Immediately Forgettable

Chapter 13

Stage one of my plan went off without a hitch: Jen agreed to meet with me in her room. Granted, I arranged the meeting under the guise of logistics for tomorrow's tour, but she said yes. Plus, she also remembered who I was, which means that she is either my "Belle" or King was good to his word about putting my pictures up in her room.

Stage two was proving to be a bit more difficult. I stood outside of her door, trying to calm myself down before knocking. Despite my just-out-of-the-shower freshness, I was sweating profusely at the thought of pulling Jen close. I rubbed my hands on my pants to clear them of the accumulated sweat, and then did it immediately again, not satisfied with the results.

I pictured Dagger — whose picture revealed him to be every bit as handsome as I had expected — in danger, and threw myself into stage two. I knocked.

Jen opened her door, offering that brilliant smile of hers that nearly put me at ease. Nearly. She let me in, and I noticed that King's pictures alternated with mine around the room. So probably not Belle.

It was odd seeing my face that big on her wall. King's image was altered into a state of human perfection. Mine was taken by a security camera after a long flight, and I looked it. I was almost glad that I would forget about it the moment I looked away.

All right. Time to take the leap — I reached out and grabbed her hand. I stepped in so as not to pull her to me, my free hand wrapped around her shoulder firmly, but not squeezing. I leaned in, and the sound of my heartbeat filled my ears. My mouth dried up, which was a real problem, because I needed to speak to sell this.

"Please listen closely, but do not react to what I am going to tell you," I managed to croak out softly. I could feel her body tense. "I work for the CIA."

She pulled her head back slightly, eyes widened in surprise. So much for not reacting, although I think that would be the expected reaction if I had just propositioned her.

"I really do work for FTM," I added, not wanting her to think I was a liar. My priority was finding out what King was up to, but that didn't mean I wanted her to think any less of me. "I also work for the CIA, and was told you helped a Homeland Security agent named Dagger."

Still standing in my arms, she nodded slowly I could feel her hair move against my cheek. It felt wonderful. "They sent him here after I had lunch with one of my old college classmates who just started working for Homeland Security. I was telling her about some some suspicions I had, never really thinking much about it," she whispered near my ear. Her breath on my neck gave me goosebumps, and I worried she would notice. I don't think spies were supposed to get goosebumps from a beautiful woman.

She stepped back from me. "Don't worry," she said. "It is safe to talk in these rooms. Special Agent Dagger did a sweep and didn't find anything."

Of course he did, I thought. I took another step back, giving more space between us.

"What made you suspicious?" I asked.

"There were a few things, which I didn't think much of individually, but if you put them all together, it seems strange. My friend thought so, too, I guess, and brought it to her supervisors. It all began when Mr. King employed a second security force. This one seemed more threatening — better armed, more serious."

"Was that who I passed through this morning?"

"No — those are the regular security guys. The new ones came in about eight months ago, and you see them only occasionally. They mainly work in the secret area."

"The secret area? Where was that on the tour?"

She gave a charming half-smile. "It wasn't. I didn't even know it existed until the new security came in. You would see them coming and going from this elevator bank at the rear of the lobby. There was construction over there for a while, but no one paid much attention to it. Always something being built here. King said he was planning on bringing in business consultants over there and not to worry about it, but the guards made you worry — or at least wonder.

"Finally there was the new 'cloak and dagger' executive management team. Basically these two guys who King started meeting with more and more regularly. One guy is always in a suit and sunglasses. I think he runs the security team. The other guy is some older retired-looking guy. Not sure what he does."

"Retired looking?"

"Yeah — shows up in polo shirts and khakis a lot. Carries one of those professor briefcases. You know the ones — leather, wider at the bottom, big strap to keep it shut."

I nodded. "Did Dagger find out anything about them?"

"Not sure. After we met off-campus a few times, he came in as part of the regular security team. We didn't speak much after that, but I did see him a few weeks back. He said he was transferring to the Elite Security team."

"And that was the last you heard from him?"

"Yes. I figured everything checked out and he left. But he didn't, did he?"

"No. It seems Homeland lost track of him shortly after he transferred to Elite."

"Oh. I hope he's okay."

"Me too." But what I was really hoping is that he found out nothing and was enjoying being an employee of King Industries, as I wanted to. That was looking more and more unlikely.

"I'll have to get into that secret area. Is there any time when a large group of people enter it?"

"Not at first, but now it seems people are coming and going all day. At about 8 am a big group of Elites checks in for the day there."

Ahhhh. Big group. Music to the immediately forgettable spy's ears. I should be able to walk in with them completely unnoticed. Not sure what I'll do one I get in there, but hopefully something will come to me.

More important, I hope something comes to me now as I sit on the bed next to Jen. With the spy talk done, I reverted to my shy self. Me as Dagger would have made something happen, but me as me remarked about the late hour and excused myself to return to my room.

"I'll hit the secret area in the morning, and try to check in with you in the afternoon," I said to Jen as she held the room door open for me. She gave a quick nod. Then, just in case, I added, "If you don't hear from me by 1:00, call this number and ask for Special Agent Sloane. He knows who you are."

She looked slightly surprised at that, but took it in stride. "Be careful," she said. I checked the room to see my jet-lagged eyes stare back at me, taking comfort that they would keep in Jen's mind when she woke up tomorrow.

I went back to my room and stared at my ceiling for a few hours before finally falling asleep.

At least Jen was one of the good guys.