Devil’s in the Details (52 page)

I glanced at the granite counter top, "Dani, you don't have to tell me, if it's difficult to talk about." I suddenly felt terrible this woman was reopening old wounds to put me at ease. "I just can tell the difference between a real secretary and a pretend one." I looked up into her green eyes, "You and Victoria have a connection that goes beyond that." My irritation edged away, thinking back on the file I read and the pictures in it. The horror show it all was, imagining that Dani's memories were probably a thousand times more vivid and harder to shake away.

Dani laughed, "Do we? I’m pretty sure we have a connection that makes us want to slap each other any chance we get. It's like a step sibling love hate relationship, but I do what I can for her." She waved to the suit bag hanging by the laundry room, "Like picking up her dry cleaning, gathering her mail, and watering her fake plants when she’s out recruiting fresh faces to fill the boats of the Navy."

I smiled, shaking my head, "I suspect that you can't tell me the true nature of your business relationship, you both being intelligence officers, retired and not retired."

Dani made a face, "Some of it no, I can’t tell you.” She gave me a smirk, “Because if I did, I would have to kill you and yadda yadda. Keep the government secrets, secret, and protect the homeland clauses."

Dani waited a second, "What I can tell you is this, Victoria saved my ass more times than I count. After her incident, we worked together in the intelligence unit back in the states, sitting and reading over boring information trying to put together the puzzle with the tiniest pieces. She eventually called it quits and retired to become an even more boring Professor. I stayed on, hoping to at least make a higher rank to retire off of."

Dani smiled gently, "Even though she is retired and I’m far from it, she is still one of the most brilliant intelligence officers the Navy has ever seen. I sometimes call upon her to help me sift through intel and read between the lines when I am missing things. Connect the dots I may have missed."

I let out a slow breath, nodding, "The other night makes sense now." I glanced back up at the redhead, her green eyes returning to bright intense ones, "I guess I’m still learning about Victoria."

Dani winked at me, grabbing the coffee pot from the maker and filling up a metal travel mug she removed from a cabinet, "Aren't we all, Alex? The good Professor is an enigma that still surprises me after working with her for almost ten years."

Screwing the top on the metal mug, Dani leaned back over the island, "I can tell you one thing, that Professor really likes you and you have nothing to worry about, Alex. Ever." Dani moved around the island, heading back towards the front door, "When you talk to Victoria later, tell her that I was able to get all new medals for her dress uniform and that it should fit her like a glove."

She reached for the door knob, "And Alex, don't tell Victoria we had this air clearing conversation. She would hate to think that the Navy might be getting in the way of her relationship with you."

I slid off the stool and followed the redhead to the front door, "Dani, I appreciate you talking to me. I knew I was being a little crazy about a few things, my mind running rampant thinking Victoria was a spy or hired killer." I smiled, chuckling, "I couldn't see her hurting a fly let alone another human."

Dani stepped out onto the porch, turning to face me as she pushed sunglasses on her face, "No, no, the good Professor only does her damage with red pens on terrible essays." She raised the thermos, "I'll bring this back eventually, enjoy the rest of your day Alex. Tell Victoria I said hello."

I smiled, "I will." I glanced out into the front yard, "Maybe I’ll ask her to share her stock investing tips in Voltaire Lingerie with you. Help speed up your retirement a bit."

Dani paused, turning back to me, "What was that?"

"Victoria's investments, she's a stock holder in that fancy underwear company, Voltaire? Has been since around the time she retired. She gets these fancy blue envelopes with checks in them every other week or so." I waved at the house, "It afforded her this house and clearly her early retirement."

Dani's face pulled up into a forced smile, "Hmm, Voltaire Lingerie. I will definitely have to inquire about that." She held up her hand, "I should look into retiring early. I get a little jealous when the professor talks about boring summers spent doing nothing.” The redhead smiled and waved, “Thanks again Alex and please try not to tell Victoria we had a heart to heart."

"I promise." I folded my arms, leaning against the white pillar at the edge of the front porch, "Dani, um, thank you for saving Victoria's life." I blushed, unsure why I was compelled to say it to her. "Being there for her." I cleared my throat, my mind wandering to the what if's.

"I should thank you, Alex." Dani looked over the top of her sunglasses, "You've brought back the beautiful human that has been trapped in the Professor for as long as I have known her. Not that I’m interested in her romantically, it's just good to see my friend, my best friend, smile and mean it." She paused, swallowing thickly, pushing up her sunglasses to cover her glassy eyes.

Dani turned after throwing a quick wave goodbye to me, and walked off the porch to her car, driving off with another short wave to Dale and I. Leaving me in alone Victoria's house and feeling a thousand times lighter as I moved back to the kitchen to get started on dinner for my girlfriends return.

Chapter 16

Manhattan always left me with a strange taste in my mouth. It wasn't that I disliked the city. I liked it just the same as the others I had been in across the world. But Manhattan, it pushed my all of my quirks. Too many people, too many cars, and too many buildings stacked on top of each other.

Maybe I hated it because it was a city where I had killed the most and often the only reason why I would be here, was to do that exact thing.

Standing in the middle of the massive open living room, surrounded by tinted windows, I started to prepare for the job I was sent here to do. Eliminate a puffy, rich old man who had pissed someone off in one of the controlling governments with his ideals of turning back the clock and allowing the heathens to run the modern world.

I was waiting for Dani to call and get the job started, wanting to get it over with so I could go home and forget for a few more weeks who I was. I had spoken to Alex an hour ago, sharing a short phone call with a couple of texts after. Nothing earth shattering, but it still made me despise this job and the lies that came with it.

Walking from the windows, I headed to the bedroom where I had laid out the all black clothing I called my uniform, to get dressed and ready for my mark. I had reviewed the case file of Bertram Spencer a hundred times, memorizing his face, his apartment layout, and his very strict routine within that apartment. If it was up to me, I would have already done the job the moment I landed in the city and been on the verge of pulling back into my driveway in Annapolis.

But, Dani didn't operate that way. Voltaire didn't operate that way and I was stuck stewing in my own thoughts and building anger of wanting to be out of this life I wanted out of Voltaire so badly, that I was willing to walk away. Burn myself and deal with the consequences as they came.

Breathing through my nose to settle the angry nerves and my head, I pulled the black running tights on along with the thin long sleeve running top, and went for my phone just as Dani's ringtone filled the living room.

I answered the phone while setting the earpiece into my ear, "Can we get this started? It's already close to seven and I want to be home by at least midnight."

"Good evening to you too, and yes, we can get started. Hence why I’m calling you and it's not to talk about your muffin recipe." Dani had an extra bite to her as she continued on, "Okay, I have the full green light to go ahead with Bert."

I rolled my eyes, walking back in to the bedroom for the duffel bag, "Where do I have to go and what are my options?"

"Your only option, selected by our bosses, is strangulation by garrote. It’s a known method of the militant group he's been dirty dealing with. The clean-up crew has given you a nice selection in your lovely overnight bag." Dani paused, the ever present sound of her keyboard clicking away in the background, "As for where you are to go, that’s the easy part. Bert is in the apartment right below you. Seems Voltaire and Bertram have similar tastes in real estate."

I blew out a hard breath, sitting on the edge of the bed to dig around in the duffel bag, "Why didn't you tell me that in the initial briefing?" I didn't like shitting so close to where I ate.

"Because I didn't know until three minutes before I hit Professor asshat on my contact list." She snapped at me, "Let's focus and have the pissing match after." She huffed, the clicks becoming harder as she punched the keyboard. "In the back pantry of the kitchen. There is a dumb waiter, a modern dumb waiter. You are to take that down to the floor below you and sneak out into Bert's pantry. He should be in the main dining room facing the eastern most set of windows, sipping on a million dollar glass of wine and ruminating about world domination."

"Dani, can we keep the color commentary to a minimum?" I was getting irritated by her off handed way, something was wrong and it was clear in the way Dani was being snarky.

"You can, but I won't. I’ve had an interesting day, an interesting day that I will be happy to tell you about when we are done and I’ve sent the cleanup crew in." Dani sent a text to the phone in my hand, "I just sent you the schematics of his apartment, its set up exactly like the one you are in, so it shouldn't be too hard to move around. You have an hour to get in, dispose of petrol pants and then escape. I’ll be sitting on your shoulder like always, fudging the security system and watching your back."

I scrolled through the schematics, memorizing the layout in an instant, "I’ll be done in twenty minutes, can you have a flight waiting for me?"

"I can, but I think it's high time you meet me at the bar and we have that birthday drink you promised me."

I froze hearing Dani's words, another code phrase we had not used since our early days of working together at Voltaire, and I would actually have to meet face to face with Dani for briefing and de-briefing. If she was slinging out code phrases, it could mean many things. Many of them not good things. "Of course, I forgot." I stood up, dropping the phone on the bed, switching on the blue tooth. I didn't need the phone with me if I was going one floor below, the signal would be strong enough. "I’m going to the pantry now."

"Roger that. Bert is currently walking out of his wine cellar, you are good to go." Dani's tone shifted down a notch, "Be careful Victoria."

I nodded to the empty room and hit mute on the ear piece as I moved towards the kitchen.

The dumbwaiter was larger than I thought, I could fit in it comfortably and thankfully it was on a hydraulic system that moved silently with the push of a button. Sliding open the steel door, I was struck by loud forties music pouring out of the living room and into the kitchen as if I was standing next to the radio. I winced at how loud the music was, even though it was an added bonus for covering my movements through the apartment.

"He's on the couch facing the east windows. Smoking a cigar while he waits for the vintage red to breathe." Dani's voice cut through the heavy horns and piano of the music. I nodded, knowing she could see me and climbed out of the dumb waiter. I walked normally, but quickly, through the kitchen and out into the living room. I didn't want to waste time with stealth, nor did I want to spend any more time than I had to on this job.