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003: two steps forward, one step back

MIDSPRING BALL, NEW YORK CITY (NY): MAY 19 2024 1203

Dragging Logan Watson's unconscious body is hard work.

Jasmine finds herself breathless when she reaches the top floor of the hotel. She grabs the key card she nicked from a passerby and opens the door to the rooftop, where she drops the man and promptly collapses on a bench. The sound of traffic and the dazzling array of neon lights below her would have distracted her if she didn't have a mission to do.

She props Watson up next to her on the bench and turns off his comms. Then she ties his wrists together behind his back.

"You've really got your hands tied, haven't you," she murmurs with a smile.

She proceeds to unarm him, leaving him only a knife - only because it's dull. She find that he has the drive, and turning around in her hands, she finds something strange about it. There's a weird plastic chip in the plug-in area. With a closer look, she finds that it's a fake.

Nicely played, Jasmine thinks with a slight smile. She finds the real hard drive in his dress shirt chest pocket and slips it into her handbag without a second glance.

Jasmine gets up to leave, but not before glancing back, to see whether she had the job finished properly. There is a barbed fence surrounding the premise, and no one can get in or out without a key card. With of a smile of satisfaction, she dusts herself off and leaves the terrace.

: :

"Dietering has left, without handoff," Erin reports in the receiver. "Drugged the other end, got him taken care off."

"Good," Jasmine says, turning the corner back into the party. "I have the drive. The Alpha is upstairs, on the roof."

"Barbed wire fence, right? Nice work, girl. He won't know what hit him."

"And that is why I'm the top female agent," Jasmine says with a smirk.

: :

Jasmine meets up with Erin, who agrees it's time to leave. They take some more bottles of the (undrugged) champagne and some wine, and headed over to the van. Erin drives while Jasmine sits shotgun, and Delia is looking over the security footage again to see if there are any loose ends.

Erin and Jasmine make small talk for a while, until finally their conversation lands on Logan Watson.

"This kid was naïve enough to tell me where he hid his pistol," Jasmine snorts, taking a long sip of her bottle.

"Well, 'this kid' was actually pretty hot," says Erin. "I mean, damn, have you seen those eyes?"

"True," agrees Jasmine. "He was handsome and shit, but he definitely seems like the player type. I don't go for those. Also... he's an Alpha."

"Also true. But you know I go for those types."

Jasmine squints at Erin. "Are you saying you have the hots for someone I'm probably going to have to kill?"

"I'm just saying that I wouldn't mind dating him," Erin says defensively. "I would definitely not mind hooking up with him."

"You're talking an ONS, right? Because we have a mission."

"Jas," Erin sighs. "This agent is hot and smart and gorgeous, and you are telling me it's wrong to think about fucking him senseless."

"Well... yeah."

"You need to let loose a little. This 'attached' business is getting you nowhere. There are plenty of guys chasing after you that are completely swoon-worthy and you keep turning them down."