curved in a smile, he narrowed his eyes at Janey’s way-too-innocent look. “I didn’t get a chance to eat.”

  “You mean you forgot to eat.”

  How the hell did she manage to sound so much like their mother? “I was gonna go out and grab something now. Looks like you had a good time.”

  “We did.” Merri sounded almost surprised, which made him look back at her. “I don’t really like to shop, but Janey and Annie are professionals.”

  “That’s because they have so much practice.”

  “Hey,” Janey shrugged, “if you’re going to be good at something, I say you do it right or you go home.”

  “Uh, Jimmy?” Annie glanced up at him, shaking her head. “Why is the DOD sending me alien communications?”

  “Oh shit. Forgot to tell you I made arrangements for the compound to be taken for testing. That’s probably my confirmation.”

  “I am so glad you’re finally getting rid of that stuff,” Janey said. “No more trips to the emergency room. Although with you, who knows what you’re working on next?”

  “What are you working on?”

  Merri’s quiet question sounded genuinely intrigued. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone had asked him that question without a sigh of exasperation.

  “Would you like to see?”

  Her eyes lit up. “I’d love to.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Janey and Annie exchange a look but dismissed it as the “Jimmy and his crazy stuff” look.

  “I’ve been working on this compound for a couple of years and I finally got it right. It’s a—”

  “Jimmy. Food,” Janey called as he led Merri to the lab door.