Dangerous Liaisons

The Setup

He walked into the suite, escorted by two burly bodyguards with pistols and bad attitudes. A woman sat on one of the two sofas, pouring tea from a china pot into delicate cups with all the reverence of a Japanese Geisha in a tea ceremony.

Seeing him enter, she looked up but didn't smile. Instead, she stood, detached but civil, as if strange men entering her room was not an unusual and moderately unwelcome distraction.

"Jonathan - Jonathan Pine, pleased to meet you!" he held out his hand and the woman smiled coldly.

"Yes, yes you are aren't you. " she eyed him carefully. "Katherine Halloran." She extended a manicured hand with as little enthusiasm as she could manage, her multiple gold bracelets clinking gently.

She wore a diaphanous printed kaftan and Jonathan could make out her attractively toned figure under it, clad in a gold bikini. Her whole appearance was obviously for someone else, no woman would willingly dress like that at 9.30am on a Wednesday morning, even if they were in the south of France.

"Ah yes, the infamous Mr Pine. I've heard so much about you, please sit" she didn't make it sound like a compliment. "perhaps you would care for some tea - it's English Breakfast, can't stand the local stuff." she indicated to the low table between them.

"Thank you, yes." Jonathan sat on the plush sofa, smiling easily, his eyes scanning the room. It was simply a hotel room to the uninitiated. To him though, it was a kill zone. One exit, no cover and plate glass windows all along one side. An assassins paradise. All seemed to be calm for now, no sign of anything untoward so he allowed himself a minute or two to relax.

She handed him the cup and saucer with a small, slightly less hostile smile. "Milk?"

"No, thank you." he took a sip and then put the cup down. Just at that, the door opened and a small, overweight and slightly balding man walked in. He was well dressed with the careless elegance of the very rich.

He nodded to Jonathan, walked straight over to the woman who stood up and kissed him as if no-one else was in the room. Jonathan blushed a little and looked away. They stopped and she sat back down.

"Katherine - please tell me you and Mr Pine have come up with a plan? I would hate to think you have been keeping him a prisoner here just to talk about your shoe collection and how hot it is outside?" the man sat next to her, his stubby arm draped possessively around the back of the sofa they sat on.

"Oh James, but of course. Mr Pine and I were just getting down to it when you arrived." she looked at Jonathan, her double entendre intended to make him deliberately uncomfortable. It worked.

"We were just about to start discussing the arrangements for your flight to Mallorca." Jonathan determinedly ignored the comment and turned to James. "Perhaps you could give me your proposed itinerary at some point today Mr Price? It would make life easier if I knew your movements, I could scope out the route in advance." he made it sound like the most natural thing in the world despite the churning nerves inside. One slip-up could cost him dearly.

"No, that won't be possible" James looked at him and the expression brooked little argument. Jonathan chose to ignore that and ploughed on.

"Sir, if you wish me to look after you and Ms Halloran here, as your security advisor, I would strongly advise you to let me know your plans." Jonathan was starting to get edgy. This was not how it was supposed to be. He needed to know when James Price would be on his way to the airport. He needed to get everything - and everyone - in place.

"You seem on edge Pine. You need to calm down. There's nothing to fear around here, Dickie has everything under control. You're only needed to provide personal protection. You, your gun and your loyalty. Do I make myself clear?" he stood, "Now, we need to leave in twenty minutes, get yourself together darling" he turned to Katherine "only the essentials - we can buy everything we need in Mallorca. Jeds will be there to meet you while Dickie and I talk shop." he kissed her cheek and she batted her eyelashes at him. Internally Jonathan rolled his eyes. She looked quite the pampered mistress. Wonder where his wife thought he was?

"Yes, Darling" she purred, "I'll be sure to bring all my essentials" she stood as he walked out of the room, "oh darling?"

"Yes Katherine"

"Would it be ok if I took Mr Pine as an essential?"

"Oh Katherine, stop teasing the help. You know it makes you look like the cheap tart that we both know you are." James walked out, taking his two goons with him, slamming the door. Katherine turned to Jonathan and smiled, this time, less coldly.

"It would appear that you and I share the same spot in James's opinions eh? Shall we?" she indicated the next room, "since you, like me are just the hired help, perhaps you would assist me?" she still had the polished veneer but now Jonathan could see the woman behind the manicure and the gold bikini. There was more to her than met the eye.

They walked into the bedroom, Jonathan watching her walk as she padded through in a perfectly matched pedicure. Her legs were far from stick thin but she was toned and tanned and very, very pretty.

She was also very, very out of her depth.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Jonathan put a finger to his lips to silence her. He quickly scanned the room with a small device he extracted from his inside pocket. Once he was satisfied all was clear he turned and gathered the shaking woman into his arms.

"Jesus Kate, are you ok?"