Love & Deception (Agents in Love - Book 1) (36 page)

Shelley wiped down tables and chairs, but
looked up when Carlie crossed to lock the door. “Where’s Nick
going?”

“He had an errand to run. He’ll be back to
get me later.”

She longed to tell her friend what was going
on. Really, who would Shelley tell? Didn’t she deserve to know she
no longer had a job?

Walking to the cash register, Carlie took
the money out, and an idea slowly percolated through her head. Nick
said he’d send money to Bradley, so he didn’t need this one last
deposit. Shelley, however, could use it as severance pay.

But how could she explain that? Nick would
be angry if she told Shelley they were leaving. She knew he would.
Carlie put the money in the office and then helped Shelley clean
the shop, torn about what she should do.

They were finished cleaning by 6:30, and
Shelley brushed her dark bangs from her eyes. “That’ll about do it,
boss lady.” She grinned. “I’m going to karate class tonight.
Sensei’s holding it even though people will be out of town for the
holiday. Want to come? We could take my car and be sparring
partners.”

Tears gathered in her eyes and Carlie shook
her head. “It’s been so nice having a girlfriend.” She pulled
Shelley into her, hugging her tight. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Miss me?” Shelley pushed away, confusion on
her face. “What are you talking about?”

Sighing, Carlie motioned for her to follow
and led the way to the office. She grabbed the bag of cash from the
safe and handed it to Shelley. “I won’t be coming back tomorrow,
Shelley, but you can’t let anyone know.”

Her eyes grew wide. “The assassins are back?
We should fight them!”

“They aren’t the problem, not yet, anyway.”
Carlie shook her head. “It’s Nick.” She didn’t know how much she
should reveal. Then again, Shelley already knew all her secrets.
What was a few more? “He’s in a bit of trouble—something about
terrorist plots and an FBI agent. He has to leave the country. I’ve
agreed to go with him.”

Shelley’s mouth opened, but she closed it
again without speaking and blinked several times.

“I know,” Carlie said. “It’s a lot to take
in. I’m sorry about leaving you jobless, but I love him. I have to
go with him and give myself a chance at a happy life.”

Shelley thrust the cash toward her. “You’ll
need this for yourself.”

“No. Keep it. This will at least help until
you find another job.”

Shelley stared at the floor for several
moments. “Will I ever see you again?”

“I don’t know.”

“Can I call you and check in?”

Carlie shook her head. “Nick’s getting rid
of our phones so no one can track us. That’s one of the errands he
had to run. I’ll call you when I get a chance, though.”

Her friend’s blue eyes met hers and tears
welled in them. “I’ll miss you so much.”

“I’ll miss you, too.” Carlie grabbed her in
a hug. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”

She hugged her back and then pulled away,
wiping tears from her cheeks. “I have to get out of here before I
have a total breakdown. Tell Nick I said goodbye.”

Carlie nodded. “I will.”

Shelley hugged her again and then walked
swiftly to the doorway, not turning around again.

Giving her a few minutes to exit the store,
Carlie made her way to the front of the building and locked the
door. She struggled against her own tears. Normally when she left a
place, there wasn’t anyone to say goodbye to, nothing to
sacrifice.

Sighing, she returned to the office, knowing
she had to word her letter to Bradley carefully. He needed to know
a lot of things, but she couldn’t do it in a way that could tell
the FBI where to find them.

Being with Nick was worth it. She had to
keep reminding herself why she was giving up her shop and her
friends. She loved Nick, and he loved her. As long as they were
together in an honest, loving relationship, it was worth all the
sacrifice.

***

Nick dropped the man he bought the car from
off at his house. The guy waved happily before walking up the porch
steps. It hadn’t taken much to convince him to meet at the
twenty-four hour supermarket and leave the late 90’s model sedan
there. A few extra bucks helped ease away any questions.

Now Nick and Carlie could leave the Porsche
in that parking lot and switch to the new car. With any luck, no
one would realize the Porsche was abandoned for a couple days, and
Paul wouldn’t know they were in a different car. By the time he
figured it out, Nick and Carlie would be long gone.

He’d already packed their belongings in the
sedan’s trunk, including Carlie’s jewelry. When she asked him to
grab it, he’d nearly broken down again and told her the truth about
his life as an agent. Her bracelet had been inside the wall safe of
his hotel ever since she kicked him out of the house Wednesday. It
was a lucky break Carlie hadn’t wanted to show the necklace he
bought to Madeline. He would have had a lot of explaining to
do.

Taking calming breaths, Nick reminded
himself everything would be fine. Carlie had no way of knowing it
hadn’t been under her sink when he packed it. She’d just be happy
he grabbed all her jewelry.

There was only one thing left to do before
picking up Carlie. Nick pulled out his cell and punched in the
boss’ number—one last call before he got rid of the phone and gave
up his life as a spy.

It only rang once. “Did you take care of the
problem?”

Obviously Paul had anxiously awaited his
call. “Not yet.”

“What’s the hold up? Do I need to send in
Stephen?”

“No. Don’t do that. I’ve set everything in
motion, but I’m assuming you want this to look like an accident.”
Nick had been thinking hard about this. He hoped to trick Paul into
waiting a couple days before expecting to hear from him again. That
would give them the best chance to leave undetected, but he needed
a good story. “I’m thinking I should knock her out and drive her
car into a nearby lake. If she drowns in an accident, that’ll be
less paperwork for you.”

Paul hummed on the other end of the line.
“You’ll do it tonight?”

“Yes, but I’ll have to get back from the
lake undetected. I’m thinking of walking back to town, so don’t
expect to hear from me until tomorrow. Maybe even Sunday.” This was
the tricky part, and he hoped Paul bought his reasoning. “I’m going
to leave my car here with my phone and everything else. I don’t
want to accidentally leave something behind with the target’s body
and cause complications for you to cover up.”

“The target, huh?” Paul exhaled loudly. “So,
what, you don’t love her anymore?”

That could be a double-edged sword. Nick
didn’t know the appropriate answer. However, Paul had implied he
understood being broken hearted before, so perhaps he’d once been
in love.

“I do love her, but not more than I love my
country.” Nick hoped that had the ring of truth and was the sort of
patriotic talk Paul would believe. “I’ll take care of her and make
sure innocent people don’t suffer.”

Essentially, that was true. It was just that
he believed Carlie was the innocent person here, and he didn’t
intend to let her suffer. And he did love his country, but what he
had with Carlie was more important, and worth leaving and starting
over somewhere new.

“I’m not sure about your plan,” Paul said
slowly. “Tell me what lake you’re taking her to. I’ll send Stephen
to pick you up after the job’s done.”

“Sir, with all due respect, Stephen’s a
moron. I don’t want him anywhere near the scene. He’s bound to
screw up somehow and get us both caught.”
Please believe
that.

“Hmmmm...” The only sound for several
heartbeats was Paul’s breathing. “You’re probably right. I haven’t
used him much, but he screwed up major the other night by
disobeying my orders.”

Nick tried to stifle his sigh of relief, not
wanting Paul to overhear. “That’s what I was thinking too,
sir.”

“How long until you meet with the
target?”

“I left her closing the shop. I needed some
supplies.” Nick glanced at his watch. “I’m supposed to meet her in
a half hour.”

“Fine. Before you get her, go talk to
Stephen. I know you don’t like him, but he has some papers you’ll
need in order to get that damn bracelet safely to D.C.”

Nick didn’t want to waste time talking to
Stephen—who he’d still rather punch than speak with—but it would
look suspicious if he refused. “Will do, boss.”

“You do have the bracelet secured,
right?”

“Of course I do, inside the safe in my hotel
room closet. Try not to worry. This case will go smoothly now. I
have it under control.”

In typical Paul fashion, he grunted and hung
up without saying anything else.

Nick put his phone down and started the car.
He had just enough time to drive to Stephen’s, grab whatever the
man had, and get to Carlie. It was slightly worrisome that Paul
sent paperwork to Stephen. That meant he had expected Nick not to
kill Carlie and Stephen to step in. Good thing they were leaving
tonight. If they had put it off until tomorrow, Paul would have
turned Stephen loose.

He wished with every ounce of his being that
he could pick her up and leave right now. The closer it got to time
to go, the more nervous Nick became about Paul or another agent
catching them. Especially since there was still so much they needed
to do before leaving.

Pulling the Porsche out onto the main road,
Nick wondered what Carlie would think of his getaway plan. Though
he’d have to put a slightly different spin on it for her benefit,
hopefully she wouldn’t have any objections to sinking her car to
the bottom of a lake on their way out of town.

Carlie folded the paper neatly into thirds
and stuffed it inside an envelope. She felt guilty about leaving
Bradley and Shelley in a lurch, but there really wasn’t much choice
in the matter. A glance at the clock revealed Nick should be back
anytime.

Wrinkling her nose, Carlie realized the odd
smell she’d noticed the last few minutes was stronger. She was
certain she turned off the stove and oven, but it smelled like
something was burning.

She placed a stamp on the corner of the
envelope and quickly addressed it. Rushing across to her purse,
Carlie stuffed the letter inside. Anxiety and increasing alarm
filled her. The fire detectors hadn’t gone off, but something was
wrong.

Carlie slipped her arms into the bulky,
brown coat and hurried to the office door. Turning the handle, she
pushed on it, but the door barely cracked open before butting
against something in the hallway. The smell of burning intensified
and dark smoke rushed into the doorway.

Fear clutched her insides. She pushed
harder, but whatever blocked the doorway didn’t budge.

“Okay, Carlie. Don’t panic,” she said aloud.
“You’re going to be fine.”

The words did nothing to calm her pounding
heart. She pulled the door closed to keep the smoke from filling
the office too quickly.

It wasn’t impossible for an accidental fire
to break out, but the doorway was blocked and the smoke alarms
never sounded. It appeared the assassins decided to come after her
again, only this time Nick wasn’t around to save her.

A loud crash came from the kitchen area, and
she wondered if the fire was already so bad that it destroyed the
structure of the building. She had to get out of the office before
she burned alive.

Rushing to the phone on her desk, Carlie
picked it up and punched in 911. It took a few seconds for her to
realize the line was dead. And Nick had her cell phone.

Another crash sounded out beyond the office
and the lights flickered and then turned off.

“Crap.” Carlie raced back to the door and
opened it up, ramming against it with all her might. Whatever
blocked the way gave slightly, but smoke also poured into the room
at a rapid rate.

Coughing, Carlie slammed her shoulder
against the door again and again.

There was no more telling herself not to
panic. This office was about to become her crematorium.

***

Nick’s unease mounted as he drove toward
Carlie’s Creations. Stephen hadn’t been home, nor was his car
parked at the karate dojo. It was a little past seven, and Nick
wondered if Paul sent him on a wild goose chase to keep him away
from Carlie.

Though he’d called the business line at the
shop twice, it went directly to a busy signal. There was no reason
for Carlie to be on the phone or have the line off the hook. She
should be sitting in the dining room, wondering where he was and
why he was late. If she called anyone, it should be him.

Something was wrong.

Racing into the parking lot of the shop, all
looked quiet. He might have believed he’d overreacted about things,
except for one little problem. Every light was off inside the shop,
even the security light just inside the doorway—that light never
turned off.

Blindly grabbing one of the phones from the
pile on the seat beside him, Nick slammed the car into park. He
jumped from the Porsche. Then, the scent hit him.

Everything might look normal, but the smell
of smoke filled the evening air. As Nick watched through the front
windows of the shop, a suspicious glow of orange crept across the
hallway and rolled onto the dining room floor.

“Shit!” Nick punched in 911 on the phone,
searching the parking lot for any sign of Carlie’s blond head. She
couldn’t still be in there, could she?

“9-1-1. What’s your emergency?”

“Send a fire truck to 858 Dixon Drive
immediately,” Nick barked into the phone. “Carile’s Creations is on
fire.”

Without waiting for a response, Nick
disconnected the call and rushed to the back of the building. If
Carlie was still inside the office, the fire in the hallway blocked
off her escape route.