Games We Play (4 page)

Sasha thought it sounded beautiful to have such a big loving family. “How much do you tell them about work?”

“They know I’m FBI but not the extent of the cases. I don’t like to worry them. How do you handle it with your parents?”

“Like you said, it’s easier not to tell them everything. I’m gonna try and catch up on some sleep. We don’t know how much work’s waiting for us on the other side.” She turned in her chair and got comfortable against the pillow, mindful ho
w
Nicholas w
as still clutching her hand as she
gave into her heavy eyelids.

Chapter 4

Nicholas let out a breath he had been holding the whole flight. It was hours later and they had finally landed. He sat back and let the other passengers go ahead. He still needed to catch his breath and Sasha was asleep. Looking at her now and noticed how eerily at peace she looked. He was used to seeing a tight intense expression across her face at any given moment, now he saw smooth soft features from the delicate curve of her eyebrows to the pouty fullness of her mouth. It wasn’t all bad where Sasha Madden was concerned. Sure they could argue like two chickens in a fight but for him it was more teasing her than actually trying to hurt her feelings. With the plane nearly cleared it was time for them to get a move on too. 
“Hey.”
He
softly said as he nudged her shoulder.

“Hmm?” Sasha sat up in her seat and rubbed
the sleep from her eyes.

“We’re here
.”

“Oh great.” Sasha said.
“Let the good times began.”
Nicholas stood fro
m his seat
first
and pulled his ba
g from the overhead compartment while she grabbed hers off the space at her feet.

“Maybe you’ll be surprised; maybe it won’t be so bad.” Nicholas said
with optimism that sounded jaded at best.

“
Let’s go playboy.”

They found
the car that would be in their possession until the case was over waiting in a select spot of the airport parking lot.
They put their bags in t
he trunk of the SUV and that was it, no more looking back, no more living as Nicholas and Sasha until this case was officially over.
“Do you know where we are going?” Nicholas asked her as he started the car.

“Yeah
,
I know the address a
nd I’ve got the house keys.” Sasha
found them waiting in the glove compartment. “Just start straight until I tell you to turn.”

The house wasn’t that far from the airport. It was a nice enough town, Nicholas thought but he liked the busy city and by the looks of it so did Sasha.
“Honey, we’re home.”

She replied with a roll of her eyes.
“Let’
s get the bags.” He followed her lead and chuckled behind her back. It was too easy sometimes to get a rise out of this wired tense little package of a woman.

Nicholas saw some people sitting on their porches, watching them, curious about the new neighbors. He stood next to Sasha and ran his hand down her back to get her attention.
He had more undercover work under his belt; he knew the acts that needed to be played.
She was shocked by his touch
and tried not to let it show. “What?” she met his eyes as her own wide ones gave her true reaction away.

“We have company. Don’t look surprised
but
I’m going to kiss you now
like the newly husband I am
.”
Nick wanted to warn her
before he bent down and lightly kissed her on the lips with his arm around her waist
, the grip was to make sure she didn’t bolt or jump out of her heels
. They looked like a young couple in love,
and
that
part of the
plan was working
out so far
. They pulled away from each other and
their eyes met, he fought back a smile he knew would get too big of a reaction out of her; like a punch to the gut
. “I said don’t look surprised.”

“Grab the bags.” Sasha
as she rushed
to the front door with a bag and keys in hand. Surprised
by his kiss
? Just a little. Freaked out? A lot.

Nick moved at a slower pace carrying the bags from the car inside the house. He glanced around the front yard and waved to the older gentleman across the street watering his flower bed. The guy didn’t look pleased with the chore and was only trying to please his wife. The evidence was written all over his face and grim smile as he waved back. Walking up the pathway he noticed the rental was a pleasant green color not unlike the shade of Sasha’s eyes. His pretend wife was in the living room when he walked past the foyer.

She was clutching her disposable cellphone in her left hand. “Pete just called to tell me the ‘Maggie Walker back at home’ storyline has been conveniently leaked to all the major
Texas
newspapers.” Soon reporters would pop up and further push the story out there w
h
ere hopefully the killer would take notice.

“Sounds good. Have you taken a look around?” she shook her head no, her eyes distant as she thought more of what was to come instead of right now. “Let’s see what the rest of this place look like then.” If she focused too long on what exactly this case entailed she’d drive herself into the ground. The Marshals weren’t asking for no small favor, playing bait for someone as deadly as this unsub has proved to be wasn’t something many would agree to and could drive even the most stable of person insane.

The house was a beautiful two story quaint home perfect for a newlywe
d
couple starting out. The living room was fully furnished with simple wood accents and different blue shades making up the curtains and couches. Upstairs they found one bedroom and two bathrooms. Inside the master bedroom was a full bathroom with a tub and the hallway bathroom held a shower.

Sasha and Nicholas stood in the bedroom. He was the first to speak three minutes later. “It has to look real.”

“I’m not sharing a bed with you.”

“I didn’t say you had to. I was just pointing out why they probably designed the room with one bed for two non-married agents. I can take the couch in the living room and you can have the room.”

“Ok, good.” Sasha wasn’t going to argue a point that would benefit him, not that he expected her to. She only liked to argue when she wanted to be proven right or there was something else she wanted.

He set their bags down on the bed. “We still have to share the closet.” With nothing else to say they continued the task in silence and he finished first with less clothing. He thought about leaving the room and checking out the other areas of the house, like the kitchen where he could find something to snack on. But…she needed help. It was obvious plain as day she was lost with all these things she forced herself to buy in order to play a role of a woman she didn’t know outside of paper. “Why did you buy so many things?” he grabbed a handful of hangers from the closet and passed them down.

“I don’t know.”

He could tell her she was projecting her fear over not closing this case into the little details like clothing and hairstyles. He had gotten used to her wearing it tied back into a high ponytail but to himself he admitted the strands of hair framing her face was…lovely. Oddly enough since they held hands into the plane and she talked him down from going insane with fear he was attracted to his team mate. He noticed her green eyes weren’t just green, they were the shade of freshly cut grass with flicks of yellow not unlike dandelions scattered over the lawn. He shook his head and stopped checking her out. “Good news is you have outfits here good for any occasion.”

“Marla made notes that she wants as to be as social as possible in town.”

“What kind of social places does Maple Oaks have?” he sat on the bed and emptied her second bag, dumping it down bedside him. He grinned at the little black dress that literally fell onto his lap.

“Unless something has changed in the last ten years there aren’t many things to do outside of dinner and a movie.”

“I don’t have to be worried about any ex-boyfriends who took you out to those places noticing you aren’t Maggie Walker?”

“Nope. Give me that.”

Nick held the soft material between his fingers. He knew he wasn’t supposed to be imagining his team mate in such a sexy little dress but his mind betrayed him. “Why’d you pick this up?”

“The saleslady nagged me about how every woman has a black dress in their closet for a party or a night out and I was pressed for time and just took the damn thing. It’s going to be written off as a business expense and nothing else.” It was obvious she never planned to wear the thing and Nick started to wonder how he was going to change that. “You of course had it easy.” Sasha continued with a sour tone as she fingered through the items he hung up.

“Guys keep it simple. We might as well get a jump on this and go out for dinner. I’m starving.”  Slapping his hands down on his lap he stood from the bed. “We can finish this later.”

“No, it’s better to get everything in order.”

“Do you have some secret OCD I don’t know about?”

“Maybe. You don’t know me at all, Nick, to assume anything.”

Eh, she was right. All their time spent together revolved around work, which case in point was their whole reason for being there now together. It was good to be reminded of that and yet her words still carried a sting. “I’ll be downstairs and when you’re done freaking out we can go out for dinner and show our faces.”

Chapter 5

Sasha hated to admit it but Nick was right; she was freaking out. She was a trained agent that in many ways dealt with far worse. Catching a sadistic killer should have her worried, not playing the role she thought was impossible as some girly girl that people loved. The townsfolk wouldn’t know to see the lies, they couldn’t tell her she was no good anymore. She had to remember they weren’t looking at Sasha Madden and the past bared no importance when it came to catching their perp.

With a groan she finished with the last three dresses before moving on to dumping her underwear in a drawer. At least Nick hadn’t been clutching those in his hand. It didn’t take long to go meet her pretend husband downstairs. He was seated on the couch flipping through the channels on TV. He heard her come down the stairs and asked, “Any ideas on where to go for dinner or should we whip out the yellow pages?”

“Whatever you want.”

He turned off the TV and faced her with curious eyes. “I’m used to you being a bigger control freak.”

“Jetlag is a bitch.” Sasha didn’t want to reveal all the ways she hated this forsaken town and didn’t want to leave the house. Yes her soul burned to solve this case and bring the victims peace but to go out and whore her face to the public was her idea of hell.

His dark eyes grew curious with thought but whatever it was he didn’t voice it. “Let’s hop in the car and figure it out as we go along.”

Sasha followed him out the door. “With any luck the killer will spot me and try to make a move tonight.”

“Yeah, hopefully.” He laughed.

It was just past seven o’clock, the sun was settling into the horizon and the traffic was thinning as women and men made their way home from work. Sasha peered out the window and noticed some places looked familiar and others were new to her memories. A lot of things could change in ten years, she knew that best. She certainly wasn’t the same person that left this little town. She wasn’t the bookworm scared of her own shadow. The FBI twisted and made her into a confidant woman that could stand tall and secure she could take care of herself. That was a lot of the reason she loved her job, the rest of it came from making a difference in balancing out the evil of the world. In a lot of ways there was so much death and negativity but there were also reminders daily of the good still out there and Sasha wanted to add to it as much as she could.

Nick’s voice broke into her thoughts. “What do you think?” Following his stare she saw the flashing sign of Belinda’s Grill. “It looks pretty busy. Th
e more people that know Maggie’
s in town the better.”

“Yeah, let’s check it out.” She faked any optimism for their little outing. She was a social misfit and Maple Oaks was a big glaring reminder of that. Nicholas walked around the car and took her hand. She tensed having forgotten they were ‘married.’
The heavy
rock on her finger should’ve taken care of that.

He dropped her hand and instead wrapped his arm around her waist. “You have to relax.”

“You don’t have to lay it on so thick.”

His grip tightened and his annoyingly bright grin formed across his mouth. “Sure I do. Come on.”

Sasha ha
d
always known she was awkward with guys and this just added further to the obvious. She was trying but Nick made her nervous, they stood close enough that with every inhale she caught the scent of his cologne and whatever he was wearing sent a shiver right down to her toes. Anyone with eyes could see he was attractive and she had eyes but over the last year she noticed Nick as a team mate and
a
challenge to best
,
not a man. This was dangerous, she mused, dangerous to her psyche.