Protecting the Enemy (14 page)

She stood up and walked over to him. She placed her hands firmly on his thick shoulders and massaged her fingers into this jacket. “You’re going to want to cancel that appointment.”

He looked up at her face and then at her chest. Sweat beaded on his forehead. “Oh, really?”

She swallowed back her disgust at the pervert as she walked back over to her chair and sat down. “I know you worked for Senator Grant.”

He shrugged. “I work for lots of senators.”

“Mmm, and I know you were keeping tabs on Boss. The head of ETE
7.”

He loosened his shirt collar with his sausage fingers and picked up the phone. “Marge, cancel the rest of today’s appointments and take off early.” His hands were slightly shaking as he hung up the receiver. “Are you one of them?”

“One of who?” She raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“ETE 7?”

“I’m going to be the one asking the questions. There is a sniper outside your window, so make sure you answer honestly, Mr. Fuller.” Only half a lie. Reid’s gun wasn’t as precise as a sniper rifle.

He nodded. “Senator Grant’s death wasn’t an accident was it?”

“Again, I’m asking the questions.”

He removed a hankie from his pocket and dabbed his forehead.

“I don’t want to hurt you, Agent Fuller. So please, be careful about how you answer. Why were you following Boss?”

He cleared his throat. “Senator Grant trusted no one. He wanted me to follow him and report anything I saw.”

“Did you ever see the members of ETE 7?”

“No, Boss was careful and very sneaky. The man has to be former military.” He took a drink from the coffee mug perched on his desk.

“So what did you report back to the senator? Surely he was paying you for something.”

“What I just told you. I suspect Boss knew I was following him for Grant, otherwise I would probably be dead.”

She studied his plump face. There was something he wasn’t telling her. “If Boss took out Senator Grant, why are you still alive?”

He removed a hankie from his pocket and dabbed his forehead. “I don’t know.”

“I need Boss’ location.”

His eyes darted to the window. “I need to get to my file cabinet.”

“Okay, go ahead.” Julianna motioned for him to get up.

He stood up and turned his back to her. The tall black file cabinet was in the corner of the room behind his desk.

Julianna removed the gun from the holder around her thigh. Fuller was acting too shifty for her liking. He slipped his hand behind the cabinet. Instinct took over and before he could turn around, she pulled the trigger. A gun fell from his hand. Blood and brain matter covered the back wall creating a big mess. Her hands trembled and her mouth went dry. She hated messes. Seconds later, Reid was behind her.

“He was going to shoot me.” She turned into Reid’s arms. Her tears wet his shirt.

“Shhh, it’s okay.” He hugged her tight, then pulled her out at arms length. “We need to clean this up and get out of here.”

“I’m not used to killing this way. It’s too real. Too gruesome.” Her stomach felt leaded and her chest ached. She wasn’t the same. Meeting Reid changed her. She looked at life and even death differently now.

Reid squeezed her shoulders. He took a couple of latex gloves out of his pocket and handed her a pair. “Go get Boss’ file and anything to do with ETE 7.”

She swallowed and nodded. Like a programmed robot she did as Reid said.

After a few minutes of searching she found the files she was looking for. Reid trashed the place. He overturned chairs and ripped the cushions with his knife. When the place looked enough like a robbery gone bad, Reid told Julianna to shoot up the computer’s hard drive. Reid walked over and grabbed a couple dozen files to make the file they took undetectable, then overturned the metal file cabinet. He checked for security cameras and found none.

“Let’s go.”

Julianna followed him out. Reid had taken care of everything. Taken care of her. If he hadn’t been there. Her hands shook. She was losing it, losing her control. Before they headed back to the hotel Reid stopped in a deserted parking lot and set the unwanted files on fire. She watched the random files of who knows what go up in smoke. When there was nothing left but ash, he put out the fire.

***

Reid was worried about Julianna. She hadn’t said a word, since they’d left Fuller’s office. She just sat there on the bed with a blank look plastered on her face. He convinced himself that she’d be okay. They were both survivors. As much as he wanted to read the files on Boss, it would only be a matter of time before Fuller was discovered. They needed to get out of D.C. Yesterday.

Reid nudged Julianna’s leg. “Are you okay?”

She stood up, the blank gaze still on her face.

He placed his hand over hers. It was ice cold.

“Why do I feel like I’m the enemy?”

He kissed her hand, letting his lips linger. “You’re not. I promise.”

Chapter 13

J
ulianna sipped the hot liquid, letting it trickle down her throat. She was happy to be back in Baltimore at their little apartment over Chopstick Kitchen. The place comforted her. When she was there, she didn’t even miss her luxurious apartment. She felt close to Reid inside the little space they had created together, even though she didn’t remember how it had felt when they painted the walls, how excited she must have been furnishing it and how complete she must have felt making love to her fiancé in their clandestine place for the very first time.

Reid refilled his coffee and smiled. “Feeling better?” Wearing only black sweat pants, the man looked hotter than the steam coming up from his mug.

“Yes.” She paused to take another therapeutic sip. “Sorry I kind of lost it back in D.C.”

“That’s okay. You’re only human.”

Julianna nodded as she glanced over to the papers spread out on the counter. “I’m disappointed there wasn’t more information in the files.”

He shuffled through the documents again. “Yeah, me too. But we have a few more locations we can try. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find Boss at one.”

She placed her empty mug in the sink and turned to him. “I guess the only way we’re going to get all the answers we want, is going to have to be from Boss himself.”

Reid walked over to her. His finger glided over her cheek causing her eyes to close. His touch calmed her more than sweets ever had. “I promise we will find him, because until we do, we can’t go on with our lives and that is not acceptable.”

She opened her eyes to look into his. She believed him. “When you look at me that way, I wish I could remember.” She swallowed. “Why can’t I remember, Reid?”

His muscular arms wrapped around her. She pressed her ear against his smooth hard chest and listened to his steady heartbeat, the rhythmic sound almost putting her into a trance. She could easily fall asleep, standing there in his embrace.

“Living life as a weapon, as an assassin can get dark… even if you are killing for good. We were each other’s light in the dark, Julianna. That is all you need to remember.” He picked her up and carried her over to the sofa bed. Without taking his eyes from her, he grabbed the protection he’d picked up at the gas station. She let her silk robe fall open as he climbed on top of her. His kisses were a mixture of sweetness and raw desire. She dug her heals into his thighs bringing him deeper into her body and her heart.

When they woke up an hour later, they went down to the restaurant to eat. Julianna took her last bite of sweet and sour chicken. “That was delicious.”

“It was. You know, us eating here… it almost feels like old times, normal.”

Julianna folded her napkin. “I don’t know if things will ever feel normal again. Living on the run like this is taking its toll on me. Not having any of my own stuff makes me feel unsettled.”

“You know, it has been long enough, maybe we could go to your apartment so you can get your clothes and stuff. There’s room upstairs.”

“Really?” Maybe having her stuff would make her feel better.

He tossed their containers into the trashcan. “Yeah, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Julianna bit her lip. “We get blown up into little bits.”

***

Julianna’s breath caught when she walked inside her apartment. She’d half expected it to be tossed, but it wasn’t. Instead, it looked the same as it did the day they’d been smoked out of it. Almost as if none if it ever happened. Reid stood watch while she grabbed her clothes and everyday purse out of the closet. Extra handbags were no longer important. All the shoes she’d spent hours picking out didn’t matter much either. She didn’t plan on attending any cocktail parties for a long time.

It was surreal to be back in her apartment, where everything had started. When he’d suggested they go get any of her belongings she wanted to keep and bring them to the Chopstick Kitchen apartment she was elated. Since ETE 7 had paid her rent, she’d have to move out soon anyway. To be able to have her own clothing, makeup, and shoes would be the first step to some sense of normalcy. Well, as much normalcy as an assassin could have. Boss was the last living threat of ETE 7 and he was hiding from them—not trying to kill them, at the moment. Of course they wouldn’t let their guard down, until he was found and dealt with.

“Can you get this zipped?” She sat on top of the largest suitcase.

Reid chuckled and walked over to zip the overstuffed luggage. “You know the other closet is half this size, right?”

“I can make it fit.” She’d spent a lot of time shopping for the perfect outfits, though the garments didn’t seem as imperative as they once had. Still they were hers and ETE 7 had taken enough from her already.

She reached up to the shelf to grab her Jenga game. If she ever got bored enough to play it again that would be a surprise. Nonetheless, she tucked the box under her arm. She gazed at her bed and frowned. It would cause too much attention to have her bed moved out. She sighed and walked into the living room where Reid was waiting by the door, his Glock drawn.

He put his gun away. “Ready?”

Julianna took one last look at her beautiful apartment. “Yes.”

“Are you sure? This is it, no coming back. Anything else you want to grab?”

“I have everything I need.” She took a step outside. “Wait! I need to grab one more thing.” Julianna ran back to her bedroom and opened the nightstand. She picked up the gold necklace and dropped it into her purse. She needed all the luck she could get.

***

Julianna tried to hang her wardrobe in the new closet. There were too many clothes for the tiny space. Clothing was crammed and squished. She crossed her arms, frustrated.

“I told you it would be a tight fit.” Reid smirked.

She stood back and frowned. For some reason she was unnerved. “It’s too messy.”

“A little mess never hurt anyone.”

Julianna grew angry, though she didn’t know why. She removed the clothes one by one and placed them neatly on the floor. She’d have to fold half of them back up and store them inside her luggage, then at least the closet would be tidy.

“So when you went back inside for something, you came back out and I didn’t see you with anything else. I’m curious, what did you go back for?”

She folded her sweater. “My necklace.”

His fingers twirled a strand of her hair. “Necklace? Can I see it?”

Julianna raised an eyebrow. “Yes, it’s inside my purse. Just a gold chain that’s kind of my lucky charm.”

Reid removed the necklace and held it up. “Interesting.” For a moment he just stared at the chain. “Jewels, either the necklace I gave you survived the explosion, or you bought another one just like it.”

Her eyes widened. “I did?”

“Yes, it’s the exact one I gave to you the night I proposed.”

“I just bought it at Reeds’ Jewelers one day on a whim.” Her mouth dropped open. “I must have been drawn to the name, but didn’t know why.”

“Yes, I got your necklace and ring from Reeds.”

“Wow.”

He handed the gold chain back to her. “You may remember more than you think.”

She clasped the necklace in her hand. “That’s reassuring. Maybe my memories aren’t buried as deep as the doctor thought.”

***

Their first lead on Boss didn’t pan out. Boss left no clues as to if and when he’d been there. According to Fuller’s files, Boss had stayed at the apartment a few months ago.  Nothing was left inside the closets or cabinets; even the air duct was empty, unless dust bunnies counted. Boss had once told Reid that the insides of ducts were good hiding places in a pinch. Reid shouldn’t have expected any less, the man had been their teacher after all.

“Don’t be disappointed, we knew this was a long shot.” Julianna kissed Reid on the cheek.

Reid tried to smile for her sake, but his anger and frustration were winning out. “I know. But now we only have two places left to check. I want that SOB.”

“I know. So do I.”