Espion | Book One

Thirty.

Six o' clock on the dot, Annabelle rose out of her bed. She flung Mina's leg aside, pushing her over to her side of the bed and climbed out herself. Mina's nasal snort had her stopping for a moment, but her friend only swallowed and rolled over onto her belly, throwing her arm over herself. Anna shook her head and rose to her feet.

The usual routine of washing her face and making her coffee passed as normal. As the coffee brewed, she made her way to her spare bedroom, where Dan and Jessi slept. Jessi, being the injured one, slept on the bed, while Dan slept on the couch.

Anna walked up to Jessi's sleeping frame, watched him. After a few seconds passed, he stirred and his eyes opened. "Anna?"

"Morning," she greeted, sitting on the bedside. "Feeling any better?"

Groaning, Jessi tried sitting up. Anna reached out and pushed him back down. "Don't strain yourself," she said. "The pill must be wearing off."

"Have any more of that around?" he asked her, frowning in pain.

Anna chuckled. "I do but you're not getting any."

"Cruel woman."

"Trust me, okay? Too much at one time will do more damage than anything else." She pulled the sheet over him, properly tucking him in. "Sleep some more."

"What time is it?"

"Six ten," she answered.

"Are you usually up this early?"

Anna shrugged. "I guess. Now, stop talking and get some more rest."

"Stay with me?" He grinned devilishly at her.

Anna almost said yes. It was right on the tip of her tongue, just as much as the urge to jump into the bed beside him was in her joints. She wanted nothing else but to sleep beside him, but she had things to do and a girl to find. That would have to wait. So instead of jumping right on board, Anna rolled her eyes, leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "There. That should hold you over for a while."

"I'm not so sure about that," Jessi said, still grinning.

She kissed him twice this time, on both cheeks. Still, Jessi shook his head. "You can do better than that."

Anna couldn't help smiling when she leaned down and planted a long kiss on his lips. Jessi made a sound of appreciation in the back of his throat when she pulled away. She wanted to mimic it, but she only smiled harder. "That's much better," Jessi said.

"Glad I could be of help," Anna said. "Now sleep."

Slowly, she got to her feet and inched her way to the door. Jessi watched her all the way, that dopey smile on his face. Anna waved to him before she slipped out the room.

Her smile never faded though. She supposed it was rather ill fitting to be smiling so happily at a time like this, when Jessi's best friend was in such danger, but she couldn't help it. She was happy. It was odd and it was welcomed. The first time in forever she ever felt something so real ... and her life was in trouble because of it. Assassins couldn't have cohorts. They couldn't form long lasting relationships with anyone, out of fear that it might dull their sense of dedication to a mission. It was why she generally stayed away from people and it was also why her life as an assassin was in danger.

No use thinking about that now. That was for the future, when the mission was over. Right now, she had to get Angela back home safely, protect Jessi until the will was out, which was tomorrow, then let the NPA take care of the rest.

She was pouring her second cup of coffee when her doorbell rang. Instead of instantly reaching for her gun, Annabelle casually made her way to the door, peaked through the peephole and opened it. Roger breezed past, smelling of expensive cologne and AC. He went straight to the kitchen, where he poured himself a cup of coffee and downed it in one go.