Jae's Assignment (12 page)

Chapter Ten

Sprawled out on her back on the full-size bed in the guest bedroom, Jae awakened and sniffed the air. “What the…” she said, removing her weapon from the pillow next to her head. Getting out of bed, she wondered what Trevor was doing up already and what was he cooking that smelled scrumptious.

Walking quietly down the hallway that opened out into the spacious living room, Jae let her nose lead her to the kitchen on the left. Trevor was standing at the stove flipping pancakes.

She didn’t hide her surprise. Not only was he wide awake, clean-shaven, and looking refreshed, he was fixing a very large breakfast.

“Good morning, Jae. Have a seat,” he said, coming over and pulling out a chair at the table. When she took the offered seat, he returned to the stove and poured cups of coffee, bringing her one. “I’ve come to believe that you’re not a morning person,” he said, chuckling as he handed her the cup of coffee.

Accepting the cup and lifting suspicious eyes to his, Jae asked him what was so funny, sweeping her eyes over him. He looked as if he’d slept for ten peaceful hours and not the four hours she had. She even caught a whiff of aftershave, and by the spiky dampness of his hair guessed he’d taken a shower.

“Your slippers are funny,” Trevor said, turning from the stove with two plates filled with pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs. “This doesn’t compare to Elaine’s breakfast, but enjoy.”

Rolling her eyes at his back, Jae tucked her moccasin slippers under the kitchen chair. “You seem right at home,” she said, watching him closely as he set a plate before her, then sat to her right. It was too close for her comfort level. “There are several chairs to choose from,” she said, pointing to the empty chairs around the table.

“I’m fine. Oh, and I cleaned up the mess I made in your bedroom. Sorry about that.”

“Yeah, about that,” Jae geared up ready to dig into how he’d gotten into her apartment, when she watched him slice into his stack of pancakes and eat. She frowned. “Hey, I don’t recall having bacon or pancake mix on hand and I’m pretty sure I only had three eggs left in the refrigerator. Do you carry that stuff around in your backpack along with your surgical supplies?”

Trevor chuckled. “Good one, Jae, but no. I ran to the mini-market around the corner.”

“Have you forgotten that bad people are after you?” she asked around a mouthful of the fluffiest, butteriest pancakes she’d ever eaten.
Talk about melt in your mouth
, she thought.

“No, I haven’t forgotten. The market opened at six o’clock and I was one of only three customers. As they made their way to the coffee station, I filled the cart with breakfast items I thought you might like,” he finished, leaning closer to her. “But don’t worry. No one would recognize me without the long hair, beard, and glasses.”

“I recognized you in that hotel lounge,” she snorted.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

He promptly changed the subject. “How’s your side?”

“Fine now, but it did get infected,” she said, sipping her coffee. “Now, tell me how you found me?”

“I called your sister Ronnie. Don’t be mad at her. Now, tell me about the infection.”

I’m going to strangle Ronnie
. After reining in her vexation with her sister, Jae told him what had happened. “It still aches sometimes,” she said.

“I’m sorry, Jae. I may have put a suture in too loosely or may not have cleaned the wound enough. Unfortunately, that’s always a possibility with a gunshot wound because bullets are dirty. I’d hoped you wouldn’t get an infection,” he said quietly, studying her.

“Not your fault, but my crew wants to skin your hide.”

“Well, tell them to take a number and get in line,” he said.

They ate in silence for several minutes until Jae asked how he’d come there, followed by why was he there.

Trevor evasively told her how he’d taken several train rides, all done in order to see her. “I need your help, Jae.”

“My help?” she asked around a mouthful of fluffy scrambled eggs oozing with melted cheese.

Trevor laughed. “I hit a roadblock and knew I couldn’t return home yet.”

“What happened?” she asked, giving him her undivided attention.

“I left my family in order to protect them from the people who want me dead.” With a sad shake of his head, Trevor continued. “As much as I miss them, I can’t go back and risk putting them in danger.”

“Do you come from a big family?”

“I have my dad and stepmother, two sisters, and their husbands and children. I had a younger brother, but he died a year before…” He paused. “A year before I…died.”

“Trevor, although my assignment has ended, there were some loose ends that I haven’t been able to tie up, like the agent who initially handled your case. I want to help you.” Jae paused, looking down at her plate, before staring into his intense blue eyes. “What made you risk your safety to find me?”

“I have to find justice for those five soldiers, Jae. Somebody killed them in some botched experiment and pinned it on my research. I firmly believe that someone purposely altered my formula to try and create supersoldiers. I had the data and my notes to show that my research was beneficial. I could have helped thousands, soldiers and civilians alike.”

Trevor stood up to refill their coffee mugs. “Do you recall me telling you about being interrogated for hours in Washington?” At her nod, Trevor continued. “For all I know it may not have been inside FBI headquarters or even Washington for that matter.”

Jae was well aware how the FBI could stage and set up a location for such a purpose as he’d described. “When you left that location was it day or night?”

“That’s the thing, Jae. I don’t remember. After a day and a half long interrogation about the Marines, I was driven back to the airport and kept in a secluded area for three hours. One of the two MPs standing guard finally handed me my ticket and hustled me onto an airplane that had just pulled up to the gate. And guess what?”

“What?” Jae didn’t try to hide her interest.

“It was a private airplane and I was the only passenger. Or so I thought.” When she raised eyebrows, Trevor said, “As the plane taxied out to a runway this FBI agent, Dan Willow, steps out from the back of the airplane. He hands me a packet of papers and tells me it’s my new identity and career as a researcher at the Kincaid Institute. He said it wasn’t a high profile position, but it paid well enough and the job would start in two months.”

All of the pieces were starting to fit together.

“What happened then?”

“It wasn’t until about six months ago when I took a big chance and called the number I had for him. I was told he’d been killed a few months prior, but I don’t believe that, especially because he called again.” He swore hotly. “But now I have to wonder if it really was him because Agent Willow seemed to be asking too many questions. I kept my responses evasive and vague.”

“What’d he say?” Jae recalled searching for the agent and coming up empty.

“That night, after the airplane taxied out to the runway, it suddenly stopped. I thought Willow was on the plane for the trip to wherever. But then he opened the door and before he went down the steps to the tarmac, he told me that if my cover was ever blown he would contact me with a SYOA code,” he said, casually.

Reflecting on what he’d said, Jae got up from the table and carried her empty plate and coffee cup to the sink. Something he’d said had a familiar ring to it. She was so consumed by trying to figure out where she’d heard it, that the plate slipped from her hand, hitting the bottom of the stainless steel sink with a thud, so hard, it chipped on the side.

Rushing to her aid, Trevor cupped her pale cheeks between his hands. She closed her eyes at his touch. “What is it?” She didn’t respond. “Jae, are you ill?”

Jae couldn’t speak immediately because another voice was filling her head. She was straining to listen to it. It was Grainger’s voice from one of the two cell phone conversations she’d had with him in Richmond.

Her eyes flew open and she found herself grasping the front of Trevor’s polo shirt as her mind latched onto the words. “Trevor, what was that code this Agent Willow gave you again?”

“SYOA,” he said, lifting her hands from gripping the front of his shirt in her tight fists. “It means a cover is blown, or a jig is up.”

“I think I’ve heard it before. Is it something the military would use?” His yes nod caused Jae to back into the counter.

“Jae, I’m trusting you with my life so come on, talk to me.”

“I’m trying to remember, but I can’t grasp whatever is circling around in my mind.”

“Do you really want to remember, Jae?” Trevor asked, seriously.

“Yes, of course I do. I vaguely remember something that Grainger said, which I initially ignored. I know he would’ve expected me to remember it, but I can’t.” Jae groaned in frustration.

“Your subconscious is blocking it probably due to what was happening around you while you were talking with him. Come with me.” Trevor took her hand and led her out of the kitchen.

Walking into the living room, Trevor led her over to the sofa and encouraged her to sit down.

“You may be right. There was a lot going on at home during that call. I’d had to create a ruse to keep my family from picking up on my conversation. He gave me the particulars of the assignment, but I had to make it sound like I was going out to hook up with a male friend. Damn it, I need to remember.” Jae thumped her forehead with the heel of her hand.

“Close your eyes, Jae,” Trevor said, sitting down on the coffee table, facing her. When she just stared at him, he reached out and smoothed his hand over her face until she closed her eyes. When she presented him with a dubious expression, Trevor nudged her shoulder, pressing her into the back of the sofa. He instructed her to relax her neck and shoulders, her arms and hands and so on, down to her feet. He started counting, telling her to remember where she was and that it was safe for her to remember anything she wanted to because he wouldn’t let anyone hurt her. He told her to imagine being in her bed surrounded by all of her pillows and that it was safe and no harm would come to her there. He smiled when her hand reached for the pillow to her left and held it against her stomach.

At first, Jae grinned at Trevor’s voice, but slowly she did relax, as if she’d taken a sleeping pill.

“Jae, you’re on the cell phone with Grainger. It’s the second call. What is he saying to you?” Trevor asked.

“SAC Grainger,” she corrected. “He was having sex, but he wanted to know my ETA to the hotel.”

“Go ahead, and tell him your ETA, but listen closely to everything he says,” Trevor instructed quietly.

“My ETA is twenty minutes. Huh…SYOA? What? 10-4,” Jae whispered.

“What did you say, Jae?” Trevor asked.

“He’s whispering, croaking almost. Oh, God, s-something’s wrong, I can feel it. He can barely say, ‘See ya, JR, you got that…see ya,’” Jae mimicked holding her cell phone to her ear.

Seeing this and her agitation increasing, Trevor reminded Jae that she was safe. She relaxed immediately. He stared into her face and smiled. She was gorgeous. “So, what do you think about Trevor Grant, Jae?”

“That son of a bitch!” Jae exclaimed, making a fist unconsciously.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked, watching her wrinkling her nose.

“He looks different, now…lots of hair before. His eyes are the same…he kissed me. I shouldn’t have done that.”

He had no idea what she meant about the hair but didn’t want to probe. It was unethical so he went about bringing her out of the hypnotic state, though her face remained troubled. “What’s wrong? Where are you now, Jae?”

“I’m in the lounge watching Dr. Grant. He doesn’t recognize me, but I know it’s him.”

Getting up from the table, Trevor walked into the kitchen, all the while counting to bring Jae out of her hypnotic state. By the time he returned to the living room, she was fully awake. Giving her a glass of water and instructing her to drink it, he asked if Grainger had been in the military before joining the FBI.

“Uh-huh,” she mumbled as she downed the entire glass of water. “What did you do?” she asked, meeting his eyes before looking around the spacious living room.

“I hypnotized you.”

“Oh, really, what’d I say?” Jae stared at him skeptically with a twist of her lips.

“Your SAC Grainger didn’t say ‘see ya’, Jae, he said, SYOA. It means to ‘save your own ass’ and since Grainger said it to you, he was warning you that the jig was up. Where is he?”

“Nobody knows and from what I can tell, I was the last person to talk to him, and that same day my five team members were sent on a bullshit assignment. When I returned to work there was a memo that Grainger was on a special assignment.” When Trevor lifted his shoulders in a shrug, Jae added how unusual that was for Grainger.

“Maybe he’s spending time with a woman and getting some R&R.” Trevor winked.

Jae told him that although Grainger dated, she didn’t think he was seeing anyone seriously. “My last conversation with him, I just assumed his rushed voice was because he was with a woman.”

“You mentioned he was having sex. Why did you think that? Did you hear a woman screaming in the background?”

Jae snorted. “No, I didn’t. But we’ve spoken while he was caught up before. Despite being in the act, he’s always been available when needed.” Refusing to continue, Jae pushed up from the sofa and crossed the living room to the patio door. Sliding the glass door open, she walked out onto her patio.

Trevor was soon on her heels, walking over to the palms. She shot him a contemptuous glare as he bent to upright the palm that had been knocked over.

“So this is how you got into my apartment and muddied my carpet?” she said, turning and sitting upon the loveseat-style swing.

“I cleaned up the mess I made,” he said, walking over to her.

He sat down beside her, forcing her to move over an inch or two on the swing.

“I’m not moving. It’s comfy, like that big bed of yours.” Trevor leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Why does one so small have such a big bed?”

Jae shook her head. “Oh, give me a break with that line.”