“But — you can’t — you were FBI — you can’t just — they’ll find out. They’ll find me, and they’ll find you, and you’ll go to jail.”
Alex peered seriously at Teren. “Umm. What are the consequences?”
Teren looked thoughtful. “Well, if you were still FBI, they’d be pretty serious.”
“And now that I’m CIA instead?”
Her partner grinned. “They’ll suspend you for a day. With pay, of course.”
“Of course.” She nodded. “I think I can handle that.”
Teren pulled the car to the side of the road, and pointed. “There’s the foot path. We’ll need to get the flashlight from the trunk.”
“Anything else we’ll need?”
“Nope. Just our entertainment.” She turned to White, who was looking decidedly pale. “That would be you, Derek.”
Alex got the flashlight, while Teren hauled their prisoner out of the car.
A while later they were once again pulling up in front of the large white mansion. Graves came out the door and down the steps.
“You’re late,” he called, as Teren closed the driver’s door behind her.
“Yeah, well, we had to make a detour.” She nodded at the two men who had followed the older agent. “Got a present for you in the back seat. He’s unconscious right now. Had to make sure he didn’t know where we were going.” She grinned at Graves. “Besides, he really doesn’t take torture too well.”
He groaned. “Aww, Teren, tell me you didn’t.”
Alex stepped up beside her partner, and nodded. “We did. But just a little.” When Graves raised an eyebrow at her, she shrugged. “Hey, he suddenly didn’t want to tell us anything. Teren and I persuaded him that he should.”
“And just how persuasive was Teren? Did you hook him up to the car battery, like you did Sandoval?”
Teren winced. “That was Perry’s idea, not mine, and no. All I did was threaten him.”
Alex smothered a laugh.
“Okay, maybe I hit him once.” She paused. “Alright, twice, but that’s all.”
The three of them watched as Derek White was carried up the stairs and into the house.
Graves wrinkled his nose. “What the hell is that smell?”
Teren shrugged. “Like I said — he doesn’t take torture too well. That’s why we had to drive with the car windows open.” She winked.
Alex laughed. “Don’t worry, Ron, it really wasn’t that bad. We took him to this clearing and handcuffed him to a tree. He was already begging when Teren pulled her arm back for a punch. She slapped him a couple times, and he — umm, kind of lost it.”
“Literally,” Teren said. The smirk on her face made all of them laugh. “But, when I raised my arm for another swing, he started blathering about how he’d tell us whatever we wanted. Alex asked him questions. He answered. No problem. Then I knocked him out, and we brought him here.”
Graves shook his head. “Either you’ve gotten a lot stronger, Teren, or he’s a wimp.”
Alex nodded. “Wimp city.”
Teren eyed her partner, who grinned at her.
“Well, we’re off. Wanna get a little sleep before we find Treville tomorrow.”
“Think you’ll really be able to get him, Teren? Did the wimp know where he was?”
“No, but we know his next target. And we’ll be waiting.” She nodded at Alex. “Say goodnight, Ron.”
“Goodnight, Ron,” Alex said smoothly.
Graves grinned. “Good night, you two. Drive safe.” He waved and headed back inside.
Alex turned to Teren. “Keys.”
Teren handed them over with a frown.
She awoke to a weight on her chest. Confused at first, Teren looked around, finding herself in Alex’s bed, with her blonde and naked partner draped across her body. Teren grinned at the memory of why Alex was naked.
She watched her partner sleep, stroking the blonde head softly. Surprisingly, Teren found she didn’t mind how her lover used her as a mattress. Anyone else would have been gently but firmly rolled off of her within moments, but not Alex. The dark woman marveled at how open she felt with her lighter companion.
You’d almost think I loved her or something. She raised an eyebrow at the thought, wondering if she shouldn’t explore that idea further.
Then Teren froze as she realized someone was at the front door. And they weren’t knocking.
She glanced at Alex to find her blinking the sleep from her eyes.
“Stay here,” she whispered.
As quietly as she could, Teren slipped off the bed, and pulled on her jeans from the previous day. She reached for her t-shirt and her weapon at the same time. Behind her, she could sense Alex scrambling to pull some clothes on.
Teren made it out to the living room just as the door began to open. She snuck up to the backside of the door, and waited. As the person stepped into the room, she pressed the muzzle of her gun against their back, and cocked it.
“Don’t move.”
The figure froze.
Alex stepped out of the bedroom, her gun raised as well. When she saw the person frozen in her living room, she sighed, and lowered her arms.
“It’s alright, Teren. It’s Sarah.”
Teren’s eyes went wide, and she stepped around the woman.
“Sarah? Jeeze, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you.”
Sarah stayed where she was, looking from Teren to Alex and then back again.
“It’s okay, Sarah.” Alex flipped the safety on her gun, and slid it back into her holster, which she hung back on the hook in her bedroom. Then she went towards her friend and gave her a hug. “We didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You’re a bit late for that, Alex.” Sarah hugged her back, but her face still had a look of shock. “When did you get back?”
“Yesterday morning. But it’s been pretty busy, so I didn’t get a chance to call.” Alex led her friend to the couch. “What are you doing here so early? It can’t be past eight, can it?”
“Quarter ‘til. I came over to check the mail from yesterday, and get some more food for Appleby. He misses you, you know.”
Alex nodded. “Yeah. Listen, can you keep him there for a few more days? Things are still pretty chaotic.”
Sarah looked her friend over, noting the circles under her eyes, and the lines on her forehead. “Sure, it’s not a problem.” She also took in the fact that Alex had only a t-shirt on. There was no evidence of bedding on the couch, and Sarah glanced toward Teren, who had disappeared into the bedroom.“Can I ask what’s going on, or is that only for certain CIA people to know?”
Alex leaned back and sighed. “Sarah, there’s a lot going on. I promise, dinner at your place, just you, me and Maggie. We’ll talk ‘til dawn if you want. But not yet. Okay?”
“Are you two involved?”
“As in sleeping together? We have, yes. Is there something more? I don’t know. I don’t think either of us really know yet. We’ve been too busy running to figure things out.” She chuckled. “Not exactly an auspicious beginning for a relationship, eh?”
Sarah had to smile at her friend. “You never pick the easy ones, do you, Alex?”
“Hey, you picked her, even before I did, so I can blame this whole thing on you.”
They laughed quietly together.
“So, are you home? Like, for good? Or are you going running off to Europe again with Superspy?”
“Sarah. It wasn’t exactly a pleasure trip, you know.”
“Alex, I don’t know much. All I know is that you were in trouble, and fleeing the country. Ken said he was in touch and you were fine, but nothing else.”
“He didn’t know anything else,” Teren said as she came out of the bedroom. She had done a hurried wash-up job, and put on some fresh clothes. “We had to keep everything pretty quiet.”
Sarah inhaled suddenly. “Oh, gods, Teren, what happened to your head? Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Teren replied. Feeling self conscious she reached up and touched the still tender patch of stitches. “Just a nick. No problem.”
Alex snorted. “No problem. Right. She gets shot in the head, and scares the hell out of me, but it’s no problem.”
“Hey, Gerd told you, I have a really hard head.”