

Book one of the Avery Clavens series

Amber Lynn

Copyright © 2012 Amber Lynn

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author's imagination and used fictitiously.
Author's note

The voices in my head told me to write this

I just want to start off by saying a big thank you to anyone who takes the time to read my story. This is the first of six stories centered on my main character Avery. As I'm sure a lot of writers do, I based her loosely on myself. Her name is in fact the last name of my favorite hockey player when I wrote the story. If there are any hockey fans out there, I imagine I just lost you, but I hope there are enough other readers to give me some feedback.

Further, I want to say I've never actual been to New York City, so some of the places I describe may or may not be accurate. Also, the characters in the book are all completely fictional and are based on people my mind created. Although, if Avery was a real-life character, I'm pretty sure she'd be my twin.

In conclusion, thanks again for reading. I hope you enjoy.

Amber

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

CHAPTER 1

What are friends for? Really, please tell me because I have no clue

"I really need to just get away from it all." I sighed as I told Frannie about my latest work woes. My tales weren't the full extent of what was happening in my life, but they were all she'd get.

We were at our favorite little sidewalk cafe, Vincent's, having a nice lunch. I chowed down on a tuna fish on rye with a few extra pickles on the side, because of the weird love affair I had with pickles, and she nibbled on a chef's salad.

"Why don't you get away and go somewhere where the sun always shines? You can just sit and admire the view of washboard abs on the beach," she replied, and I winced. "Really, Avery, that job at the library has got to be the most boring occupation in the world."

I disliked talking about work with Frannie. When I was required to lie, it got kind of tricky. At least the particular lie getting ready to come out of my mouth was one I'd told many times, and I'd gotten good at telling it.

"But I love books and I love working with kids. I've never wanted to be a teacher, so it's the best of my dream worlds, for now. We've been over this before; when I can save up enough money, I'll get that cute little corner bookstore.

"And me in sun," I paused a second to laugh. "Have you seen how pasty white I am? I'm pretty sure I've seen pictures of Casper and me on those Photoshop look-a-like sites, with people commenting on how freakishly accurate the similarities are. I really don't think a vat of shellac could make me sit on the beach for more than a second."

"You know, sometimes I wonder how we can be friends. I mean we really couldn't be more different."

She was right. Frannie looked like a supermodel. We're talking a five-nine, one hundred and ten pound, blonde haired and blue eyed gorgeous supermodel. As far as I knew, she'd never had to work a day in her life, and while I was all about books, she was into fashion.

She had a driver to cart her off anywhere she wanted to go in the city and a private jet sitting on the runway in case Paris or Milan telepathically told her she was needed there. Her father owned one of the most successful chains of hotels on the planet, so she really had no cares in the world.

I, on the other hand, defined the meaning of the word average. There's nothing special about a five-six, one hundred and forty pound, brown haired, blue eyed geek. The geek part could be considered a little special. Not that I really looked the geek part. No one ever saw me with glasses or a pocket protector.

I'd always been a little socially awkward and tended to relate more with characters in books than real people. The fake work I did at the library was supposed to be a research assistant type job. I mostly helped kids find information they needed for school reports, guiding them through the books and the Internet to find the most reliable and complete information.

At least that's what Frannie thought I did. Technically, my job was similar, but without little kids and she didn't have the clearance to know the branch of government that employed me. Okay, maybe the whole clearance thing wasn't technically true, but I felt my occupation was better kept a secret from my globetrotting friend.

I chuckled. I seemed to do that a lot as a way to hide my nervousness when we spoke about subjects I wasn't comfortable with.

"You're right. Why are we friends again? I bring nothing to this equation. Meeting at the gym and sharing jokes about the instructor's inability to enunciate properly is a very odd way to start a lasting friendship."

"How could we not start a friendship after finally figuring out where our bisons where located? That guy said 'feel that burn all the way deep in your bisons'. Obviously, by the way we were moving our arms, and the muscles I felt burning, I knew he meant bicep, but come on, no one else in the room even acted like he said anything funny. We had to become besties for that reason alone," she said with a hint of an evil chuckle. "Anyway, you wouldn't happen to want to go to the Rangers game tonight, would you?"

I happened to be a hockey nut, so the request made sense, but I got the feeling it was some kind of setup. Otherwise, she wouldn't have plastered her most innocent-looking expression on her face. I didn't really want to find out her wicked plans, but passing up a chance to see my boys live was insane.

"Hmm, I think I might be free. Are you going to the game and happen to have a spare ticket?" I asked as nonchalant as possible.

"Well, you know, since Daddy's friends with the owner of the team, he always has a few tickets available and I was going to go, but Gary decided he wanted to go more cultural tonight and see a play instead. He has a friend from out-of-town visiting and we were all going to go to, but I thought it might be fun for you since you're such a fan.

"It's me and Gary's three-month anniversary, so he thinks a night on Broadway is in order. I can't wait to see what he got me for a present. The earrings for our two-month anniversary were beyond beautiful," Frannie gushed.

Gary was a dashing lawyer and all-around nice guy. They met at some charity function and hit it off right away. I'd gone out with them quite a few times as a third wheel and in a way I was glad they'd be off being lovey dovey somewhere else.

"I guess if you aren't using the ticket, I won't turn you down." As I said that, I tried to figure out what wicked plan she was churning in her head, and then it hit me. "You mentioned a friend from out-of-town; tell me he's going with you to the play."

"You see, Nathaniel isn't really the cultural type. In fact, I hear he's more into sports, so it really would be cruel to make him sit through the play," she replied in a childlike voice, as if her treating me like I was five would make it better.

"Please tell me this isn't some sort of blind date you've engineered. You know how much I hate them. I can't talk to people I don't know. It just doesn't feel right and I get all flustered. You won't even be there as a buffer. I'm going to be permanently tomato red." I could feel my face already turning a nice shade of pink just thinking about it as I rambled on.

"It really won't be that bad. Like I said, he's into sports, so he might not notice you're there," she explained.

"Oh, that's reassuring. You're setting me up on a date where the guy will be talking more to the refs than me." I stopped and thought for a second. "Wait, you know that's actually kind of perfect."

"I know. You can hit the quarterly date quota I instituted for you and there's a good possibility you won't have to speak." Frannie quickly looked down at her expensive watch, before glancing back at me with a huge smile on her face. "Look at the time, I have to run and get some shopping done. Here's your ticket. Have a great night and call me tomorrow with all the details."

She got up and rushed to her limo as I yelled, "Happy anniversary. Have a great night yourself."

I looked down at my ticket and saw that it was a great seat up a few rows from the players' bench. I had a feeling the "date" wasn't going to be as bad as I originally thought.

* * *

On the bus ride back to work, I got hyped up for the game. If I remembered right, it was a division matchup and we'd beaten the other team two of the three times we'd already met during the season.

I was passionate enough about the game to include myself when I referenced the team. Chances were I'd topple over if I ever tried to lace up some skates, so I lived vicariously through the players. I just hoped that Gary's friend was as into sports as Frannie claimed; otherwise it was going to be a really long night.

Getting off the bus, I stared up at my twenty-story building and I wondered what it would be like to work in a place with windows. It was a question I often asked, but didn't really desire to find out an answer.

I made my way through the lobby towards the elevators and I nodded to the security staff as I swiped my badge through the reader before submitting to the mandatory retinal scan. Once the green light appeared, I was permitted to step on the elevator. After pressing SB2, I was on my way to the "Pit of Despair".

Down two levels in the basement, the "Pit of Despair" was a term coined by a former worker on his last day. His parting words out the door were, "Hello sunshine, goodbye pit of despair." For some reason the term stuck and had been affectionately used ever since.

My work area was a small cube farm of three terminals where Carl, Liz and I spent about ten hours a day monitoring Internet traffic and phone lines for people doing nefarious deeds. We collected the evidence to put the people behind bars and I couldn't help but be proud of my work getting some of the worst criminals off the street.

It was hard to believe the shy seventeen-year-old girl searching for evidence of alien landings by hacking into a NASA server ended up where I was. For some reason, the government didn't think it was very funny that I tunneled my way in after a few days without sleep. They "invited" me to join the never heard of Bureau of Singular Intelligence. With an option of that or jail, I quickly signed on the dotted line.

"Wow, Avery, looks like you're getting a tan. Just how long were you out in the sun?" Carl asked, poking fun at the fact that none of us spent more than maybe thirty minutes outdoors in a given day.

Carl had been around the dungeon the longest. He was recruited right out of college ten years prior. He was thirty-one, and really did look the part of a geek, pocket protector included.

He had shaggy, sandy blonde hair that was always getting in his eyes and he tended to wear some unneeded black, thick-framed glasses. Sometimes I wondered if he believed girls had cooties and decided the patented "geek" look would keep him from catching anything.

"Yeah, I better be careful. I think I can feel the melanoma now from the ten minutes of sun rays. You guys didn't happen to catch where Schwartz is sending the funds while I was out, did you?" I asked.

"Sorry, still tracing all the different routes the money is making. This guy has to have some tech genius working for him," Liz replied, not looking up from her computer monitor.

Liz was Korean, so at least she didn't look like a ghost the way Carl and I did. She stood around five-two, so I always enjoyed standing next to her after spending time with Frannie. Liz was recruited after being caught with some homemade bugging devices she tried to put on a then boyfriend's phone. Needless to say, she and the guy weren't still dating.

"I'm sure you guys will finish the trace within the next few days," Mr. Irving, our boss, announced, making his presence known. "While the computers are running their programs you guys are getting a new assignment. Tomorrow an agent from the FBI is coming to ask for help tracking down who is on the receiving end of a few e-mail messages. Evidently, some wannabe mafia kingpin in Moscow has been corresponding with persons unknown here in the States and the emails are scaring important people in the chain of command."

A little confused I said, "That sounds like pretty easy stuff to track, are the worker bees in the FBI all taking an afternoon nap?"

"Someone has decided your work is underutilized and wants to promote interdepartmental sharing of information. Which really just means they're trying to save some money in their own department and using us for research. Since you guys usually don't see the other agency employees, let's try to look professional tomorrow and leave the jeans at home," he replied.

"But I'm really not sure I'm comfortable coming to work in my underwear," I said, successfully keeping a straight face.

"Clavens, you know what I mean. Wear some dress slacks or a skirt and look the part of a government agent hard at work," he answered. Clearly, he didn't like my joke; some men just never developed a sense of humor.

After he left, we busied ourselves trying to finish the projects we were working on to clear way for the new interdepartmental task coming the next day. I let Carl and Liz know I had to leave at five for my big "date", and after a barrage of questions about the man, none of which I could answer, I was out the door.

The train ride home was peaceful as I listened to some country music from an app I'd installed on my phone. After exiting the train, I walked a few blocks to my apartment.

Home was a small studio in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens. Since I rarely had people over, and I didn't have a lot of possessions, it worked well for me. The mail held nothing of interest, so I threw it all in the garbage and checked the fridge for anything that sounded good before the game.

Deciding that I should probably save room for some nachos from my favorite food vendor, I made my way to the small wardrobe where I kept my limited clothing selection. The jeans I wore looked fine, so I grabbed my personalized Rangers jersey, ran a brush through my hair and was back out the door to catch a train.

CHAPTER 2

Nothing like a little blood on the ice

The Garden was just starting to fill up when I arrived. It was thirty minutes before puck drop, so people still had plenty of time. I made my way towards my seat and didn't see anyone sitting in the seats around me, allowing me to hope Mr. Date wasn't going to show.

The players were doing drills on the ice to get warmed up for the game, giving me numerous distractions to keep occupied. One of my favorite players was at center ice chirping to the opposing team, attempting to get them off their game.

I'd have loved to hear exactly what was being said. I always imagined it was like the movie _Slap Shot_ _. I could hear the hilarious things they said to each other in the movie playing out on the ice, at least that's what I chose to read on the players' lips._

Five minutes to go, still no date, my nerves started to settle. As I was standing up for the National Anthem, I heard, "Excuse me, but I think that's my seat next to you."

Darn. I was so close. Since he'd already waited so long, he could've waited until puck drop, so I didn't have to bother filling the space between the anthem and the start of the game.

I moved out of the way so he could stand in front of his seat and sing along with the anthem. My nerves started back up as I tried to get a glimpse of what the guy looked like. From the side, all I could see was dark brown hair and a nose that appeared to have been broken a time or two. Something about it didn't look quite straight.

After the song came to an end, we both settled in to our seats and he glanced over at me. His brown eyes widened a little bit when we made eye contact. I guessed any expectations he had for me went down the drain. Whereas with me, if I was considering it a real date, I'd be pleasantly surprised.

The man was hot, and I was certain every letter in the word hot needed to be capitalized. His brown hair was cut short and clean. Not quite military cut, but pretty close.

On further inspection, his eyes weren't just brown, but had flecks of gold that really made them pop. His nose had most definitely been broken, but that didn't take away from his looks at all. In fact, it added a bit of character to an already exceptional face.

Not wanting to speak first, I waited while he took in the sight of who he was stuck with for the game. I couldn't tell the thoughts running wild in his head, but he was analyzing something, and I had a feeling he was trying to figure out how many beers he'd need to get through the night.

"Umm. You must be Avery," he stammered out. "I'm Nathaniel."

With that he stuck out his hand and I politely reached over to shake. The second our hands touched I felt a charge tickle up my arm. I wasn't sure what to think of it, so I chalked it up to him dragging his shoes on some carpet.

I took my hand away and wiped it as covertly as possible on my pant leg. The tingly feeling didn't immediately fade and I wondered where he'd found an area of carpet big enough to accumulate that much charge.

"Yes, I'm Avery. It's nice to meet you, even though it's under these circumstances," I said. He looked at me curiously so I quickly added, "This whole blind date thing. I'm generally really nervous to begin with, getting set up does nothing for those nerves."

"I see," he said as he continued to stare at me. "I thought maybe you didn't like hockey and were expecting this to be a long night."

"Oh no, I love hockey," I replied. "That part of the evening is going to be great. It's the being around thousands of people that will have me looking over my shoulder all night."

"If it makes you feel better, I'll help look over your shoulder to make sure no one is sneaking up on you." His eyes implored me to believe him, and I knew I needed to get them focused on anything other than me.

I laughed and turned towards the game, which was starting. I hoped he'd get the hint that I was done talking for a while. It seemed to work because he concentrated on the game too. Soon, I found we were both out of our seats yelling at a horrible goaltender interference call. Our guy was clearly pushed in and we would've scored if the penalty hadn't occurred.

At the first intermission it was still zero-zero and I was really hankering for those nachos. Nathaniel leaned over and asked, "Do you want me to grab you something to eat?"

Staring at the floor, I replied, "I was kind of looking forward to a Nacho Grande from Carlos & Gabby's. Here, if you're going that way, let me give you some money."

"No, this is supposed to be a date, so let me take care of it. Do you want anything to drink?"

"Water would be fine. I'm not big on alcohol and carbonated beverages," I answered.

I thought about getting some money out of my pocket and giving it to him even after he said it wasn't necessary, but it wasn't often I had a man, especially not one who looked like Nathaniel, offering to feed me. I figured he was just doing it because he was friends with Gary, and I saw no problem with that.

"Great. I'll be back in a few minutes. The lines are probably pretty long, but if I'm not back in fifteen minutes, tell them to hold the game for me," he laughed and made his way up the aisle.

I followed his progress for a minute and saw multiple women trying to get his attention. Not only did he not stop to talk, he paid zero attention to the made-up beauties hoping for a few minutes of his time.

I sat back and watched the crazy intermission games down on the ice and was surprised five minutes later to hear, "Here you go."

I looked up to see Nathaniel standing there, holding out a plate of nachos. I couldn't figure out how it was possible. I wouldn't have even made it up the stairs in that amount of time, let alone to the head of the line. He'd scaled the stairs pretty quickly as I'd watched, so I could understand his swiftness, but unless the lines parted in front of him, I was confused by how he'd done it.

"Thanks. That was fast," I told him, hoping he'd do some explaining.

"Well, you looked famished, so I thought I better hurry, wouldn't want you turn into a cannibal on us," he jokingly said as he took his seat.

I looked over to see he had a plate of tacos, so at least he didn't stop at two places. He didn't seem to want to clarify how I instantly had food, and my timid nature kept me from pushing for an answer.

Since we hadn't spoken much yet, I decided it'd probably be nice to get to know him a little. Not that I was expecting a second date or really even to see him again. He seemed like a decent enough guy. I figured we could have a nice chat while we waited for the boys to come back out on the ice.

"So Nathaniel, what do you do for a living?" I asked.

"Nate is fine, Nathaniel is a little too formal after we've battled the refs calls together for the last forty minutes. I'm currently between jobs right now. I'm usually an insurance salesman, but I wanted to take a little break and do some traveling, and maybe settle down in a new town for a while," he informed me.

"Really? What town are you coming from?" I queried.

"That'd be Chicago. I grew up there. What is it you do for a living?"

"Wow, they set us up on this date and didn't give either of us any information, did they? I can't say that's unlike Frannie. I work in a library as a research assistant," I easily told the lie. "Not really anyone's idea of something exciting."

"I don't know about that. Research can be a lot of fun. I spent many afternoons in the public libraries trying to hide from fighting parents growing up. Thankfully, when I turned sixteen they finally divorced and I went to live with my mom on the other side of town. I learned a lot of cool stuff in the library, though, but I don't remember any librarians as beautiful as you."

Cue the tomato red face I predicted earlier. If he hadn't been agreeing to the calls on the ice with me just a little bit ago, I would've thought he was blind. Maybe he was just farsighted.

"Thank you, but compliments aren't necessary. I figure this is probably the only time we'll see each other, since you're just visiting, so you don't have to be that nice."

I finished up my nachos while we carried on our conversation. It was kind of surprising, since I tended to be a little shy about stuffing my face in front of people.

"Well, since I'm planning on being here at least a couple weeks, and we're both friends of each other's friends, you never know when we'll see each other again. Anyway, I was speaking the truth, not trying to butter you up," he said it with a fierce seriousness that made me believe him.

I decided to let it go. Nate was turning in to a giant conundrum that I wasn't sure I wanted to figure out. My life was fairly simple, I didn't need a puzzle to solve. Thankfully, the players were getting ready to start the second period.

Two minutes in and we finally scored. We both were on our feet as we screamed with the other fans. After a great fight and goal for each side we came to the second intermission. It was time to make my way to the bathroom and stretch my legs a little. After standing through a ten-minute line, I made my way back to my seat.

Nathaniel was talking on the phone saying, "Yes, sir, I'll be there first thing in the morning. We should have an answer relatively soon, I'd think. I hear they're really good at their job." He looked up at me and quickly added, "I have to go, but I'll touch base as soon as I get any results."

"So, get in any cat fights while waiting in line?" he asked, putting his phone away.

"Nah. I just put my mean face on and that's good enough to scare everyone away. I mean if you saw this," I arranged my face to my patented "I hate the world" look, "would you want to mess with me?"

He started laughing hysterically. The way his eyes lit up and sparkled drew me to stare at them, and it took actual effort to look away.

"No, I guess not, but I may ask what you have stuck up your butt, because you look kind of constipated."

I continued to give him my look for another few seconds, and then pretended that what was on the ice had me captivated. It wasn't often I found something that took my eye away from the game.

"Hey, I was just joking around," he said. "That's a very ferocious look you have. I wouldn't think of messing with you if I saw it."

Somewhat appeased, I turned and stuck my tongue out at him. "The look and the martial arts slash self-defense training might be enough to scare you away."

"Really? Very interesting. I've had a couple of classes myself. Maybe we should spar sometime." The sparkle in his eyes was replaced with a glint of something that made me think he knew something I didn't.

"I don't know about that. Like I said, I don't know that we'll see each other again after tonight. I'm very busy at work and all of that. Look, they're getting ready to drop the puck, let's get back to the game." I really didn't want to try to spar with him and I hoped that idea flew out of his head quickly.

We watched the third period and with an empty netter at the end, our boys won three-to-one. It was odd that I thought of them as our boys since he was just visiting our town, but he seemed to be cheering for them, so I supposed it was okay. Coming from another hockey city, he probably had his own boys in reality.

"Well, this has been a fun night. Do you want to go out for coffee or something?" he asked, digging his keys out of his pocket.

"Sorry, but I don't do caffeine and I have a new project starting at work tomorrow, so I really want to get a good night's sleep."

He'd been nice and I had a lot of fun, but I thought adding anything more without the hockey game as a buffer would be pushing it.

"That's too bad. I guess this is it then. Do you want to exchange numbers so maybe we can talk another time?" he asked with an expectant look on his face.

"Um, sure." I rattled off my cell phone number. "Just text or call it later and I'll store the number."

I was pretty confident that number was going to get lost in his phone, but he asked for it, so I thought it'd be rude not to give it to him. Plus, I knew if I didn't, Frannie probably would and I thought it was better if it came from me.

"Got it. I'll call you later, it really was a great night," he said as he leaned in and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

I decided he had to be an electricity conductor, because I felt a similar shock to the one I'd previously felt. I also thought there was a little heat passed from him to me, but that might have just been my body's response to his touch.

"Good night," I said shyly as I made my way out the aisle and up the stairs.

I reflected on my night during the train ride home. He was intriguing, but the fact that he was gorgeous and from out-of-town made me think there wasn't going to be a second date. It was just as well. The new project at work was going to have all my attention for the near future.

As I was getting tucked into bed, my phone vibrated, indicating I had a text. I picked it up to see who it was from and I was surprised to see it said:

_Hey Avery, just wanted to make sure you got home safe. I had a great night and will try to give you a call tomorrow. – Nate_

I didn't want him to sit up and worry all night, so I texted back:

_Thanks. No problem getting home. Talk to you later. – Avery_

After saving the number in my phone, I set my alarm and quickly fell asleep.

CHAPTER 3

Welcome to the Twilight Zone, admission is a buck fifty

The alarm sounded way too early the next morning, in my opinion, which at the time was the only one that mattered. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I hit the off button and made the trek to the bathroom.

My apartment only had a small bathroom that allowed a person the basic necessities. A toilet, a shower and a small sink was the total make-up of the room, and since I didn't waste any time worrying about what I looked like, it was more than enough for me. There was absolutely zero decorations in the room, so white paint on white fixtures was the general boring motif.

When I glanced in the mirror, I was a little shocked by how many directions my hair sprouted. My hair usually rested around my shoulders. It was thin, straight hair that somehow was sticking up to look like rays of sunshine coming out of my head. It was the most artistic my hair had ever been, but it looked frightening.

"Eek," I screeched. "What position did I have to sleep in to come up with this morning greeting?"

I ran a quick brush through it to get the tangles out and turned the shower on. After quickly washing my hair with my strawberry shampoo and conditioner, I toweled off and wrapped the towel around my hair to let it dry.

Remembering the "look professional" directive, I pulled out the one skirt I owned. It was a simple, black number that hit me right about the knees. I matched it with a hot pink button-up blouse and a pair of pink ballerina flats, because there was no way anyone got to see me in heels. I didn't actually own any, so they weren't even a possibility.

Once dressed, I returned to the bathroom and ran the brush through my still damp hair. Blow-drying took way too much time, so I usually just let it air dry. Since it was one of the few times I dressed up, I decided to add some mascara, eyeliner and eye shadow to my eyes.

If Frannie could see me, she'd laugh hysterically. I didn't think I'd worn makeup once in the three years we'd known each other. Just for fun I dabbed on a little lip gloss with a faint pink tint.

On my way out the door, I grabbed a couple granola bars to eat on the way to work. It was seven-thirty and the sun was already shining bright. The weather said it was supposed to be eighty degrees out with a spotty chance of rain. I loved warm rain; it was too bad my plans included being stuck inside all day.

* * *

When I got to the office, Carl and Liz were just arriving, and I was immediately bombarded with questions. I would've given just about anything to develop a power that made them forget I'd gone on a date.

We sat down at our desks as the grilling started. I made a note to never mention any future dates to the two of them, because dealing with Frannie was bad enough. Having even more people question me made me want to lock myself in my apartment and throw away the key.

"So, how was the date?" Carl asked with a wicked grin that I could tell spelled trouble for me.

"A better question, knowing Avery, is how was the game?" Liz chimed in.

"Both were very nice," I replied with a sigh. I doubted they'd take any hints from my body language that I didn't want to talk about it. "Nate was actually pretty interesting and we ended up exchanging phone numbers. The game was awesome, as any game tends to be when the boys win."

"Pretty interesting, huh. What kind of background information did you get on him?" Carl queried and I was happy he didn't have Nate's last name, not that any of us always needed that important information.

I wasn't making any plans with Nate, but I preferred to do my own research, if I thought it was needed. I got the feeling Carl wouldn't mind digging up every bit of dirt ever known about Nate, just to prove he could.

"He's from Chicago and is an insurance salesman currently between jobs because of his desire to get some traveling in." I replied, giving the majority of the information he shared with me as far as personal details.

"An insurance salesman? That doesn't sound too fun. Did you even get his last name?" Liz asked while starting up her computer.

"Nope, no last name, and he seemed to enjoy his work so I left it at that. It's not like my cover of research assistant sounds like the most exciting thing in the world either," I replied as my email popped up.

Nothing of interest there, so I switched over to my tracking program to see if there was progress finding the funds we were looking for. I was a little surprised to see the word complete in green capital letters across my screen. I almost felt like standing up and doing a little dance.

"Yes! We have the tracing done on the Schwartz money. It's going to an account in Zurich. Now all I need to do is see who's getting the money after it hits that point."

As I start entering in the new commands, I heard the door open and in walked Mr. Irving with a person I could only assume was the FBI agent we were going to be working with. When the bossman moved out of the way, I was stunned to see Nate standing there in a sharp-looking suit.

It was so cliché and seemed straight out of a bad romance novel. I rubbed my eyes for a second, just in case my mind was plopping Nate's face where it shouldn't be. The rubbing didn't help, and I decided I was having a very bizarre dream. I hoped the part about me tracing Schwartz's money ended up being true.

Nate quickly glanced at me, and then turned to look over at Mr. Irving. Clearly ignoring the fact that we spent about three hours together the night before was the order of business that day, and I was all for it. I could only imagine what my coworkers would do if they knew he was the man I'd gone to the game with.

Mr. Irving cleared his throat before starting in on introductions. I was all ears to hear exactly who Nate was, if that was his real name. Knowing he worked for the government, I wasn't sure what to believe.

"This is Agent Barnes. He'll be your FBI contact for finding out more information on these emails. Based on an informant they have, they believe the emails are going to someone in Chicago where Nate here calls home.

"They've done some initial tracing, but decided to let us have a crack at it. He'll give you any background and other relative information you need for completing the task." With that little speech out of the way, he turned and walked out the door.

It got a little bit awkward because Mr. Irving didn't bother to introduce any of us to Agent Barnes. Not wanting to speak up, I was glad when Liz stood and reached out her hand to Nate.

"Hi, I'm Liz," she said, giving him the once over and apparently liking what she saw. "This is Carl and Avery," she added pointing to each of us.

After watching her generous perusal of our new friend, I was surprised she even bothered including us in the conversation. I couldn't blame her, but at the same time it made me want to growl.

"Good morning, everyone. Since we're going to be working together, you can call me Nathaniel. Why don't we get right down to it," he said way too business as usual for my liking. "I have this flash drive with the emails we want you to look into. They are from a Viktor Agapov, who is already being monitored by agents.

"They go to a person who is only known as Jimmy. We don't know if that's a real first name or an alias that is being used to try to hide his identity. It's really important that we find out who is on the other end because the last few emails have mentioned a large illegal arms deal that we definitely don't want to find within our borders."

Carl was our email expert, so he quickly asked for the flash drive to start working on it. It might have been more of a demand, but either way he got the drive. I went back to my desk, doing my best to avoid the giant pink elephant in the room between Nate and me. He seemed fine avoiding me, as Liz chatted him up, asking about how he liked the city and if he'd seen any of the sights yet.

I tuned them out and checked email again. An email from Frannie had come in, so I figured I could spend a few minutes avoiding the weirdness I felt in the room.

_Hey Peaches,_

_So how was it last night? I don't know about you, but I had a great night. The two new diamond and sapphire earrings gracing my ears say hello._

_Jelly Bean_

Why we agreed to those nicknames, I'll never know. As I was getting ready to reply I heard Liz's voice saying my name

"Isn't that right, Avery?"

I looked up to see her expectant face. "Um, what was the question?"

She looked annoyed that I hadn't been listening to their conversation, which was odd since I distinctly got the impression she was trying to make it as private as possible. I wasn't the best at reading a situation, but Liz didn't seem to be hiding her intent.

"I was just telling Nathaniel here that you love hockey too and went to the game last night," she said, looking back at Nate with a little flutter to her eyelashes.

"Oh yeah. Hockey is my favorite sport," I replied. "A friend happened to have a ticket she couldn't use last night and let me go in her place."

"Not only that," Liz added, "she was set up on a blind date with an insurance salesman. Even though she said he was very interesting, I can't believe how bored she must have been. Now that I think about it, didn't you say his name was Nate? What a coincidence; that's a short form of Nathaniel. There's no way I'd ever picture you being an insurance salesman, though."

I felt my face start to heat up as Nate finally decided to add his two cents. "I happened to be at the game last night, too. Very similar situation, but my date had an even duller job than that. I seemed to make it through the evening in one piece. Do you think I can set up my laptop somewhere to check emails and maybe get a little work done?"

Liz, clearly not believing that Nathaniel was my Nate, quickly cleared off some space in her area and set him up with a chair. I schooled myself not to show any response to the move. I didn't think I could've handled being stuck next to him all day anyway.

The morning paced by relatively quickly. I found I had to mentally slap myself for trying to make eye contact with Nate. He kept his head down all morning and occasionally made conversation with Liz, which I got the feeling he only did to be polite. At lunchtime, Liz had the great idea of us all taking Nate to our usual spot.

"Hold on just a sec while I run to the little girls' room," I said, wishing I had a legitimate reason to get out of the lunch. For some reason, the idea of appearing rude was something I had trouble with.

After spending a few extra minutes making sure my eyes weren't telling a story I didn't want told, I walked out of the bathroom and I saw Nate standing there looking at the floor.

"Oh hey, Avery. This is a pretty fancy library you got going on here," he said with a frown.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure you understand why I can't say where I really work, Mr. Insurance."

He didn't appear to enjoy having the situation thrown back on him. I didn't think he was really mad, but the circumstances of our second meeting were more than just a little tricky.

"I think we need to have a quick discussion. As much as I enjoyed last night, we're working together now, so any kind of non-work based relationship isn't going to happen."

I wasn't expecting a relationship to begin with, which made his words not hurt as much as a regular rejection. I still felt a little uncomfortable when my chest started aching, but I tried to pretend my empty stomach was somehow causing it.

"I wouldn't expect anything else. Just remember that when Liz tries to take you out for drinks tonight." With that I walked back to my desk and grabbed my wallet.

Lunch went smoothly, with Liz flirting horribly and Nate trying to avoid her by talking with Carl about their shared love of cars. The rest of the day zoomed by pretty quietly, each of us busy in our own little world.

As predicted, Liz asked if Nate wanted to go out for dinner and drinks, and wisely Nate said he had other plans. I decided a visit to the gym was in order and spent thirty minutes beating up a poor defenseless punching bag, then an hour jogging around the indoor track.

After eating a tossed together chicken Caesar salad for supper, I settled in to read whatever romance novel I happened to select, not really paying much attention to the story. Just before going to sleep I decided I should probably email Frannie back to make sure she didn't try to call. After getting to the screen I typed:

_Date was interesting. Even though the night wasn't horrible, I don't plan on seeing him again. So until next quarter my dating life is on hold :). We should get together this weekend and do something. Do you have any plans?_

CHAPTER 4

The shirt says it all, Bite me

I woke up the next morning thanking whatever almighty power there may be that it was Friday. Not having much of a personal life, I didn't usually welcome the end of the week as wholeheartedly, but I barely wanted to go to work. Staying as far away from Nate sounded like a great plan in my book.

I was working on the Schwartz case, though, and I'd made some progress. I wasn't going to let the heavy air I felt in the office keep me from completing my task. A part of me wanted to prove to Nate that I was good at what I did. There wasn't really a reason for it, after the no dating mandate, but I still thought it was important.

After getting dressed in a black t-shirt that said, Bite me in hot pink and normal boot cut jeans, I checked my phone for messages. It said I had two texts. One from Frannie asking me to meet her for drinks later, which wasn't too crazy, but the other one was from Nate, saying he was sorry for being a jerk. That one was extremely surprising.

I wasn't sure what he had to apologize for; he'd stated the obvious. Work and relationships didn't mix as far as I knew, so we weren't starting a relationship. Clearly, I'd thrown out some signals that I wasn't aware of that indicated to him I was interested in something, since he had to spell it out for me the day before.

We knew nothing about each other, and what we did was more than likely all lies, so I didn't see the need for his text. I didn't want to discuss it at work, though, so I quickly sent a text back letting him know everything was good from my point of view.

I grabbed some flip-flops and headed out the door, hoping the bossman wasn't expecting the professional attire to last more than a day. The makeup definitely wasn't making a return visit. Even without a relationship possible, I didn't want to give Nate any ideas about me dressing up for him.

When I arrived, it looked like Carl stayed all night working on the emails. I hurriedly made a pot of coffee and took him a cup. His glasses were perched on the top of his head and his face wasn't more than an inch away from the monitor.

"Thanks," he grumbled, not taking his eyes from the screen.

He took a quick sip of the coffee and then set it down next to his keyboard. Chances were good he burnt every single one of his taste buds by not waiting for the coffee to cool down a little. I was cordial enough to do some nice things for Carl, but blowing on his coffee to take the heat off wasn't one of them.

"No problem. How's it going?" I asked as I scanned over what I could see on the screen.

"Good. I've backdoored into the guys account and am running some traces to pinpoint his computer location, from there I should be able to get into his computer and as long as he isn't using a public one for his emails I'll get all his relevant information."

"That's great," Nate said as he walked in, overhearing the conversation. "Shouldn't be long and then we can get this guy."

Nate was wearing a nice dress shirt without an overcoat. I couldn't help but stare at how well his muscled chest and arms filled it out. So far in our acquaintance, I'd only seen him wearing a jacket.

Seeing what was underneath, I wished he'd go find something to cover up with, because throwing myself at him was the only thing I could think about. Relationship or not, I could feel a draw to the man and I wasn't liking it. I didn't often think in odd romantic phrases, but he was definitely the flame to my moth.

I heard a throat clearing and looked up to see a smirk on his face. "Good morning, Avery. How was your night?"

"Great as usual." I said, casually waving my hand at him as I went to fire up my computer. Remembering Frannie's text, I sent a quick note telling her to name a time and place.

I wasn't a drinker, although after recent events there was a possibility that could change. I usually went out with Frannie and settled for living vicariously through her. Even with Gary in her life, the girl knew how to party, and I could use one of her wild nights out.

No one said anything as we all became occupied in whatever was on our computer screens. A few minutes later, Liz walked in all dolled up in a tight button-down shirt that had her assets about busting to get out and a skirt that bordered on work appropriate.

It didn't take a genius to see what she was selling, and she looked a little offended that Nate didn't immediately look up from his computer screen. I was happy that he didn't, maybe even something a little greater than happy.

Whether I liked him or not, I thought it was a little beneath Liz to get all made up to flirt with a guy at work. I knew we didn't see the light of day often in our little dungeon, but I thought we at least could maintain a little self-respect.

"Good morning, everyone," she said in a somewhat husky voice. I got the feeling she'd been practicing it. "Did everyone have a lovely night?"

With Nate still not looking up, I took pity and replied. "I spent some time at the gym and had a great workout, so I guess my night was a success. As you guys already know, I measure my successes in Rangers' wins and buckets of sweat. I'd say it was a two bucket night."

Nate's attention finally left his computer as I made my comments. "Really? What gym do you go to? I've been wanting to find one while I'm here in town."

Liz jumped in, "I go to Metro Gym. I'm sure you'd love it there."

I was pretty sure she'd bought a membership there years ago and just never cancelled the annual charges. Not that she was out of shape; she just didn't seem the type to ever be caught dead at a gym. I couldn't think of anything specific that would give me that feeling, but the almost plastic looking exterior she sported didn't help.

"She's probably right, I bet it's more your type of space. I tend to spend every other day at Club Fitness and I think that might be a little too posh for you," I replied, hoping the conversation found a conclusion immediately.

I couldn't imagine having Nate show up to work out with me. I rarely paid any attention to the men I saw using the various pieces of equipment, but I had a feeling I'd have trouble focusing on anything else if Nate was there.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Liz settled in and started going on and on about the gym she probably hadn't stepped foot in once. If a guy had the ability to change her so much, I began doubting the high IQ she claimed to have.

As was becoming the norm, the day flew by. I didn't get any new information about the project I was working on, and Carl hadn't jumped up to announce he had any breakthroughs. I'd glanced at him a few times during the day, and usually his eyes were focused on his computer, but every once in a while I saw him staring over at Nate.

I couldn't really read what was behind the glares he was giving the other man, but if he was getting jealous about Liz's actions, I wanted to assure him there wasn't anything he needed to worry about. I hadn't ever picked up anything between Carl and Liz, but bringing in fresh meat could've allowed Carl to see Liz in a different light. I sure was.

Since there was a chance that Nate brushed me off because he'd found someone a little more exciting, I decided not to say anything to Carl. Nate would be gone as soon as Carl finished the job, so I was fairly confident things would work out fine.

Frannie had texted back to meet her at Molly's at eight, so I stayed at work a little late, not wanting to ride the train home and back again in one night. Everyone else left the office around five. We ended up pushing Carl out the door.

There was no doubt in my mind that he managed to take his work home with him. Generally, because of what we did, we weren't allowed to take sensitive material out of the office, but I always thought there were places that rule could bend a little. Carl had complained that if I was staying late he could too, but I implored him to get some sleep and surprisingly he listened to my advice.

At seven forty-five, I made my way out the door, after brushing out my hair and adding some lip gloss in the bathroom. I thought briefly that I might be doing it to impress a certain man I liked to call Mr. Right. I hadn't ever met the man, but sometimes I liked to pretend he was out there.

I blamed it on the romance novels. I would've preferred if at birth we were handed a piece of paper that announced who our magical soulmate was, so we didn't have to spend our entire lives looking for them. As socially awkward as I was, the looking part was basically torture.

* * *

Somehow I managed to get in the door at Molly's without standing in a long line. I looked around the room quickly for Frannie, but didn't see her. I secured us a table and was quickly brought a glass of water with lemon. I felt a little uncomfortable just sitting there by myself, so I pretended to look over the menu while I waited.

The restaurant was lit by candles and chandelier lights that looked like candles. It had a lot of wood going on, and wouldn't pass for a stuffy dinner, which was one of the reasons I never turned Frannie down when she offered to meet me there. I liked the Irish pub feel, even if I wasn't there for the pub portion of it.

After ten minutes, I saw Frannie walk in with not only Gary, but also Nate in tow. My night got infinitely worse within a matter of seconds. Nate hadn't changed from the tight shirt he'd worn to work, and my eyes were drawn to him as the trio made their way to our table.

"Hi, Peaches. Hope you haven't been waiting long," Frannie said, smiling as she took her seat. "Gary and Nate were going to go out tonight, but I convinced them it would be so much more fun to double with us."

I saw her matchmaking wheels a spinning and mentally rattled through every curse word I'd ever heard. There was some part of not going to happen that Frannie didn't seem to understand. For her next birthday, I was going to buy her a dictionary and highlight every word I thought she needed to learn.

"Well of course, we're so much more fun than a stuffy strip club," I replied. They all laughed and I considered coming up with an excuse to be anywhere but there.

I wasn't able to come up with anything I thought she'd allow, so I sat staring at the menu without reading a single word. After they settled in and looked over the menu, Frannie was ready to get some food on the table.

"How about we get a couple appetizers? I'm thinking the mozzarella sticks and shrimp cocktail. Does that sound okay?"

Everyone answered in the affirmative and she flagged someone down to take our order. A few minutes later, the waitress came back with the food and a pint of beer Frannie had added on. Since we'd all decided what we wanted, we went ahead and placed our entrée orders. I requested the chicken sandwich, Frannie wanted a chicken salad and the boys both ordered Hanger Steak sandwiches with double onion rings on the side.

As Gary poured beers for Frannie and himself, he asked if Nate wanted some. He knew better than to ask me, but a part of me would've actually said yes in that moment. Sitting next to Nate was getting on my nerves. I didn't have any clue what the woodsy smelling cologne he wore was, but it smelled like heaven to my nose.

"No thanks. I was thinking about hitting the gym in the morning and I want to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for that."

I refrained from asking him if Liz had given him decent directions to her gym because I didn't want him associating the word gym and myself in the same sentence. I had a Spinning class every Saturday morning, and I really didn't want him stepping foot inside my gym.

I should've expected that Frannie couldn't read where my thoughts were on the subject. Sadly, she took the same class as I did, and she had no problem with Nate using our gym.

"Oh really? Avery and I have a Spinning class in the morning. Do you already have a gym picked out? You could tagalong with us and take care of your business while we're in class."

Glancing at me as if he could hear me screaming no in my head, Nate smiled and said, "That sounds like a great idea. Avery had mentioned going to a gym and I was probably going to end up there anyway."

Our food arrived then, thankfully causing conversation to halt as everyone chowed down. When we finished up and the plates had all been cleared away, Frannie had the brilliant idea that we should check out a nightclub that just opened down the street. I glared at her. She knew it was crazy enough for me to be eating outside the comforts of my home, but a nightclub? Honestly the girl was losing her mind.

Being dragged along, literally by Frannie's hand, we made the trek to the club. The line was a little long, so we waited outside, listening to the music that was thumping the ground. When we reached the front of the line everyone had their ID out and ready for inspection. Given the all clear, we entered what surely had to be one of the rings of Hell.

CHAPTER 5

Welcome to Satan's bedroom

Ring of Hell probably wasn't the best description for the place. After getting a good look around, I thought Satan's bedroom seemed like a more apt definition, not that I'd ever gotten a peek in the dark lord's room.

The main lights were dim and spotlights tracked across the room. The walls were painted an obnoxious color of red, best described as the color of blood. There was a huge dance floor area in the middle of the room with stairs going up to what seemed like another dance floor.

A huge bar lined the right side of the room, with most of the stools occupied with scantily clad people. Some tables were interspersed throughout the rest of the room. Frannie's lifespan was going to be extremely limited if she expected me to stay more than five seconds.

"Where have you brought me?" I questioned, horrified by my surroundings.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad. Look there's an open table, let's grab it," Frannie exclaimed, dragging us all across the room.

I started going over different ways to dispose of her body, as I did my best not to make eye contact with anyone. I didn't know when I was going to meet Mr. Right, but I knew he wasn't going to willingly be in the nightclub, and from what I saw, I was the only person who looked out of place.

Shortly after securing the table, a waitress came by asking for our order. I concentrated on the drink menu, so I wouldn't have to say anything about what I was sure was her work uniform. I couldn't see how anyone would volunteer to wear something that left absolutely nothing to the imagination and looked to be made of more metal than fabric.

Frannie started our orders off by requesting a caramel apple martini. Gary settled on an Irish Car Bomb, Nate asked for a Coke with lime and I settled on a Berry Sweetheart. I should've just stuck with the water, but I needed a little sugar.

"What exactly is that?" Nate asked as he turned the menu in front of him over to try to find the drink. "I didn't think you drank."

"I don't, it's non-alcoholic. Just some juice and honey," I explained.

Frannie started talking while we waited and I continued the list of best places to bury her. I thought just killing her and propping her up in the nightclub's bathroom would add to the décor. Her cute jean skirt and frilly pink shirt probably wouldn't blend well, but I expected to find a dead body if I ventured to the bathroom, which I made no plans of doing.

Once our drinks returned and Frannie had a chance to demolish hers, she snatched Gary's hand and commanded he dance with her. Gary, being used to the way Frannie was, just followed her onto the dance floor, leaving the awkward twosome left to ourselves.

I'd done my best not to look over at Nate. I could feel his eyes on me, and I didn't like the way my body warmed thinking about his pretty gold-flecked eyes. Frannie had set me up before, and for some reason I hadn't found any of the other guys that interesting. There was something special about Nate, and I was doing the best I could to pretend I didn't know that.

I sipped on my drink, trying to think of something we could talk about. As far as I knew, hockey and working for the government were the only things we had in common. As loud as the music was, I really didn't feel like yelling back and forth about the latest player trades.

"So, just judging from the last two days, I'm guessing you aren't a dancer." A person only needed to spend a minute with me to figure that one out.

"You'd be correct. Two left feet were given to me at birth. Not that I mind, being that close to that many sweaty people is not high on my list of ways to have a good time."

"I'd say it's towards the bottom of my list. I mean, I can dance and all. I just don't really like the other people that much," he said, eyeing the dance floor.

I didn't follow his gaze, because just the thought of looking at all the people disturbed me. We sat in silence for about fifteen minutes. The solitude was broken by a man, who had obviously been drinking a little too much, especially since he tried to start a conversation with me.

"So baby, you come here often?"

His face was practically right in front of me and I about threw up chunks of the chicken sandwich I'd had for dinner. The man needed a breath mint or something. I wasn't sure a full bottle of mouthwash would be enough to tame the odor churning my stomach.

"No, this is my first time, and sorry, but I'm here with someone." I didn't point out that the club had just opened, so I doubted anyone could say they frequented it.

As long as Nate didn't blow my cover, my words should've been enough to get the guy out of my breathing range. I imagined Nate's build, and general demeanor since we'd entered the club would be enough to scare the guy away. Nate hadn't looked like he flossed his teeth with bones, but it was clear he enjoyed the atmosphere and people as much as I did.

"Nah. I don't think you two are really together," obnoxious breath said. "You see, I've been watching you since you came in and you haven't even spoken to each other in the last ten minutes. I really think you should come out and dance with me. He's already had his chance and it's only fair."

I mentally cursed and wondered if anyone would mind two bodies in the bathroom. Knowing Frannie, she'd probably get lonely, so my plan evolved with the situation.

The man grabbed my hand and attempted to get me out of the chair. Just because I didn't win any contests for the tallest person in the world, didn't mean someone could move me around like I was nothing. The man pulled again and I considered kicking him where the sun neglected to shine.

I heard a growl coming from Nate's direction and turned to focus my eyes on him. The growl sounded a lot more intriguing than fighting with obnoxious breath.

"The lady said we're together and she means it. Get your hand off of her or we're going to take this outside." Nate's eyes looked almost like they were glowing they are so intense.

I was fairly certain I saw a glimpse of fire in them. Based on the lighting around us, I chalked it up to being a fluke.

The guy loosened his hold on my hand and walked away mumbling. I was surprised he dropped his pursuit so quickly. I couldn't hear what he said with his back to us, but it was clear Nate could because I heard another growl from his side of the table.

I'd never had a date, or whatever Nate was, turn to his animalistic side before, at least not in my presence. I didn't know what had set him off, but I did like the noises rumbling out from his chest.

"What?" I asked, knowing I probably wouldn't get a good answer. Even if guys didn't agree with each other, there was usually a guy code that meant they didn't share certain things with the fairer sex.

"Nothing, some people have no class," he said staring at his drink. "If we don't want a repeat, we better start acting more like a couple. I know you've been doing a good job of staring at the table, but I've noticed quite a few of your admirers keeping a close eye on you tonight."

"Yeah right." I had to laugh at his words. It was a pretty sad chuckle that spoke to how I pictured myself. "Maybe earlier they were looking at Frannie, and I'd guess they keep checking to see if she comes back and is available."

"No, they are definitely looking at you and it's getting mighty irritating."

Nate sounded more than just irritated. Hearing the tone of his voice, I'd say he was pissed, which didn't make a lot of sense. He'd already explained there wasn't ever going to be an "us", so if some stray eyes landed on me, it shouldn't have concerned him.

"Please, there are so many other women here and I haven't seen anyone who doesn't look better than me. Most people are actually dressed up like they were planning a night on the town. I came straight from work in jeans and a t-shirt."

"Well, maybe they're taking what the t-shirt says as an open invitation," he replied.

Yeah right, like I'd have people lining up to bite me. Only if I came across the Donnor Party and I was supper. Even then, I'd probably be rejected for some reason.

Nate moved his chair to sit closer to me and wrapped his arm across the back of my chair. I felt little tingles where his skin touched my arm and leaned forward a little.

He inclined down, whispering in my ear, "So, how long before you think Frannie will be ready to leave? This doesn't seem to be either of our scenes and I'd like to make it an early night."

Since it was a bit after ten o'clock, my idea of an early night had already passed, but leaving sounded good to me. I had a book waiting at home for me.

"Let me go find Frannie and I can just tell her we're going to catch cabs home."

Whether I left when Frannie did or not, I was more than likely going to have to find my own way home. We could've just left, but I didn't want Frannie to get the wrong idea about where we went.

"Sounds good. I'm going to run to the bathroom, but I'll meet you out front," he said as he stood up. I watched as he made his way to that side of the room.

I considered warning him to watch out for dead bodies, but chances were good he already thought I was weird, and revealing my plans for Frannie and obnoxious breath weren't the best idea.

I quickly found Frannie out on the dance floor. She and Gary were close enough that the Jaws of Life were going to be needed to pry them apart. Giving me a wink, she told me she'd see me in the morning.

She obviously missed the part about us getting cabs, plural, as in separate. She clearly hadn't wasted any time watching our table to see how far the crevice between Nate and I had been. I was going to have to set her straight, because me telling her I didn't think anything was going to happen wasn't good enough.

That would wait until morning. She hadn't had much to drink, but I didn't think spelling things out for her on the dance floor would stick any better than anything else I'd already said.

Nate was already outside trying to catch a cab by the time I made my way through the hordes of people dancing. The stench of alcohol and sweat was something I was happy to leave behind. It took a second for the clearer air outside to start working into my lungs.

Sadly, I'd been in the nightclub long enough that my clothes were probably going to need to meet an incinerator before I'd wear them again, which basically meant I wasn't planning on ever donning them again. It was a good thing I had more shirts at home that offered the same sentiment as the one I was wearing.

Successful at getting a cab to stop, Nate turned to face me. "For you. Why don't you send me a text later so I can make sure you made it home safe? Like I said earlier, you had a lot of admirers in there tonight, and I don't want anyone following you home."

"I still think you were seeing things, but I'll send the text. I guess I'll see you in the morning. Our class is at seven, but we like to get there early, which for me is usually around six-thirty." I wasn't looking forward to it, but it seemed inevitable that he'd be there.

"I'll see you then."

After a small peck on my cheek, he verified my knee was in the cab and closed the door between us. I blushed slightly and sat back for the ride home. I usually would've caught the train instead of spending the money on the cab ride, but I'd had enough of crowds for one night.

Picking up the mail, which was nothing but bills, I checked my answering machine. I didn't usually bother, because I rarely ever received any messages. Seeing the red light flashing with a message, I hit play.

_" Hello, Avery. It's your mother. Well of course you know that, you can tell by my voice. I just wanted to let you know that your father and I are going to be in New York for a visit next weekend. We have hotel reservations, so don't worry about having to put us up in your apartment. I'll call later to discuss this with you in person and give you our flight information."_

That was just what I needed, a friendly visit from the folks. I didn't understand why she'd brought up worrying about putting them up in my apartment. My apartment was tiny and they knew it. There was no way two people could cohabitate in it, let alone three. At least I kept it clean, so when they did come over it wouldn't be a total embarrassment.

After taking a shower to scrub the layer of bar film that seemed to attach itself to my skin, I sent Nate a quick text stating I was home, and hit the sack, not bothering to wait to see if he replied.

I woke up in the middle of the night not happy with a dream, or nightmare depending on how you viewed it, of a very erotic nature staring Nate. I didn't need the image when I planned on seeing him first thing the next morning. I fell back asleep rather quickly, praying for dreams of monsters or something to get the thoughts of a naked Nate out of my mind.

CHAPTER 6

What a coinkydink

Sleep was not my friend during the night, as I continued to learn more about Nate's body than I was comfortable knowing. When I woke up, a dreary rain enclosed the city, which in general echoed my mood. It was a little chilly, so it wasn't the warm rain I enjoy being out in.

Since my life had decided to turn a little screwy, it made sense to me that the weather would do the same. Getting ready went a little slower than normal because my body took a while to crawl out from under my purple sheets.

I was just going to the gym, so I didn't worry about looking presentable. Dressing in a plain purple tee and some jeans, I grabbed my already packed gym bag and headed out the door. I didn't even bother brushing out my hair, just pulled it back in an elastic hair-tie.

After a short train ride, I arrived at the gym. In a city as large as New York City, I didn't know what I'd do without the various forms of public transportation. The only thing I thought was scarier than a large group of people, was those people in motor vehicles.

I didn't see Frannie or Nate as I walked in, so I got an energizing protein shake to help me get ready for class. I didn't see many people as I looked around. From where I chose to sit, I could watch the door, but not necessarily be seen by those coming in, so when Nate walked in and looked around not noticing me, I was amused.

He briefly talked to the first employee he found, and after a quick point of a finger by the other man, Nate headed towards the locker room to get changed. His attire before changing was more akin to what he wore at the hockey game than his work clothes. A pair of dark jeans was matched with a baby blue polo.

I was a little surprised he hadn't worn a jacket or hat because of the rain. I was used to the weather, and if I thought about it, I expected coming from Chicago he'd be too, but most guys I'd seen commuting that morning had some sort of protection against the rain.

While he changed into whatever he had in the black duffle bag over his shoulder, I waited for Frannie. I did my best not to think about the Nate from my dreams, and just how accurate those dreams were.

Five minutes later, she finally appeared with her bag in hand. Waving so she saw me, I met her halfway and we made our way into the female locker room to get changed. I only took a few seconds to switch clothes, but of course Frannie had to look perfect, and took about twenty minutes.

I didn't see any reason to make sure my hair looked perfect, and for her, it wasn't like Gary was around to impress. Nate was on one of the weight machines working his triceps when we finally made it back out into the gym. Seeing his bare arms and legs, I flashed back to the dream I was really hoping I could forget ever happened. Hoping didn't do me a lot of good when I seemed to constantly be thinking about it.

Frannie followed my gaze and laughed. "Come on, we need to get to class. You can ogle the goods later."

Giving myself a mental slap, I followed her to the Spinning room. We were both in really good shape, so class was always relatively easy for us, but by the end there was a lot of sweat pouring out of our bodies. We had vitamin water to help keep us hydrated, because without it I was pretty sure we'd be nothing more than puddles on the ground.

After the thirty-minute class, any thought of hitting one of the various machines for a little extra fun was the furthest thing from my mind. All I wanted was to get the extra layers of sweat off my body and find a nice cold shower to accomplish the task. I didn't turn the water to the coldest setting, but by the time I was washed off, I felt a lot better.

"Hey, Avery, I need to talk to you a sec." I wasn't expecting Nate right outside the locker room waiting for me, so I jumped when I heard his voice.

"What?" I chirped, trying to hide the fact that he'd snuck up on me, but as usual, I failed miserably.

"It's not something I want overheard. Is Frannie likely to come out soon?" he asked.

He was already back in his street clothes and the smell of shampoo or soap, maybe both, was strong. It wasn't the same woodsy smell I'd picked up from him before. I could still smell that scent on him, but the clean aroma was overpowering it.

"No, it'll take her another ten minutes just to dry her hair," I replied. Ten minutes was being generous, but I didn't want Nate to think I had all day to stand there talking to him.

"Good. Just got a call from your boss, it seems Carl has a name for me to work on. I was going to head to the office and wondered if you'd like to go with?"

"Sure, let me just go make up some excuse to Frannie and I'll be right back."

I was excited to see that part of the case come to a close, because it would be the end of having to work with Nate. Maybe then he'd leave and I could get my hormones under control. I was tired of the look I kept getting from Frannie. We couldn't really talk during our spinning class, but I'd caught her glancing my way more than once with a look I didn't like on her face.

Frannie quickly bought my excuse that Nate and I were going to grab brunch alone, so we could get to know each other better. I figured if that was where her mind was already going, it'd be easier to convince her that was what we were really doing.

We loaded into Nate's rental car. It was a nice nondescript, black Chevy Impala. His over six foot frame fit nicely within its confines without being cramped. Nothing was said as the car purred to life and he pulled out of the parking lot.

A few minutes went by before I tried to break the silence. "So, you must be happy about getting a name this quickly. It means you get to go home and carry on the investigation on your own turf."

"Well, catching this guy is important. No matter what turf I have to play from, I'll get the job done. I've had a good time while being in town, though, but I can't say I don't regret not having to work here anymore."

Ouch. That really stung. Oh well, guess I didn't make as big as an impression on him as he did on me. I'd imagine he was probably thankful he hadn't spent the night tossing and turning from erotic dreams about me.

The car ride continued in silence from that point as he made his way to the office. I didn't know where to take the conversation after his declaration, and he didn't seem to think anything else needed to be said.

Once we got to the office, we both exited the vehicle and he held the front door open for me when we got to it. Past security and into the Pit we went, keeping a good distance between us. It was odd enough we were showing up at the same time. There was no reason to give people something to talk about.

"Tell me what you got," Nate said as he entered the room, getting right down to business.

While he headed towards Carl, I made my way over to my terminal to check on the status of my own program. Seeing the complete status again on the screen, I did a mental happy dance. After a few button clicks I had the name of who was getting Schwartz's money. For a day that had started pretty crappy, things were looking up.

"James Zuba," I said at the same time Carl said the exact same name.

"What?" Nate, looking totally confused, asked.

"James Zuba. That's who's getting the money coming from a man we've been tracking for a few weeks now, Olaf Schwartz."

I was busy looking at my computer, following the path of the money. The program I'd written had an amusing visualization of a little cartoon dog hoping from one point to the next. The fun part of writing stuff for yourself was adding your own little personalization.

"That happens to also be the name of the person who's getting these emails," Carl added.

The happy little dog lost my attention as I was forced to realize my case was going to be a little more complicated if Nate was getting involved. I didn't want to think about all the jurisdiction crap I was sure Mr. Irving was going to have to deal with.

"Okay, tell me about this Olaf Schwartz and why you're tracking his money," Nate said as he scratched his head trying to make sense of things. I didn't physically mimic the move, but mentally I looked about the same.

I wasn't sure how detailed he wanted me to be. I had whole folders of information on Schwartz, and relaying everything they contained would take about a year. Needless to say, I opted for the condensed version.

"Schwartz and his brother have an operation in Panama that deals with drug and human trafficking. As you can imagine, we've been monitoring their phones and emails, so we generally know what they're doing and when they're doing it.

"A month or so ago we noticed some large transfers from their accounts and we've been trying to find the final resting place of the money since then. My trace ended up in a bank account for a person named James Zuba."

Nate took a second to filter my words. I rattled things off pretty quickly, but there wasn't really a lot in my words to analyze. We tracked bad guy and his brother. We found who they're giving money to.

"A lot of questions immediately come to mind, like what Zuba's going to do or has done to get the money transferred to him? How much money are we talking about? I've got a general idea of some going rates for work."

"Do you now? What would one and a quarter million dollars buy you? I'm thinking you could get a unicorn or two for that kind of money, but I highly doubt that's what it's being used for."

That kind of money could probably get you a dozen or so people killed. I didn't know the going rates like Nate claimed to, but it'd have to at least buy a few deaths.

"That's a lot of money. I have to alter my question to be: are the guns for him or is he the in between for Schwartz and Agapov, because I have a feeling with that much money the guns are involved. If he was just the middleman, then the guns may not actually be arriving in the States. Not that we won't still try to intercept them, but it'd be a little relief," he prattled on about his ideas.

I got bored as he hypothesized and looked back at the happy puppy on my computer. My part of the case was over, even if I didn't originally know our two cases were the same. The computer work was done, so everything else was Nate's problem.

"Um, guys," Carl spoke up, drawing my attention his way. "According to this email from two days ago, this guy is coming to New York for some charity ball on Wednesday night. He confirms a tuxedo and limo rental with a person that seems to be his assistant."

I assumed I wouldn't be able to get rid of Nate quickly if that was the case. I really hoped Carl had read something wrong, or the Zuba guy came down with an unforeseen case of the flu and couldn't make it. For some reason I was pretty sure Nate wasn't just going to leave and start working out of the local office of the agency he worked for. That would be way too nice of him.

"I'm going to call my boss to check in and see what photos and information we can dig up on this guy. I also need to see about getting tickets to the event. Seeing his actions while he's unaware that I'm watching would help me make sense of which side of this he's on," Nate said quickly while taking out his phone and dialing.

I thought it was pretty obvious what side the guy was on. If he was dealing with Schwartz, there was no good side. I highly doubted he was some undercover agent making million dollar deals. The different agencies weren't always great about talking to each other, but I really hoped someone would've clued someone else in, since it seemed at least two agencies were working on the case.

Nate paced around the room as he talked to his boss. I watched, intrigued to see how the big boys did it. I couldn't say he looked any different than any other man I'd ever seen pacing around. He may have looked sexier doing it, but the general movements were all the same.

After a while he said, "If they want names for the tickets let's keep it simple. Either make it Mr. Jones and guest or Mr. and Mrs. Jones. If you want first names just make them up and make sure you get me identification to go along with the identities. Yeah, that should be it; I'll send photos to go along with the IDs. No, I already have someone to act as my date."

With that last bit, he looked me straight in the eye. Oh no. He had to be kidding me. I really hoped that look didn't mean what my gut told me it meant. I was going to have to come up with some new ways of disposing bodies.

CHAPTER 7

Shirt says "Dear math", should be "Dear anybody, solve your own problems"

"So, Avery, what do you have planned for Wednesday night," Nate asked with a sly grin.

"No, no, no. You have got to be joking. I'm not a field agent by any definition of those words and I'm sure whatever charity is running the event is against my religion. If you need someone to go with you take Carl or Liz," I told him, knowing that there was a good chance I was wasting my breath.

"Come on. It won't be that bad, just a little background sleuthing, besides Carl isn't my type, sorry Carl." He gave Carl an apologetic look, which I wouldn't have bought. "And I enjoy spending time with you over Liz."

"That's just because you haven't spent any time with her outside work. Why don't you try going out with her in the next few days. You might find her better suited for this kind of event," I said, pleading with my eyes that he rethought whatever plan he'd come up with.

"Nope, my mind's made up, you're going. Your tracing connected to this man, aren't you curious what he looks like?" Nate really didn't know me well if he thought that was any kind of enticement for me.

"No, I do this stuff all the time and I've never cared to find out what someone looks like."

Nate missed every signal that screamed I hated being around people. A charity event was bound to be loaded with people way above my social class. My class was pretty much down with the rats in the sewers, at least that's where I'd preferred to hang out.

After thinking for a second, Carl kindly piped in. I'd almost forgotten he was just sitting there listening to what we had to say. Upon hearing someone wanting me to go to a ball, any bit of sense I had flew right out the window.

"Wait a second guys, your conversation sounds like you've spent more time together then I've witnessed. Nate, you only talk to me and Liz while we're here. When did you guys spend quality time together?"

There was no way I was going to provide anything to clarify his confusion, and the sooner I could leave the office, the better. I gathered my phone and bag and headed out the door. As far as I saw it, it was Nate's mess to clean up, and I really didn't care what excuse he ended up giving.

I probably shouldn't have trusted him to not say something stupid, but it was just Carl, so eventually I could set him straight after Nate left. Of course that moment couldn't come soon enough.

Jogging to the train station, I hopped on and waited for it to take me home. It wasn't fast enough for me, but eventually I made it to my apartment in one piece.

I immediately changed into sweats, put in my headphones and scrubbed the house from ceiling to floor, listening to my take-no-crap playlist. It was one of the ways I liked to wind down and ease my stress. My other solutions were violent and I was trying to use those as little as possible.

Most people didn't enjoy the pine scent of all-purpose cleaner the way I did, but for some reason it always made me feel better. There were a lot of things wrong with me, but I didn't think people usually judged me on that one.

After an hour and a half, and having nothing else to clean, I decided a nice bubble bath was in order. While the water ran, I checked messages and saw three texts from Nate. Just reading the first one got me fired up. The fact that he thought it necessary to text me three times in the first place didn't help.

_Hey Avery, don't worry. I've set Carl straight. I know you didn't want anyone to know about our love child yet, but he seemed really happy for us. Call when you get a chance. – Nate_

He clearly wasn't a comedian. I found absolutely nothing funny about what he'd said. If that rumor ever got out, I'd barricade myself in my apartment and have delivery guys just leave food outside my door.

Not that Nate was hard on the eyes, or wouldn't have a lot to offer in creating a child, but we'd only known each other a few days. I didn't want people thinking just any good-looking guy could come by and make their way into my bedroom. There were a lot of hoops to jump through to get in there.

It seemed the second text was meant to calm my nerves. I could probably stop sharpening the skewers I was envisioning inserting into very painful places, like his eyeballs. There were other places that came to mind, and since my dream had left little to the imagination, it was easy to plot some other strategic places.

_Okay, really didn't say that to him, just wanted to tease you since you're so against being my sleuthing partner. I only explained that we're friends of friends and got dragged into eating dinner together last night. No mention of previous blind date._

The last message just said, _Call me!!!_ Someone was a little impatient, and I'd say it served him right.

For his little tease, I decided I was going to take a long hot bath and think about calling him later. Apparently that wasn't good enough for him, though, because my phone kept ringing every five minutes, ruining the peaceful nature of my bath. He should've stuck to the text messages.

Finally tired of ignoring it, I picked it up and pretty much screamed, "What," as loud as I could. The noise echoed oddly in my tiny bathroom.

"Avery, is that any way to speak to your baby daddy? You're going to frighten Junior," he replied, evidently still in a joking mood.

"Since Junior is a figment of your imagination, I think we're safe. What's so important I can't take a bath in peace?"

Bringing up that I was in the bathtub, or thinking about being in the bathtub wasn't my smartest move. Nate had the ability to make me say the stupidest things.

"Not fair. The mental images I have running through my head now are going to take a second to clear. Are we talking regular bath or bubble bath? How many bubbles are included and do they cover all the best parts?" he asked.

"We're talking none of your business. If you remember, we have a business relationship. Nothing more, so quit trying to picture me without my clothes on."

I pushed the bubbles that were in the bath around to make sure they covered the best parts, just in case. I highly doubted he could see through buildings. He would've had to have quite a few tricks up his sleeve to see me if he was still at my office, but I didn't trust him not to have at least a few super powers. He'd made it through the food lines at the Garden in less than five minutes. If that wasn't a super power, I didn't know what was.

"Really? If it's only business, why don't you explain your dream last night to me?" he asked.

He didn't have to be in the room with me for the color to totally drain from my face. In a bath on the hot side, I suddenly felt a bit cold.

"What are you talking about? I didn't have any dreams last night, just nightmares." I worked hard to sound convincing, not only for him, but as my mind had wandered towards the dream many times throughout the day, it needed a little persuading to wipe the dream from my memory banks.

"I guess that's my mistake. I just thought that maybe since you've spent so much time with me during the past few days that you'd started making me the star of your dreams," he said, and I wished he was wrong.

His implication about what I'd been dreaming about made me curious about where his unconscious thoughts drifted. I doubted he got as much eye candy as I had.

"Like I said, no dreams, only nightmares." Wanting to move the conversation on, so I could get out of the tub, I asked, "So what did you want that was so important? I don't think teasing me about stupid things you could've come up with to explain things to Carl was an urgent matter."

"I was hoping we could go out again tonight. I got some intel that Zuba is already in town and staying at a hotel. I thought maybe we could do a stakeout and see if we can find anything interesting about his movements."

It was clear Nate had missed the part about me not being a field agent. It seemed like we both spoke the same language, but he for some reason couldn't understand a single thing I said.

"You want me to come out and sit all night with you in a car, watching some national security risk?"

I wasn't doing anything and sitting in a car was a lot better than going to a charity ball. If I went with him that night, there was a chance he could get his man and I wouldn't be forced into trying to find something suitable to wear to a ball. It went without saying that my wardrobe didn't contain a ball gown.

"That's generally what happens during a stakeout. I'll make sure to have plenty of whatever your favorite snack food is on hand. You never know how long these things can last."

"I wouldn't be required to do anything other than sit in the car, right? That's not something I have to go through special training to do."

"That's sounding like a yes to me. I'm downstairs parking my car. Why don't I head up and wait for you to get ready?"

"You're downstairs? What in the world are you doing out there?" I asked. "You seem like and educated guy. Have you ever looked up the definition of stalker in the dictionary?"

"That's a bit harsh. I knew I could convince you to come with me, so I wanted to be on this side of town to pick you up. I didn't expect you to be tied up at the moment, but I haven't seen anything that indicated you were the kind of girl who spends days soaking in the tub. I think the chances of you being ready by the time I get up there are pretty good."

The guy was cocky, and cocky didn't generally go over well with me. I didn't understand why I found it a bit enduring when Nate was involved. I should've probably asked how he found my apartment, but I figured between Frannie and any of my coworkers, he'd have found someone to give him the information.

"Fine, I'll be at the door in five minutes."

I hung up before he could say anything else. I didn't figure I had a lot of time, so I jumped out and dried off in record time. I didn't even bother to look at the clothes I picked out, just grabbing out of drawers and throwing them on my body. I got everything on in the right order, so I considered myself lucky. After a quick brush through my hair, I headed to the door and opened it just as Nate was raising his hand to knock.

"Imagine you being on my doorstop. Who would have ever guessed?" I smiled and moved out of the way to let him in. "Welcome to my humble abode."

I'd spent enough time cleaning that I was fairly certain there wasn't going to be anything laying around I didn't want Nate to see. I figured it was a good thing for him to get a look at the simple life I led.

"I like the shirt. It's totally you, and way better than last night's."

I saw that his eyes appeared to focus on my chest, and thought maybe he was trying to compare the real life to what he'd dreamt about. I should've known that wasn't the case. Looking down, I read the shirt. _Dear Math, I'm not a therapist. Solve your own problems._ He was right, totally me, as in a giant geek.

"Yeah, Frannie thought it'd be funny for my birthday to get me a bunch of geeky shirts," I explained. "This is actually one of the better ones. Most people wouldn't understand half of them because they're too technical, for lack of a better word, but they're fun to wear around work, where everyone understands them."

"I wasn't really thinking in terms of geekiness, more your snarky attitude. So, you ready to hit the road? I figure we'll head over to his hotel for a few hours and try to see when he comes and goes. I'm hoping to get an idea of what he's driving around in. I'd love to get a tracker in place. Here's the picture I received this afternoon from my people."

Nate held up his phone, showing me a picture of a young-looking guy, not more than thirty. He had light blonde hair and it looked like green eyes. I didn't think the quality of the picture was the best to determine eye color. His face was handsome, but he didn't have any features that stuck out.

"I expected him to be older," I told Nate as I grabbed my shoes.

"A part of me did too. He's only twenty-three and an Army brat who has lived all over the country before settling into the Chicago area when he went to college. He's been there since and has started his own company. It's an electronics company that has been doing really well over the last six months all of a sudden. We have someone starting there undercover on Tuesday to try to find out if there are any whispers of top secret projects that would be red flags for us."

"Thanks for the bit of background. I don't usually hear this much about the people I find. I generally just give a name and location, and then move on to the next task. Oh, and I'm going to have to take you up on that snack offer; I'm getting hungry."

"Sure, let's first do a run around the hotel and get the lay of the land. After I get a feel for things, we'll hit a drive-thru window." With that we exited my apartment and made our way down to his car.

CHAPTER 8

What kind of spy doesn't know spy talk

Nate drove us across town to The New York Palace. We rode in a surprisingly comfortable silence, even though I caught him watching me almost as much as he watched the road. After just taking a bath, I doubted I had food plastered on the side of my face, but I didn't feel like asking what his problem was to verify.

"Wow. This guy definitely has some cash to spend," I said mostly to myself as I looked up at the building.

"Yeah. This is where the charity ball is going to be held. A little more glitz than I'm use to, but since I'm not paying for the event I'm bound and determined to enjoy it, even if I am working during it," Nate replied as he found a parking place.

"'A little more glitz?' This is Queen of England level of proportions more glitz than I'm used to on a daily basis. There is no way I'd be comfortable in there."

As soon as Nate shifted into park, he was on his way out of the car. I followed suit, not sure what exactly his plan was. I'd never been on a stakeout, but I'd always thought you were supposed to stay in the car.

"Fine. We won't go in for a little while. How about we head down the street to Liberty Deli and grab some food? Then we'll come up with a game plan for tonight and worry about the ball another day."

"Or not at all," I mumbled very quietly under my breath as we traveled down the street.

As was usual when I walked amongst people, my head was down and I tried to move us along as fast as I could. Making eye contact was to be avoided at all costs. I'd spent my whole life refining the art of never meeting a stranger's gaze as I made my way down the street.

When we got to the deli, Nate ordered a Philly cheese steak and a bag of chips. I decided on the smoked turkey classic with a side of split pea soup. We were sitting down eating, not really worrying about keeping a conversation going, when I glanced up at the door to see the newest customer walking in. Shocked was a little mild a word to describe what I felt upon seeing the person.

"Psst. Hey Nate, the eagle has landed," I hissed in my covert ops voice. Since I'd never been a part of a covert ops mission I wasn't really sure if I hit my mark.

"What are you talking about, Avery, and why are you talking like that?" Nate gave me a look that clearly indicated he thought I'd gone over the deep end. I definitely didn't hit the mark.

"Ubazay ashay enteredway ethay uldingbay." Zuba has entered the building, I explained in Pig Latin. I hoped he understood, because it was the only non-English language I spoke.

Shaking his head and laughing to himself he said, "I still don't understand you."

"Seriously? Zuba just walked in. Sheesh, what kind of undercover super spy are you anyway?"

Zuba was making his way towards where we were sitting and Nate finally turned to see him standing there. I'd only seen the quick picture of Zuba on Nate's phone, but it didn't take a genius to figure out the image I'd seen was of the man standing not ten feet away from me.

"I'm a very good one, when my partner isn't speaking in tongues," he replied as he took out his phone to snap a few pictures.

Zuba strutted over to a table where a man sat alone. The man appeared to be in his mid-forties, but could've been only thirty. I stunk at figuring out a person's age by looks alone. The two men quickly started up a conversation while Nate continued to snap photos.

I took in a few more characterizations of the new man as I waited for Nate to make whatever move he planned. He had an average build with short dark brown hair and a very good tan. He clearly didn't spend all day working in a basement like I did.

"Tonight's mission seems to be going well. I'd really like to hear what they're talking about," Nate said as he dug through his pockets. "Here, go over there and say something to him while you plant this listening device under the table."

It was my turn for the "you've gone over the deep end" look. There were times in the few conversations that Nate and I had shared where I truly believed he thought he was talking to someone else. At no time had I indicated that planting a bug was something I was capable of.

"How many times have you been punched in the head? I'm starting to worry that it's either been a lot, or someone just took a two-by-four and smashed your skull a few times. You expect me to just waltz on over and plant that device?" I asked, and if my words weren't enough to dissuade him, I hoped the look of plain refusal would help.

"Yes, now hurry up," he replied, completely ignoring me and placing a tiny metal piece in my hand with an adhesive on the top portion of it. "It will send the signal to my phone where I can listen to what they're saying and record it to hand over to my boss."

I stared at him for a few moments, waiting for him to come up with a better idea. There had to be a better one, like him going over himself, but he made no indication his mind would change. I was going to kill him for the look in his eyes that dared me do it. I hated dares.

Not wanting to make a scene, I slowly sashayed my way over to the table. Throwing a fit would've been more embarrassing than the short trip across the room. Neither man paid me any attention, as they were busy with whatever they were discussing.

When I got to the table, I quietly cleared my throat. It had to be the most nerve-racking thing I'd ever done. My hands were covered with sweat and my throat felt like it narrowed to the point air barely made it down into my lungs.

Neither of the men made the connection that I was trying to get their attention. Nate should've asked Frannie to come along for the kind of work he was requiring of me. The guys wouldn't have had any problem keeping their eyes off her.

"Hey, you look kind of familiar. Have we met before?" I directed my question towards Zuba, as I leaned in and placed my hand under their table, securing the device.

I was grateful my fingers didn't run into any wads of gum, which I was sure the table had plenty of lurking just to the left or right of my fingertips. Once I made sure the device was in place, I got my fingers to the safety of the edge of the table.

"No, I don't believe we have. I would've surely remembered meeting a girl like you. Are you from around here?" Zuba replied.

His voice was very deep, not at all matching his youthful looks. The other man seemed content to let us talk and didn't try to work himself into the conversation.

"Hehe," I giggled. "Yes, I live in the city. I really thought you looked familiar. Too bad. I'll let you gentlemen get on with your evening." I tried to turn and walk away, but Zuba reached out his hand to keep me from leaving.

"What's your name?" Zuba asked, looking me in the eyes.

His eyes were definitely green, olive green to be exact. They had a few flecks of gold, but for the most part they were a solid color. The solid shade made me wonder if they were contacts.

I didn't know exactly what Zuba was into, but I didn't doubt disguises would come in useful. The fact that I had to spend five seconds talking to him made me wish I had a disguise.

"Avery." I wasn't smart enough to come up with a fake name on the spot. So, not only did he know what I looked like, but he also had my real name.

"Avery, hmm, I really expected it to be Angel, because that's what you remind me of."

I threw up a little in my mouth at the amount of cheese oozing from Zuba's pores. I really wanted to get out of the building and back to my apartment. I felt the need to take another bath, and if that took too long, I was at least going to disinfect my arm where he touched it.

I didn't have a response, which seemed to be okay with him because he only paused a second before he continued on with what turned out to be evil thoughts.

"So listen, Avery," he said my name like a caress, which only added a little more vomit in my mouth. "I'm from out-of-town, just visiting for the week, and have this charity ball I'm planning to attend on Wednesday. I seem to find myself without a date, which I'm sure you'll find shocking. You wouldn't happen to be available would you?"

He smiled at me with what could only be described as a Cheshire Cat smile. I was afraid his shiny white teeth were going to cause me permanent blindness.

I seemed to be racking up invitations for a ball I had no desire to attend. I giggled again and made a show of glancing around the room quickly. I didn't want to appear too eager to answer. Making eye contact with Nate, I found him nodding his head.

Dang him. It really wasn't a good idea, but at that point anything to get me away from the deli was going to be considered. If I had to fake giggle one more time, I was going to punch something, and I wasn't sure which man got to be the lucky recipient. There were so many to choose from.

In my best come hither voice I said, "I'm pretty sure my evening is free, but I really should check my schedule first. How about you give me your number and I'll call or text you later when I know for sure."

He grabbed a napkin and jotted down a number and his name. As he gave it to me, I looked down to pretend I needed to read his name. I hoped the half-hearted acting I was doing was evident to Nate. I didn't want him thinking I was any good at it.

"Well, Jimmy, you'll be hearing from me later tonight or sometime tomorrow. You two have a wonderful evening."

I didn't care that I'd never heard the other man's name, or what they were talking about. I wanted to run as fast as I could anywhere other than there. The power to just disappear would've been fantastic in that moment.

I turned and made my way out of the deli and went straight towards the car. I kind of wished the deli would magically explode in my wake. I hadn't studied the other occupants, but if Nate and Zuba both managed to disappear in one big explosion, I probably would've jumped for joy.

Within moments, Nate was there beside me with an wicked grin on his face. "Not so bad for your first undercover mission, my little butterfly."

"Just goes to prove I couldn't make a living doing it," I replied, trying to stop my hands from shaking.

"What do you mean? That worked out perfectly. You can be his date and get close to him all night. You'll know who he talks to and what's said. We couldn't have planned this better if we tried. Not only that, the device you planted is still recording what they're talking about and I can find out who that guy in there is and see if he has any ties to the case."

Nate was way too happy, and it surprised me that he wasn't rubbing his hands together to portray how his glorious plan was coming together. It was pretty clear he didn't give a rat's tushie what I thought about things.

When we reached the car, he was nice enough to open the door for me. I slid in and immediately closed my eyes. After I heard his door close and the key enter the ignition I said, "Can you please just take me home? Here's his cell phone number. Have Liz work her magic and you can find out who he makes calls to and maybe even what's being said. I just want to go home and sleep for the next year while pretending today didn't happen."

I didn't open my eyes, so I didn't know what his reaction was to my words. I didn't think he'd be thrilled about it, but since he didn't seem to think my opinion mattered much, I couldn't care less what he thought.

"Fine. I'll drop you off, but you have to remember to call him back and let him know you're free. This really is our best opportunity, and just think, you don't have to go to the ball with me."

I wasn't sure if Nate had realized my most recent words to him were me telling him he could tap the guy's phone instead of forcing me to go to the ball. I had the feeling he still thought there was a ball in my future. I was too exhausted to argue with him, so I let it slide until it threatened to become an immediate reality.

"And just think, you can go with Liz." I didn't like the idea of the two of them going together, but if it meant I didn't have to go, I'd live with it.

Nate groaned at the thought, and I found joy in that little groan. The more time we spent together, the more I felt territorial about Nate. It was strange, since I kept telling myself I wanted nothing to do with him.

I was quickly dropped off and received a small peck on the cheek before I crawled out of the car. No words, just a kiss. I was confused, but rather than try to make sense of the things going on in my life, I curled up in my bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

CHAPTER 9

Wow a real life crime scene. Can I bring popcorn?

After lurching awake from another unpleasant dream featuring Nate, I realized my phone ringing was what jarred me up. It could've been that I was getting a little too used to seeing Nate sans clothes in my dreams, but I voted for the phone being the culprit.

I leaned over and picked up the phone, no longer surprised to see Nate's number on it. My thoughts the previous day about me feeling abnormally territorial around him made a little more sense when you factored in the fact I didn't have a lot of conscious moments he wasn't involved in.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" I waited to answer until I was up and out of the bed. I'd made it all the way out to the kitchen to grab a protein bar. "Unless the answer is 'way too early', you'd be wrong."

"Sorry, my little butterfly, but this is important work-related business. Have you ever been to a crime scene by any chance?"

It wasn't even six a.m. and I could tell my day was going to be worse than the previous one. Nate hadn't seemed to lose his cheerful mood, which only helped to fuel the violent one I'd been feeling since he walked into my life.

"What type of crime scene are we talking? Please say someone has stolen little Suzie's goldfish." I knew it was a foolish idea, but it was about the only kind of crime scene I could think of that would require my presence.

"Sorry, we're talking the murder type of crime scene. It appears that man Zuba visited with yesterday was killed late last night. The body was found in Central Park. I'd like you to come down to the scene with me and verify it was the man you saw yesterday, since you got a better look at him."

"But you took pictures, can't you just go off those?" I pleaded. I didn't want to see a dead body first thing in the morning. I didn't want to see a dead body at all.

"I want a visual confirmation from someone who's seen him and you're my best chance for that, since I'm not going to knock on Zuba's door and ask him. I'm already at the scene; do you think you can catch the train or a cab over here?" he asked.

"Even though I don't use it often, I do have my own transportation. I'll get dressed and be there shortly. You're really going to owe me after this. My life used to be simple, just sitting behind a computer all day. You make an entrance, and everything goes to, well goes to a not very nice word that's for sure."

He laughed. I would've too if I wasn't annoyed.

"Can you not say bad words?" Nate sounded a little shocked. "With all your snarkiness that seems odd. Anyway, I'm sending the address to your phone now and I promise once this is all over I'll make everything up to you."

"Fine. Just remember unlike most girls, I don't accept chocolates as bribes."

I hung up and found a black t-shirt and black skinny jeans to wear. They coordinated well with my mood and I was all about matchy-matchy.

It took a few minutes to get down to the garage that I rented for my motorcycle, which I rarely used. I couldn't imagine driving a car in New York City traffic, so I bought the Harley a couple of years prior in case I ever got in a jam and needed wheels. I wasn't necessarily in a jam, but I wanted the ability to come and go whenever I wanted, without the threat of Nate tracking me down at a train station.

The motorcycle was a 2009 Wide Glide that I called Winnie. The tank was painted deep purple with bright pink skulls layered on top to give it some depth. The motor and primary were all blacked out and I put on some blacked out short pipes that were louder than snot. Technically, that didn't make a lick of sense, but oh well. They're loud.

I unlocked the forks, then put the key in and turned the ignition on. Once the fuel pump got warmed up, I started her up. She hadn't been out for a few weeks, so I let her warm up a little while I put on my hot pink helmet. The helmet was a flat color instead of glossy and had my name etched in a few places in purple.

I decided five minutes was long enough, I kicked it into first gear as I let the clutch out and rolled the throttle. During my five minutes, I'd put the address into my GPS unit that sat on my handlebars, so I had turn-by-turn directions to my destination.

It wasn't like I didn't know where Central Park was located. An exact location of where Nate was in relation to Central Park was greatly appreciated, so I wouldn't ride around forever trying to find him.

When I pulled up, I easily picked out Nate's car. I also saw about five cop cars, the crime scene unit van and an ambulance. They'd blocked off the area for two blocks making it difficult to get in. I told the first officer blocking my path that I was there to see Agent Barnes, per his request.

I didn't miss the look he gave my bike. He was clearly jealous of Winnie's beauty.

"Are you Ms. Clavens?" he asked as he consulted a clipboard in his hand.

"Yup, that's me."

I was a little worried about his IQ. Anyone could've come up and claimed to be me when he led with a name from a list. I took out my driver's license just because it's what he should've asked for in the first place.

"Okay, come right in and park behind the Impala." He moved the barricade out of the way to let me in. "Oh, and hey, that's a pretty wicked looking bike you got there."

"Thanks," I said, rolling forward to park behind Nate's rental that he happened to be leaning up against.

If he'd been feeling helpful, he could've walked the short distance to usher me in. At least he'd witnessed the officer not asking for my identification. I'd leave it to Nate to report the problem.

"Well, well, well. When you said you had transportation this isn't what I was expecting at all."

Much like the other guy who'd gotten an up close look at Winnie, Nate looked impressed. I liked that no one expected me to have a Harley.

As I slipped it into neutral and turned the bike off I said, "I have to keep you on your toes. I wouldn't want you thinking you know everything there is to know about me. I have quite a few skeletons hidden in my closet that you'll probably never know."

"Is that a challenge? I'll put you on notice now that I'm going to try my hardest to find out about every one of those skeletons." With a confident grin he added, "come on, the scene is over here."

I climbed off the bike and followed him to my first murder scene. As I took in everything at the scene, I was glad I only had a measly protein bar for breakfast, because if I had much more, the contents of my stomach would've been on the grass next to the body.

"Wow, someone is pretty handy with their knife work," I said as I noted the many cuts and stab wounds on the man's torso. "It actually looks like they used multiple blades to stab him. Did they recover any kind of murder weapon?"

"I thought you said you haven't ever worked a scene before. How do you know about knife wounds?" Nate asked glancing at me sideways.

"I haven't, nor have I seen the damage a knife does to a human body, but knives happen to be something I collect, so I've taught myself how to use them. That includes using life-like dummies to see what the damage is like," I replied, still observing the cuts. "Working within a government agency, there are required courses we have to take to make sure we can defend ourselves. I have, and can, shoot guns no problem, but I just like working with knives for some reason. I figure if I have to hurt someone, I want it to be in as personal of a way as possible. Guns just don't give me that feeling."

"How many knives do you currently have on your person?" he asked. I wasn't sure why he'd presume I had any.

"I never give away that information, but you can rest assured I have more than one."

I finally felt brave enough to look at the man's face and saw why Nate thought it was the guy from the deli. I peeked at his left hand and noticed the pinkie ring I'd seen on the man in the deli.

The ring was a raised skull with emeralds for eyes. I hadn't thought it'd be a useful tool for identification later, so I hadn't paid it much attention, much like the guy himself.

"It's him. I recognize the ring from yesterday. Did the recording you got indicate who the man was and what he was doing with Zuba?" I asked.

"Yes to both parts of the question. He was Manny Martinez. It sounds like he was part of the Schwartz outfit you were tracking. He indicated to Zuba that the brothers would be in the country Wednesday night to meet with him and take possession of the weapons.

"I get the feeling Zuba really is just the middle man and the weapons are headed to Panama on a ship from here. We're unclear whether they're already here or are being shipped in the next couple of days, but we have people looking into all the ships big enough to hide that kind of arsenal."

"Does this mean there's no need to go to the charity ball?" I asked.

It was stupid of me to bring it up. It sounded to me like they had everything settled, so there wasn't anything preventing me from going back to life as usual. I wanted verification that Nate was on that same wavelength.

"No, that's not what it means. We still need to get Zuba behind bars. We can't just have someone doing this kind of deal within our borders. You'll help us keep an eye on him Wednesday night when everything is supposed to come together. Having you right there with him will make tracking his movements a lot easier."

"You can't fault me for trying to get out of this," I huffed. "You know how much I despised the idea yesterday. When you wake me up by waving a dead body in front of me, you have to know I'm going to keep trying to get out of it."

We began the short trek back to our vehicles. "You'll do fine. After the last few days with you, I'm not sure why you waste all your time behind the desk. You really would be good out in the field. I pulled some strings and got a hold of your file. You finished in the top three percent on all the tests. Why didn't you try to get a position with some action?"

"It's not something I like to talk about. A file doesn't give you all the information of my life. I'm sure you saw I was caught hacking and was recruited into the agency. Like you said, I went through all the tests and did really well.

"If I would've been allowed field work at first, I may have given it a go, but they thought I was too young. After a few years, I would've been old enough to change positions, but during that time my dad's friend, who was like an uncle to me, was undercover for the DEA and was shot and killed when the cartel he'd infiltrated found out who he really was.

"My uncle was the best at being able to blend into the background and he got along with everyone, but they still found out he was undercover. If he could get caught during a mission, there was no way my fumbling self wouldn't be spotted a mile away. It made my decision pretty easy."

"I'm sorry, Avery. I don't know what happened in your uncle's situation, but it might not have had anything to do with how he acted while undercover. The cartel could've had a mole in the DEA who passed the information on. Look how well you did yesterday. Zuba had no idea you were anything other than what you seemed. He talked about you afterward, saying how much he hoped you'd call and take him up on his offer. It wasn't something I really liked listening to, but he totally bought your innocence."

Nate clearly thought his words would be helpful, but I was set in my ways enough that they did absolutely nothing for my confidence.

"Yesterday went well enough, but I was nervous enough that it isn't something I want to get acquainted with doing often. Are we done here? It's still early and I think I'd like to take a ride out of the city for the day just to get away." I needed something to clear my head after seeing a dead body.

"Are you set on getting away alone?" he asked. "I have a buddy here in town who has a Super Glide I can borrow. I haven't had a chance to get out for almost a year, but I figure it's just like riding a bicycle."

"There isn't a lot of talking when we're on separate bikes, so I won't stop you from tagging along. I was just going to head upstate a hundred miles or so, then come back. No real plan, just jump on and go. It's one of my favorite ways to travel.

"That sounds perfect. Follow me, my buddy lives about thirty minutes from here with traffic the way it is," he said as he got in his car. I jumped on Winnie, fired her engine and followed behind Nate while he performed a U-turn to get us heading in the right direction.

CHAPTER 10

Putting around

When we arrived at his friend's house, I was immediately introduced to Rick. From what I could pick up, Nate and Rick had known each other since they were in diapers, which was an interesting tidbit to know because I instantly tried to picture the two of them in diapers. My imagination wasn't that good and the images that came to mind were rather scary.

Rick stood a little shorter than Nate, so about six foot even, but he had Nate beat in the muscle mass department. He worked as a detective for the NYPD, so it paid for him to look big and intimidating. He definitely fit that bill, with his jet black hair and piercing bright blue eyes.

I couldn't remember ever seeing eyes that particular shade, but at the same time, there was something really familiar about them. There was something familiar about Rick as a whole, and even though I was sure we'd never met, I could've sworn we had.

"It's really nice to meet you, Avery. This knucklehead has told me so much about you. I was starting to think maybe he was making you up. There was no way a woman could be as perfect as he described, and yet here you are."

I gave Nate a look that indicated he had some explaining to do. I didn't like the idea of him blabbing to his friend about me, especially when there wasn't anything between us.

"Really? That's interesting since we have only been acquainted a few days and he knows next to nothing about me." Giving Rick a flirty smile, I winked at him.

"Okay, you got me. Maybe not your life story, but he has mentioned you on a couple occasions. You do know he's smitten with you, right?"

I scoffed at Rick's words. "Smitten? That is pretty funny. Mr. Work Relationship is definitely not smitten with me. I'm pretty sure I frighten him." I leaned in and whispered that last part conspiratorially to him.

"You guys do notice I'm standing right here. It's not nice acting like you're revealing my secrets when neither of you have any idea what you're talking about."

"You're right," I said, giving him a sincere compassionate look before turning back to Rick and saying, "I think someone missed his nap time, so we better hit the road."

"You're impossible," Nate exhaled and went to sit on the bike he'd be using. Compared to mine it was rather plain, with a black paint scheme and only a few accessories, like a custom derby cover and foot pegs.

Nate seemed ready to go, so I was too. Even though spending a few minutes talking to Rick about what Nate had told him about me also sounded like an interesting way to spend the afternoon. Since I couldn't carry a conversation, and eventually Rick would run out of things to report, going for a ride sounded like the best idea.

I waved goodbye to Rick and we headed out. We ended up taking I-87 towards Saratoga Springs. It was less than two hundred miles, so it'd be a nice easy ride. After about fifty miles my gas indicator light came on, so I signaled that I needed to stop.

After a quick refueling, we didn't stop again until we hit Saratoga Springs, a couple of hours later. We pulled into a gas station to top off the tanks.

"How about we grab some sandwiches and chips for a picnic over in Saratoga Spa State Park?" Nate suggested.

"I'm hungry and can't remember the last time I had a picnic. It's probably been ten years. I want some cookies for dessert though. We can't have a picnic without cookies." Grinning, I followed him into the store.

Once we attached the food to his sissy bar with some bungee cords I kept in a little tool bag on my forks, we cruised over to find a picnic table.

"This is really beautiful," I said taking in the area. "I tend to stay indoors so much that I don't get out in the wilderness often enough."

"Yeah, it can be difficult when you're based in a big city. I try to get out camping at least once during the summer. It's always good to get away from the job for a while. When was the last time you took a vacation?" he asked as he took a bite of his sandwich.

"I think my uncle's funeral was the last time I took time off work. I guess that wouldn't really qualify as a vacation. I like to keep myself busy and the few friends I have tend to have their own lives. I don't mind though. I relax when I get home at night and have Winnie if I need a day break."

"Winnie?"

"My beast over there," I pointed towards the bikes. "I like to name things and her name just happens to be Winnie, short for Winifred, not Winnie the Pooh."

"Ha." He tilted his head up and started laughing. "I thought only guys named their machines. My bike at home is called Tank. It's flat black and has everything blacked out like your bike, but it has machine gun clips along the side of the tank and up the forks there are fifty caliber bullets. Here, I have some pictures of him on my phone."

He hit a few buttons and handed me his phone. "Wow," I said, starting to scroll through the pictures. "He is a handsome devil." I stopped when I came to a picture of a gorgeous blonde sitting on the bike. "Girlfriend?" I asked titling the phone towards him.

"No need to get jealous. That is actually a friend's little sister and there has never been anything other than sibling style feelings between us. I have very particular rules when it comes to people I date and she breaks every one of those rules."

"Hey, professional business relationship going on here buddy, jealousy doesn't even compute as an emotion in this situation." I said it, but really I felt maybe just a tiny bit jealous.

I wasn't sure if it was because she was hanging out with Nate or she was sitting on Tank, so I told him, "If anything, I'm jealous she's all up on Tank. Now, he's a boy who could get my motor running."

I was curious about what rules the pretty blonde broke, or what rules, other than not dating coworkers, Nate had, but I refrained from asking. I didn't want it to sound like his list was important to me.

"When was your last romantic relationship, Avery?" he asked a little out of the blue.

Blushing, I replied, "The one and only relationship I've ever had was about four years ago. It lasted six months and was nothing to really write home about. He was a nice guy. We met at the library of all places.

"That's pretty funny since that's where most people think I work. He was my first and only, but he just ended up being too boring for me, so we split and I went about life as normal. I'm sure you've had wild escapades and a different girl every weekend, but the love them and leave them life isn't for me."

"It's not really for me either. I've had one woman I would classify myself as being serious with, and by serious I mean I thought a day without her would be the death of me. I'm not the wild guy you seem to picture me as in your mind. I'm a firm believer that there is one person out there meant for each of us."

"So you have a romantic side buried between all those gruff layers. I'll say I'm impressed."

"Not so much romantic, as it was driven into me at birth that I would one day find my soulmate and live happily ever after," he replied.

I got a nostalgic kind of vibe from him that would've made his words seem sad, like maybe his one and only died and he was stuck roaming the earth by himself. He had a smile on his face, so it was more than likely me just reading way too much into the situation.

"I'm surprised, since you said your parents were divorced. Which one preached about soulmates?" I asked.

"Actually both of them did. They knew they weren't each other's one and only, but they were tired of looking and decided life together was easier than apart. At least it was for about five seconds. They're both happy they got me out of the deal though and I can't say I blame them because I am pretty great," he explained.

_Yes you are,_ I thought to myself. "All this talk about parents reminds me mine have decided to come to town next weekend. That's a visit I'm not looking forward to. They're always vague about how long they're staying and they make living a double life difficult. My mom will probably want to come meet my coworkers and bake us all cookies." I grimaced at the thought of my mother in the Pit.

"You keep what you do from your parents even? Mine have known forever what I do."

I sighed. "Yeah, well your mom obviously isn't the biggest gossip in a three state area. Mine couldn't keep a secret to save herself. She'd probably tweet about it, taunting all her friends on how important her daughter is.

"I wish she was one of those moms who are leery when it comes to technology, but sadly when I was younger I educated her a little too much past 'click here to get your email'. She found Google and learned all about social networking.

"I bet she was one of the first people to sign up for Myspace, let alone Facebook and I think she may even keep up her Myspace account still, when most people have moved on. Really, what I do is best kept locked up in a vault away from her."

Just thinking about my mother in more detail had me sweating for the visit to come. Hopping on my bike and driving until I ran out of money sounded like a good idea. With the savings I'd accumulated, I was pretty sure I'd be able to make it far enough that it'd be a while before my mother found me.

"I guess, but it must be difficult not being able to let others see your real life. I know Frannie and Gary have no idea who you really are. What does that leave you, your coworkers?" he asked, bringing me out of my planning.

"Pretty much. I don't tend to hang out with them outside work, though. Maybe lunch a few times a month is it. I really don't mind being alone. I'm not good at talking to people and I'm always afraid I'll say the wrong thing, so keeping to myself works well for me. Being alone is something I've just become used to." I shrugged. "I don't think I'd do well if I had to spend time with someone else all the time."

He stared at me questioningly. "So you aren't planning on settling down, getting married, having a baby?"

"I don't think that's in my cards. Talking to men is really difficult for me. I kind of sit there and stutter a lot. Hard to get past the first date when I don't open my mouth. Although, I guess there are guys out there who would value that in a wife." I'd managed to make it through all my food. I was full, but wanted something else to occupy my hands.

The conversation had been interesting enough that I hadn't spent a lot of time looking around, like I assumed I'd have to do. When conversations lulled, I tended to just stare off in the distance.

"You don't seem to have any difficulties talking to me, and we've been getting along great."

I stated the obvious, "Well yeah, because there was never any chance for us to begin with. We were set up on a blind date and everyone knows those fail. Plus, the very next day we found out we were going to be working together, at least for a little while, and that pretty much killed any romantic notions. Not to mention you happen to be gorgeous and I'm only mildly interesting to look at, if you're farsighted."

"I'm going to take that end part as a joke. What about when the mission is over?" he asked. "Then we don't have work between us, and we know each other well enough the blind date kind of gets negated."

"Afterwards, you'll go back to Chicago and I'll keep myself busy in the Pit. I'm not sure why we're even discussing this. As I indicated, you're in a whole other league from me. The aesthetically gifted do not get involved with a person like me."

"My little butterfly, you really don't know the way others see you. It's too bad really. All this talk about a relationship you're bound and determined not to allow happen is making me depressed. What do you say we head back to town?" He stood up and threw our trash in a nearby garbage can.

"Sounds good. It'll take a few hours to get back, and by then I'll need to get some sleep, so I can wake up for work tomorrow. Mentioning work, we didn't really talk about the case today, which surprises me. Do you have any ideas why that man was killed? Or who did it?" I asked.

"No, so far I have no idea, but I'm not really heading up that investigation. My part of the case is the guns and I was just brought in for the ID, since I'd posted the guy's photo around trying to find out who he was. I'll check in when I get back and give you any extra information I find out in the morning."

With that, we both got on our bikes to make the journey home. It had been a really nice day and Nate was turning out to be a great friend. Maybe it was time I confided in someone, so I didn't have to hide and lie about every detail of my life. The only person I could even imagine trying to tell was Frannie, and like my mother, she tweeted every detail of her life, literally.

CHAPTER 11

Some days it's better to stay in bed

The next morning I was happy to report not a single dream about Nate. It was practically a miracle, one that I read as a good sign for the rest of the day.

I quickly took a shower and slipped into some jeans and one of the t-shirts Frannie bought me with a saying on it. That one said I _f it weren't for law enforcement & physics I would be unstoppable!!!_ Most days I tried to pretend not even those two forces would stop me, at least in my own apartment I pretended that.

Feeling the need to start my day right, I decided to make a quick fruit salad with grapes, strawberries, pineapple and cantaloupe topped with a banana and sour cream dressing. Just for fun, I threw some chopped pecans in the mix. Oh yum. So many breakfasts lately were grab and go protein or granola bars.

Finishing breakfast, I quickly brushed my hair and teeth. I grabbed my wallet and phone while I stepped into my flip-flops. I walked out the door and as I turned to lock it, I found a note attached to it with my first name on it in big black blocky letters. That was a little strange.

My landlady didn't leave notes. If she had something she needed to discuss, she'd pound on my door until she could get me face-to-face. I opened the envelope and was gifted with a message that made the hairs on my arms stand up.

_Avery, my sweet, I like you, so I will only warn you once. You need to mind your own business and stay away from the ball on Wednesday. It's sure to be a bang for your date._

Crap. I couldn't even get out my door and my day had already gone down the tube. I instinctively dialed Nate's number to ask what I should do. I didn't know if the note was a threat against him or Zuba. Not many people knew plans had been made and changed in the first place.

"Little butterfly, aren't you on your way to work? You couldn't wait a few more minutes to talk to me?"

"Very funny, I'm hoping you're the only one there if you're using terms of endearment. Wouldn't want anyone else overhearing and getting jealous." I hadn't asked him what was up with the butterfly comments. I figured it was best I didn't know why he'd started calling me that.

"Actually, I haven't walked inside yet. I just pulled up. What can I do for you?" he asked, and I heard a car door closing in the background.

"Well, you might want to stay next to your car. I received a little gift this morning. Sadly it wasn't a cheerful bouquet of purple daisies." I explained to him about the note and what it said.

After a string of expletives, I could make out in the background, he came back to the phone. "I'm on my way. I know you've already touched the paper, but try to not touch the door too much. If we're lucky the person may have left prints or some kind of evidence. I'll be there as quickly as I can, in this morning traffic it won't be as soon as I like, though. I need to make a couple of phone calls and see if we can get a crime scene unit out there. I'm calling Rick so he may show up before I get there."

Nate rambled on as thoughts fluttered into his mind. Even though it came across a bit chaotic, it was easy for me to picture his mind chronicling everything that needed to be done.

"Okay, I'll be in my apartment then. I don't want to stand out in the hall." I wasn't sure when the note had been dropped off, and I didn't want to meet the writer without someone else by my side, preferably someone big and strong with a gun.

After about ten minutes of staring into space, there was a knock at the door. It would've been great if I could've spent the time cleaning up my apartment, but it was already sparkling.

I looked through the peephole and saw Rick standing there. Grateful it was him and not someone I didn't know, I opened the door. I'd only known Rick for a day, but that was more than I could say about the millions of other people living in the city.

"Hey, Rick. Didn't we just see each other yesterday? I didn't know I was so irresistible." It was my first really stressful situation where I felt threatened, and I was a little surprised to find flirting worked to calm me down.

"Morning, Avery. As irresistible as you might be, I know for a fact if I wasn't here at the request of Nate, I'd be in big trouble for showing up at your door. Can you tell me what happened?" he asked. His voice was calm and I could tell he wanted to push some of that calmness my way.

"Sure," I said, pointing to the door, "I walked out my door this morning and there was an envelope taped to it with my name on it. I haven't ever received a note from the landlady like that, but I figured at first maybe she had a new way of collecting rent, so I opened it and found this." I handed the note over to let him read it.

"Interesting. I take it you understand what the person is saying?"

Rick didn't look up from the paper as he asked the question. I hadn't seen anything interesting in the paper fibers, but I also wasn't a hot shot detective.

"Yes, it has to do with the case Nate is working on, and I have gotten dragged into. I told him I should just stay behind the computer, but does he listen to me? Nope. You know, sometimes I think he speaks a different language or at least hears in a different language." I guessed since flirting didn't go over well, I'd moved on to being feisty as a method of stress relief.

"I'm guessing you're speaking about me," Nate said as he appeared in my doorway. "I've been studying your face for days now and I've only seen that look of utter frustration when I'm the subject of your thoughts."

"Great. He thinks he knows everything. Next thing you know he'll be reading my mind," I huffed and walked deeper into my apartment.

"Hey now, I thought we were getting along great. What's up with all this hostility?" He and Rick followed me into my apartment.

With the two of them in the small space, it went from a studio to a closet. If another guy showed up, we were going to need a shoe horn to get them all to fit. I'd be the first to offer to leave, not that my size was the problem.

"Yeah, that was until I figured out you dragging me into this mess would garner me a stalker," I said as I poked my finger into his chest. "I mean the guy had to have been at the deli and saw me talking to Zuba. Unless of course you have some mysterious lady friend who didn't get the memo we weren't going to the ball together anymore.

"Of course, if a woman is calling me 'my sweet' I'm not a happy camper either." Taping my head like I just had a revelation I added, "Maybe it was a mysterious girlfriend who was jealous of our 'work relationship' that tends to look nothing like a work relationship when we aren't in the office building.

"What is up with that anyway? You're hot and then you're cold. I'm going to have to invest in layers so I can take things off or put them on depending on your mood. And hey, get your mind out of the gutter, I wasn't taking off that many layers. The only good thing I can think of coming out of this is that I get out of going to that stupid ball."

"Wow, you get a little wordy when you're upset don't you?" Nate looked like he'd need his eyeballs put back in his skull he was so surprised by my speech.

Frankly, I was surprised I babbled as much as I had. I wished my babbling was even a smidge as coherent as Nate's when he started planning out what to do about the note.

"Whatever." I waved my hand in his direction and turned to Rick. "Rick, what do you need me to do? I should probably get to work sometime today."

"Since the action appears to have all happened outside your apartment, I can wait here for the CSU to get here and keep an eye on them while they see if there's any evidence to find. You've already given me the note, so just lock up and I can wait outside. They shouldn't be much longer."

"You're a lifesaver, Rick. Thanks. I'll just grab my phone and get out of your hair." I didn't remember putting my phone down, but it wasn't in my hand. Ushering them outside, I locked the door and headed out.

It felt a little rude leaving like that, but sticking around only made me wonder how safe my apartment was. It was my sanctuary from the rest of the world, so I didn't want to think about it being violated, even with the assault only happening to the exterior.

"Avery, come on, we're going the same way, why don't I give you a lift?" Nate tried to direct me towards the Impala.

Logic wasn't something I felt was going to be high on my list of important attributes when it came to myself. Everyone else needed to fill in the gaps where I was sure I wouldn't be able to. If it wasn't for the fact that I didn't want to be in my apartment when it was being combed over, I probably would've stayed home.

That would've allowed any bad decisions I made to be contained to a small space. As far as I knew, they weren't technically going to be inside of my apartment, but I would've been able to hear them in the hallway.

Looking his way, I gave him my evil eye. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea. After all, I'm not sure if the note meant Zuba as my date or you. We might be driving them to act."

"This has to do with Zuba. That was just yesterday and no one except Carl even knew about me taking you to the ball. I didn't even give your name to my boss when I asked him to get the tickets. I don't know Carl well enough to determine whether he'd leave that kind of note on your door. "

I felt like laughing. Carl hadn't seriously hit on me once in all the years we'd been working together. I wasn't aware of a certain type he had, but I was pretty sure it wasn't me.

"It wasn't Carl. I'm fairly certain his way of dealing with a romantic rival would include getting the other person put on a government watch list and then sending a few emails from said person's account."

"I see. The old get them locked up somewhere without a key move. A little passive aggressive for my taste, but I can see how it'd be a convenient way to get rid of a rival. You're positive nothing has ever happened with him? He's not the one guy you mentioned yesterday, right?"

I couldn't believe Nate asked me that, or that I'd been stupid enough to talk about my love life. The fact that I was comfortable enough with Nate to do something like that meant I needed to remember to keep embarrassing information to myself.

"It was most definitely not Carl, and he hasn't shown any interest in me, aside from my brains."

We'd stopped and were just standing next to the rental car. I felt a little uncomfortable being out in the open, whether we were talking about my personal life or the weather. I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching us.

"Your brains are pretty sexy, Avery. I need to ask about the other guy. You said you broke it off. Are you sure there weren't any lingering feelings on his side of things?"

"Do we really have to talk about this right now? The note didn't come from someone out there pining for me. I don't incite that kind of emotion from guys. One boyfriend my whole life proves that point very clearly, and it isn't him. He moved a few months after we broke up. And no it wasn't because of the break up; he got a promotion."

"You obviously don't know how much I want to wrap you in my arms right now and show you what kind of emotion you're making me feel. I don't think you'd enjoy a little public display of affection, so for now you'll just have to use your imagination."

I threw my hands up in the air exasperated with the lunatic standing in front of me. I had to keep myself from taking out a knife and stabbing him a few times. I wouldn't cause any permanent damage, but he needed something to counteract whatever craziness he had going in his mind.

"I need to get to work, and at this point, I'm contemplating just walking." Changing the subject seemed like my best bet to get to work without being arrested for attempted murder.

"And you think I'd allow that? Get in the car and we'll go together. We still have plenty to talk about and I'm sure you don't want Carl and Liz hearing every detail."

"Fine, but just because I'd feel watched if I took public transportation or decided to walk. I don't want to talk anymore about my personal life, because I'm sure it has nothing to do with the note."

"I can't promise I won't talk about your personal life, but I'll refrain from any more questions about the men in your personal life, at least the two we've covered."

I was fairly sure that was the best I was going to get, so I walked around and got into the vehicle, sulking the whole way. Prior to Nate, I didn't believe I'd huffed or giggled as many times as I had in the last few days. The man was going to drive me insane before his mission found its conclusion and he got on a plane back to Chicago. That day couldn't come fast enough for me.

CHAPTER 12

Okay really, why did I get out of bed?

On the way to work, Nate spent even more time watching me than usual. I didn't know if he thought I'd crumble into a ball of tears or what, but he had another thing coming if he'd come to that conclusion. I might have turned a little nuttier than usual, but crying wasn't something I'd ever been big on.

"Maybe I should come stay with you, or you could come stay with me for the next couple of days," he suggested. "We don't have any idea who this person is or how closely they're watching you."

"You're joking, right? Have you not noticed I'm currently plotting your demise? Trust me, you wouldn't be safe sleeping within ten miles of me at the present moment. If we want to get technical, I really think you should be boarding a plane because the entire state may not be far enough away from me."

"Okay, maybe staying the whole night isn't the best idea. Can we at least meet in the middle and I stay with you until midnight or so?" he asked. "I just want to make sure you're safe in case this person decides a warning isn't enough. At midnight, I'll lock you in tight and come back in the morning to pick you up."

I was a little surprised he backed off staying glued to my hip that easily. Staying until midnight wasn't a good idea either, but at least he was going in the right direction.

"I can protect myself. It's not like I don't have training. What is it you think you can do that I can't? I know I'm smaller than you, but I do have equalizers."

"Training and actually being in a life-threatening situation is a little different. When someone is coming at you with a gun or knife, you may clam up. Your shyness could be used as a weakness in this case. Are you armed? You said you like knives; are you currently carrying any?" he asked.

"Of course. What kind of idiot do you take me for? I always carry them anyway. Putting them on has become part of my morning routine," I replied. "I live in New York City and take public transportation. I'm pretty sure that's been brought up in our conversations more than once."

"I don't need you reminding me of the dangers out there; I already have bad dreams. Are you going to tell me where you hide them yet?"

"No." I glared over at him.

"Can you at least tell me how many you have? Then maybe I can figure out where they are."

"No. You never know when I'll have to use them against you and I wouldn't want you to have the unfair advantage of knowing where they are. As far as the hanging out tonight to 'protect' me, my plans include watching the hockey game on TV tonight, so if you don't disrupt that, I guess you can stop by. I enjoy watching at home over going to a game because I find there are significantly less people crowded around my TV."

"Great. I can drive you home and we can grab some dinner," he said as he pulled into our parking lot.

"I've been eating out too much lately and I really want to make something at home. How about we stop at the store on the way back and I can grab some things to make a mess of appetizers we can snack on during the game," I countered.

It wasn't like I'd been eating grease-filled fast food, but I liked to cook and I was sure I'd feel better being in control of something. Even something as simple as making food.

"That sounds really nice. As long as I don't see rat poisoning going in the cart, you have a deal." He got out of the car and walked around to open the door for me.

If I was operating at full capacity, I would've had it opened myself. Between my sluggishness and Nate's lightning speed, he got the job done.

"You sure we should be seen going in together? I mean we're both arriving late and I wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea," I said as I stepped out of the vehicle.

"Who cares what they think? We haven't done anything to get anyone riled up yet, so they can just mind their own business."

We passed through security and waited while the elevator lowered us into the Pit.

"So what's in the rest of this building? It seems like only the bottom floors are government issued. I'd think most people would be suspicious by all the security for just this set of elevators."

"Maybe they are, but the directories indicate we're a biotech company, so it makes sense that we have an added layer of security. I've been here seven years and I don't think I've heard anyone question what really goes on in the basement. The companies here are listed in the directory if you are interested. I've never really cared."

We exited the elevator and walked through the door to my office. Carl was staring at his screen, as usual, and Liz was gawking at the two of us. I tried to give her my best "I'm really not interested in him" look in hopes that the daggers she was shooting my way would disappear.

No such luck. If Nate had any questions about Carl's intentions, his complete lack of even acknowledging we'd arrived proved there wasn't anything to worry about.

"You guys are running behind today," Liz said, smiling up at Nate.

"We had some police business to deal with this morning."

I didn't feel the need to expound on that. Waking up my computer by jiggling my mouse seemed like a more important task.

"Really? I hope it wasn't anything serious." Liz sounded so insincere that I almost told her not to quit her day job to become an actress.

"Nothing Nathaniel's friends in the NYPD can't handle. I'm sure they have everything under control. Has the bossman been by today?" Looking through my email nothing really jumped out as needing my immediate attention.

I was hoping Mr. Irving would come by with a new task that required my attention. Spending the day doing mindless tinkering on some programs wouldn't have bored me to tears, but I felt the need to hunt down bad guys.

"No, he called and said he'd be coming by around ten for a meeting to see where things stand and whether our resources are still needed," Carl said, finally joining in. I wasn't sure he'd even been listening.

"I think we have all the tracking done and know who our key players are now, so those specific resources will no longer be needed," Nate stated, clearly leaving out that a new player was added when Zuba's contact appeared as a human voodoo doll.

While they continued to talk, I started opening up emails to see if the content happened to be more interesting than the subject lines. There were a couple from Frannie, wondering how I'd been and if Nate and I had gotten any closer. She was impossible, and as far as I knew, she didn't know how much time I'd spent with him.

Most of the rest of the email looked like spam, so I took a little joy in deleting them. I found one that said it was from Watching You and a shiver crawled up my spine. I was hoping it was just spam, but instead of deleting it, I foolishly opened the email.

I instantly wished that I'd hit the red X to delete it. Of all the things I expected to see, photographs of Manny Martinez's murder weren't anywhere on the list. Words were added in the body of the email.

_Just in case the note wasn't enough of a message, my sweet. This is what happens when people get in my way. Please make sure you don't end up in this position._

"Um, Nate," I started saying as I looked up at him, using his formal name wasn't a high priority in my mind. "I don't think Carl's services are quite over yet. You want to come take a look at this email I just opened?"

He made his way over and instantly started cursing, "Son of a..." He took his phone out and placed a call. Carl walked over to see what was up on my screen and immediately went green.

"Why would anyone send you pictures of a dead person?" he asked, trying to regain his composure.

"Thanks to Nathaniel, I got to meet the now dead man a couple of days ago. Evidently, someone was not happy I made his acquaintance," I replied.

"Carl, we need you to work your magic as soon as possible to find out where that email came from. We have until Wednesday night to get a lead on this guy before all heck breaks loose." Nate was putting his phone away and looked like he wanted to strangle someone. He kept curling and uncurling his fingers to make fists.

By then, Liz had come over and was getting a peek at the screen. "You do know how to make the most interesting friends, Avery."

After a quick glance she went back to her desk, like me getting snuff photos was an everyday occurrence. It was no wonder we aren't close buddies. Before Nate arrived on the scene she was at least civil.

Carl moved back to his desk. "Just give me a sec and I'll get the email from Avery's inbox. I should be able to use its headers to track the guy down."

I could tell Carl was already at work. I didn't feel like trying to see if there was anything else in my mail that I needed to read, so I sat and waited to hear if there were any immediate reports. Nate hovered and paced around. I didn't think it helped matters, but it seemed to be a part of his process.

A few minutes later, Mr. Irving walked in right on time for his ten o'clock meeting. I didn't enjoy meetings, but I was ready to do something more than stare at my computer screen.

"Good morning, everyone, I hope nice weekends were had by all. So, Agent Barnes, how much longer do you think you'll be tying up our resources?" he asked, not seeming the least bit curious why Nate was pacing.

"I'll be here until at least Wednesday from all the information your team has been able to help me gather. As far as resources, I've enlisted Carl's help with a new email associated with the case."

"Really? Carl called me on the weekend to let me know he'd traced your email. What's happened since then?"

Nate gave a rundown of how we'd spent the weekend, otherwise known as the worst days of my life. After Nate finished, leaving a few portions out, like our little daytrip, Mr. Irving looked at me, astonishment clear on his face.

"You're doing undercover work? That surprises me."

"It surprised me too, but Nathaniel is a jerk who won't take no for an answer."

"Sir, Avery isn't done with her part yet. We still need her to be Zuba's date at the ball on Wednesday. It's our best opportunity to find out when the meet is taking place," Nate told Mr. Irving.

I exploded out of my seat. Sitting down wasn't going to do the tirade I felt coming on justice.

"You've got to be kidding me. There's no way I'm still doing that. As if I wasn't already trying to find ways out of it before, I started getting death threats. You really want to put me in that situation?"

"Avery, calm down. I never said you weren't going through with it. You said that and I wisely choose not to comment at the time because you were planning on ways to skewer me."

I hadn't mentioned the skewering, so the idea that he could read my mind popped up. I was screwed if that was true, and very thankful mindreading belonged in science fiction books.

"Obviously, Avery isn't up for this. Why don't I go as your date and I can butter Zuba up and try to get him to reveal the location to me," Liz said, like it was the biggest, brightest idea ever thought of. Since I already thought of it and had mentioned it more than once to Nate, I wasn't impressed.

"No, it has to be Avery," Nate said firmly. "Zuba was interested in her and I think since they already have a relationship started it's our best chance. I'll be at the hotel and I'm bringing a team now that things have escalated to the point we're at. You'll be safe."

He looked at me and tried to convey he was serious. I didn't need his pledge, I needed a time machine to take me back a week so I could say no to Frannie's offer of a hockey ticket.

"See what I mean. His ears aren't capable of understanding the word no. Boss, would it be okay if I call up my trainer and get some training in?" I asked. I was done talking to anyone in the room. "Just in case I need to be ready to defend myself. I feel the more practice I have the better. I doubt I'll make it to Wednesday the way my day is going, but I'm not going down without a fight."

"Go ahead. I can tell you now that you aren't going to be able to get out of this since his boss outranks me. Maybe we should get you issued a gun."

I was hoping Mr. Irving could make a call and tell Nate's boss that I wasn't equipped for field work, but that didn't sound like it'd be happening anytime soon.

"Thank you, sir, even though I'm trained with guns, I prefer to use my own method for defense."

I didn't bother shutting anything down. I grabbed my things and left the room. It was my shortest Monday in the office ever.

"Avery, wait up," Nate said as he jogged to catch up. "You don't need to call a trainer. I can help you prepare for likely situations better than any trainer could. Plus, I'm your ride for the foreseeable future. No public transportation for you."

"Whatever. You know the way to the gym," I said as I rolled my eyes skyward, wondering what I did to deserve the things happening to me.

CHAPTER 13

Push me, shove you, Oh yeah? Says who?

The way to the gym was very quiet. I didn't want to talk and Nate seemed afraid to open his mouth to allow room for skewering to commence. It was probably a legitimate fear on his part.

Being two o'clock on a Monday afternoon, the gym looked like a ghost town. He followed me to an empty room that had mats lying down on the floor just for our purpose.

"Chances are good we're going to get a little sweaty doing this. Do you want to change before we get started?" I asked, breaking our silence.

"I don't plan on staying here all day, so I think it's best to wear what you'd be wearing during an attack. Sweats, or workout clothes in general, are a different texture and feel. Something you can do in your jeans may not be as easy, or it could be easier, in sweats. Long story short, at least for now leave what you have on." He was rambling quite a bit.

"I asked if you wanted to change, not me. I'm wearing a t-shirt and jeans. I thought maybe you'd prefer to change out of your fancier clothes to keep the sweat stains down. If that's not the case, where do you want to start?"

"Let's start with what disciplines you're acquainted with."

I was bored already. The blue mats on the floor held more interest than talking about what disciplines I knew. I wanted to get right to the fighting.

"I've taken a lot of self-defense courses, basic and advanced, Aikido, Hapkido, Karate, Judo, Bojitso and I've spent some time in the ring boxing. As I've mentioned before, I'm also pretty handy with a knife." I refrained from counting everything out on my hand.

"That's a little bit more training than the normal computer tech tends to take," he unnecessarily replied.

"I've had time on my hands. Before recently, I went to work, then home, and that was all there was to my life. Training made me feel a bit more confident about myself too. Can you imagine how bad I used to be if this is me with more confidence?" I waved my hand up and down in front of my torso, in case he forgot who we were talking about.

"So, why did you want to do extra training today, if you already have all this knowledge?"

"Because I feel like it, okay? I don't want to sit in the office all day wondering what will happen next. I want to keep busy and training was the most likely reason Mr. Irving would accept for me to get out of the office. Are you going to actually help with that, or are we going to stand here talking all day?"

"Fine," he answered. "As I'm sure you've done many times in your self-defense classes, let's practice getting out of some holds."

He walked behind me and wrapped his arms around me in a death grip. Holds were not my idea of fighting, and the one he put me in was so basic I almost laughed.

"Now, get out of the hold," he instructed.

Categorizing the things I knew about my situation, I remained absolutely still, so he couldn't tell what was about to happen. Having noticed he wore pretty thin shoes, I swiftly raised up my foot and brought it down with all my might on his right foot. Even in just sandals, it still made an impact. He grunted and loosened his hold. At that point, I just slipped out from under his arms.

"Done," I announced. I was fairly certain a baby could've done it, so I didn't feel too amazed by my own accomplishment.

"Crap. I wasn't expecting that. I thought I'd be getting an elbow to the rib or something," he said while he massaged the top of his foot, idiotically through his shoe.

I thought about going and getting one of my usual trainers. I was certain Nate was going to go too easy on me and the frustrations I needed to get out were going to remain bottled inside.

"I can do the elbow if you'd like," I said with my biggest innocent smile plastered across my face. I even worked in a little eyelash flutter.

"No. I'm guessing your classes have instructed you on basically every hold I could try, right?"

"Well yeah," I started but was interrupted when he rushed at me and dragged me to the ground underneath him, cocooning me tightly.

"Let's see you get out of this." I could only assume he had a confident smirk on his face as he squeezed a little tighter.

With my hands tight to my side, I wiggled my fingers a little to get into my right jean front pocket. I put my hand through the hole I had cut in all my jeans to get to my flat five-inch throwing knife that I had sheathed around my thigh. I slowly moved my hand back out and placed the warm blade against his thigh closest to that hand and poked him slightly.

"Would you like me to leave some damage?" I coyly asked. "I spend a lot of my free time sharpening, so you can just imagine how sharp this baby is."

"Where did that come from you little vixen?" he asked, loosening his hold and getting up.

"Wouldn't you like to know? Oh wait, you've already asked repeatedly and you're no closer to finding out, because I won't be putting it back while you're watching. How about we hit the punching bag for a little while to let me work off some of this nervous energy," I suggested. "Your techniques just aren't doing it for me."

"I'm going to choose not to comment about my techniques, for now. The punching bag idea sounds good. We should probably change for that, though."

He led the way to the door where we split up at the locker rooms. Since neither of us was thinking of hitting the gym that day, we purchased some clothing and hurried to get changed. I ended up in a tank and a pair of Lycra shorts. Both were black with the gym's logo plastered on them.

The other time we'd been at the gym together, I'd only gotten to see Nate's arms from far away, so I didn't notice the tattoos he had snaking around his biceps and over his shoulders, disappearing under his shirt. From what I could see, they were mostly black symbols that flowed in ribbons. There were a couple of spots that had bright red or blue highlighting. The symbols weren't like anything I'd seen before, but they looked kind of like hieroglyphics.

Trying not to think of where they ended up, or what else he had tattooed on him, I said, "Those are some wicked tattoos. What do they mean?"

"Let's just say when you tell me where the knives are, I think you'll be ready to know what the tattoos mean. Until then, you'll just have to guess," he taunted.

Phooey. I didn't have my phone on me, so I could take pictures and hit the Internet to try to find their meanings later.

"You've just added to the aggression I need to take out on the bag. I hope you know it's your fault if there's nothing left but a pile of sand afterwards."

When we hit the twenty-five minute mark, it was determined we both worked up enough sweat, so we took a break to do a little stretching and cool down. Once we got our heart rates back to normal, we hit the showers.

I remained a little longer than I normally did under the water, trying to rinse away the tension I could still feel in my shoulders. Actually finding relief had been a long shot, but at least I'd gotten out of the office. Sitting around and stewing would've been worse.

We met back out in the lobby and decided that a protein shake would hit the spot. I took a strawberry banana one and he went with chocolate caramel. Nate paid for both of them, even after receiving a scowl.

As we sipped on the shakes he said, "Really, Avery, I'm still having trouble figuring out why you aren't a field agent. You don't have to be undercover to work in the field. I mean just from what you've said, you have more training than some of the other agents I've worked with. I think your talents are wasted behind that computer screen all day. You need to join the world of the living and get out of that basement."

"I don't want to talk about that. Nothing I can say will change your mind and nothing you can say will change mine. I like computers and always have. You're only hope is that spending time with you will get the action bug to bite me. I wouldn't count your chickens on that happening. I'm pretty set in my ways."

"If you're worried about who they'll partner you up with, I can work it out so we team together. That way you can take care of all my computer needs and at the same time be allowed to come out with me and fight the bad guys hand-to-hand," he suggested.

I had a feeling he was used to getting his way. He wasn't going to with me, and I hoped he'd figure that out sooner rather than later.

"Something to think about at a later date." After I was dead seemed like the right time for me to ponder it. Working that closely with Nate sounded more like a nightmare to me than anything else. I refrained from flat out turning him down, though, I figured that would only make him try harder.

We finished our drinks and headed back out to the car. Just as I sat down in the passenger seat, my phone went off, indicating I had a new text message. I figured it'd be Frannie planning a night out. It wasn't Frannie.

_You know you're pretty hot when you're beating up your boyfriend. I don't think you're taking my warning seriously enough. Please reconsider._

"What's wrong with this guy?" I yelled a little too loud for the confines of the car.

"What's wrong?" Nate asked, but I was already tilting my phone so he could see the latest message.

"He knows where I live, my email address and my phone number. That's a little creepy. How could he have found out all that information? For some reason he thinks you're my boyfriend. That will be the day. He must not have heard any of our interactions to know we're just coworkers who actually hate each other. It'd be nice if he'd come out from whatever rock he's hiding under so I could tell him that to his face."

"Liz is your phone person, right? Let's drop the phone off and let her go to work on tracing it back to the sender. With the police working on the written note, Carl working on the email and Liz on the text, hopefully we'll get something back to help figure out this guy's identity."

The ride back to the Pit went a lot faster than the one away from it, but the talking remained the same. We both stewed without sharing what we were thinking about. Judging by the way Nate's knuckles turned white around the steering wheel, I was pretty sure he was back to thinking about strangling someone.

When we arrived, Carl was gone, which is a little surprising, but Liz was still there. She perked up when she noticed Nate walking behind me.

"Where's Carl? It's not like him to leave in the middle of a project," I said, walking straight to Liz's desk.

"He was hungry and didn't find anything interesting in the vending machine, so he went out to grab us both something to eat."

"That was nice of him. We're actually looking for you anyway. Your expertise is needed on the case." I handed over my phone to her.

"What do you have?" she asked, looking at the text that was still up on my screen.

"We'd like to find out where that text came from. It seems to be the same person who has been leaving me notes all day. Evidently, he or she has been following me around too." Just the thought of some creep watching me made me shudder.

I could handle an attacker right in my face, but to think about them lurking out there somewhere was disconcerting. It made me wonder just how close I was being followed and how long they'd been following. It was getting harder to determine whether the case was really involved or if I'd just been the lucky recipient of a crazy stalker.

"Sure, I'll move this up to the front of the queue. Maybe if we get this all sorted out, you won't need your protector," she said nodding her head towards Nate.

I hoped that once we figured out who was behind the messages, Liz didn't develop her own need to have Nate follow her around. I was fairly certain he wouldn't volunteer, but I didn't want to see how far she'd take things.

"Thanks. I'm looking for anyway to get rid of my shadow and finding this person seems like my best bet," I said as I started to head back toward the door. "I guess if you get anything you'll have to call Nathaniel since I'm temporarily phoneless."

I figured that would be her first move anyway. I had a home phone she could reach, but I thought the incentive to call Nate could hurry things along.

Back outside, I jumped in the car and readied for our next journey. "Let's get some groceries. That protein shake wasn't enough to keep me going for long. Anxiety makes me hungry and I'm going to start chewing on my ankle soon."

"We can't have that; I happen to like your ankles. I'm not hip on what your favorite store is, so you're going to have to give me directions." He didn't wait for me to tell him which way to go as he started the car.

"Turn left out of the parking lot and I'll get you there."

We'd spent enough time in the car that I thought it was beginning to smell like the both of us. That didn't bode well for my apartment, because it wasn't much bigger and Nate was planning on spending hours there. I already had the issue with the dreams, his smell lingering around wasn't going to help.

CHAPTER 14

Meet me in the freezer section

I immediately commandeered a shopping cart and hit the aisles when we got to the store. I knew each of the aisles like the back of my hand, so I didn't expect to spend a lot of time dawdling about.

I loved to cook and bake. No one would know that from how often during the last week I'd been out to eat, but that was just another thing to blame Nate for. Actually, it was mainly Frannie who was to blame. Nate was closer, and had put me through more grief, so he was lucky enough to get blamed for anything bothering me.

I hoped my stalker wasn't out there watching, because I imagined the domestic bliss of two people going grocery shopping together might send them even further over the deep end. If he or she had been at their job for a long time, they'd know cooking soothed me, so they'd know they were getting under my skin by the amounts of cooking that was going to be done.

I didn't think anyone had been able to get that close to me. The thought of it being possible made me sick to my stomach.

"What ideas do you have for dinner, my little butterfly?" Nate asked, while I threw some button mushrooms into the cart.

He and that endearment really needed to stop. People were going to get the wrong idea if they overheard it. Someone already had the wrong idea and it was clear Nate really didn't have a problem with it.

There was nothing about me that screamed "butterfly" would make a great nickname. It made me want to start calling him artichoke. I wasn't going to, but I figured he had to have seen a butterfly in my vicinity at some point and thought it'd make a good nickname, much like the artichoke I'd picked out for him.

"First, with my stalker out there, do you think it's wise to be saying stuff like that to me? Secondly, I should probably ask you if there are any foods you don't like to eat before I get the final list set in my head."

"Only for your safety, will I tone down your nickname," he replied. "Maybe I should just shorten it to little butt. I'm guessing that would drive the point home that there currently isn't something romantic going on between us.

"Truthfully, I don't really care if people think there's something going on between us, I just don't want you to be in danger because of it. As far as food goes, I'm not picky and haven't tried anything I wouldn't try again, so you should have free reign on the ingredients."

"I'm pretty sure I'm never going to understand you. To answer your question about what I'm making, I was thinking stuffed mushrooms, pizza egg rolls, barbecue chicken nachos, shrimp cocktail, and kabobs."

I paused to pick out a red onion that looked good, before I moved over to the peppers and selected one of each color for the kabobs. "As for the new nickname, why don't we go old-fashioned and you just call me Avery? I know it's a crazy concept, but it might just work. People won't think there's more going on between us than there really is, and they won't think you're a giant doofus for calling me butt."

"I'll take it into consideration, but I'm not making any promises. You're not going to press for the reasoning behind the nickname?"

"I could care less why you picked it; I just don't want you to call me it. I've shared the list of appetizers I'm planning on making, is there anything you'd like to see on it?"

"No, I'm sure it will all be great. I do have to wonder who else is coming over. That isn't just for us two, is it? I have my figure to think about."

"I'm sure eating a whole cow dipped in butter wouldn't wreck what you got going on. I was planning for just the two of us. I like variety and I won't make tons of each thing. It's at least a two and a half hour game. I reckon I can set everything out and we can just graze on it when we feel like it."

"Has Frannie ever been to your apartment?" The abrupt subject change startled me as we moved on from the produce section.

We had to look stupid just standing around talking. Like the gym, the store wasn't busy, but that didn't mean I hadn't seen a few eyes linger on us. Since they were female eyes, I was fairly certain they weren't meant for me.

"Sure, she's been over once or twice. Probably just to drop something off. With the size of the apartment, I don't tend to entertain that much. I imagine, from this morning alone, you win for the person who has been there the longest. Would you like me to make a little trophy for you?"

Nate nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I definitely want the trophy. I have the perfect spot on my trophy shelf for it. Can you write on it that it's _from Little Butt?_ "

He laughed at what he evidently considered a grand joke. Our sense of humors were way off.

"No, I cannot. We've talked about dinner, let's move on to beverages. What do you want to drink? I don't have much at the apartment, since I tend to just drink water, and juice every once in a while. There's usually milk too, but that doesn't really go with appetizers"

It had been at least a month since I'd had juice. I went through phases where I craved it, but then hit long dry spells where I couldn't stand it. I didn't think I was really in or out of one of the phases at that moment, which was a little weird.

"How about we get some sparkling grape juice for fun? I know you don't drink alcohol, but it might be amusing to pretend we are."

I didn't think drinking sparkling juice really counted as pretending to drink alcohol. The fake fruity concoction I'd had the other night was probably closer. Maybe I was in a juice mood since it'd had juice in it. Then again, I'd only managed to finish it because I didn't want to talk to the person sitting next to me.

"That sounds different. I'm not really big on bubbles tickling my nose, but I could try it. You only live once, and who knows, in a couple of days my number may be up, so I might as well live it up with some sparkling grape juice."

Nate didn't appreciate a reminder that my life seemed to be in jeopardy. I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I thought it made sense to share my chipper attitude towards the idea that he'd somehow brought death to my doorstep. Even if the stalker was around before Nate, I was fairly certain it was Nate's fault they stopped being silent.

In the juice aisle, I left Nate to pick out what he wanted, but he decided he needed my input. "Okay, they have red and white, which do you prefer?"

I wanted to say neither, because I was certain that was the correct answer. During my juice phases, a sparkling variety had never entered the mix.

"We're living on the dangerous side, Nate, grab both and we'll have a taste test."

I didn't want to stand around in the juice aisle all day. Being out in the open was becoming my least favorite thing in life, so the faster we could get back to my apartment, the better I'd feel.

"Sounds good, while we're at it, they also have sparkling apple juice. Do you want to give it a whirl too?"

"Seriously? Just grab whatever you want and let's move on. Do you want something for dessert?" I asked while going through things that sounded good in my head. "I'm a cupcake genius, if I do say so myself. Why don't I make up a mess of my vanilla cupcakes and a couple of different kinds of frosting? I know you like chocolate, so I can make a small batch of it and my cream cheese frosting, and then we can buy some sprinkles and such and spend one of the intermissions decorating."

The idea of spending twenty minutes decorating cupcakes with Nate was probably one of the worst ideas I'd ever had, but I'd already put it out there and from the eagerness I saw in his eyes, I wasn't going to be able to take it back. Between the domestic-nature of it and the mess I was sure he'd make, I was going to be in trouble.

"That sounds like almost a perfect way to spend an evening," he said with a smile. I didn't trust the smile one bit. Along with the eagerness I'd immediately seen, there was something else lurking behind it.

"What exactly would you do to improve it?"

I was busy making sure I didn't forget anything as we made it through the aisles. I wasn't really thinking about where my question could lead, but I should've known based on my companion.

"It would end with us doing something a couple of people in a work relationship would never dream of doing. Although, I'm pretty sure you've dreamt about it, but just aren't willing to admit to it."

I didn't bother looking over at him. I sadly knew him well enough to know exactly the wicked look that would greet me if I did.

"I think it's what happens in your own dreams you need to worry about," I told him. "My dreams have always been rated PG, if not G."

Nate scoffed at my suggestion. Taking it to the G level was probably too far, but I could describe dreams filled with puppy dogs and lollipops if he was curious.

"Hey, I only dream what you dream, so if I'm having naughty dreams, it's your fault."

I wasn't sure how the conversation had turned to the creepy level, but we'd crossed the threshold. It was probably best to let it drop, but I didn't like Nate's implication and the certainty in his voice.

"I think you have that backwards, buddy. If that was even possible, I'm sure it'd be you pushing the thoughts into my unconsciousness. Of course, I'm not admitting to having any unusual dreams to begin with."

"You don't have to admit it; I've seen you trying to see through my clothes. I'm sure it's all my doing, but how can I help it when you're just so adorable. You won't tell me where those knives are, so I have to dream of undressing you to see them. I just found out about them, though. I guess that means the hide and seek will be something new." Nate threw some chocolate bars into the cart and I lifted my left eyebrow in question.

"Isn't chocolate frosting enough for you?" I asked.

The whole dream thing had done a great job of confusing me. I seriously started to wonder if Nate was somehow involved with my nightly activities. The possibility of that was zero, and yet I still considered it.

"I have a feeling I'm going to have a very big sweet tooth tonight and I want to be prepared for it."

"Is that some euphemism I should know about?" We were having cupcakes, and even though I didn't have sugar in the cart, I was planning on using plenty of it. Having everything I needed, I guided us to the checkout.

"Not really. I know I won't get to do anything fun with you tonight, so I plan to console myself with chocolate," he replied, like it made perfect sense.

"You know, if you're looking to get lucky, maybe you should spend the night at a bar. I'm sure you can find some willing lady there to tame your needs. I don't know why you weren't mobbed the other night when we were out, but I've seen the look the women are giving you here, and there's always Liz."

"I think I've mentioned before that I'm only looking for a serious relationship. A one night stand with some woman who is plastered doesn't exactly qualify. As far as Liz, I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not interested."

"I'm just saying it's an option if you're feeling really needy tonight. You said you were only staying until midnight and the bars usually stay open past that."

I paid the cashier as she looked at us questioning our sanity. I could only imagine what she'd do if she overheard some of the other conversations we'd had.

We pushed the cart out to the parking lot and loaded the groceries into the trunk before Nate returned it to the nearest cart corral. While he was gone I gazed around the parking lot, trying to see if there was anything out of place or someone staring at me.

I didn't see anyone, but I definitely got the feeling someone was out there watching. Since the stalker seemed to have an issue with me hanging out with Nate, I wished I had a shirt that said _He is not my boyfriend_ in big letters. It'd be really good if it had blinking lights on it too. Maybe then the psycho would get the idea.

Nate came back and unlocked the door for me. I got in and waited for him to start the engine, so I could turn on the radio and listen to some tunes during the car ride home.

CHAPTER 15

Someone's in the kitchen with Dinah

We arrived back at the apartment and carried the groceries to the kitchen. I told Nate to go find something to watch on TV while I got everything organized. Before I started, I grabbed my frilly pink apron, put it over my head and tied it around my waist. Without it, I would've ended up having to change clothes later and with Nate in the building that didn't sound like a good idea.

Once I had the ingredients all grouped together for their dishes, I decided making the cupcakes first would be the best idea. I flipped the oven on to get it preheating. With just the two of us, I elected to make only a dozen, so I did the needed calculations to scale down the recipe.

I placed the necessary butter and sugar in the mixer and let it beat until they were nice and fluffy. A couple of cracked eggs were added to the mix along with a splash of vanilla and almond extracts. Finishing off by alternating the dry ingredients with some milk, the batter was ready.

I lined my cupcake tins with foil wrappers and filled the cups three-quarters of the way full. I placed them in the oven and set the timer for eighteen minutes. Remembering that I was making kabobs, I soaked some skewers in water so they wouldn't catch fire when I broiled them.

Once they were set, I turned my attention to whipping the two varieties of frosting. I ran a very tight kitchen, so moving from task to task was second nature to me.

"Hey, thought I should come in and make sure you didn't already have a stock pile of rat poison under the sink," Nate said, taking a seat at the breakfast bar.

"No rat poison, but I'm sure I could find something under there to add to your food if you're going to be lippy."

"Anything I can do to help?" he asked. "You're making enough to feed an army, surely there's a little something I can do."

"You're supposed to be finding something to watch on TV."

"That's what you told me to do, but you can't fault a guy for wanting to spend more time with you. I figure if you put me to work, it'd be less irritating than me just staring at you."

"Have you had a psych eval done recently? I'd highly suggest one when you get back to Chicago. If you're willing to work, I need these mushrooms brushed off with a towel. Then you can remove and discard their stems while I make the stuffing for them." I passed the mushrooms and a towel over.

"What do you want me to do with them when I'm done?"

"Just put them on that cookie sheet to your left, top down, so they're ready for me to fill."

"No problem," he said, going right to work.

I watched him for a few moments. For as large as his hands were, I was surprised how delicately he scrubbed the dirt away from the caps.

Before I started on the filling for the mushrooms, I went ahead and made the cocktail sauce, so the flavors had some time to blend together. In a bowl, I combined some ketchup, horseradish sauce, garlic powder, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. It didn't need anything more than a stir to be ready. That done, I placed it in the fridge and selected a medium sized glass bowl for the mushroom stuffing.

"How do you know how much to use?" Nate asked. "I've been sitting here watching you and you just pour things in; you look so natural in the kitchen."

"I've been cooking as long as I can remember, so I'm pretty good at measuring with my eyes."

"And just how far back do you remember?"

I didn't think my statement warranted that follow up question, since I'd meant it as a figure of speech. While I thought about it for a second, I put my stuffing ingredients into the bowl. A little mixing until smooth and it was ready for the mushrooms. Looking over, I saw Nate was on the last mushroom, so I waited while he finished up.

"If you really want to know, I guess I remember my first day of school, but not much prior to that."

The oven timer went off before he could comment, so I left him to finish his task. The cupcakes looked done, so I took a potholder and got them over to a cooling rack I had sitting on the counter. Knowing the rest of the food cooked at a higher temperature, I reset the oven accordingly.

"What do you need me to do next?" Nate asked, eager to be useful and evidently ready to move on from the talk about my memories.

I didn't recall the last time I had someone helping me in the kitchen. I couldn't actually think of a time when someone did. When I was a kid, I'd help my mom, but as an adult it had always been just me.

"Here take this onion," I said, giving him the onion and a chef's knife, "and slice about half of it into big size chunks for the kabobs and dice about a quarter of it for the egg rolls and nachos. When you're done with that, grab the peppers and get them ready for the kabobs."

As he started, I quickly filled all the little mushroom cups with their stuffing and set them aside to start on the nachos. I got a little saucepan out and put some ketchup, spicy mustard, brown sugar and a few choice spices in it, and stirred the concoction together while I turned the stove on to medium heat.

I took the precooked rotisserie chicken that we picked up and started shredding the meat. When I was down to the carcass, I washed my hands to get the greasy feeling off. Once the barbecue sauce was heated through and just starting to bubble, I added the chicken and stirred.

As soon as the chicken was all coated, I turned the stove off and grabbed some tortillas. I quickly cut them into eight pieces and placed them on a cookie sheet that had been greased with cooking spray. After I assembled the tasty treats, I put them off to the side with the mushrooms.

"I'm getting hungry. Can we just eat everything now?" Nate asked, eyeing the nachos.

"No, they aren't even cooked yet. You can help assemble the last two dishes though. We'll do the kabobs last because that involves touching raw meat." I put another cookie sheet in between us and set out the ingredients for the egg rolls. "For the egg rolls, we can each add what we want. Watch how I do my first one and then you can work on your own."

On an egg roll wrapper, I placed a little pizza sauce towards the part of the wrapper closest to me. I added half a mozzarella stick, a few black olive slices and some diced onion. Then I took my finger and dipped it in the bowl of water I had to the side and moistened the four edges of the wrapper. I rolled the bottom portion up a little to cover my filling and then folded in the sides before continuing to roll it up. At the top of the wrapper, I added just a little more water and sealed it tight.

That done, I placed my pizza roll to the side of the cookie sheet and said, "See it's easy, now make your own."

So he did. We remained quiet as we each made about twelve of them and kept them to our side of the cookie sheet. I made mine all the same, but he seemed to like variety, putting different things in each. Since they were different. I arranged his facing up and down and mine left and right, so we knew who got to eat which ones.

The three cookie sheets could all go in and cook together at the current temperature, so I placed them in the oven. I put the pizza rolls and nachos on the top shelf and the mushrooms on the bottom and set the timer for twenty minutes.

That taken care of, we cleaned the area up a bit and set out the kabob ingredients. We had cherry tomatoes, onions, peppers, mushrooms, cubed steak chunks, cubed chicken and shrimp as ingredients to use. I brought over the skewers and the broiler pan.

We started making our skewers. His were primarily steak based with a couple shrimp ones thrown in. I stuck with chicken and shrimp, since I tended to stay away from red meat. I made a little aluminum foil box for my skewers to sit in.

"Ta da," I announced. Our timing was perfect because the timer was counting down the seconds for the other dishes. I retrieved them and set them on the counter while I turned the oven up to broil and adjusted the top rack to put it closer to the flames. Once it was good and hot, I put the kabobs in and spun around to start plating our bounty.

After arranging the hot dishes on platters, I grabbed the precooked shrimp we got and organized it in a circle on a platter around the cocktail sauce.

"Can you start taking these out to the coffee table, please?" I asked Nate. "The kabobs will be done in a sec and I need to get some dipping sauces set up for them."

"Sure," he said, grabbing the mushrooms and the pizza rolls.

If my stalker had been watching, the domestic bliss that had been going on would've ended with me dead. There was an easiness I felt just hanging out with Nate. There wasn't a need for us to talk; he let me do my thing and he followed instructions like a champ.

The room seemed empty as he walked away, which was weird since he hadn't actually been in the kitchen with me, and he was only ten feet away. I was one messed up individual.

I got out two little containers. I put some steak sauce in one, and mixed together a quick honey mustard mixture for the other. I placed them on a platter. Then I removed the kabobs from the oven and put Nate's on one side of the sauces and mine on the other.

He came back for the shrimp and nachos and I smiled as he salivated over the food. I took off my apron and hung it in its spot on the wall, then carried the kabobs out to the living room. We still had fifteen minutes before the game started, so we watched the pregame report.

"Oh my." Nate moaned as he took a bite of a stuffed mushroom. "These are to die for. I could probably eat them all myself."

"They're good, but they're also pretty rich, so after a few you might change your story."

I picked up one of my pizza rolls and had my first bite. I was starving, so I really didn't care if I burnt my mouth. The string cheese was extra stringy and stretched out as I moved the roll away from my mouth. I loved a meal of appetizers, especially ones that were finger foods.

While we were snacking, the puck dropped and we immediately found ourselves yelling at the refs for blatant missed calls. I really liked our TV announcers; they were some of the fairest ones on the air.

At first intermission we were losing two-to-one. Things weren't going great, but there was still a lot of game to be played.

I ran to the kitchen and set up the frostings, knifes, toppings and the cupcakes as a little workstation for us. Since there was two of us, I didn't bother getting out my piping bags to make the cupcakes really fancy.

As we worked, I glanced at our progress. My cupcakes looked very professional, whereas Nate's tended to look like a five-year-old had done the decorating. His were overloaded with toppings and gave me a sugar rush just looking at them. As I sprinkled some gold nonpareils on one of my cupcakes, he leaned over and took a scoop of the cream cheese frosting and smeared it on my nose.

"What in the world do you think you're doing?" I screeched.

"Sorry, you were looking a little edible and I got confused on whether or not you were one of the cupcakes."

"Not an acceptable excuse," I replied as I put my knife in the frosting to get a large dollop and flung it at his face.

He smiled that wicked smile of his and took a handful of colored sugar and threw it back at me. We continued to throw toppings back and forth until the kitchen looked like a kindergarten class had recently been around. Thankfully, after the first exchange of frosting, we left that alone, so just washing our faces and shaking our shirts to try to dislodge topping bits was enough of a personal cleanup.

By the time we swept everything up, we'd missed the entire second period of the hockey game. We each had a cupcake when we made it back to sit on the couch to enjoy what was left of the game.

When all was said and done, New York won in a shootout, so I didn't have to sacrifice any more toppings to the hockey goddess.

"It's still early," I said as I stood up and stretched. "How about we try our sparkling juices and watch a movie. That should take us to your midnight curfew."

"Sounds good. I'll grab the juice, you get the glasses."

"Any preference on movie?" I asked after we made it back to the living room with our beverages. I had an extensive collection on display in the entertainment center. I didn't have a ton of room in my apartment, but DVDs were small, so I stockpiled them.

"No, it's your house so you can pick," he said, settling on the couch.

I decided on _Bridesmaids_. Nothing like a little romantic comedy to get my paybacks for the topping fight. Of course that backfired when I realized he was actually laughing and enjoying the movie. I needed to do a better job on plotting my revenge.

We did our sparkling juice test while the movie played, and argued over which one was really the best. I picked apple and he sided with the white grape. Neither of us was willing to change our opinions, so we opted to just agree that the red grape was the worst.

As the movie played, I started to get drowsy. The last thing I remembered before falling totally asleep was an actress driving down a highway with a van full of puppies.

CHAPTER 16

Everything is better with donuts

The next morning, I woke without the assistance of my alarm. I couldn't believe how good I'd slept. I didn't remember having any dreams and I felt surprisingly refreshed.

Looking at the clock on the wall, I saw it was only six. I did a double take, looking at the clock again. Wait a second, my bedroom didn't have a clock on the wall. I rolled off the couch and looked up at it to see Nate staring at me, smiling from his still relaxed position on the couch.

"Good morning. I'm happy to report you don't snore when you sleep, much to my surprise."

Like I cared whether I snored or not. A man was on my couch and I'd most recently been on it with him.

"Please tell me this is a nightmare I'm having. I knew the relaxing sleep was too good to be true. You were supposed to leave by midnight. Did someone forget to teach you how to tell time? Even if they did, you should've got a clue when the sun started rising," I said as I maneuvered into a position I could stand up from. I could've gone on blurting out anything that came to my mind, but I decided to give Nate a chance to explain himself.

"I know, but you got so comfy snuggling into me; I couldn't bear to wake you. It would've been cruel and I may be a lot of things, but cruel isn't one of them." He stood up from the couch and made a show of stretching.

"I guess that opinion depends on who you ask," I muttered. "You can use the bathroom if you need to, but after that you're out the door. I need to get ready for work and that's not going to happen while you're here." I picked up the glasses from the night before and walked into the kitchen.

When I came back, he was exiting the bathroom. "Look, we're both going to be heading to the office and you aren't allowed to take public transportation, so it makes no sense for me to leave and then come back to get you. I keep a spare set of clothes in my car. I can head out for fifteen minutes and give you a chance to shower and get ready.

"I'd give most women longer, but I'm pretty sure you can be ready in that amount of time or at least showered and dressed. While I'm out, I'll grab some breakfast and then borrow your bathroom for ten minutes to get ready." He picked his keys up off the table. It was a miracle he found them among all the leftover food.

"In case you were wondering, I've never met a more frustrating man than you. I guess the transportation part makes some sense. If you can be ready in ten, I can too, so hurry up and disappear."

I didn't bother waiting for him to make a move as I hurried to the bathroom. Showers in my world were usually fast, but I wanted to make sure I came in under the time I'd quoted. I didn't trust Nate not to just run down to his car and come right back.

After quickly washing my hair, I towel-dried and wrapped the towel around my hair. From the wardrobe, I picked out some standard jeans and a shirt that said _The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it's on the list_. It had a list on it that included shopping and laundry just before "hurt you". I thought it'd be the perfect shirt for the day.

I started to go back to the bathroom to brush my hair, but the phone rang and stopped my progress. Remembering that my mom mentioned calling back to talk in person, I decided I better get it. If she had to talk to the machine twice in a row, the chances of her appearing on my doorstep within hours went up tenfold. I didn't even bother looking at the phone to verify it was her, because I doubted it could be any one else.

"This is Avery." I tried to add some cheerfulness that I wasn't feeling. I doubted it came across that way, anything I forced never worked for me.

A distorted voice responded, "Avery, you're disappointing me. I know he's trying to protect you from me, but you don't need protection and he really shouldn't have spent the night. I think that's a little above and beyond his duty."

"Hey listen," I sniped back, "We fell asleep before his self-imposed protection duty was over. You don't have to insinuate something happened between us, because it didn't. I don't know where you get off thinking there's something more to our relationship than meets the eye, because there isn't. We barely get along and he'll be on his way back to Chicago as soon as he can. So why don't you knock off all this silly business with the notes and the calls. I don't appreciate you trying to frighten me."

"I'm glad to hear you won't shed a tear when he leaves. It's the best thing I've heard all week. You must not see the way he looks at you, though, and don't think I haven't noticed how you look at him when you think no one is watching.

"Word to the wise, I am watching, and even if you guys aren't acting on the emotions, I can see them plain as day and I don't like it. It looks like lover boy is back, so I'll leave you to your breakfast."

The line went dead before I could say anything else. I was pretty sure a miracle happened; I found someone more irritating than Nate, who just happened to be looking at me with the phone in my hand talking to air. Well, not talking anymore. I imagined I looked a little strange.

"Guess who I just got to chat with. As you can imagine, it wasn't the captain of the Rangers asking if I wanted season tickets," I quipped as I walked to the bathroom to brush my hair.

After being harassed and seeing a dead body, I couldn't muster much of a reaction. I was mad, but not really any more than I had been.

"You've got to be kidding me. Who was it?" He'd followed me to the bathroom and was standing in the doorway.

"He used a voice distorter so I couldn't tell who it was. Technically, it could still be a girl pretending to be a guy because she wants you all for herself. All they said was he or she was disappointed in the fact that you stayed the night and we evidently seem to look at each other with stars in our eyes when we think no one will notice.

"I'm not sure what they've been smoking, but I know I've only worn annoyed eyes when it came to you. Oh, and they knew when you were back from bringing me breakfast, so that means the person is watching or at least was five minutes ago," I said, relaying what little information the person gave and adding in my own commentary.

Nate disappeared from the doorway. I was fairly certain he'd taken off in a run, but he could've just vanished. I figured he wanted to try to find the person, but I highly doubted he would. If he wanted to run around, more power to him.

I finished up brushing my hair, leaving the bathroom open for whenever he decided he couldn't find the guy. I found a bag full of donuts that Nate had left in his wake. My brain and stomach both rejoiced at the thought of savoring one. I picked a vanilla frosted one with sprinkles and dug in while I waited.

It took Nate five minutes to find his way back. I couldn't decide whether it was sooner or longer than I expected.

"I didn't find anything suspicious other than a note on my car that instructed me to leave you alone. I'm pretty sure this is a guy wanting to get with you, my little butterfly. Even if he wasn't going about that all wrong, he'd still have problems getting through me to get to you," he said as he chose a butterscotch donut.

"I wouldn't go that far, but one thing is for sure, it has nothing to do with the Zuba case. I'm still not willing to admit it's someone with the hots for me. If it were, it'd have to be someone who came into my life since you arrived, just because of the simple fact it didn't start until then.

"If he was around before, he could've asked me out. It's not like I had a string of boy toys I was working through or anything," I mumbled as I took the other butterscotch donut.

Nate was lucky he got two or we would've been fighting over the one he demolished. After having breakfasts of grab-and-go bars, a fried dough sugar fix hit the spot.

"It could be a guy you see all the time or a waiter you've only seen a handful of times. They could've been just shy or biding their time to ask you out. Me showing up might have them thinking they're missing their chance at a fairytale life," Nate explained.

"He sure came out of his shell if it's someone who's shy. I'm shy and there's no way in the world I'd start doing that for a little crush. Anyway, there aren't many people I see, since I only work and come home. I occasionally go out with Frannie, but I haven't noticed any creepers."

"Who's to say you'd notice him. Maybe that's part of the problem. You didn't notice him, then I sweep in and we're spending all sorts of time together. Granted our relationship hasn't been romantic, but he still sees me as taking his place." He looked up at the clock and added, "I need to get in the shower if we're going to get to work at a decent time."

"Good idea. I want to see if we have any updates on the email or text. I'm guessing you haven't heard anything back from Rick?"

"Nope, which can only mean they haven't got anywhere. The email and text really are our best options, because they had to come from somewhere and should be traceable. Chances are good, as long as the person hasn't been living under a rock, they wore gloves or something to make sure evidence wasn't left behind to trace back to them."

With his statements of the obvious out of the way, he headed towards the bathroom and shut the door. A few moments later I heard the water start, so I went to the kitchen and got a glass of milk to wash the donuts down.

I loaded the dishes from the night before in my little studio-friendly dishwasher, not bothering to rinse them off since Nate was in the shower. Even if that would've been a fun way to get back at him, dealing with my stalker had taken a little bit of the wind from my sails.

The amount of dishes I tried to cram into the dishwasher was close to the amount I'd have accumulated by myself in a week. The poor dishwasher was probably going to start smoking midway through the cycle. I heard the water turn off in the other room, so I went ahead and flipped the switch.

Two minutes later, Nate emerged from the bathroom, dressed perfectly, as usual. He had to have a shaving bag with him, because the five o'clock shadow I'd noticed when he woke up was gone.

He was wearing a dark blue, long-sleeve button-up shirt and a pair of tan pants. His hair was still a little damp and his feet were bare. He walked over to the couch to sit and put on his socks and shoes. I took his cue and retrieved my sandals from their spot by the front door.

I preferred not wearing shoes at all. As long as the weather was nice and I wasn't taking Winnie out for a spin, I settled on wearing the sandals. For some reason, most people frowned at others walking around barefoot.

In my case, my toes liked to be separated. Even when I was forced to wear socks, I picked ones that had toes. If I didn't, I'd spend all day wiggling my toes trying to keep them apart.

"You ready to head in?" Nate asked as he finished tying his shoe. He stood up and grabbed his wallet and keys.

"As ready as I'll ever be. I'm crossing my fingers for some good news."

I followed him through the door and turned to lock it. I had the lock on the door knob and a deadbolt. Some of my neighbors had a few extra locks, but I'd never thought I needed more than two.

"I'd take good news, but I'll settle for spending my day trying to not be the 'you' your shirt indicates you want to hurt," he said as we walked down the hall.

"Good luck with that. The only thing you've got going for you is that my stalker has moved ahead of you in the list of people I want to hurt. Before you say it, I didn't think it was possible either, but miracles do really happen."

"I love your sense of humor. There's a lot of women who wouldn't be taking this stalker business as well as you are."

"Would you prefer it if I cried a little and refused to leave my apartment?"

"Not for the stalker, and not real tears, but I could imagine a scenario where I'd like what you just said very much."

We were almost to his car and I stopped in my tracks to stare at him. He could be in my life for fifty years and I doubt I'd understand him at all.

"You can't say those kinds of things to me, Nate. We've got the stalker and the Zuba stuff to deal with. You can't act like there's something, or going to be something, between us. It's sending some really messed up signals to me."

"I'm trying to keep you on your toes until we can discuss things once the case is over."

I didn't bother pointing out he was an idiot. I wanted to find some buffers to keep the weird conversations to a minimum, so I started walking again and climbed in when Nate opened the door for me.

CHAPTER 17

Eel, the white meat that should have stayed in the ocean

After the usual rigmarole of getting into the Pit, we found Carl and Liz both hard at work. I crossed my toes, hoping they had something for me.

"Your date sent a text this morning asking where you wanted to be picked up tomorrow night," Liz said, not looking up from her screen.

I was so tired the night I had to let Zuba know I was available, that I'd put the simple text I'd sent out of my mind the second I hit send. It seemed almost like a lifetime ago, and I truthfully couldn't remember how many days it had been.

"That's a good question. I don't want him to know where I live." I had enough troubles without someone involved in arms deals showing up at my doorstep.

"You can get ready in my hotel room," Nate suggested. "Don't worry, I'll vacate the room while you're getting all gussied up. He shouldn't have a backstory on you yet, so you can play the part of someone visiting from out-of-town. Tomorrow, before or after you get ready, we can sit down and practice a cover story for your life. I'd do it now, but it'd be best if it was fresh in your mind."

"Okay, as long as you're nowhere near the room when I'm undressed, that sounds like the most logical idea I can come up with. I don't have many friends' houses I could use and I really wouldn't want to for the same reason I'm staying away from my apartment."

"Great, I'll send him the information," Liz said, going to work. I didn't bother asking how she knew where Nate's hotel was.

I settled into my workstation. "So, since no one is jumping up to tell me who this stalker is, I'm guessing you guys are still working?"

"That's exactly what it means. I should have an answer before tomorrow night. This person was pretty good though. It seems they bounced it off a few towers outside the country before letting it hit your phone," Liz reported.

"On the email side of things there might be a dead end. I've traced the email to a public library terminal. The address is just a free one that they probably didn't use a real name for. Unless there really is a Joe Blow out there, and if that's the case, I want to find him and ask what his parents were thinking."

Carl's words didn't surprise me. It figured I'd have a brainy stalker. Why couldn't I have just a normal everyday average person sending me crap? Oh well, I had other work that needed to be done. I allowed my fingers to fly across the keyboard, doing what I did best, and tuned out the rest of the world.

Around eleven forty-five, I was shaken from my happy place by Nate literally shaking me.

"Avery!" he shouted.

"Why are you shouting?" I asked. "I'm pretty sure it's been determined I'm not deaf, so there's no reason to get loud and up in my face."

"Are you sure about that? I've been saying your name for the last five minutes and it hasn't gotten through. I was starting to think maybe you stuck some cotton in your ears."

"Fine. I was totally in my zone. I can't help it that when I'm working, I don't like to be disturbed. What's so earthshattering that you needed to interrupt?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go grab some lunch." He just had to say lunch. My stomach made itself very noticeable by growling loudly.

Thinking that it wasn't a good idea for us to be seen out by ourselves, I replied, "How about we make it a group lunch. We've all been working really hard lately; let's take a break."

"Great idea," Liz enthusiastically said as she got up from her desk.

"Sure, I'm hungry," added Carl. He didn't sound as eager, but he was out of his chair without any extra prodding.

Nate didn't look too happy to have the tagalongs, but he'd deal with it. If nothing else, he could pretend they were cannon fodder. I was pretty sure that was the way his mind worked.

"Anyone have any particular cravings?" I asked as we all shuffled into the elevator.

"No preference for me." Carl had entered the elevator first, so his voice came from behind me.

Nate was glued to my side, which left Liz behind us with Carl. I imagined she was overjoyed by the positioning.

"I was thinking we could go to Chom Chom. They have a really nice lunch selection," Liz stated. Her annoyed tone let me know my assumptions about her mood were correct.

I looked to Nate for his opinion. "I'm visiting, so I'll leave it up to the experts."

"Chom Chom it is. I'd go just because the name sounds so cool."

It reminded me of all the photos online that say "Nom Nom Nom". I thought about making ones that said "chom chom chom" to see if I could get a new trend started.

We made the trek over and were seated in a very nice-looking restaurant. It was light and bright, which was more than most of the places I'd been in the recent days.

After reading the lunch menu, I wasn't too sure about the decision to eat there. I didn't think I'd ever eaten in a place that served Seaweed Salad. It sounded unappetizing to me and it was giving me little shivers thinking about eating it.

I decided to play it somewhat safe and asked for the chicken teriyaki box. When in doubt, always choose chicken. The others placed their orders and I noticed that only Liz was a bit daring, choosing to go with a few of the roll options. More power to her, you wouldn't catch me trying an eel roll though.

We sat waiting for our food in an oddly comfortable silence, sipping on our drinks. As was becoming my usual, I scanned the other diners to see if anyone was giving me more than casual stares. Satisfied no one was undressing me with their eyes, I tried to start up a conversation.

"We didn't really get a chance to talk yesterday, with me only being in the office a few minutes. How were your weekends?" I asked, directing the question to Carl and Liz.

"I stayed in the office most of the weekend. I finished up Nathaniel's trace and then worked a little on some jobs that were piling up."

"Oh Carl, we need to get you out more," Liz said, before immediately going into a long spiel. "I spent Friday night being dragged out to a dance club with some friends. We ended up having a great time and I even picked up a few phone numbers. I spent Saturday doing background checks on the guys to see if any of them were worth calling for a date.

"Turns out they were all slime balls. One is divorced and hasn't paid child support in three years and two of the others are actually married. Needless to say, those numbers were ripped to pieces and went straight in the trash. One of these days I'll find Mr. Right, but from that experience, I'm doubting it will be in a club."

"Or you could be like me and decide you never want to get married," I commented.

Since Nate had already heard it, he wasn't surprised, but the two other people at the table looked a little shell-shocked. They spent more time with me than anyone else, so it shouldn't have been that startling.

"But everyone dreams of growing up, getting married and raising a family," Liz kind of whined at me.

"I think your everyone classification is way off. I'm sure there are tons of people out there like me who just prefer to be alone, right Nate?"

"I think, in general, humans like companionship and are inclined to seek it out, so marriage tends to be in their future. There are people like Avery, though, who like to be alone and there's nothing wrong with that."

"With all the failed marriages these days, humans would be a lot better off getting a dog if they need companionship," I quipped as I saw our server bringing our food.

The food barely touched the table before we dove in. I did my best not to look at Liz as she ate her "food" that really never should've made it to a plate. I predicted that night's dreams were going to be of eels chasing me. I wasn't looking forward to it.

After we finished and paid, we walked back to the office to finish out the workday. I returned to my zone relatively easily and made some headway on a couple of my projects. At five, I was ready to get out of the building and back home to my last night of freedom.

On the way home, Nate started to plan our night. "You want to try to make it a movie night tonight? I don't expect you to want to go out anywhere, and I didn't see a lot of games or other hidden activities in your apartment."

"Are you going to actually leave at midnight tonight? I don't want to wake up to find you next to me again if I can help it."

"I promise if you fall asleep tonight, I'll move you to your bed. I can't promise I won't sleep on the couch, though, especially since the stalker seems to be watching your home. I'm worried what would happen if I'm not there."

"Okay I'm in the mood for humor. I'm thinking Little Nicky, Big Daddy, Happy Gilmore and Mr. Deeds. That should take up most of the time and if not, I'm sure I have a couple more movies that tie in with those laying around.

"Sounds good." Nate was already pulling into a parking place. "Are you making something for dinner or would you like to order in?"

"I'm making something. After lunch, I'm afraid someone will sneak eel into anything I get." I cringed, still not over the eel rolls.

When we got to the apartment, I kicked off my sandals, while he put his keys and wallet on the table. I grabbed the movies from the entertainment center and put them in my six disk DVD player. I flipped it to Mr. Deeds and hit play while he settled on the couch.

"I'm going to go make fried chicken and mashed potatoes, if that's okay. Should only take about twenty minutes and I can hear the movie from the kitchen," I said, already heading that way.

"That sounds great. I could use some home-style cooking after lunch today. The eel didn't scare me as much as it did you, but I still didn't feel like I was eating something that would stick to my bones," he responded.

After putting on my apron, I pulled out a skillet and turned the stove on. I poured a mess of oil in it to get it ready. Then, I took some milk and chicken from the fridge. I grabbed two bowls and poured the milk in one and seasoned some flour in the other.

Taking one chicken breast, I dipped it in the milk and then dredged it in the flour. I repeated the process to give it an extra layer of coating. Once both chicken breasts were ready, I threw them in the oil.

While they started browning, I got two good-sized potatoes out and rinsed them off. I poked them with a fork and put them in the microwave on the potato setting. As they cooked, I put a stick of butter in a bowl and poured a good amount of milk in. After adding some pepper and garlic, I set it aside.

I quickly flipped the chicken over, and then I retrieved the potatoes from the microwave. As carefully as I could, with a potholder in one hand, I peeled the skins off and threw the potatoes in the milk and butter bowl. I beat them to submission with my hand mixer.

I took out two plates and dished the potatoes onto them. I placed a few paper towels on the counter and put the chicken breasts on them to let some of the grease absorb into the towels. Once enough grease was gone, I tossed the chicken on the plates and got us forks.

"Do you want something to drink?" I put the plates down on the table in front of Nate as I asked.

"This looks delicious, and I think it would pair nicely with a glass of milk if you have some," Nate responded as he stabbed his fork into the mashed potatoes.

I ran to the kitchen, poured two glasses of milk and was back on the couch within seconds. We ate without talking while laughing along with the movie. When we were done, I took the dishes and rinsed them off to deal with later. On my way back to the living room area, the phone rang. I checked the phone to verify who the caller was.

"Hello, Mom," I answered as I made my way back to sit on the couch with Nate.

"Oh Avery, I'm so happy to finally get a hold of you. I wanted to go over the itinerary for our trip."

"When are you going to arrive?" I asked, wishing they'd picked another time for a visit.

"We'll be getting in at two in the afternoon on Saturday. We're staying a full week, so maybe you could take some time off work to show us around," she said hopefully.

"I can see if it is possible, but work is really busy right now so it might be difficult."

I knew if the Zuba case was taken care of, like it should've been, there wouldn't be any trouble asking for time off. I didn't like asking for time off, but I was fairly certain I'd be ready for a little break.

"That would be lovely; you've lived there for a while now, so you should be able to show me and your father a great time. We'll have a rental car at the airport, which means you don't have to worry about picking us up. I imagine we'll need to unwind from the flight, so maybe we could get together for dinner that night," she suggested.

"I don't know of any reason that wouldn't work. I currently have no plans Saturday. I say let's plan on it. Is there anything else you need to talk about right now? I have company over and I'd like to get back to them."

"Company? Avery, you know you can't tell me that and not tell me who it is. Is it your friend Frannie or have you finally found a guy friend?" she asked.

"It's a coworker so don't get any ideas. I'll talk to you on Saturday, if you don't find a reason to call before then."

"Oh fine," she said and I could tell she wanted to push for information about who I had over. I didn't think she bought the coworker label, even if it was accurate. "I love you, dear, and look forward to seeing you."

"Love you too, Mom. Bye." I hung up the phone.

"You're really looking forward to their visit aren't you?" Nate asked.

"That obvious, huh." Nate didn't push for more information, which worked well for me, because I didn't want to talk about the imminent trip.

We had a lot of laughs as we finished watching the four movies. The clock said ten and I was tired, so I told Nate I was heading to bed. I grabbed him an extra blanket and a pillow and wished him good night. I knew he wasn't going to leave, which left me attempting to be hospitable.

"Sleep well, my little butterfly," I heard him say as I walked to bed.

CHAPTER 18

When pigs fly

Wednesday I woke dreading what the day would bring. My first real undercover mission. The planting of the bug didn't really count as a full mission, since it only took five seconds.

The shower was running, so I assumed Nate was already up and about. Either that or he decided to go out and pick up a girl. Why he would bring her to my apartment I had no idea, but there was a lot about the man that I didn't know.

I made my way to the kitchen, wearing sweats I didn't mind Nate seeing me in. If it was my last day on Earth, I was going to live it to the fullest. Mr. Irving had already given me the day off to prepare, so I took a piece of paper and started making a list of all the things I wanted to do.

After ten minutes my list looked like this:

1) Get a tattoo

2) Finally peg the speedometer on Winnie

3) Eat a steak

4) Drink a Red Bull

5) Ride a roller coaster

6) Eat a full container of ice cream

Okay, I know, nothing really exciting, but I had limited hours and I was a geek. I was lucky I hadn't put win Dungeons and Dragons or something super geeky on the list. I knew nothing about the game, so I wasn't sure if you could actually win, but it's a game and I supposed someone eventually won.

"That's quite a list you got there," Nate said as he looked over my shoulders.

I jumped a little, since I didn't hear him sneaking up on me. "Yup and I have about eight hours to get it all done before I have to start thinking about getting ready. I also have to remember to pick up some kind of dress, because I don't think I own anything that would be acceptable for a ball."

"Most of the list looks pretty easy. For lunch we can make steaks, drink the Red Bull and have ice cream for dessert. We can hit Luna Park over on Coney Island for your coaster ride, and let me call Rick, he has some connections with the drag strip over in Englishtown. I'm guessing you want to go that fast legally, right?"

"I suppose legal is the way to go. Any ideas on the tattoo?" I asked.

Even though it was number one on the list, I wasn't sure I'd go through with it. I'd wanted one forever, but I hadn't managed to muster up the courage to get one.

"I'll ask Rick if he has any recommendations when I call about the track. Do you know what you want to get?"

"Yup," I replied simply.

"Are you going to share?"

"Nope." I didn't even want him to see the finished product. He'd probably claim it was his idea.

"Fine. Get ready and I'll make the call." He walked into the living room and I smiled about keeping my tattoo a secret. If he would've pushed, I might have given in, but I doubted it.

I grabbed the perfect shirt for the day, a pair of jeans and some underwear. The shirt said _The time is now_ and had pictures of pigs flying. With clothes in hand, I went into the bathroom and locked the door.

After a quick shower and dressing, I emerged to the living area to see what Nate had to report.

"We're good for the track and I have a tattoo artist who can fit you in today. Let's head towards the track, since it takes about an hour to get there, then we can come back to Coney Island, have a little lunch and end the day with a tattoo. Do you have any other tattoos?" he asked as he finished relaying what he planned for the day.

"Nope. This will be the first." I grabbed my motorcycle boots and a pair of socks. I sat down on the couch next to him to finish getting ready. "Let's hit the road."

"Okay, we'll swing over by Rick's to pick up a bike for me. You can't have all the fun today," he replied as I locked the door behind us.

Nate picked up the same bike he'd rode during our daytrip. With us each on a motorcycle, we hit I-95 and headed south to Englishtown. It was a nice short trip and we only had to stop for gas once. When we arrived at the track, Nate explained to a group of people what we were doing there.

We had to go through a quick safety inspections of our helmets to make sure they were DOT approved, but once that was out of the way, we were sent to the starting line. I'd never drag raced before, so I wasn't really sure what to expect.

Nate evidently was a pro, or at least he sounded like one when he started explaining everything to me. "Okay, you need to start here and roll up slowly. On the lights up ahead you'll see two sets of yellow lights at the top. You want to slowly roll forward until both of the ones on your side are lit.

"Then, once we both have them lit, the two bigger lights under that will light up leading to the green light at the bottom of them. When the green light turns on, you go. We can spend about forty-five minutes here before we need to head back to the city, so we have time for a couple runs."

"Got it," I said, lowering my visor.

I followed his directions and moved up slowly. In place, I waited for him. The second set of lights started going. I wasn't ready for the green light to shine in my face.

I watched Nate take off and I let the clutch out as fast as possible and lurched forward. I worked through the gears faster than I remembered shifting before.

I was pretty sure my heart beat hard enough that it would burst from my chest as I crossed the finish line. I peeked at the time and speed signs as I completed the run and saw for my lane the top speed was a hundred miles per hour. Nate's was one hundred and twenty, which was my goal.

It was shocking to see that I'd gone that fast so quickly. My heart would argue that I went faster, but I was proud of the first run.

We rode around to the starting line again for a second go. "That was pretty good for a first time. You need a little better reaction time off the line if you plan on beating me."

I didn't really care about racing. It would've been fun to make it to the finish line first, but as a rookie, I wasn't expecting miracles.

We made a second pass and my speed increased by ten miles per hour, and his notched up five. I took any improvement as a good sign. Getting the shifts down wasn't as easy as it was at normal speeds. Just the fact that I'd made more than one pass without stalling or falling over made me happy.

On the third pass I actually left before Nate and at the finish line I saw one hundred twenty-two for my lane. I slowed down and stopped to wait for Nate.

"Yes! I did it," I said, raising my visor as he slowed down next to me.

"That you did, but I never had any doubt. You showed me after your first run it wouldn't take you long. You want to go again or do you want to head out? We have about fifteen minutes." I wasn't sure what clock Nate was going by, but I didn't doubt we'd been at it for thirty minutes.

"With everything else scheduled for today, I think we should head out," I replied. On our way out, we picked up our timing slips, so I'd have proof of my quick ride.

I almost hated to fold the piece of paper up and put it in the wallet I had tucked in my back pocket. The only other things in the wallet were my debit card, license, registration and an insurance card.

* * *

An hour and a half later, we pulled into the parking lot at Luna Park.

"Let's ride The Cyclone," Nate said, not giving me a lot of options. "I've been to Coney Island a couple of times and it has the distinction of causing a mute person to regain their voice, so I think it's perfect for you."

"That's very reassuring." I said as he led the way to the coaster that was already scaring me.

Being a Wednesday, and early afternoon, the lines were pretty decent. Before I knew it, I was climbing in the car. A minute and fifty seconds later I was climbing out shaky legged. It wasn't really clear if any of my body parts were where they were supposed to be. I had a feeling at least a few of my internal organs had found new homes.

"Oh my God," I exclaimed. "That was so cool. Let's do it again."

Three rounds later I finally had enough. What a rush. It didn't go as fast as I did on the bike, but the turns and elevation changes made it even more exciting.

"I'm pretty sure you'd be diagnosed as an adrenaline junkie, my little butterfly. We better go grab your lunch and head over for the tattoo. We're going to run out of time, if we want to go shopping, which I hope you aren't trying to get out of. Personally, I don't care what you wear, but it'd be a good idea to blend in."

"I'm not trying to get out of anything." I stuck out my tongue at him. "I'm just trying to enjoy the day."

"Don't worry, we can bring your parents here this weekend. That's only if you live through tonight, so if you've decided you don't have anything else to live for, just think of how much fun we'll have."

"You and my parents in the same room isn't something I want to happen in this lifetime. Or the next ten." The only thing his incentive was giving me was more material for my nightmares.

We walked around Coney Island until we found someone who could cook us some steaks. We ordered it to go and while it cooked, we walked around to find someone selling Red Bulls. Nate got me one and we headed back for the steaks. On the way, I opened the Red Bull and took a sip.

"That's not what I was expecting," I said as I spit some of it back out. "I'm getting jittery just having swallowed a couple drops. I'm going to count that as drinking a Red Bull, because there is no way I can finish that. Maybe if I had some experience with sugary drinks and caffeine it would be different, but to go from none to explosive amounts is not for me."

Nate laughing hysterically didn't help calm the nerves coming alive throughout my body. I found a garbage can and deposited the can. We picked up our steaks and were able to find a place to sit. I poured a small amount of steak sauce on my plate. After cutting it into bite size pieces, I tried a bite.

"Mmm. This is cooked perfectly. I've had steak before, but it's been a really long time," I said as I savored another bite.

"I'm a meat and potatoes guy, so I tend to eat steak once or twice a month." Nate was already halfway through his meat.

When we finished up, we threw away our garbage and made it back to the bikes.

"The tattoo place isn't far from here," Nate said. "While you're talking to the artist about what you want, I'll find your container of ice cream and you can eat it while you're getting the tattoo. Depending on how big your tattoo is, it might take a while."

"That's perfect. I love multitasking." We started up the bikes and I followed him about a mile away.

He pointed out the shop as we came to a stop. "Okay, now for the big question. What kind of ice cream?"

"It has to be something good if I'm eating that much. Let's go with pistachio, if you can find it."

We split up, and I walked a little apprehensively towards the tattoo parlor. It looked a little out of place with the glowing signs promoting tattoos and piercings. On the left there was a lawyer's office and a hardware store on the right.

I opened the door and saw a heavily tattooed woman sitting behind a counter. She looked up and smiled. I could tell she pasted the same smile on her face anytime someone walked through the door.

"Hi, what can we do for you today?" she asked.

"Hi, my name's Avery Clavens and I was told I could be fit in today for a tattoo."

"Oh yeah, Rick's friend. Terry is free for the next couple hours, so this works out great. Did you have any idea what you want?"

"Yes, I want a rainbow colored throwing knife that matches this," I said as I pulled a knife out of my pocket sheath, "on my side with butterfly wings coming out of it."

"You want it to be to size?" she questioned.

"No, it doesn't have to be. I don't think we have enough time to make it that big."

"Okay, can I borrow the knife to take back to Terry and tell him what you're looking for? He'll do a sketch and you can see if it's what you want."

"Sounds good. I'll look around at the different displays." I kind of wanted to talk to the artist myself, but I didn't think my description was too difficult to figure out.

She left and came back a few minutes later while I was admiring some really wicked skull tattoos. If I wasn't set on my idea, I would've seriously considered something a little scarier.

"He said it wouldn't take but a few minutes and he should be out," she said.

"That's great. And he doesn't think it will take too long?" I asked. I hadn't mentioned I was pressed for time.

"Nah, it should only take an hour and a half or so," she replied. Looking over her colorful skin, I trusted she was an expert.

After only a couple more minutes, a very large, pit bull-looking bald man came out. He didn't have as many tattoos, but he made up for it in piercings, ears all the way up, eyebrows, lip four times and nose.

"I'm guessing you'd be Avery," he said, reaching his hand out to shake.

For a shy person his presence was beyond intimidating. "Hi," I said very simply.

"Here's your knife back. What do you think of this design?" He produced a piece of paper that looked exactly like I envisioned, a mini version of my knife with wings coming out of it in shades of blue, purple and green.

"It's perfect."

"Great. Come on back and we'll figure out where you want it and get it traced on your body."

I turned to the lady behind the counter and said, "I have a friend who ran to get me some ice cream, he'll be here shortly."

"I'll bring him back when I see him." She was already back at her post, flipping through a magazine.

Once in the back, I lifted my top up a little on my right side. "How about if we put it here?" I asked, indicating a couple inches above my pants and slightly off center, so one wing would wrap around my back a little.

"That'll work well. You can leave your shirt on if you tuck it up under your bra. When you have it in place, sit facing the chair over there and I'll get things ready."

I did as instructed and as I sat down, Nate walked in with my ice cream and a pair of spoons.

"Found it," he said proudly.

"It's probably a good idea to wait until Terry gets started."

"You do understand you're sharing it with me, right? I won't eat a lot, but it'd be mean not to share with me since I've been such a big help all day. Plus, I have to feed it to you so you don't move around too much."

"I don't imagine it's going to be easy for me to eat, but as long as it's empty by the time we leave here, it will count," I replied.

Terry came over and taped a tracing of the tattoo on my side. He grabbed a tattoo gun and positioned his chair where he was comfortable.

It felt like I expected it to, a needle being stabbed into my skin over and over. Thankfully, my pain tolerance had always been high. When I became used to the sensations, and was sure I wouldn't cause issues moving around minimally, I turned to Nate and said, "Ice cream time."

We ate the ice cream as Terry continued his work. The coldness of the ice cream ended up being more difficult to deal with than the little pokes in my skin. My brain kept icing over and I had to take a number of breaks. An hour and ten minutes later, Terry finished wiping some ink off and claimed I was all done.

Nate switched sides so he could look at the finished product. "It suits you perfectly, my little butterfly." I stood up and looked in the mirror. I couldn't help but agree, even if I hadn't gotten the butterfly because of what he called me. That was just a wacky coincidence.

CHAPTER 19

Just a little black dress

After I paid the lady up front, it was official, my bucket list was done. At that point, I kind of wished I would've put some crazier things on the list, but the clock said three, so I needed to hurry to get a dress before I had to start the dreaded process of getting ready.

We returned Nate's ride to Rick's place, because we needed a place to put whatever dress I ended up buying. I didn't mind crumpling it and letting bugs fly into it while carrying it on my bike, but I was sure to be the only one who didn't mind.

Not far from Central Park there was a shop called Intermix. I'd walked by it a few times and noticed some dresses I liked in the window, so I suggested we stop there. Nate, knowing nothing about dress shopping in New York, or probably any city, was forced to agree with my choice.

I immediately started looking around when we arrived. A lot of the evening dresses were shorter, but I really wanted something full length to better hide my knives. There was no way I was going in unarmed.

Grabbing the three dresses I thought might be suitable, I made my way to the fitting room. I tried on a white one first and immediately decided it didn't work well with my fair skin. As much as I liked the cut and how it draped, it made me look like a ghost.

Going from one extreme to another, I tried a red gown next. Not only would it draw way too much attention to me, but knowing me, I was going to be blushing at some point and it would take my joke of looking like a tomato too far. Needless to say, I also decided red was out.

The last dress was a beautiful black number , with ruching at the waist. The back had a rounded plunge that didn't show too much skin. I put it on and it fit like a glove, curving around all the right places.

There was no question it was the one. There was a slight drawback in the fact that it was semi-sheer and I'd need a slip of some kind. I figured between looking like a ghost or a tomato, having to find a slip wasn't a huge issue.

I walked out of the dressing room with the dress in hand to find Nate waiting. I expected him to be bored, even though it had only taken me a few minutes, but he had an eager look on his face. I rolled my eyes, knowing what he'd hoped to see when I came out.

"What, I don't get to see it?" he asked in a teasing tone.

"No, you'll see it later. I want to look at shoes real quick and then head over to Victoria's Secret to buy a slip. Before you ask, you're not stepping foot in that store with me."

It was bad enough it sometimes felt like he could see through my clothes. Actually being aware of what I was wearing underneath was a bad idea. I made quick work of looking at the shoes and didn't find anything that appealed to me, so I went to the checkout and paid for the dress.

Victoria's Secret happened to be about a mile away in either direction, so I headed north, leaving Nate to follow along. Inside I found the perfect slip that should cover all the places I wanted hidden, and not show any straps, which I thought might be important.

I checked out their shoe collection and instantly discovered a purple strappy sandal I loved. It had some dangerous-looking almost five-inch, heels, but good balance was something I had in mass quantities, so I wasn't too worried about toppling over. Just because I didn't like to wear heels, didn't mean I wasn't capable. With my purchases set, I paid the woman at the register and met Nate outside.

"Let's see, it's now four," I said, looking at the receipt I'd most recently been handed, "can we run to my apartment real quick so I can get some supplies and then go wherever it is you're calling home so I can get ready?"

"I wouldn't call it home, but I can take you to my hotel. I'll need to take a quick shower and get changed into my suit. After that, it's all yours."

At our vehicles, I put my latest shopping bags in Nate's car and secured my helmet. When we arrived at my apartment, I parked Winnie in her cozy home, and then hurriedly ran upstairs to find some hair and makeup necessities. I figured his hotel had shampoo I could use, so I left mine behind.

Nate hadn't walked upstairs with me, which was a little disturbing. I would've thought he'd like to make sure no one was waiting for me with a baseball bat. I liked the freedom, but he had proven to be a bit crazy when it came to me.

"Do you have a blow dryer in your room? I don't usually use one, but I probably should tonight, to make my hair all prettified." I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to do with my hair, but it was the first question that came to mind when I rejoined him in the car.

"Nowadays those come pretty standard in rooms," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, sorry. I don't think I've stayed in a hotel in at least ten years. How am I supposed to know what crazy gadgets come in rooms these days?"

We let the radio do the rest of the talking, or singing rather, as we made our way to his hotel. We weren't big talkers while we traveled, and it showed as neither one of us made a noise as we walked up the stairs to his room. Since we weren't talking, I didn't question Nate's choice of stairs over elevator as he opened his door to let me see where he'd been staying.

It was very tastefully decorated and clean. I'd expected the cleanliness from the fact he hadn't been spending any time there. A king-sized bed was the main feature of the room. A couple of dressers, a couch, a desk and chair, a mini fridge and a TV situated on a stand were cast as minor players. Even with all that, the room managed to feel bigger than my whole apartment.

Nate walked over to where some clothes were hanging behind the door and grabbed a garment bag. Then he rifled through a dresser, getting what I assumed were things to wear under whatever he had hidden in the large white bag he was carrying around.

"I'll only be a few minutes in the shower. Make yourself at home. The TV remote is next to the TV," he said as he disappeared out of view.

I moved to sit on the couch after grabbing the remote. Turning the TV on, I started flipping through the channels, looking for anything interesting to watch. I stopped on one of the food channels. I loved watching other people cook about as much as I loved doing it.

I was so into watching what was being made on TV that I didn't hear the shower turn off or Nate come out of the bathroom until I heard his voice closer than I expected.

"It's all yours."

If there was ever any wonder why I made a horrible spy, I'd just proven the point. Flash someone frosting a cake in front of me and I was hypnotized.

I looked up and found that he had on a pair of black pants, a white dress shirt with the top button not yet in its proper place and a black vest that's buttons were also waiting to find their homes.

"I'd say you sure clean up nice, but I've seen you pretty dressy for days now." I didn't add that at least in my dreams he looked just fine with nothing on.

"I'm pretty sure that was in no way a compliment. Now hurry up and get ready," he said taking a seat on the couch.

"Wait a second, you were supposed to vacate the hotel room while I was getting ready."

"I decided that since you showered this morning with me around, it wouldn't be an issue. This isn't any different than that. You can just lock the door to make sure I don't see you in all your glory," he replied, and I wasn't sure what to make of the wink that followed.

"You do know that this is putting you back up on the top of my list, right?" I collected my stuff and stomped into the bathroom, closing the door loudly and locking it.

The bathroom looked like an ordinary bathroom to me. Nothing really fancy, just a sink, toilet and a shower. The walls were painted a light tan that seemed to match the ceramic tiled floor, but that really was the most exciting things about it.

After getting out of my clothes, and removing my hidden weapons, I took the bandage off my tattoo to inspect the skin around it. I didn't see any signs of infection, so I turned the shower on and stepped in, while trying to keep the spray from directly hitting the tattoo. I quickly washed my hair and body, even faster than my normal five-minute shower.

I dried off and wrapped my hair up as usual. The first piece of clothing to go on was the slip and it was a challenge to work it around the towel on my head, but I got it done. With the dress and slip combo, I really didn't want underwear lines, so for once in my life I wasn't wearing anything under my clothes. My mother would probably have stories to state differently, but they were all lies.

I positioned my knife sheaths and made sure they aren't noticeable. They were custom built to be invisible under anything I wore and they hadn't failed me. If Nate wasn't able to blurt out how many there were, I figured I was in good shape.

I looked at my tattoo in the mirror, and saw that the initial redness had disappeared. I'd been told not to put anything over it, and to wait a little while before I started smothering it in lotion. The slip I planned on putting on was bound to get some close contact, so the fact that it wasn't still oozing seemed like a good thing to me.

I put on some mascara and eyeliner to darken my eyes. When I added some charcoal eye shadow, I thought I looked dangerous. At least that's the word that popped into my head, and it was a good word for where my mind needed to be.

Fixing up my eyes was about the extent of what I planned for makeup, so I took the towel off my head and brushed out any tangles in my hair. I opened the bottle of hair gel Frannie was nice enough to get me for Christmas and dabbed a little on my hand before I worked it through my hair.

It took fifteen minutes to blow out my medium-length hair. I couldn't imagine how long I would've been stuck in the bathroom if my hair was longer. Even after I thought I was done, I found a few damp pockets that needed a little extra hot air.

When I determined it was all done, I worked it up into a French twist and secured it with bobby pins. I finished it off by spraying hairspray on it to make it look sleek and shiny.

I picked up my dress and very carefully worked myself into it. I'd thought about putting it on before the hair and makeup, but I was afraid to spill something on it. The slip worked as perfectly as expected, keeping my lady bits covered. I had a feeling with how nervous I already was, a vat of deodorant wouldn't be enough, but I stuck with rolling on some black-dress-friendly antiperspirant, hoping it'd be adequate.

Before I vacated the bathroom, I applied a very light red tinted lip gloss and called it good. I could've stood in front of the mirror and nitpicked all night, but it wouldn't have done me any good.

I walked out of the bathroom to meet Nate's eyes scanning my body. He was in full-suit glory, with a long skinny tie tucked under his vest and his black single breasted jacket. I didn't have words that adequately described how scrumptious he looked.

"The see-through parts are covered in all the right places, so you won't be catching any glimpses of stuff you shouldn't be seeing," I taunted as I grabbed my shoes and made my way to the couch to put them on.

"I've already seen more of you today than I ever expected, so I'll be satisfied with that. You ready to go over your cover story?" he asked.

"We're running out of time. You're going to have to make it quick and simple. I'm guessing you have some ideas?"

I finished strapping my shoes on and tucked my last knife in place. I didn't usually wear one in that exact location, so Nate seeing where it was didn't bother me too much. If it came to a point where I needed to use it on him, I'd deal with him expecting it.

"You're right. Let's make it as simple and easy as possible. Leave your family life as it is currently. Tell him you're a student at NYU studying computer science. You know enough about the subject you should be comfortable with any questions he might ask. If he asks about the school itself, just go on about how you're a loner and only pay attention to where your classes are located.

"Since you're going for a student, say you're twenty-one. Technically, you could be your age, but I think younger and innocent will work best for us to get him talking. Everything else you can keep as close to the truth as you want. Just don't get caught up in any lies," he instructed.

"Sticking to the truth is definitely the way to go for me. Are you sure I can't get out of this? I can feel the butterflies in my stomach and they're not happy with me at all."

"You'll be fine. Just get him talking and I'll do the rest. Now, come here so I can put on the microphone I had delivered earlier while you were in buying frilly stuff," he said, grabbing a box off the dresser.

I walked over to him and he pulled out a beautiful butterfly brooch from the box. It looked extremely delicate with its blue and purple stones.

"I have an earpiece that the microphone is tied to, so I'll be able to hear everything that you two say. If I think anything suspicious is happening or he's on to you, I'll be there within seconds. Try not to let him take you away from the crowds, if possible. I don't expect him to blab with all the people around, but try not to get too far, please."

He finished pinning the brooch and slightly backed away. I got stuck looking into his eyes and the sparks of fire I saw dancing in his irises kept my gaze. It wasn't real fire, but I felt the heat as we stood close together.

"I'm really glad I didn't go with the red dress. It would've totally clashed," I said, trying to think light and happy thoughts.

"We couldn't have that," he smiled and grabbed ahold of my hand. The usual sparks were present, but in that moment I found them comforting. "We better get you downstairs. We don't want your date to have to come looking for you."

"I can just envision what a nightmare that'd be." I picked up the little clutch purse I'd brought with me, another gift from Frannie, and threw my credit cards and identification in it. "Let's get this show on the road."

CHAPTER 20

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

I'd never felt more self-conscious as I made my way down to the lobby. Nate followed at a discreet distance to make it appear like we didn't know each other existed. I looked around the area and didn't see Zuba waiting, so I walked outside.

Still not seeing him, I settled onto a bench to wait. I watched as Nate surveyed the area on his way towards his car. He planned on following us to make sure there weren't any deviations in the plan to take me to the ball. Since he could listen in, I had to trust he'd get to me before Zuba decided to kill me if things went to hell in a handbasket.

As I waited, I kept playing possible scenarios out in my head. Could I get to my knives fast enough? Would my wit help me buy enough time for Nate to move in? Did my dress make my butt look big? Okay, that had to be the funniest thought to ever cross my mind.

Laughing to myself, I finally saw Zuba getting out of a limousine. Evidently we were arriving in style, which was something I'd never done. He was dressed in a black pinstriped suit with a bright blue bow tie. He looked very classy with his hair slicked back and penny loafers that had been polished so much they shone like the sun. They probably weren't really penny loafers, but they were fancy.

My heart didn't bother beating any faster when I took in his appearance. When I'd seen Nate all studly in his suit, my heart had actually skipped a few beats, before gearing up like it wanted to crawl out of my chest and snuggle up next to the man causing it to go insane.

Zuba looked up, saw me and smiled. "You look ravishing tonight, my dear," he said, walking over and leaning in to give me a peck on the cheek. He was turning on the charm, and I felt like telling him not to waste it. "And it seems I'm right on time. Shall we?"

He held out his arm to escort me back to the limo. I didn't want to touch him, but his lips had already been in the vicinity of my face, so it wasn't like we hadn't already crossed a bridge.

Getting in, I took in the luxury of my first limo ride. There was a chance I wouldn't live through the night, but I was going to enjoy the ride. I could hear jazz music playing softly through the sound system and the divider was up, giving us a little privacy from the driver. Once we got settled in, he retrieved a bottle of champagne and asked if I'd like a glass.

"Sorry, but I don't drink. Feel free to enjoy some yourself though." Getting drunk would only lead to me saying things that could put my life in jeopardy.

"Don't mind if I do," he said filling his glass. "So, tell me about yourself. We have a decent amount of driving ahead of us. What better way to spend it than getting to know one another."

"I don't have a very interesting tale," I started. "I grew up an only child in Butte, Montana. I won't bore you with all the crazy things I did as a kid. I always had a talent with computers, though, so I applied to a few colleges and got accepted to NYU's computer science program.

"It was the furthest away from my parents, and like any high school senior, distance from them had its appeal. I shouldn't say that, it's mainly my mom I had to get away from," I paused to inhale.

"She and I just don't see eye-to-eye on many issues. Anyway, I've been there for a few years now and I'm hoping to get a job as a programmer when I graduate. That's basically me in a nutshell."

The sad truth was it wasn't that far off. I had the brush with the law to get me to where I was, but other than that, my life was the exact opposite of exciting. I ended up babbling through my speech because of my nervousness. I hoped he just took it for first date jitters and not me being a horrible undercover agent.

"You mentioned your parents, are they both still living? I'd love to hear more about them." He took a sip of his drink.

If we were going to stick to talking about my life, I was going to need something to get me through it. I thought about rescinding my decision to not drink, but it'd take me out of character and I needed to stay focused on that.

"Yes, they both still live back in Montana. Mom has always been a stay-at-home mom and Daddy works for the postal service. I think Mom's attitude is a woman should remain at home and raise the family. That's where our way of thinking about life differs. We had a lot of arguments when she found out I wanted to go to college. She's stuck a few decades in the past and I don't think she'll ever accept that I want to be able to stand on my own two feet."

Somehow the tenseness in my body was directly connected to my lips not being able to stop flapping. The bad part of my rambling was that I found it difficult to turn the attention to Zuba. I just sat there and waited for him to continue the conversation.

"Even though you may not get along, it's great you have both of them around. So how do you like the campus?"

I didn't understand why he couldn't be one of those guys who enjoyed hearing their own voice. If the ride was going to last more than five minutes, I needed some kind of interference to keep me from looking like an idiot. Said interference didn't seem to be popping up on its own.

"I'm one of those bookworms who only knows where my classes and the library are. I probably spend most of my time in the library actually. Right now, it's just important to keep my studies up, so I can have my choice of employment when I graduate."

Imagine that, Nate was right about him asking that question. In reality, that was how my college life would've been if I went, so telling the lie was easier than I thought. There had been a short time in my life when I dreamed about going to college, and then I realized I could learn everything I needed to know without it.

"You know, I own an electronics business in Chicago and we're always looking for some good programmers. You didn't specify that was your area of expertise, but maybe you should send your résumé with me and I can give it to our HR department. When you graduate, give me a call and we can see if we have any openings," he suggested. "Or, if you're not opposed to switching schools, I could pull some strings and ease your transfer."

"Those are some interesting suggestions. I'll have to think about it, Chicago is closer to Montana than New York."

"True, but it's a big city, too, and it's easy to hide from people you don't want to see."

Yeah, even if I was just a wide-eyed college kid, I wouldn't fall for his promises of help. It didn't take a rocket scientist to tell he was hoping his fake efforts were going to get him something in the here and now.

"So, tell me more about your life. You said you're from Chicago, do you have family there?" The conversation had lulled enough I thought I'd try to refocus it.

"I do, my sister. She actually lives with me. We lost our parents both to cancer way too soon. My dad to prostate and my mom to melanoma. They were both only in their forties. It's still sometimes hard to believe they're both gone.

"I sponsor an annual charity auction now for cancer research in their honor. I wish I could do more to help families, so they don't have to go through what I did. Watching both parents fade away is not something I want anyone else to go through," he explained.

Hearing about his parents made me wish Nate had given me a full dossier on the guy I was meant to get close to. Then again, being honestly surprised was probably a good thing in my case.

"That must have been so hard," I said with sincerity. So far we'd been sitting apart on the seat, but I found myself drawn to move in a little closer.

"It was. Dad went first and then my mom five years later. I was twenty-one when my dad died and ended up taking over the family business. At twenty-six, I was in charge of my fifteen-year-old sister. I'm so lucky she's always been very mature for her age. I can trust her not to do anything crazy while I'm working late hours.

"Even though it can be difficult with my schedule, I always try to be there for school events and when she just needs her big brother. She'll be graduating next year and if she keeps on track, she'll be valedictorian."

The ages he said seemed off to me. I remembered Nate saying he was younger than he claimed, or something like that. I didn't know if someone had collected bad intel or if math just wasn't their strong suit.

The way his story shaped up also sounded completely off from what I'd heard. I didn't think he had any reasons to lie about his personal life, but I got the sense something was off.

"You sound very proud of her and it seems like you've done well when life has given you lemons," I said, trying to continue the conversation.

I didn't know how far we had to go. The tinted windows made it difficult for me to judge exactly where we were. It seemed like we'd been in the limo for a while, so I hoped I wouldn't find myself spending a ton more time alone with Zuba.

"I am extremely proud of her, but I can't take any of the credit. My parents started her off on the right path and she continues to follow it. I, on the other hand, was always a bit of a rebel child. I never fit in the 'perfect son' role," he said, using finger quotation marks, "so I fought against it.

"Nothing too serious, you know, just drinking and hanging out with friends past curfew, not getting straight A's in school, that kind of stuff. When I had to take over the company, I grew up quickly overnight. I've made a few decisions that are coming back to haunt me, but I'm trying to rectify them and keep on the straight and narrow."

Thinking it might be my chance I asked, "What are these bad decisions you mentioned? Bad investments, hiring a shyster as an accountant?" There were so many bad choices a businessman could make, it was easy to make it sound like I wasn't prying too much.

He sighed and wiped his hands down his face as he leaned back into the seat. His eyes stared over at me and I wondered if I'd gone too far, even though my thoughts seemed legitimate in the conversation. It had only been a few minutes since he'd been talking about getting me a job, so knowing about his company made sense.

"Oh nothing really major. I needed some money to fund a new project and borrowed from someone I shouldn't have. The project was a success and I've paid back the principal, but the interest being charged is a little steep and I'm currently here in town dealing with it."

"The way you worded that, it almost made it sound like you were involved with the mob or something. I've only seen movies about those types of people, but I know they aren't someone you want to do business with."

"I can truthfully tell you I'm not involved with the mob, and like I said, after tonight my interest should be paid in full, so I can get back to my sister and running my company." He refilled his champagne glass and I noticed his hands tremble just a little. "My sister is the most important thing in my life and I would do anything for her."

If I didn't know he was a bad guy, I could see myself being friends with Jimmy, which was strange, since I really didn't have friends. He seemed like a genuinely good guy, I couldn't tell if it was for show or not.

If it was real, there was a part of me that would feel bad about helping the FBI take him down. I really hoped he had some good lawyers, maybe they could make some kind of deal. Chances were good his life story was all a lie. He probably didn't have a handler telling him to stick as close to the truth as possible.

"What?" he asked a little confused, but not as confused as I was.

There was a reason why I didn't want to be involved with an undercover mission and I had a very good feeling I'd been mumbling to myself instead of keeping my thoughts private. Since I was alone most of the time, my conversations with myself had never been a problem.

I didn't know how to read the hopeful look in Jimmy's eyes. It at least lead me to believe he wasn't going to instantly try to kill me.

"You're with the law? Oh thank God, you can help me."

That definitely didn't sound like he was going to instruct the driver to find a nice dark alley to dump my body. That being said, I wouldn't have made a good boy scout, because I was totally not prepared to hear those words come out of his mouth.

CHAPTER 21

Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink

I had no idea how to play my mistake. Did I go with escapee from the psych ward or level with the guy? He sounded sincere in everything he'd been saying, enough so that I'd made a mental note of it more than once.

I really wished I had a way to hear Nate's opinion. Of course, right then he was probably saying things like, "I can't believe the idiot I'm forced to work with," and very likely trying to think of places to dispose of my body after he killed me.

Everywhere I turned there seemed to be someone needing a place to dispose of my body. Having thought up a list of great places only days before, I could've been nice and shared with those from out-of-town, but I was going to make them find their own spots.

I decided to go with my gut. "Technically, I'm not with the police, but I happen to have a FBI agent listening in to everything we say."

"That's great. Do you think they'll help me? I was too afraid to go to the cops because Olaf had my sister kidnapped from school a month ago. He threatened to kill her if I did anything stupid, so I've been going along with everything they've told me to do." I got the feeling by the look he gave me that he thought I was the reincarnation of some mighty savior.

"How in the world did you get involved with the Schwartz operation in the first place? They are really, really, I don't think there are enough reallys in the world to stress my point that they are bad men."

"I know that now. At first I wasn't even aware they existed. I've already told you part of this when we were talking about my business. I needed some funding for a big project at work that I knew would make the company a large profit. I was having problems finding backing when a good friend of mine put me in contact with that guy I met at the deli the other day, Manny. He seemed to have the money and at the time I thought a legitimate business of his own."

Jimmy took a second gathering his thoughts before he continued. I imagined he'd been storing up his story for a while and I was the privileged one who got to sit through it.

"As you can imagine, things went bad. The Schwartz's needed some weapons for some big army they're trying to create or something down in Panama, but they didn't want to deal with the arms dealer directly and for some reason decided I'd be the perfect mark to be the middle man. I don't know why, since I've never dealt in that kind of business."

"This is bad news, how much do you know about the deal they have going on?" I asked, hoping that he was no longer on speaking terms with his "good friend". What kind of friend would get him involved with people as dangerous as the Schwartz brothers?

"I don't know a lot, just what Manny told me. He's a big talker and it doesn't take much to get him going. I know the shipment is in New York Harbor on a boat called The Santa Fé. It's supposed to set out in the morning at two. I believe at least one of the brothers is planning on being there to oversee things, because of some mess ups recently within their operation. I haven't seen Manny for a couple days and he isn't answering his phone, so I haven't gotten any updates."

I found it interesting that he hadn't heard about Manny's demise. I hadn't had a chance to watch the news, but I figured there'd been at least a mention on the news.

"That's good information as long as they didn't change the departure time," I replied to Jimmy. Out to anyone listening in, I said, "Might be a good idea to get someone to the docks and see if that boat is still in the harbor." I was sure Nate had already thought of that, but he could've still been cursing me for blowing my cover.

"Do you think the people you've been working with are going to be able to help me? I really didn't want to get involved with this, but they had my sister. Once I have her back safe, I'm willing to give over any evidence I have, if you think you can help out my case."

"I really don't know how things like this work. I sit in front of a computer all day and only have what I've seen on TV to go by as far as possibilities. I have to think things look good for you though from what you've told me. As far as your sister goes, do you know where they're keeping her?" I asked.

She was the one I worried about. If anyone got a hint that Jimmy was dealing with anyone able to help, his sister's life was more than likely the first one lost.

"Manny said they're keeping her in a hotel here in town and she'd be dropped off in front of my hotel when the shipment left the docks. I think he said it was the Belnord Hotel or something like that. They've let me talk to her every couple of days and she seems to be okay. I don't think they've done anything to harm her. I don't know what I'd do if they did, she's all I have left."

It sounded like he was about to cry. Personally, I would've been too pissed to even worry about crying, but I didn't get the feeling he had as sturdy a backbone as I did.

"I will personally do everything I can to make sure she gets back to you unharmed," I vowed. I didn't have a way to carry out that promise, but I was fairly certain Nate would take care of things.

"They have guys watching me. They're probably following us and I'm sure they'll be at the ball tonight. How are we going to play this?"

"I think I've mentioned this, but I'm no expert in these situations. We'll know more when we get to the ball and I can get a word with the person listening in. Until then, I guess we just act like we're two people out having a good time."

"I've been pretending nothing has been wrong for over a month now, so a few more hours should be easy," he said as the limo came to a stop. I could see bright lights outside the window, making me believe we'd made it to our destination and not just stopped for traffic.

Jimmy exited the car first and turned to assist me. Moving in a dress wasn't as easy as it was in jeans, but I managed not to flash anyone. I thanked Jimmy and wrapped my arm through his as he led me into the hotel.

We made our way up to the second floor and entered an elegantly decorated ballroom. I spotted a couple of waterfalls and lighted water displays that only confirmed it wasn't my usual scene. It looked like most of the other guests had arrived, if not, people were going to be dancing in the hallway before long.

"You want to grab something to drink?" Jimmy asked, leading me towards the refreshments.

"Sure, all the talking we did has left me a little dry. I'm hoping they have some water, because I don't trust a bucket of punch."

I noticed as we got closer that there was plenty of bottles. Jimmy got us both a bottle and we headed over to a corner to admire some art on the wall. I wasn't big in to art, so it was my way of pretending I belonged.

"We could dance if you wanted to, while we wait for the presentation that they'll be doing," Jimmy suggested.

"Me dancing would probably scare everyone away. For the charity's sake, I think it's best I stay far away from the dance floor." I scanned the room trying to find Nate. Not seeing him yet I asked, "What charity are we supporting tonight anyway?"

Along with the dossier on Zuba, I should've gotten that information. If the spy world was for me, I'd have taken notes on all the things I needed to remember for my next undercover mission.

"This one is a charity that promotes getting drinking water to everyone. I've heard they do great work overseas in places that haven't seen clean water in a very long time," he informed me.

"It sounds like a very worthy cause," I said. I finally saw Nate walking towards us, and my heart did its little skipping a beat trick. I was thankful to see he didn't exactly look murderous. To Jimmy I said, "Elphay isway erehay. Ayplay itway oolcay." Maybe he'd understand, probably not, but I still liked my secret way of communicating.

"Gotcha," he said immediately. The idea of being friends with Jimmy sounded more believable the more time I spent with him.

"You're Jimmy Zuba, aren't you?" Nate walked up, extending his hand to Jimmy. "I can't believe it, Jimmy Zuba. It's been forever since I saw you last. What maybe ten years since high school graduation? Remember me? As successful as you've become, I doubt it. I'm Nate."

"Oh my goodness, Nate," Jimmy played right along with the story. "How are you doing? Are you and Heather still together?"

Jimmy was good, and I could tell I was taking home the award for least able to blend in. I considered asking Nate what kind of trophy came with that honor, but was too busy watching the masters at work.

"No, sadly we broke up freshman year of college. You know how it is, high school sweethearts who went out and found there are a lot more fish in the pond than we originally thought. Won't you introduce me to your date?" Nate asked.

"Of course. This is the beautiful Avery. I'm pretty sure God above sent her to me. We met just a couple of days ago at a deli not far from here. One look at her and I was lost. I was ever so grateful she agreed to be my date tonight. I'm afraid without her this night would've been a total bore," he said as he lifted my hand and kissed it.

Nate, being Nate, just had to let a little growl slip. Sometimes I wanted to throw him a raw T-bone to see if he pounced on it. I had a sneaky suspicion he would.

"She is very enchanting," Nate said as he got himself under control. "You're a very lucky man to have found her. How about we get together after the event tonight and catch up over some coffee?"

"I love that idea. I have a limo waiting for me. After the speeches are over and I've said hello to everyone I need to, we could try to slip out. I'd love to hear what you're up to these days," Zuba replied, and I almost believed the two of them really knew each other.

"I'll look for you then. I need to go speak to someone I just noticed across the room. See you in a little while." With that Nate was gone and I was alone with Jimmy again.

"Hmm. He seems to like you," Jimmy said as we moved to an unpopulated part of the room. A few people had wandered over to look at the same art we had been.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure he's plotting my demise. He tends to do it a couple of times a day and nine o'clock at night just happens to be one of those times. I've even set my watch to him." The statement would make more sense if I wore a watch, but the sentiment remained the same.

"I see you're in denial. As long as you stay there, maybe I stand an actual chance at a real date after this is over." I didn't miss the wicked glint in his eyes. I had to admit that Nate did it better.

"I'm really not on the dating market. Talking to people isn't my forte so I tend to stay away from relationships, where talking is kind of essential. You'll be going back to Chicago anyway and I wasn't joking about not wanting to move closer to my mother. She'd drive me insane"

"Well, no one wants that. It's too bad. I really do find you very intriguing. Most women I meet are just out for my money."

"Don't be fooled. I was out for money too, just in a different way. I like tracking things and money is one of my specialties," I explained.

"So that's where you come into the equation. You really do like computers?" he asked. "That wasn't a cover story?"

"Almost everything I've said to you was the truth," I replied, surprised we'd been able to keep away from the other guests for so long. "I obviously don't go to NYU, but otherwise it was the truth. We better start mingling a little more. Your shadows will probably get suspicious if we don't."

We joined up with the big group just as the speeches were about to begin. An hour later, after three speeches that had me wanting to stab skewers in my ears enough times to make me deaf, we could finally blend into the crowd and get out the door. On the way out, Jimmy made a call to his driver so the limo would be ready.

"There you guys are," Nate said as we walked outside the door. "Where would you like to go for coffee? I was hoping to see the Statue of Liberty at night. Do you think we can find somewhere close to it?"

That was why Nate got the label super-agent and I was the agent who never was. His ability to blend the fact that we were going somewhere close to the harbor that just happened to have a ship full of guns, waiting to head out and start World War III.

Anyone listening to him would believe he was a tourist wanting to see a sight most tourists flocked to see. I thought about making him some kind of reward for his efforts, or maybe just getting him a gold star sticker to wear.

Trying to help I said, "That's a sight to see. She's magnificent in the daylight hours, but night will really take your breath away, if you haven't seen it before. I'm sure there are coffee shops close by. This is New York, after all, there are coffee shops on every corner."

With that, we all piled into the limo and headed towards what could be my first experience in active duty. I wasn't ready, and I doubted a year of training would really prepare me.

CHAPTER 22

The human lie detector, that's me...Yeah right

We made our way towards the harbor, at least I assumed we were. The windows were even harder to see out of when it was totally dark outside. The ride wouldn't have been as long as the one from my apartment, but the silence in the car was killing me, so I finally turned to Nate and said, "Saying I told you so in this situation seems so childish, so... I told you so."

"What are you talking about, Avery?" he asked, like he didn't already know.

"Oh, only the fact that I went on and on about how horrible I'd be in an undercover situation and within thirty minutes of being undercover I blurted out directly to the suspect that we were on to him. That has got to be some kind of record. Is there a reward for stupidest agent? I think I'd win hands down at the award show. I could even wear this dress." I'd ventured into rambling, so I shut my mouth and awaited his response.

"What I heard, and know from how your mind works, was that you instinctively knew Jimmy was a good guy. You realized he was telling the truth, and he needed your help. In fact, I have a feeling you can always tell when someone is telling the truth. I think you'd make a great interrogator.

"Put you in a room with a guy for a few minutes and we'd for once know if they really didn't do it, like the majority claim. It's a talent you don't see a lot, but if more people had it, the world would run a lot smoother," he said. I tried not to look at him like he'd grown a second head, but it was hard.

I didn't understand why it appeared I could do no wrong in his eyes, and he always turned things around to make it sound like I was God's gift to humankind. He hadn't known me long enough to make those kinds of assumptions.

"You've known me for about a week. How in the world do you think you know how my mind works? If you did, you'd be afraid to be in this limo with me right now, because every day since I met you, I've been plotting a gruesome death for you. I know you guessed about the skewers once, but if you saw the other things I've been thinking, I'm pretty sure you would've tried to keep me away from automobiles in general."

The time I thought about tying him to railroad tracks while I rode over his head with Winnie popped in my mind. Sadly, it was too messy for me, so I didn't act on that one.

Nate visibly shivered at my statement. "Yes, well I know you don't really mean those things so I've let them go. If you really wanted to hurt me, we've spent enough time together that you've had plenty of opportunities."

"Wait, so he can read your mind?" Jimmy asked, for no apparent reason. Nate hadn't really said anything to make the idea a possibility.

"He likes to imagine he does," I replied before Nate could weave a grand tale about how he knew everything going on in my head. "He makes decent guesses on what I'm thinking based on a given situation and what he's seen me do in the few days we've known each other. Really, he's just a super-agent who has tons of field experience and has decided to use that against me."

Nate winked at me and said, "That's what I want her to think."

Yeah, like that explained everything. There were times I wanted to know what was going on in Nate's head and how he was able to read me so well, but most of the time, just the idea that he could read me scared me enough to keep my mouth closed.

"Whatever, Agentman. So what's the plan when we get to the harbor?" I asked as I rolled my eyes at him. The lighting was low in the limo, so I doubted he saw it.

"Well, we're going to get close enough to get a good look at the Statue of Liberty, like we said. If anyone overheard and followed along, they'll see we're doing exactly what we planned. There are already agents and local police blocking off all the exits. They confirmed the ship is still in the harbor and there are crates onboard, presumable filled with weapons.

"They'll do their thing around eleven, so we'll probably miss some of the action, but I'll most likely still leave you guys and go over there to make sure everything is under control. I don't expect any problems with the force we have, and the fact that they're reporting about twenty men moving on and around the ship," he explained.

"We get to sit around and drink coffee while all the action is dealt with elsewhere. That sounds like a plan even I wouldn't mess up. If given half a chance, I'm sure I could cause some chaos to ensue, but generally I think I can pull that off." If I ruined things by sipping on a drink, I was even more of a lost cause than I'd always thought.

"What about my sister?" Jimmy asked. "They have her at another location and I'm worried what they'll do if they're able to get a call through before everyone is caught."

"We have people on their way over to the hotel already. We were planning on sending them in there when the word was given to take the ship. That way no one can call to alert the others that we're on to them," Nate relayed.

"I just really want to see her and make sure she's okay."

Jimmy and Nate looked at each other for a few extra seconds, almost like they were having a private conversation. It was clearly a guy thing, so I let them have their moment.

"You'll get a chance to see her very soon. If I was a betting man, I'd say within the next hour you'll be able to check that everything is as it should be," Nate assured him. "Look, there's Lady Liberty." He pointed out the window in case we'd missed it. I still couldn't see much, but I imagined he knew what he was talking about. "Start looking for a coffee shop we can stop at."

Within a minute we found the perfect coffee shop with a great view of the harbor. We stopped to order, plain black coffee for both the boys and some herbal tea for me. Once we were given our order, we made our way back outside to the small patio they offered and took our seats.

Sitting with two guys staring at each other while sipping coffee was making me want to walk away, so I tried to start up some kind of conversation. Driving a conversation wasn't something I was used to, but I was finding I had to come up with something to fill the lulls.

"So Jimmy, are you excited that this time tomorrow you may be on your way back to Chicago?"

"I'm sure I'll need to stick around and deal with any questions the police have for me, so it might not be as soon as I'd like. Who knows, this time tomorrow I might be behind bars for my part in all this. As I said earlier, I'm more than willing to help any way I can, though.

"I never wanted to be involved and other than transferring money from one party to the other and being required to be here while they pick up their guns, I didn't have anything to do with the negotiations. I think they just wanted the money and emails to go through me to try to throw the law off their scents. They clearly didn't know how carefully they were being watched."

"I can't imagine how traumatic this situation has been for you, Jimmy." I took a sip of my tea. "From my experience, I think you're a great guy and I hope once this is all cleared up and the right people are behind bars, you can get back to your life."

"Am I a great enough of a guy that you might decide to come visit me in Chicago sometime soon?" Jimmy asked as he reached for my hand and kissed it. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought there was an evil twinkle to his eyes.

Not hearing the usual growl from Nate, which had become a natural occurrence when anyone tried to flirt with me, I looked over at him. I immediately saw that he was busy trying to decide how big of an apple to buy, so he could shove it in Jimmy's mouth and roast him on a spit like a luau pig. I could easily tell that was what he thought, because I'd had the same idea about Nate and I imagined the same look on my face.

Turning back to Jimmy, I said, "Sorry, Jimmy, I don't fly for one, and we've already discussed the issue of Chicago being way too close to Montana."

"Oh yes, the dreaded mother. Well, I'm definitely going to have to find some reasons to visit New York it seems."

He added, after looking over and seeing the glint in Nate's eyes, "I'm speaking of visiting for purely platonic friendshiply reasons. Ha, is friendshiply even a word? I think I just made that up. It's clear Avery and I aren't exactly the same species, figuratively, of course. I get the sense she's more of a bird and I'm a cute woodland creature with a furry tail. Those two things really shouldn't mix." I could tell there was supposed to be meaning in his words, but the translation got lost.

Even when he was talking nonsense, Jimmy was a good guy in my book. If Frannie wasn't already in a relationship with Gary, I would've tried my hand at matchmaking. The only other female I was sort of close to was Liz, and I wasn't sure I wanted to unleash her moodiness on someone as nice as Jimmy. It would end up scarring him more than the business with the Schwartz's had.

"I do believe that is a new word and it describes our relationship well. We are friendshiply," I laughed as I tried to pronounce the word correctly.

"If friendshiply is all I can get, I'll have to accept it. I've visited New York before so I've seen a lot of the sights, but I haven't seen the city through your eyes. I think in a couple months I'll have to bring Julie back so you can give us a tour."

"That would be difficult, since for me New York tends to be my work and my apartment. Neither of you are cleared to see my work and the three of us wouldn't fit into my apartment. Maybe I'll have to spend the next few months going on tours of the city myself to prepare."

Nate's phone rang and he hit a button to answer. "Agent Barnes." After listening for a few moments, he replied, "Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes."

Hanging up the phone he stood up. I didn't like the idea that he was going to head off into a potentially dangerous situation. It was a weird sensation to want to kill him, but yet not wanting any harm to come to him.

"That was the call I've been waiting for. Since I'm the agent in charge, I need to head over and make sure everything is done the way I want it. I want you both to stay here and wait for me to come back. It'll probably be a while, so you might walk around a little, but please don't go too far. I wish I could send some people over to keep an eye on you, but we're a little strapped for staff right now."

I understood, and didn't think we were a priority. He leaned over and gave me a small kiss on the lips, before turning and running in the direction of the harbor. I stared after him as he covered the distance like a track champion. It wasn't fast enough to explain my quick nachos the first night we met, but it was impressive.

Jimmy laughed, drawing my eyes over to him. "No, that man isn't interested in you at all. Don't think for a second I didn't notice him plotting my demise while I was teasing about a possible relationship between the two of us. If I'd known you already had a mate, I wouldn't have bothered getting my hopes up."

"Hey, you be nice and knock off that talk about mates," I said, poking his arm. "If you aren't nice to me I'll unleash my coworker Liz on you. She'd probably have a field day doing a background check on you to see if you were good enough to date her."

"Alright, alright I give. If you aren't aware of the truth, there isn't any need for me to waste my breath." He held his hands up in defeat, while my eyes travelled back to check on Nate's progress.

When I couldn't make Nate out in the darkness, I noticed the limo's front door opening, and the driver exiting to walk around to the passenger seat. From there, he hauled out a young woman who had duct tape around her hands and covering her mouth. It looked like she'd been crying and her clothes had seen better days.

"Oh no, Jules," Jimmy sobbed, looking at the sight before us.

I could only assume that Jimmy knowing the lady meant that we'd found where his sister was being held, and I didn't think anyone expected it to be in the limo with us. The part that made my heart sink down into my stomach was that I recognized the driver from mug shots I'd studied since my case had started. Olaf Schwartz held a gun to Jimmy's little sister's head.

CHAPTER 23

Showing up with a knife to a gun fight is a bad idea

The way my life had been going, I should've expected the situation standing in front of me. I didn't have time to be scared, or really gather any thoughts together at all. I took a deep breath and studied my opponent. Finding weaknesses was a better use of my time than throwing a fit.

With bronze colored skin, Olaf Schwartz towered over the frightened woman in his clutches. If someone was to ask me, I wouldn't peg Julie as a high schooler; she looked closer to my age. Olaf was dressed impeccably in a shiny gray suit. He had beady black eyes and hair that was probably black, but it was hard to tell in the limited lighting.

To me he looked like the epitome of a bad guy. I could see him tying damsels in distress on train tracks and laughing sinisterly as he waited for a train to arrive on the scene.

"Mr. Schwartz, I've heard so much about you in recent days," I said, still trying to decide what options we had. I assumed Jimmy and his sister weren't packing any weapons, so we had my three knives against his, at least, one gun. Odds weren't in our favor.

That didn't take into account whether he had backup on the way. With presumably all the law enforcement in the general vicinity gathered in one location, I didn't think we'd see any backup for our side. The pressure of it being up to me to solve the situation weighed heavily on my shoulders.

"I see you know who I am. That can only mean you're with some government organization, Avery. I've been listening to some interesting conversations tonight while we've been driving around. I'm sad I didn't take over the driving duties until after you arrived at the ball.

"If I'd have thought of the idea sooner, I might have been able to warn my friends at the docks. Sadly, I'm afraid they're going to be captured and my shipment taken away from me. I, on the other hand, refuse to be caught, so I'm going to take you three as an insurance policy," he replied, sounding a lot surer of his plan than anything I could come up with.

"Mr. Schwartz, please just let them go. I know that isn't something in your code, but you don't need them. I'll go with you as a hostage if you release the others," I said.

I'd be going with him if he didn't release the others, but I could at least try to take them out of the picture. Without them, Olaf couldn't use us against each other. Plus, I'd feel a lot better in a one-on-one fight.

"Have you forgotten so soon that I've been listening while we've been driving around? Now, no one mentioned any specific skills you have, but you and that other agent talked about killing, so I figure you have some kind of experience. I think I'll keep you all together for now. When we get to the airport, there's a chance I'll let you all go, but not until I'm safely on my plane out of here. Now get in the car."

He tilted his head in the direction of the car, but didn't make any other moves. My bull detector was pegging, so I knew he had no intention of letting us go alive. After ruining all his big plans for his gun shipment, I expected he wanted some kind of retribution and we were more than likely going to be the first casualties.

He had the upper hand, at that moment, and even though I knew you weren't supposed to get in the car with psychopathic killers, I didn't see a lot of choices. I was grateful there were no other sightseers out wandering, giving him more sheep to slaughter. Moving would hopefully ensure things stayed that way.

"Okay, we'll go with you."

The entire time Olaf and I conversed, Jimmy hadn't stopped staring at his sister and I wasn't sure he'd been aware of the conversation going on around him. Much like me making it clear I was a horrible spy, it was evident he wasn't more than a bystander roped into doing business with the Schwarz's. I highly doubted Olaf would be rendered speechless if his sister was in the clutches of a homicidal maniac.

"Can the siblings at least sit in the back together? Jimmy has been very worried about her and I'm afraid he might try something stupid if he's separated from her again. I'm well aware stupid moves can get people killed, and I'm trying to prevent that."

"I can live with that. Leave your little purse behind, though, because you're sitting up front with me. The dress doesn't leave much to the imagination, so I don't think you have any weapons on your person, but I don't know what you have in your bag."

He led Jimmy's sister to the back of the car and opened the door to push her in. I was just happy Olaf underestimated my ability to hide weapons under a see-through dress. Being allowed to keep my weapons, gave me a tiny morsel of hope.

Once we were all situated in the limo, we headed down the road. Olaf had his gun in his lap, pointed at me with a finger on the trigger. Anything I planned to do would have to be quick to catch him by surprise.

With the dress, only one of my knives was easily accessible. Cutting access slots in the dress hadn't seemed like a priority, but at least I'd thought ahead and worn one sheath in an alternative location.

The question was when to use it. It was only a two-inch blade that I'd taped to the one-inch thick piece of fabric like material that ran from my ankle to my heel on the back of my right shoe. With the blade that small, I'd really have to make it count.

If I could distract him enough with the baby knife, making a move for one of my bigger blades would be easier. Getting him decommissioned with just the small blade would be even better, but I'd never been a huge optimist.

I moved myself a little, so my right foot was up on the door frame, closer to my hand. I kept my movements small, and watched Olaf to make sure he didn't notice. Wanting to buy some more time, to put finishing touches on my brilliant ideas, I decided to try to get Olaf talking.

"So Olaf, what exactly were you planning to do with all those weapons?" I asked.

"Sorry, Avery, but I don't think I know you well enough to go into my master plan. You may have your two fellas wrapped around your finger, but you'll find I'm not as taken by the fairer sex as they are. To get where I am, I've had to be ruthless and no little girl is going to stop me from getting what I want."

All right, being friendly didn't work and he needed to be knocked down a peg or two, so I switched to taunting. Probably not the brightest move in the situation, but chances were good I'd be dead within the hour. Living like I had nothing to lose had to come with some perks.

"Too quickly you forget, Olaf. I believe I've kept you from picking up a very large load of weapons this evening. That really has to sting. A little girl like me was able to find out the plans and tell the authorities."

"I really don't think you had anything to do with that. Some people just have big mouths and you happened to be there to listen. It could've been anyone, you aren't all that special. I'm sorry if someone told you that you were, but you're just another pretty face in the crowd."

I was happy we were pulling into the airport, because much longer with the guy and I would've figured out a way to kill myself, just to get away from his pompous personality. He drove us to an empty runway, where I imagined he had a private jet or something nearby.

"Okay," he started, and I prepared myself for more of his obnoxious words, "I'll be getting out and walking across the front of the car over to your side. You're not going try anything funny, do you understand? I'll open your door and I don't want you charging me. That will just get you killed faster."

"I understand perfectly and will eagerly await your next order, Olaf." He seemed to like women who know their place, so I went along with the role, even though I was likely to break out in hives from the act.

He opened the door and exited, pointing the gun at me the entire time. I would've loved it if he'd forgotten to load it or someone loaded it with blanks. I didn't think either of those options were a possibility, but I could dream.

Once he was in front of the car, I shifted my hand to my ankle, while giving no movement away with my upper body. I quickly retrieved the knife and readied for my attack.

If Olaf had been kind enough to roll down the windows, I would've felt better. It wasn't like I would've yelled out the window with a gun pointed at me. I did have a little common sense. With the windows down, I could've just thrown the little blade at him while he was away from the vehicle, giving me time to get its bigger brothers out.

Olaf arrived at my door and opened it, staying far enough away to prevent me from rushing him. I got out and he had me lead him to the back. I carefully held my hand in a way so he wouldn't notice the knife between my pointer and middle fingers. Thankfully the blade was black and not shiny. I was ordered to open the door when we made it to the rear of the car.

"Okay, you two come out of there nice and slow," he instructed.

I should've tried to attack before Jimmy and Julie were back in the picture, but the time hadn't seemed right. With a gun to the back of my head, timing was everything.

Jimmy slowly edged his way out and his sister followed. "Now, you three move away from the car and face me."

Like good little robots, we did as we were instructed. Behind Olaf I saw a person walking towards us. Since the location was his choosing, I expected it was one of his goons, so my time was running out.

I repositioned the knife to hold it by the tip of the blade with my fingertips. As quickly as possible, I raised my arm up and threw the knife, aiming for his neck. At the same time, I dived to my left, shoving Jimmy and his sister to the ground to get them out of the way in case Olaf started shooting before the knife could do any damage. Jimmy curled on top of his sister to protect her.

I heard two gunshots as I worked to get my knives out from under my dress. The next time I came to a gun fight, I was going to have to remember to dress appropriately. I finally worked the knives out and stood to engage in battle with Olaf, only to see him down on the ground bleeding from a chest wound.

I looked up to the person standing above him and saw Nate looking over at me. His eyes roamed to look for any wounds, while my eyes just stared at him in confusion.

"Are you okay?" he asked, still pointing his gun at either a dead, or fast on his way to being dead, Olaf.

"How did you get here?" I asked not bothering to answer his question.

"I drove," he replied, stating the obvious.

"You know what I mean. How did you know where to find us?"

"You're still wearing the brooch. I never closed the channel. I wasn't that far away when I heard what was happening. I called ahead and told them I was going after Schwartz. You were already in the limo on the way to the airport before I could get back to you, so I followed behind at a distance that wouldn't be dangerous for you guys and worked my way over to you to rush in and save the day."

"You know I had a perfectly good plan all mapped out and was just starting to activate ninja Avery mode."

"I saw, and I'm very impressed with your knife throwing skills. It embedded deep into his throat, but with him firing the gun, I didn't want to risk him getting off more shots," he said, moving away from the body to stand by me.

"So, is he dead?" I asked as I listened to sirens coming closer.

"Most certainly. I have to ask again, are you okay? My visual observation isn't enough to satisfy my need for an answer to that question."

"Of course," I turned to Jimmy and his sister, "You guys are okay, right?"

Jimmy let his sister up and looked her over quickly. "Yes, I think we're both in one piece. Avery, I'd like to introduce you to my sister Julie. Julie, this is Avery."

I reached my hand out to shake hers. "It's nice to meet you, Julie. I've heard a lot about you from your brother.

"Is it really over?" she asked cautiously.

I looked over at Nate and said, "I think it is. We can all get back to our lives."

CHAPTER 24

When nothing goes right, go left

I didn't understand why I had to be questioned three times about what happened. You'd think the different agencies would just club together and ask all their questions at once. For some reason, that wasn't how it worked with me. The next time I decided someone needed killed, I was going to require they record the first interview and just play it back for anyone else who wanted to listen.

The good thing about being involved with killing Olaf was I got the rest of the week and all of following week off with pay. The bad thing was I had to sit through police questioning and a mandatory visit to the shrink.

Also on the bad side, was no work meant I had no excuse to hide from Mom and Dad when they got there. I felt a cold or a case of the chicken pox coming on. I'd never been sick, but I'd witnessed enough ill people that I thought I could pull it off.

After they finally let me go, I made it home and crashed on the couch. I hadn't seen Nate since they separated us once the police and other agents made it to the scene. As far as I was concerned, I hoped he was on his way to Antarctica for his next assignment.

* * *

Thursday morning I woke up and did the usual morning ritual of showering and dressing. With nowhere to go, I was stuck on what to do. My life was supposed to be back to normal, but normal would involve me going to work. After living years of having my days pretty much planned out for me, making decisions wasn't second nature.

Not being able to come up with anything better, I headed to the kitchen to make sugar cookies. When all else failed, the kitchen was always my answer. Plus, all the rolling out and eventually decorating would take up most of the morning.

As soon as I was done tying on my apron, I grabbed some butter and cream cheese from the fridge, unwrapped them and placed them in a large glass bowl. I stuck the bowl in the microwave for a minute and a half on the lowest heat setting to get them both softened. Even though I had all the time in the world, waiting for things to soften wasn't in my vocabulary.

When that was done, I beat in some sugar until it reached a smooth consistency. I continued beating the mixture as I added eggs and vanilla. Then slowed down the mixer while I incorporated the dry ingredients.

Once it was all mixed together I wrapped it up in Saran Wrap and put it in the freezer for thirty minutes. While it was firming up, I preheated the oven and got out my rolling pin, cookie cutters and cookie sheets. I prepared the breakfast bar area with flour and I was all set. I still had about ten minutes, so I decided I needed to listen to some music.

I grabbed my mp3 player from beside my bed and set my eclectic mix of country, pop and classic rock to play. As the music started up, I took the cookie dough and started rolling it out. I guess you could say I was rockin' and rollin'.

I ended up making mostly flowers, which I could only assume was my subconscious mind trying to brighten my mood. As I was getting the last batch out of the oven, I looked up and found Nate standing in my apartment staring at me. I immediately dropped the hot pan, which somehow miraculously landed correctly on the floor and only a couple of the cookies flew off in the process.

"What in the world are you doing in my apartment?" I screeched at him. By that point in our acquaintance, I should've expected it.

"You weren't answering the door when I pounded on it, so I got worried and let myself in," he answered. I could tell he didn't care whether the reason I wasn't answering was because I didn't want to see him.

"And how exactly did you do that? Break down the door?" I looked around him to my door and on first inspection I saw nothing amiss.

"No silly, I used my key," he said, like it was obvious. He even proudly displayed said key.

"I don't remember ever giving you a key to my apartment. How in the world did you get one?" I knew we hadn't spent every waking moment together, but I didn't think in the times we were apart he was out making copies of my key.

"When you were sleeping one night, I borrowed yours and ran down to the twenty-four-hour hardware store. They made one right up for me."

By then, the shock had worn off a little, so I picked the cookie sheet off the floor and put the cookies on the cooling racks. I took the broken, flying cookies and tossed them in the garbage. "Can I have that extra key please? I prefer it that no one but me can get into my apartment whenever they want."

"I think I'm going to keep it for a little while," he said, smiling at me with his borderline irresistible lips curved up just enough to display his dimples.

"Aren't you supposed to be flying back to Chicago and getting out of my hair?" He was like some kind of really persistent vermin I just couldn't get rid of. I wasn't certain anyone other than a hitman could take care of my rat problem.

"I'm going to stick around, at least through the weekend and make sure all the loose ends are tied up, so sorry, you're going to have to put up with me a little longer."

He was so frustrating. He'd irritated me enough that I was imagining building a giant mousetrap then luring him into it. I thought it sounded kind of fun and since I had tons of time on my hands, I was going to draw up some plans.

"So, do you need some help frosting all of these cookies?" He asked, looking around the kitchen and seeing the cookies covering just about every surface.

"I'm not going to be able to get rid of you right now am I?" I asked. There was no reason for me to waste my breath.

"Nope," he replied. "Like you, my day happens to be wide open and all my other friends in this city are currently stuck working."

"Fine, since I'm trapped with you, I might as well put you to work. I have to make and color the frosting, so why don't you just settle in on that side of the breakfast bar," I said as I pointed, trying to reiterate the fact he should keep his distance. If he could frost from the hallway, I would've preferred it, but I knew the suggestion wouldn't get me anywhere.

I quickly mixed up some frosting and divided it into six bowls. I left one white and colored the rest red, blue, purple, yellow and green.

"Okay, here's a knife and some baggies. To use the baggies, put some frosting inside the baggie and work it down to one of the corners. Then take the scissors and cut a little tip off the bottom. Make sure you don't cut it too big, though, otherwise you'll make a mess of the cookie. When you hold the bag as you're decorating, don't squeeze too hard or you'll make a hole in the bag and mistakenly decorate the palm of your hand."

Surprisingly, as we went along decorating the flowers, his didn't look like a five-year-old was the mastermind behind the decorating, as I expected. By some miracle, he wasn't even making a big mess.

After about his tenth cookie he asked, "Don't you have any little toppings we can put on the cookies?"

Before I answered, I had to wonder how many times he'd sat around a table and decorated cookies. I didn't know much about his family, in fact, I didn't think we'd covered his life at all, other than the mention of his parents' divorce. He was only going to be around a few days, and there was no reason for me to go prying, so I was left to wonder if he'd sat around and helped his mother decorate cookies as a kid.

"Well, since you've arrived in my life, not only has my world been turned upside down, but all my toppings magically made it on the floor and to the garbage. Before you came today, I was going to make some colored sugar up, but I don't think I can trust you not to start throwing it around."

"You're probably right. I like seeing you covered in sugary confections."

"Those sugary confections are sticky and I prefer not to wear them," I said as I continued trying to get the cookies all decorated. I should've thought about halving the recipe. I was lucky the cookies would freeze well, because I didn't have a lot of use for eighty cookies.

When we finally finished with our beautiful creations, I hoped to never see a cookie again. Somehow I'd managed to eat five cookies while decorating and I was feeling a bit jittery. I bundled three-quarters of them up and put them in freezer safe containers, then placed them in their new home. I imagined I'd have cookies for the rest of the year.

"Let's go grab some lunch," Nate suggested.

After being surrounded by sugar for the last couple of hours, a salad was sounding really good to me. Something packed with salt sounded better, but I'd eaten five cookies and countless amounts of frosting. A bag of chips wasn't a great option.

"Sure. Let's get out of the apartment for a little while. The smell of cookies is going to make me sick."

We walked around a little, trying to find something that sounded good to both of us. Since I was searching for a salad, I really didn't care where we stopped, which meant it is was up to Nate to pick. He finally dragged me into a barbecue restaurant.

I ended up getting a barbecue chicken salad and a side of onion rings. I couldn't help the fried temptations. My body demanded salt of some kind. Nate ordered a rack of ribs with coleslaw and a little corn on the cob.

"Oh my gosh, this is just what I needed," I said as I bit into an onion ring after our food arrived. I was surprised no one stared at me as my body rejoiced the addition of something not full of sugar.

"Did you have the rest of your day planned out?" Nate asked. "After such a thrilling morning in the kitchen, I can't imagine what you would've planned for the rest of the day."

"You know, you actually gave me a brilliant idea for my newest way to kill you. I thought I might spend the rest of the afternoon drawing up plans," I replied, only half joking. Even if I didn't use the giant mousetrap against him, it would be a really cool thing to have in storage in case I ever needed one.

"Well, we can't have that, so it seems it's up to me to decide what we're going to do."

"Why does there have to be a 'we' at all in this conversation? I'm sure you can find someone on the street to annoy and let me get on with my plotting."

"Nope. You're my favorite person to pester and I don't think anyone else will do today. Why don't we keep the flower theme going and head over to the Botanical Gardens? That should be nice and peaceful for you. I'll even promise not to do anything annoying."

I snorted at the thought. I wasn't sure he understood the meaning of the word annoying.

"Yeah, like I can believe a word you say." Really, who did he think he's kidding? Him just breathing tended to be annoying in my mind.

"You're the human lie detector, remember? I can't lie to you even if I wanted to."

"I'm pretty sure that isn't my super power, if it is, I'm demanding a refund for its lack of coolness. I want to be able to fly or have X-ray vision. Oh, or maybe super strength. Lie detecting is just so boring."

"Sorry, we don't get to pick our super powers. They're given to us for a reason," he said, taking a big bite of coleslaw. The logical response to that would've been to ask what his super power was, but I didn't feel like being logical.

We ate the rest of our meal in silence, mostly because Nate was busy trying to see how many of his ribs he could get in his mouth at once. It was a weird sight to witness, but even a face covered in barbecue sauce didn't dull his looks.

When we were done, and Nate had managed to wash his face, we made our way back to my apartment to pick up Nate's car. The trip to the gardens remained pretty quiet, just general chatter about the weather and sports.

We spent the rest of the afternoon touring through the different gardens. My favorite had to be the Background Garden. It made me wish I had a yard to actually do some planting. The whole place was really beautiful and I was feeling a lot better after the most stressful week of my life.

Around six, Nate drove me back home and surprisingly dropped me off, saying he was meeting a buddy for dinner. In the kitchen, I made a quick sandwich and grabbed some crackers for my own dinner. Once my stomach was full, I washed it down with a glass of water and loaded the dishes in the dishwasher before I headed off to bed. It was still early, so I settled down with a book until I fell asleep.

CHAPTER 25

Smile... it confuses people

The next morning I woke up already bored out of my mind. It was sad that without opening my eyes, I already knew I'd find lying in bed more exciting than anything I had planned. I couldn't believe I had over a whole week of it.

I decided the night before that my goal for the day was to not see Nate. In order to succeed, I had to get out of the apartment as soon as possible, just in case he decided to use that key of his. I was banking on him not already using his key and sleeping on my sofa.

I quickly got ready and decided it had been a couple of days without a quirky shirt, so I went for the one that was about an opportunist drinking the glass of water that an optimist, a pessimist and a realist were busy fighting over.

Matching it with a pair of blue jeans, I called it good. I slid into my flip-flops, grabbed my keys and wallet and I was out the door. I didn't even stop to see if I had a visitor on my couch.

Not sure what to do, but thinking Frannie might have some ideas, I decided to head to the nearest gas station and see if they had any of those throw away cell phones, since mine was still in Liz's hands.

Thankfully, there was an assortment. Not being particular, I grabbed one and a minutes card and headed to the checkout. Once done in the store, I walked outside and activated the phone.

I knew chances were good Frannie would want to stay in Manhattan, so I hopped on the train taking me closer to her apartment. On the way, I tried to give her a call, but she didn't pick up. She was probably still sleeping.

I decided to waste some time by stopping at a bakery and ordering a breakfast sandwich on a croissant. I sat in their patio area, people watching while eating the flaky delight. When I finished, I tried Frannie again and made it through to an actual person.

"This is Frannie," she answered, way too perky for that hour of the morning.

"Hey Frannie, this is Avery."

"Really? What number are you calling me from? I don't recognize it."

"Just a throw away phone I picked up this morning. My usual phone is getting worked on because it started acting funny." It sounded like a rational enough excuse, so I just rolled with it. "Anyway, Frannie, I have the day off and I bored myself to tears sitting around the apartment yesterday, so I was hoping you'd be free and have some ideas on how to spend the day."

"Well, you know me. I was planning on going out shopping today. You could tag along if you'd like."

I could envision her eyes lighting up as she thought about shopping. I, on the other hand, cringed. Shopping was not how I'd hoped to spend the day, but it was probably somewhere Nate wouldn't think of looking for me.

"That sounds great. Do you want to meet somewhere? I just finished eating some breakfast and I'm on your side of town."

"That's perfect. I was hoping to go to Madison Avenue today and hit a few stores. Remind me to also stop by FAO Schwarz and pick up a present for my niece."

I didn't think I was really dressed for Madison Avenue, but oh well. I knew from the start trying to recruit Frannie's help to keep busy would probably end in me having to do something girlie. That didn't mean I had to smile while I was doing it though.

We met up at the north end of Madison Avenue and hit Ralph Lauren first. I assumed they didn't have peculiar t-shirts, so I pretty much just followed behind Frannie, holding things for her while she tried clothes on. By the time we were done, we walked out with practically a whole new wardrobe.

After Ralph Lauren, we hit Juicy Couture and Prada. In each store Frannie kept finding things she just had to have. I'd said it before, and I'd say it again, being raised always having money available for anything you wanted made you have to have a whole bunch of crap. I didn't think she'd end up wearing half the things she bought.

We took her current purchases back to the car she had waiting, and then she dragged me into Cartier to show me the engagement ring she was dying for Gary to buy her. I wasn't exactly sure how she'd fit the thing on her little fingers, though. It was a massive two-carat solitaire with about thirty smaller diamonds around the band. Not that I was ever getting married, but if I did, I was definitely going with a simple gold band.

All the walking around was making me hungry, so I suggested feeding me before I started gnawing on my ankle. She led the way to Bistro Chat Noir. I ordered some Seafood Risotto with a side of grilled asparagus and she selected a California Salad Nicoise.

As we ate, we caught up on each other's lives. "So how are things going with Nate?" she asked.

"There is nothing going on with Nate," I answered. "He should be heading back to Chicago from what I understand and I as far as I'm concerned that can't happen soon enough."

"Really? That's too bad. I think you guys make such a cute couple. Your children would be beautiful." I was starting to think shopping affects people's brain cells negatively.

"Yeah, it's really, really too bad we didn't hit it off," I said, chomping on one of my asparagus spears.

"That's not what I heard. Nate said you guys get along great. I even heard you had him over for dinner one night." The big mouth. Sewing his mouth shut wouldn't kill him, so I'd have to include it in one of my other plans.

Done talking about the person I was avoiding, I steered the topic to Gary. "So, how has Gary been doing lately? Does he have any big cases going on?"

"Of course. The man is always busy and can't seem to tell clients no. You know, I could really use some chocolates. Let's run over to Godiva." Evidently lunch, and our conversation, was over, so we made our way outside and back down the street to Godiva.

"You go in, I'll wait outside. The smell of chocolate makes me sick."

I tried to stand downwind of the open door as she went in. She came out with her little box of chocolates and took me through Chanel, picking up some perfume she was about to run out of. From there it was Barney's to get five sets of new shoes and DKNY for some dresses to match the shoes. She finished the quest at Calvin Klein picking out some tops for Gary.

Finally, we got to go to FAO Schwarz, which was the only part of the trip I was really looking forward to. Who doesn't like a giant toy store? Frannie wandered off in one section, going towards baby toys and I just started looking around at everything in general.

I ended up in the electronics department, trying to decide if I wanted the red or black ninja USB drive. I was leaning towards black when I spotted Frannie walking towards me very determinedly while talking on the phone.

When she got to me she said, "It's for you," and handed me the phone.

"Hello," I answered cautiously. Frannie's look wasn't giving away any hints about who was on the other end.

"Just where do you think you've been all day, young lady?" Nate's voice replied.

"If I said hiding from you, would that make you happy or sad?" I asked while I picked up the black ninja and headed towards the checkout.

"I'm currently still at the relieved to hear your voice stage. Pretty soon I'll be moving to the pissed you didn't let me know you were planning on being out all day stage."

"Last I checked, I'm a grown woman and don't have a keeper checking in on what I do during the day."

"Woman, meet keeper. You really should've left me a note or something. You had to expect I'd stop by today."

"You know, if you hadn't been with me when I received messages from Stalker McStalky, I'd think you moved to the front of the list of possible candidates. I wanted a day out of the apartment, so I called Frannie and went shopping with her. I think we're about done, so I'll be heading back in a little bit. You aren't sitting in my apartment right now are you?" Please say no, I chanted to myself.

"Of course I am. I came around ten this morning to find you not here, so I ran to your office, thinking for some reason you might have gone there to spend your day off. You have to admit it sounds like something you'd do. After waiting a little while, I realized you weren't coming in, so I headed back to your apartment to wait.

"I waited a whole hour and finally broke down and called Frannie, since she's your only friend I know. Thankfully, you happened to be with her. Sadly, I'm guessing you haven't been taping your shopping experience. That's a home movie I'd love to see," he laughed.

I finished up with the cashier and moved to stand in front of the store waiting for Frannie. After she'd realized I was going to be occupying her phone for a few minutes, she returned to her shopping.

"Oh, I don't know. I think shopping has been great. I learned the person currently inhabiting my apartment has a big mouth and I've added plans to sew it shut to all my previous plans of your demise."

"I'm not sure what I said to cause this aggression, but I know it wasn't anything bad, as I've never spoken a word against you," he said as I heard sizzling in the background.

"No, it's just other people don't need to know how I spend my evenings. What's that noise?" I asked as more odd noises made it to my ears.

"Since you've been out all day, I've decided I'm making you dinner tonight. Don't worry, it isn't anything too fancy and it's chicken, so you have no excuses not to eat it."

Frannie walked over to me ready to go. "Frannie looks like she's done, so I'm going to hang up now and give her phone back. Don't burn my apartment down. I'll be there as fast as I can."

"See ya soon, my little butterfly." With that we both hung up and I handed the phone back to Frannie.

"Thanks for letting me use your phone. It seems I'm needed back at my apartment, so I better head out. It was a really fun day, we'll have to do this again," I said politely.

"So Nate is at your apartment. How interesting. Give him a kiss from me."

"Any kisses for Nate are not coming from my lips, so you'll have to work that out yourself. See you in Spinning class tomorrow morning," I said and ran towards the train.

During the train ride home I tried really hard to meditate and find my inner peace. I was pretty sure someone stole it, though, so by the time I got to my apartment I was still pissed.

At my door, just as I was putting the key in, the door it flew open. Nate stood in the doorway wearing my girlie apron. I couldn't help but laugh. Oh how I wished I had my phone so I could take pictures of it.

"That's a really nice look," I said, entering the apartment.

"Well, you pull it off, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm just getting ready to put dinner on the table. Why don't you go wash up, I should have everything ready by the time you get done."

I did as I was told and made my way to the bathroom. Once I was all washed up, I headed back out to the living room area where he had placed two plates of food. Sadly, the food actually smelled delicious.

"So what are we eating tonight?" I asked as I settled down to eat.

"I made my pecan chicken with a brown sugar, mustard and butter glaze as your main dish. To accompany it I made some dirty rice and a vegetable medley featuring carrots, broccoli and cauliflower."

"That actually sounds really good." I didn't try to hide my utter shock. It tasted really good too. The sauce with the chicken had me wanting to lick my plate.

As we ate, I told him my shopping tales and he let me know that there was still no update on who the stalker was when he stopped by the office. We finished eating and cleaned the kitchen together.

"I guess I'll head out. You're going to be at the gym tomorrow morning, right?" Nate asked as he collected his things.

The fact that he planned on leaving surprised me. After not being able to find me, I'd expected him to pitch a tent in the middle of the living room. I wasn't going to complain, but I was getting used to him being around.

"I was planning on it; my parents are arriving tomorrow, so I'll probably be spending the evening out with them. I'm really not looking forward to that."

"Maybe you should have me come along. I can be a good buffer for you and your parents." That didn't sound too bad to me. He continued, "That way I can also learn all sorts of embarrassing stories about you." And he lost me.

"I've mentioned you are a really evil person, right?" I asked rhetorically. "I'll think about letting you come along and I'll see you in the morning."

CHAPTER 26

Motherly instincts for sale, only fifty cents. Act now!

The dang dreams were back again, but they were worse. Along with the naughty bedroom bits, me and Nate were married and had children. It must have been Frannie's fault with her talk about how cute our kids would be. Technically, in the dream they were the cutest little things, but I wanted to keep them a figment of my unconscious mind.

Getting up for the morning, I made my way to the kitchen and grabbed a honey wheat bagel. I wasn't awake enough to bother with cream cheese, so I ate it plain, which turned out to be very dry if you didn't have milk on hand. I'd run out after sharing it with Nate. I settled for grabbing some water to wash it down.

Knowing I was going to be getting all sweaty, and need to take a shower in a little bit anyway, I picked out a clean t-shirt and a pair of jeans and threw them into a backpack. Then I put on some dark purple workout pants and a matching tank.

I found some plain white sport socks from my drawer and my purple Reeboks and headed to the couch. After my shoes were on, I put my flip-flops in the backpack and collected my disposable phone, my keys and my wallet and was off for the gym.

When I arrived, Nate was already there working out on a treadmill, the dang overachiever. I waved at him when he looked up and saw me, but headed towards the Spinning classroom. Frannie wasn't there yet, so I picked a couple of bikes in the back and saved one for her.

A few minutes later, she arrived, looking glamorous as usual. "Good morning, darling," she said, drawing out her darling. "I expect you had a marvelous evening."

"Jelly Bean, you be talking funny this morning. Someone be slipping something in that latte?" I asked. Hey, if she could speak oddly, so could I.

"Oh Peaches, come on dish. What happened last night when you got home?"

The instructor had joined us and we started pedaling. Pretty soon conversation would be impossible, so I figured I might as well get it over with.

"I had a nice dinner, nothing more. Oh wait, I did get to see Nate in my apron. That was definitely worth the price of admission."

"Ha," she laughed, already starting to breathe heavy. "That would be pretty funny. I can't believe you though. You go home to that," she nodded her head to the door, evidently indicating Nate out in the other room, "and didn't handcuff him to your bed."

"For starters, I don't believe I'm into kinky sex. Secondly, I'm telling you we've had maybe two or three decent conversations in all these days we've now known each other. You need to clear these romantic notions out of your head."

The last part I huffed out and apparently she was all out of breathe too, because she didn't respond. At least I had fifteen more minutes of not having to worry about her dreams of Nate and me getting together.

When class was over, we trekked towards the locker room. I didn't see Nate on any of the machines, so I guessed he was getting cleaned up too. After my quick shower, I put on the clean clothes I'd packed and threw the sweaty ones in the backpack.

I told Frannie I was going to take off, I predicted she was only on step one of her ten step hair care treatment, so she was going to be a while. Outside the locker room, Nate was waiting for me. Imagine that.

He was wearing a blue, short-sleeve, V-neck top with a pair of jeans and some tennis shoes. That seemed to be his standard look when he wasn't dressed for work.

"Did you have a nice class?" he asked, offering to carry my backpack for me. Wasn't that nice, how high school of him.

I kept my bag where it was and walked towards the exit as he followed along. "Class was pretty good, except my usual partner in crime keeps telling me how good our babies will look. She won't listen when I tell her those are imaginary babies who will never be born. Maybe you should talk to her about that."

In the parking lot, we made our way over to his car. "Now your dreams are revolving around us and a white picket fence, isn't that adorable."

"Eww, no. Can you imagine what your little lippy, demon children would be like? They'd talk back to me constantly and plot ways to drive me insane. I'd probably have to lock them in crates to get any work done and I'm told that's frowned upon."

"Don't worry, I'm sure they won't be that bad, and somehow the motherly instincts in you will kick in."

"Nope, I sold all my motherly instincts years ago. There's nothing left. It's another good reason why I shouldn't ever get married. You know how there's a whole group of guys who like to be mothered by their wife. Not only would I not talk to them during the marriage, I'd probably forget to feed them too."

"You know, Avery, I really like your sense of humor. So what's the plan for today?" he asked, opening the passenger side door for me. "Do I get to meet your parents or are you going to face the dragon alone?"

"As much as it pains me, I'll let you come along on two conditions. Number one, no trying to get embarrassing stories out of my mother. I'll claim she's lying no matter how believable the story is and what the picture evidence proves.

"Number two, you can't act like we're a couple in any way. If my mother latches on to you thinking you're boyfriend material, we'll both be sorry. If you can live with those conditions, I wouldn't mind you coming along to act as a shield." I settled into my seat while he made his way around the car.

"Hmm. The first one might be tough, but I'll really try hard not to ask about your toddler days. For the second one, I won't use pet names and get touchy feely with you, but I can't promise she won't see me just being there as more than a friend," he replied. "I have a feeling she'll know exactly what my intentions are."

"Don't even say the word intentions. She might try to get a wedding date out of you before the night is through. You know what I forgot to ask last night? If you've heard anything about Jimmy and whether they were going to press any charges." I wanted to move away from Nate's intentions as quickly as I could, and with my phone trapped in the Pit, I didn't have a way to contact Jimmy myself.

"From what I've heard, because of the size of the bust and the fact that he was invaluable in making everything happen, they're going to let him go. He'll probably be in the city for the weekend, just to finish giving over anything else he has that could lead to more arrests."

"That's great. I'm happy he can get his life back on track now. After spending time with him, there's something about him that feels familiar to me. I don't know what it is, but I want him to find happiness."

"I'm not even going to try to delve into the reasoning behind that. So, what do you want to do? It's only nine and we don't have to meet your parents until what, six?"

"Mom said the plane was coming in around two and then they were going to go to their hotel and rest for a little while. So yeah, five or six is probably a good bet."

"When was the last time you went to the Central Park Zoo?"

"I haven't ever been to any zoo," I responded, not sure if I should be sad by my truthful answer.

"Really? Then today's plans will be easy for me. One of these times you're going to have to act like the person who actually lives in this city, so I can be the tourist."

He started up the car and drove us towards Central Park. The zoo was just opening by the time we arrived, which meant he was able to find a pretty good parking place.

We walked up to the entrance and bought our tickets. Nate then led me around to each of the animal exhibits. I could've sat and watched the red pandas all day. They had to be the cutest things.

The gentoo penguins were pretty fun to watch too. After two hours we'd gone through the entire zoo at least once. I had to make multiple visits to those little red pandas though.

"Since you like the penguins, after we grab some lunch, we should head to the New York Aquarium over in Brooklyn. They have another kind of penguin for you to fawn over," Nate said as we were climbing back in the car.

"You're the tour guide, so wherever you think we should go is fine with me."

We stopped at a sub shop on the way to pick up some quick sandwiches. At the aquarium, Nate again led me around to meet my new friends, the black-footed penguins and the California sea lions.

We sat through two of the sea lion shows because I enjoyed them so much. I also got to see an octopus and some sharks. Neither of those made it to my list of must-see-again animals. The sharks ended up creeping me out, so I left that part of the aquarium pretty much as quickly as I entered it. I finally got my fill of everything around three o'clock and we headed back to the car.

I sighed as Nate opened my door. "We should probably head back to my apartment and wait for Mommie Dearest to call. I imagine I already have a couple messages waiting to let me know they've arrived."

"That's a good idea. I don't want to get off on the wrong foot," he replied as we got in the car and took off towards home.

As predicted, my mother called not once, but twice. The first call was a simple message letting me know they'd made it to the hotel and were awaiting my call. The second message, a half an hour later, was to let me know Mom had reservations at Osteria Del Circo for us at five o'clock.

Then she went on about how she saw the chef on an episode of one of her favorite shows and right after making the reservations for the plane tickets, she reserved a table at the restaurant. I hoped they didn't mind us being four instead of only three.

Since it was the polite thing to do, I called my mother back and let her know a fourth person existed, so she could contact the restaurant and make sure it was okay. Surprisingly, she asked no questions about who I decided to bring along.

After determining I didn't feel like changing into anything nice for dinner, we were on the move again, this time in the direction of Manhattan. We arrived at the restaurant and I didn't see my parents milling around the front, so we parked and made our way inside. I told the hostess which party we were with and she let me know that my parents had already arrived.

On the way to the table, I saw Mom and Dad studying a menu. My parents were in their mid-forties, but looked not much older than me. Mom had long blonde hair and I got my albino-like skin and blue eyes from her. She was a couple inches shorter than me and about my general build.

She was wearing a cute pink sundress and some gold gladiator-looking sandals. Dad was wearing khaki pants and a light blue button-down shirt. His brunette hair matched mine, but he had brown eyes that complemented his hair. He had a muscular frame that suited his six-foot height.

As we got closer to the table, they saw us and stood up to greet Nate and me. They both gave me the once over to see how big city life had been treating me, and then their eyes travelled to Nate.

I didn't think I'd ever seen their eyes that wide in shock. They took him all in, stopping at the tattoos peeking out from his sleeves several times. They probably thought I'd grabbed some UFC fighter off the street and brought him in to scare them off.

I brought Nate closer and started introductions. "Nate, I'd like to introduce you to Cyrus and Roxanna Clavens. Mom, Dad, this is my coworker, Nathaniel Barnes."

Nate extended his hand to my father first and then my mother. They both shook, but kept their heads bowed slightly in some sort of deference. What could I say? My parents were weird.

"It's a pleasure to get a chance to meet Avery's parents," Nate said pleasantly. "Why don't we all sit down and look over the menu, so we can order."

Once we sat down, my mother looked at me and quietly said, "I was hoping, since I've done a lot of research on this restaurant, that I could order for the table."

I glanced over to Nate and he replied before I had to send any secret eye messages. "That'd be fine, Mrs. Clavens. I haven't eaten here before, so your research will be greatly appreciated."

Mom signaled the waitress and placed our order. While we waited for our food, Nate tried to engage my parents in conversation.

"So, Mr. and Mrs. Clavens, what do you have planned for your visit?"

"Well, we weren't sure if Avery would be available, so we've left specific plans up in the air. Of course, there were certain sights we hoped to see," my father answered.

Our first course arrived immediately, and we started slurping up our soup. Okay, maybe not all of us were slurping, but I was. I was pretty sure my mother wanted to shoot me for it. I couldn't help the way I ate soup.

Nate continued the conversation between him and my parents by saying, "You know I'm from Chicago, so I'm a tourist here myself. I have the advantage of being here a couple of times previously, though. How about tomorrow I take all three of you on a tour of the city through the eyes of another tourist. I'll take you to all the usual attractions and a couple of my favorites."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," my mother said.

They kept talking as we moved through the different courses of dinner. Everything was wonderful, although, I wasn't always sure what I was eating. Nate offered to pay the bill, and even though my dad tried to protest, Nate won the challenge, saying they were the real visitors.

We walked outside and they made plans for the morning about when and where to meet. I was happy to report I didn't hear a tale of me in the bathtub or making mud pies, so Nate lived up to his part of the bargain.

When we got back to his car, Nate said, "You know, my hotel isn't that far from here and you're going to have to come right back here to meet your parents in the morning. Why don't you stay over? We can run and pick you up some clothes at any of the thousands of stores in the area and I promise to sleep on the couch. You've seen the room; it's big enough for the two of us."

"First, thank you for tonight. That had to be one of the most pleasant meals I've had with my mother. Secondly, you know how disturbing it is when you make sense, and I'm exhausted from all the walking we did today. I could fall asleep anywhere."

"Great, let's find somewhere to pick up some clothes and call it a night."

CHAPTER 27

On a NY subway, you get fined for spitting, but it's free to throw up

The next morning I was thankful the bed was occupied by the same amount of people I remembered being there when I fell asleep. That would be only me. Over on the couch I saw Nate was still fast asleep.

I woke up in such a good mood that I thought pulling a prank on him was necessary. I decided to go old school and rushed to the bathroom to get his can of shaving cream.

During the trek back to the couch, I shook the can up. I was happy to see Nate cooperating by lying on his back with both of his hands in a position where I could fill them with the shaving cream. I had to ask myself why he couldn't be that cooperative when he was awake.

Just to be on the safe side, I filled both his hands with a good dollop of shaving cream. I forgot to pack a feather, so I decided to just blow gently on his cheek. With all the Italian food from the previous night, and me being too exhausted to brush my teeth before bed, my morning breath had to be killer. It just added to my wicked prank.

After at least two minutes of trying to get him to scratch his face, my options were he was either dead or some kind of evil robot. Seeing his chest moving, I was leaning towards the evil robot. My next move was to search the room for something better to tickle him with. Before I could do that, my face was surrounded on each side with Nate's hands.

"What ya doing?" he asked as he smeared the shaving cream all over my face.

"Yuck. That shaving cream is supposed to be covering your face, not mine." I wiggled back out of his reach.

"But it looks so much cuter on you," he said as he sat up.

"You were awake the whole time weren't you?"

"From the moment you got out of bed. A little note for future reference, I'm a very light sleeper."

He got up and walked to the bathroom to take care of his morning business and washed his hands. Another thing to be thankful for that morning was he slept in sweat pants and a tank top. Just knowing his personality, I imagined without me around he wore a lot less.

When he emerged from the bathroom, drying his hands on a towel, he said, "The hotel has a continental breakfast, do you want me to run down while you get cleaned up and grab us some food?"

Looking in the mirror on the wall, I took in my disheveled hair and face and said, "Well, I sure as heck ain't leaving this room looking like this. I need a shower immediately, so yeah why don't you run down and get us something to eat."

Still looking in the mirror, I decided the white shaving cream had made my usual morning mess of hair look like Albert Einstein's. Eek. I took off towards the bathroom, then shut and locked the door behind me, leaving him to do whatever he decided.

After I was done in the shower, I wrapped up in a towel, only to remember my clothes for the day were on the other side of the door. Unsure if Nate was back or not, I softly knocked on the door and called, "Hey, Nate, are you out there?"

"I'm guessing you've realized your clothes are with me and I'm holding them hostage."

Dang it. Sneaking out to grab them was off the list of options.

"You say they're hostages, do I assume you have some demands to make for them?" I asked, getting a little chilled just standing in my towel.

"Good question. What do you think they're worth? I'm thinking you have to be nice to me for the rest of the day and even hold my hand if I want while we're touring the city with your parents."

"Doesn't that counteract my 'don't let my mom think we're more than just friends' mandate?"

I couldn't believe his idea of payment for some clothes was hand holding. Why did I always get stuck with the people in need of mental help?

"It's a new day and any previous mandates are null and void. Especially since I'm the one out here holding the clothes you so desperately want."

If the clothes I'd recently taken off weren't slept in and didn't have shaving cream all over them, I would've thrown them back on. The dang prank that should've been so funny was ruining my day.

"Fine. We have a deal, clothes for niceness and a little PDA, if you deem it necessary. Don't get too crazy with your displays of affection though. I may end up vomiting on your shoes."

"Great we have a deal. How do you want to do this exchange?"

"I'm going unlock the door and hide behind the shower curtain. Once, I'm sure you won't see anything, you can open the door and place the clothing on the vanity. When the clothes are in place, you're to immediately exit the room and respond from the other side of the door so I know for sure you're gone. Do you think you can handle that?"

"Seems simple enough. Let's do it."

No drama occurred during the clothing exchange and I hurried to slip into my new clothes. I walked out and witnessed the smorgasbord of food Nate had brought back.

"Are you really hungry this morning?" I asked, grabbing a strawberry.

"I thought we should have a good breakfast with all the walking we'll end up doing today. Don't want you to tucker out too early. While you eat, I'm going to jump in the shower real quick." He grabbed some jeans and a t-shirt and left me to eat my breakfast in peace.

I dove into some pancakes with tons of butter and syrup. The massive amounts of carbs really hit the spot. By the time I was done eating Nate had finished and snatched a few pieces of bacon as he worked on getting his socks and shoes on.

"Where did you decide to take us today on our grand tour of the city?" I asked, slipping into my sandals.

"I figured we'd be the ultimate tourists. Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty slash Ellis Island, Times Square, MoMA, and at some point stop for dinner at my favorite pizzeria that just happens to be under the Brooklyn Bridge. Somewhere in there I think we should take them on the Staten Island Ferry, so they can see the city lit up at night, and maybe tomorrow we can take them to Coney Island for some fun and games."

"Are you sure you're an FBI agent and not a tour guide?"

"Pretty certain. Either that or someone sold me a pretty convincing knock off badge. Let's get out of here. We're meeting your folks early at the Empire State Building to try to fight some of the crowds that will be there later today."

There was no need for me to reply, so I followed behind dutifully as we made our way to visit the city I'd been living in for years. I was a little afraid that I'd end up enjoying myself. I didn't want to spend my weekends walking around like a tourist.

When we made it to our location, my parents were waiting out front. My mother instantly came over and gave me a hug. It was too early in the morning for hugs.

"Good morning, you two. I hope you both slept well," she said, moving back to take in my attire.

She didn't look pleased. I took it she didn't get the joke on the shirt. With the slim pickings the night before, I settled on a shirt that said _Hedgehogs... why don't they just share the hedge?_ In the center of the shirt there is a hedgehog saying _NO_.

My mother, of course, was wearing another sundress; that particular one was white with pink flowers. I wasn't sure she'd ever worn pants. Daddy was dressed in slacks and a short-sleeved button-up shirt. Mom was evidently not hiding the fact that she was a tourist, because she had a camera attached to her wrist.

Nate took my mother's hand and lightly kissed it as he said, "We did sleep well, as I assume both of you did. Why don't we head in? I think we'll hit the eightieth floor exhibit and the one hundred and second floor observation deck."

After getting our tickets we worked our way up to the first exhibit. I enjoyed looking around at all the old pictures, sketches and other memorabilia. It took almost an hour for my mother to get through it all. When she was finally done, we went up to the highest public point in New York City.

We took in the breathtaking views of the city, while Mom took at least two thousand pictures, and that wasn't an exaggeration. When her camera started to smoke, we decided to call it good and went back to ground level. I may have embellished the camera smoking a little.

"That was simply amazing," my mother said once we got outside. "What do you have planned for us next?"

"I think we'll head down to Times Square, so you can see all the attractions that make it famous," Nate replied.

"That's great. I have tickets for _Wicked_ at the Gershwin Theater for next Thursday. I'd love to take some photos of all the buildings for my scrapbook."

We made our way over to Times Square and started walking up and down the streets, looking at the different attractions while Mom snapped away with her camera. I hadn't seen her switch out memory cards, but I expected she had a few backups.

After a little while my stomach rumbled, alerting the world my pancakes had stopped fueling me. Hearing it, Nate grabbed my hand and directed us across the street to City Chow. We ordered and took a break from our little tour to refuel.

While we were eating, Mom went on about how exciting the city was and how upset she was I never told her what city life was really like. I just ignored her and kept eating my panini. It would be rude to talk with my mouth full.

When the food was cleared away, Nate decided we should go to the Museum of Modern Arts. On the walk over, Nate reached down and casually wrapped his fingers around mine. Not expecting it, I jumped a little.

"Time to pay the piper, I guess," I said to him and allowed my hand to remain in his.

"Come on, you know you love it," he said as he smirked back at me.

We continued hand-in-hand on our way through the museum. I'd never been a huge fan of art; you'd find my apartment sports plain white walls. Some of the pieces on display made me stop and stare, trying to make sense of what they were. My favorite was the word OOF in yellow on a blue background. That was something I could understand.

After spending a couple of hours viewing all the different works of art, and Mom buying a couple prints, we moved on to our next stop.

"Time to go see the Statue of Liberty," Nate said. "Let's take the subway down to the ferry. It'll be a lot easier than trying to catch a cab or drive down."

"Oh the subway. That sounds exciting," my father said.

He hadn't been as flamboyant as my mother and all her picture taking, but it was obvious he was having a good time. It made me feel kind of bad that I hadn't invited them before. Technically, I still hadn't. They just decided to finally come for a visit.

We encountered no problems getting on the subway or figuring out where to get off closest to the ferry. We went into full tourist mode on the ferry ride over, pointing out pretty much everything we saw. The statue itself was undergoing renovations, so we had to stick to exploring the outside. When Mom had her fill of pictures, we headed over to Ellis Island.

There, we took a forty-five minute tour and learned a lot of history. When the tour was over, we spent another hour upstairs checking out the exhibits. By the time we were all done, we were in need of food again, so we hopped on the ferry and made our way back to mainland.

"Okay, we have a few options to getting over to the pizzeria I wanted to eat at," Nate announced once we were back on dry land. "We can either take the pedestrian walkway across the Brooklyn Bridge, jump on the subway or get a water taxi that will take us pretty much right to our destination."

"How long a walk are we talking?" my father asked.

"Probably about five miles," Nate answered.

"As hungry as I am, I don't think I could wait the hour it would take to get there. I say we try the water taxi, since we've already taken the subway once today."

"That sounds like a good plan to me," I said, ready to get moving. I was ready to have the day over with, even though I'd enjoyed myself.

We walked over to the pickup spot in Battery Park. Thankfully, there was a taxi just unloading some passengers. After buying our tickets, we climbed on board. On the way, Mom kept her camera out and took enough pictures to have to change her memory card. Two stops later we were in Brooklyn, so we departed the taxi and Nate led us to the food.

We ended up at Grimaldi's Pizzeria, where surprise, surprise they served pizza. We ordered two large pizzas, one with every kind of meat on the menu, except anchovies, and the other with mushroom and onion.

While we waited, Mom decided to finally break out of her shell, a move that made me want to go find a shell to hide in.

"So Avery, how long have you and Nate been dating?"

"Well, Mother, technically we aren't dating. We're coworkers who happen to be friendly to each other every other day. You're lucky we've managed to make it two days in a row."

"He doesn't look like someone who works at a library, Avery." Turning to Nate she asked, "Nate what exactly do you do there?"

"Well, Mrs. Clavens, you're right to think that. I don't belong in the library. I'm currently only working there undercover. I'm actually an FBI agent working to catch some very bad men."

I had to give it to him, with his looks, passing for a librarian would've been difficult, but telling the truth that he was with the FBI? The man was insane. I could see the Twitterverse exploding with "My daughter is dating an FBI agent." Why did he have to give her the ammunition?

"Now, Nate, it isn't very nice to joke around like that with your elders. If you're too embarrassed by your real occupation, just tell me you'd rather not say what you did. As long as you can provide for Avery, we really don't care what you do."

"Elders, really Roxanna?" Nate said, giving my mother an odd look. Even odder was the fact he used my mother's first name. "Rest assured, if Avery ever decided she wanted to be with me, she'd be well provided for."

"That's all I want to hear." Mom took a sip of her tea and I celebrated our pizzas arriving.

When we ran out of pizza, Mom dragged Dad over to take some more pictures of the Brooklyn Bridge, since it was darker. I thought she probably had enough pictures, but I wasn't going to complain about her leaving for a few minutes. Shortly after they left, Nate decided he had to use the bathroom, leaving me sipping my lemonade.

Not long after he left, the phone that he'd left on the table started ringing. I looked and saw it was Liz, so I picked it up.

"Hey Liz, what's up?" I asked.

"Avery? What are you doing answering Nate's phone?"

"He left it on the table, so I decided it was okay to answer."

"Well, I wanted to talk to you anyway. You can come pick up your phone tomorrow. It seems this guy was better than even me, because I traced it until there were no other paths and it ended up coming from Carl's phone. The guy must've seen you with Carl at some point and hijacked his signal to send the text. I've been stuck chasing ghosts for days now."

"That bites. I haven't heard from the creep in days, so maybe it doesn't matter anymore. I'll make sure to pick it up tomorrow. The disposable I bought to temporarily replace it hasn't been the same."

We said good-bye and hung up, right as a man walked over to the table.

"Excuse me, miss, but your party asked me to have you meet them outside."

I figured Mom wanted to get some pictures of me, so I thanked the man and left him behind as I made my way outside.

Once outside, I looked around, but I didn't see my parents anywhere. I continued searching for them and all of a sudden I felt something pressed into my back.

"Hello, my sweet, I'd like you to come with me quickly and quietly, so I don't have to use this gun on you."

I recognized the voice and it seemed I was finally going to come face-to-face with my stalker.

CHAPTER 28

Only the good die young

"Carl, what in the world do you think you're doing?" I yelled. I hoped someone would hear and notice that a crazy person potentially had a gun pointed at me.

He wasted no time ripping Nate's phone out of my hand and throwing it as far as he could, which was surprisingly far. I couldn't believe how messed up my life was. Mild mannered Carl was my stalker? Whoever controlled the universe evidently decided I'd done something to displease them.

"Avery, I can't believe you didn't guess. I mean, the line I gave you about not being able to track where the email was coming from? Come on, no one is good enough to get away from me, even if they use false names. I can always find them. Now get to walking."

I felt the gun dig into my back. Not only was Carl not as mild mannered as I'd previously thought, he was cocky.

"Carl, this is stupid, where are you taking me?" I asked as he led me towards a car hidden in an alley.

"I want us to spend a little time getting to know each other, my sweet. To do that, we have to get away from the city and your boyfriend for a little while."

We were at a car, and he opened the back passenger-side door. He motioned for me to get in and I tried to think of my options. I was again in a situation where all I had was knives versus a gun.

"I'll have you know he isn't my boyfriend," I said, gritting my teeth. How many times did I have to tell people before they got it through their heads?

"Could've fooled me," Carl said, right before I felt something heavy hit the back of my head and things went black.

* * *

An unknown amount of time later, I started coming to. I rubbed the back of my head, which was sporting a very lovely bump.

"Where am I?" I looked around the room trying to take inventory. I was on a bed in a room that contained, a bed. Someone evidently forgot to call the interior decorator.

I went to the single door in the room and tried the knob. Locked, imagine that. The room had walls that were windowless and white. It also sported plain beige carpet. I really hoped I didn't have to stay there long, because I'd quickly become bored to death with nothing to look at.

Deciding nothing in the room was going to help me get out of the situation, I took stock of myself. I was still wearing my clothes, so that was a positive. It meant he didn't remove my knives.

Evidently, I was dealing with an idiot kidnapper. Who doesn't check the victim for weapons? I searched my pockets and ended up pulling out my wallet and some little silver circular thing that was stuck in one of my front pockets. It had to be part of the anti-theft device from the store and the girl just didn't get rid of it. No matter, I didn't think it'd help. The wallet wasn't really a help either, so I put it back.

After who knows, maybe ten minutes, maybe an hour, I heard something outside the door. I situated myself in the middle of the bed, waiting for, I was guessing, Carl to enter. The door opened and the man himself stood there.

"Carl, long time no see. I have to tell you the decorator you hired totally failed on this room."

"I'll have to let my friend know you don't approve. He's letting me borrow his cabin for a little while. He thinks we're having a romantic weekend away together, which of course we are. He just doesn't know I had to force you to join me." He came further in the room and shut the door.

"Oh, does that mean I'll get to see more of the house sometime soon?"

"We'll have to see how you behave. If you're a good girl, you can go anywhere you want."

"What exactly qualifies as a 'good girl' in your mind?"

"It's more that I have to be able to trust you won't try to run away. That part is actually for your safety. We're out in the middle of nowhere and I don't want you getting lost. I think having a gun with me at all times should keep you pretty well under control though."

I thought to myself, oh yeah, tell that to the last guy who held a gun on me.

"What exactly do you want to happen here, Carl?" I asked. The situation seemed pretty clear, but I wanted to hear him admit he was a psycho.

He started talking while he paced the room. "What I want is for you to realize what I've known for seven years now. We belong together. I stayed away when you first arrived in the office because of how young you were. Then I wasn't even that upset when you did get another boyfriend years ago, since I knew he didn't strike any passion within you. I felt it was good for you to branch out and see that others weren't what you wanted," he paused very briefly to collect his thoughts.

"After that I was happy with the way our relationship was. Neither of us seeing anyone, but we saw each other every day and sometimes we did things together outside of work. As the men in your life went, I was the one who got most of your time. I waited years for an apartment to open up in your area and two years ago, one opened up directly across the street from yours. It was a sign that we were meant to be. I bet you didn't even know we were neighbors.

"Everything was pretty perfect until Agent Barnes came into the picture. Then you were always out with him, letting him touch you and kiss you on the cheek. I couldn't stand it. So I tried to get you to stay away from him, but that only seemed to make him more determined to keep close to you. Today, walking around all lovey dovey with your parents was the last straw. You have to realize he's not for you."

He finally stopped talking and I thought he was done, not just taking a break. If his little speech wasn't so creepy, I would've taken a nap during it. He had to be one of the most cliché stalkers in the world. I wondered if there was a _Stalking for Dummies_ book out there that he took pointers from. Part of me felt bad for him because the love he appeared to strongly feel was positively not reciprocated.

That being said, I had to say again for the millionth time, "Of course he isn't for me. How many times do I have to tell you? There's nothing romantic going on between us."

Carl glared at me. "I know you stayed in his hotel room last night and I watched you guys today. He got to meet your parents and you were walking around holding hands. You can't tell me there isn't anything going on."

"Other than him trying to annoy the hell out of me, there is nothing going on. The hand holding was because I lost a bet. He figured it'd make me mad. The only reason he was out with me and my parents is because he knows the city better than I do.

"If you've been watching me so closely, you know I basically see my apartment and our office. What was I supposed to show my parents?" I paused a second to catch my breath. Then I remembered something. "Speaking of watching me, you sent me pictures of a man's murder. Why in the world did you kill him?"

"Oh that. I didn't actually kill him. I saw you in the deli talking to him and another man I know now was Jimmy Zuba. I didn't recognize Jimmy at first and you were getting a little too cozy with him. So, after you and Nathaniel left, I followed Zuba and the other guy.

"Zuba went straight back to his hotel room, but the other guy got into a car with Olaf Schwartz, so I followed them. I saw Olaf stab the guy after they had an argument. I took the pictures to prove my innocence in case anyone saw me and could put me at the scene. I took a lot of photos and most of them included Olaf in the shot. Since I had the pictures, I thought sending them to you as a warning would work."

I needed to get depolarized. Whatever magnetic frequency I was putting out required some adjustments. I was attracting lunatics in droves. I really needed to get out of the room, and I only saw one way to do it and I didn't like it.

"I understand, Carl. You feel a strong connection to me. I won't lie, I can feel it too, maybe not quite as strong as you do, but it's most definitely there." I vomited a little in my mouth saying the words. My body felt like it rose a few degrees in temperature, and I hoped a flush wouldn't develop to reveal my lies.

"I knew you'd understand," he said, walking over to me and caressing my cheek with his hand. He then leaned in and gave me a kiss where his hand had been. It took everything I had not to flinch and keep a smile on my face.

"You know, Carl, I'm really thirsty. Could I get something to drink?" I was hoping he'd let me go with him, but even if he didn't, I'd settle with being away from him. I needed a chance to think and the anger I felt with him in the room was causing my brain to misfire.

He placed his hands on each side of my face and started stroking my hair a little. "Of course. I should've brought something down for you. I hit your head pretty hard. I'm really sorry about that, but I wanted to make sure to get you knocked out on the first try, so I didn't have to hit you multiple times. Let's go upstairs. I'll show you the rest of the place while I get you some water."

"That sounds great," I said, in shock that he was letting me out of the room that easily. Either the man was really gullible or he had something up his sleeve. From how the night had gone, I was betting on gullible.

He opened the door and led me out a small hallway to a staircase. "Up you go."

We made it up the stairs and came out to one really big open room. From there I could see the living room, kitchen, dining room, a bathroom and a couple of bedrooms. The doors to all the rooms were open, so there wasn't any question about what was inside the rooms.

"Wow, this is a really nice place." I said, still taking it all in. It was a cute cabin, I could admit that much.

"Yeah, my friend uses it as a hunting retreat sometimes. It's really nice when you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city." We walked over to the kitchen and I got my promised glass of water.

I was actually thirsty, so I drank it quickly. The overheating going on in my body didn't get any relief, but my mouth no longer felt like it was full of cotton.

"What now?" I asked, curious how far he'd planned things out.

"Well, I know everything about you, but if we're going to get married, you should probably learn a little something about me." He took me into the living room, where we sat down and he told me his life story.

After only thirty minutes, I was wondering how much more I could take. I found out after an hour, that an hour was without a doubt my limit. I decided to try things nicely first, if that didn't work, I was drawing the knives and making a run for it.

"Carl, we have everything worked out between us. Why don't we head back to the city now?" I asked as sweetly as possible with eyelash flutter included.

"No, we can't. We're having a romantic weekend getting to know each other. When we go back on Monday we can tell everyone how happy we are together and start planning the wedding."

I mentioned he was delusional fifty times already, right? He immediately went back to telling his story.

A whole weekend was not in my cards. I calculated my distance to the exits and decided the front door was my best bet. It was still about fifteen feet away, so I needed a diversion. He was sitting on my left side, which made it easier for me to slide my hand into my right side pocket.

I was careful not to make any big movements, much like how I'd acted when I was dealing with Schwartz. My hand gripped my trusty throwing knife and I slowly dragged it out. I then pressed it between my thigh and my hand, away from him, taking a second to calm myself.

The breathing exercises weren't working, so I decided to act. Not wanting to really hurt him, just scare him enough to allow me to escape, I raised the knife up quickly and sliced it across his arm, dropping the knife as I did. He screamed and I stood, trying to make a run for it. While running, I pulled out the knife from my other thigh sheath to have handy just in case.

I got the door opened before I heard a gunshot and felt a pain in my right calf. I fell to my knees in agony.

"Avery, this is not what was supposed to happen. Why couldn't you just be happy?" he asked.

"Because I'm not a psychopath," I yelled, turning to him. I threw my knife, knowing that with the pain I was in I wouldn't be accurate. As it was flying through the air, he fired his gun again. That time it hit me in my shoulder. I collapsed to the ground on my side.

The pain elevated to excruciating levels. Before I totally blacked out for the second time that day, I swore I heard someone scream, "Drop the gun now!"
CHAPTER 29

If I wanted to hear your opinion, I'd remove the duct tape

I regained consciousness in a hospital bed, more than a little bit groggy. I could hear the beeping of machines and smell the sterile scent that always permeates through a hospital. Opening my eyes, I looked to my own greenhouse of flowers with a big bouquet of purple daisies as the centerpiece.

"Wow, it looks like someone died in here. I hope everyone got the memo I was still alive," I said to no one. I didn't know enough people to warrant all the flowers, so I was confused by them.

"I made sure of it," Nate replied, sitting up from the couch in the room. He then stood up and stretched a little. He looked like he was wearing the same thing I saw him in last. I decided to be nice and not comment about how his hair had seen better days. I doubted mine was in pristine condition.

"So, I take it the doctors confirm my suspicions that I'm going to live?"

"Yes, but you'll have to take it easy for a while. You'd lost a lot of blood by the time the paramedics were able to get to you. The doctor removed one of the bullets and left the other as a souvenir. So in the future, you're going to have a blast at airport security. Thankfully, nothing vital was hit and no bones were even broken from the bullets tunneling through your body. You're a very lucky woman."

He moved closer and stood next to my bed, brushing the hair back from my face. I could feel the usual tingles I got whenever he touched me. They happened so often I'd stopped noticing them for a while.

"You really should carry a fabric softener or something in your pocket," I said, tired of getting zapped one time too many.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, giving his usually 'you're unbalanced' look.

"The shocking." His expression didn't change, so I went ahead and spelled it out for him. "Come on, you have to feel that. Every time you touch me I get electrocuted. Do you drag your feet around on every carpeted surface you can find?"

He laughed, which wasn't what I expected. I'd come to realize I'd never be able to predict his reactions to things I did or said.

"Oh that. Sorry, I can't do anything about the sparks, but rest assured no one else has complained about it."

I found that hard to believe with how much it annoyed me. Of course, before Nate, it took quite a bit to get me riled up.

"So what's going on with Carl and how did I get here?"

It was time to figure out what happened to my missing block of time. I didn't know how much time I needed to be filled in on, but I wanted to know everything. Nate sat down in the chair next to my bed to tell his story.

"My boss had been harping on me to set a date to be back in Chicago and I didn't want to leave the city with your stalker still on the loose. The day out with your parents was meant to lure him in. It worked surprisingly well, but I wasn't planning on you getting shot in the process. If you could've held out another five minutes we would've got you out of there in one piece.

"I placed a tracking device in your jeans pocket that morning just in case the person found a way to separate us. After I came back from the bathroom and found you missing, I first checked in with your parents, but they hadn't seen you. I activated the tracking on my end and found you were moving away rather quickly, so I assumed someone had taken you.

"When I got there, Carl had already shot you and was in the process of turning the gun on himself. I shot his arm to get him to drop the gun and subdued him until backup could arrive. He's currently in a nice padded room getting the help he needs."

"You're the hero, as usual, but believe me a saint couldn't have sat there listening to his life story. He started at his very first memory and moved forward by day. He has to have a photographic memory or something. We got to the second grade and him getting an A on a test.

"If I didn't use the knife on him at that moment, there was a good chance I'd have used it on myself. I don't really want to go into details of the craziness that went on in the short amount of time I was in that house. Just remembering it is making me shiver and that hurts. When am I getting out of here?"

Hospitals had always been scary to me and even passed out for my whole visit, it had been too long. I should've asked for more details about how long I'd been out, but escaping the hospital seemed just as important.

"The doctor says you'll be in for probably three more days. If I know you at all, I'm pretty sure that translates to a lifetime."

"Ugh! I don't want to stay that long," I whined. I wondered if they'd knock me out for the duration.

"Too bad, and not only that, but they don't want you going home alone. I've taken a couple months leave of absence and have already moved into your apartment to get things ready for your homecoming," he said with a sinister grin.

"You're joking, right? You really need to give that key back. I'm sure I can get Frannie to come over and hang out for a while each day. I don't believe I need live in help." I tried to assure him.

"How about a live in boyfriend then. Along with my leave of absence, I also put in for a transfer. It should be finished in about a week. I didn't think you'd be comfortable moving to Chicago, so I figured it was up to me to make a move."

"Am I still under anesthesia or did I actually die? There is no way you just announced we were going to start dating. I've spent days telling everyone there wasn't anything romantic between us. You can't just decide there is all of a sudden." My bottom lip protruded as I started to pout.

"Sorry to disappoint, but this is real life. I decided when I saw the second bullet hit you, if you survived, I didn't care if we were working together on a mission or not, we're moving past the working relationship," he informed me, leaving no room for me to argue.

"What if I don't want a relationship? What if I'm fine with the way things are? Don't I get a choice in the matter?" I asked deciding to argue anyway.

"At this point, no. Everything has been removed from your hands. Later I'll plead that you were too hopped up on pain killers and one of us had to make the decision." He was speaking in his arrogant voice and I wished I could slap him.

"What about my parents? Where are they and what do they know?" I couldn't imagine the situation was easy to explain to my mother.

"I'm sorry," he said, and I pretty much had all the answer I needed. "They were in the room when Liz was telling me about tracing the text message to Carl's phone and how she'd told you to come down and pick up your phone from the office. Your mom asked where she worked and Liz, being Liz, told her all about where you guys work and what you do. If ever there was a need for duct tape, it'd be on that woman's mouth."

"So how'd they take it? I'm guessing they weren't happy about being lied to all these years."

"Your dad screamed 'I knew it' and your mom just said 'that figures' and shrugged her shoulders."

"What in the world did Daddy think he knew?"

"He knew about your computer skills, maybe not how advanced you were, but he knew those skills would be wasted in a library. He didn't know you were working for the government, but he thought you had to be doing something with your brains because 'he didn't raise no fool.' That's a direct quote by the way."

"It sounds like you guys have gotten pretty chummy."

It appeared that he was a lot closer to them than I'd ever been, although, during our tour I thought we made up a lot of ground. At least up until the point Mom started asking the dating questions and grilling Nate about his job.

"Sitting around, watching and waiting to hear that someone you care about isn't going to die, is something people naturally bond over. They've been here from the time the nurses wheeled you in after surgery until just recently. I finally made them go to their hotel to get some rest. Your mom and I almost came to blows, but they left almost two hours ago. I imagine they'll be back soon."

Seeing Nate and Mom in a steel cage match would be pretty amusing. I wondered if I could play the injured pity card and get it set up. Nate had supposedly moved into my home, so I felt he owed me a little something.

Looking over at my garden again, I asked, "Are the daisies from you?"

"Of course. You mentioned them once to me and I figured they had to be your favorite. In the same joking way you once also mentioned something about the captain of the Rangers giving you season tickets.

"I couldn't get in touch with him because they're on the road right now, but since I'm moving here, we'll have to get season tickets, even if they don't come from him. That first date of ours was the most I've ever enjoyed a hockey game, and I'm admittedly a hockey nut."

"You'd be right about the flowers. I've always loved anything purple and daisies are just so cheerful. As far as season tickets go, they'd be awesome, but I'm pretty sure once you're exposed to my sports aggression for a few games, you're going to wish you never got season tickets. Plus, there's that whole deal about me not liking crowds."

"As long as you don't start body slamming hockey moms, I think I can live with a little yelling."

"I swear that only happened once and that lady really deserved it. No one talks about my little chirper and gets away with it," I said with conviction.

"Your 'little chirper'? I'm not sure I like this unhealthy relationship you have going on with him. If you aren't careful, you may end up in the room next to Carl."

"That is so not funny. I have no delusions of a relationship, but it's guaranteed I'll be screaming the loudest when he's on the ice."

"I think it's best we move the conversation on from talking about him. How about I go and get you some food to eat? They don't want you eating anything too crazy, so I was thinking a chicken wrap and some chicken noodle soup," he suggested.

My stomach rumbled at just the thought of food. "I guess that answers your question."

"That it does. I'll be back in a few minutes." He walked towards the door and turned. "Oh and the answer is three."

"What?" He'd lost me because I had no idea what the question was.

"You said you always carry the same number of knives. You used two during the fight and they removed a third from your body when they were checking out your injuries."

I laughed. "Darn. That means you've learned all my secrets. How will you ever find me interesting again?"

"Don't worry I'm sure there are other mysteries to uncover. Give me another month and then maybe I'll know everything." He walked out the door to get me my food.

I lay back down and shut my eyes, deciding to take a little nap while he was gone. The next couple of months in close quarters were going to be interesting. I planned on taking bets on who'd kill the other person and how soon it would happen. Any takers on that bet?

**THE END**
AFTERWORD

The place I try to make sense of all my ramblings

I just wanted to say thank you again to anyone who stuck it out and read the whole book Please stay tuned. When we next hear from Avery, she'll be past her recovering period and there will be a lot of changes in her life. She'll have a new job, try to get over some lifelong fears and maybe even get a pet. At the same time, we'll find out a secret that has been hidden from Avery since the day she was born. Fun times ahead.

**Amber**
About the Author

Amber has always had a passion for the written word. Along with that, she's always had ideas for stories swimming around in her head. It finally got to the point where she couldn't take it anymore and had to start getting her thoughts down on paper. There are still too many ideas, but she is working to get them out as fast as she can. Her hope is that one day her brain will be hers again.

Other hobbies of Amber's include: drawing, baking, arts and crafts, motorcycles, hockey and archery. She likes to think she has eclectic tastes where her hobbies are concerned. She loves to laugh and tries to make herself smile at least once a day. With the crazy thoughts going on in her head that usually isn't hard.
Other books by Amber Lynn:

Argonauts' Adventures

The Witch's Web

The Dragon's Fire

Daughter of Gaia Series

Daughter of Gaia

Queen of Aquima

Nightwalker Saga

The Nightwalker Knocks

The Nightwalker Teaches

Unlucky in Love series

Calypso in Love

Nani in Love

Rhea in Love

Hermia in Love

Desma in Love

Nyx Slaughter series

Night Calls

Night Marks

Night Bites

Night Howls

Night Lurks

Night Finds

Night Rises

Nyx Slaughter: Books 1-7

More Books

Searching for Home

Between Blood

