Agent Kelly Tomlinson

Four.

Just like I predicted, Lydia and my father Robert were not happy with the story I had to give them revolving around my meeting with Louis. However, my dad didn't seem too surprised and made sure to indirectly tell me "I told you so" without actually saying those irritating words. Robert said he would take care of it, while Lydia just shook her head disappointed. I couldn't tell whether it was at me or at the fact that she was going against protocol by making me work with my non-agent brother and it was already going downhill.

By the end of the meeting it was already 10:00. Lydia handed me an additional file with information reguarding London's police force, specifically who knows about our organization and which criminal justice officials to use for this particular case. I took the file with a sigh as I thought of the more studying I would be spending my night doing.

I walked into the Tech Center which was like all the technology nerds' Heaven. My sneakers patted against the dark grey marble floor. The soft sound of quick typing filled my ears and sent a satisfying wave of energy through me. This place was comforting to me. This place was literally my eyes and ears when I went away for a case. These people were my main protectors, specifically Ian.

He was sitting alone at his desk, typing feverishly on his computer. He was always looking into doing more research whether it was for the company or his own personal interests. I had no doubt in my mind that's what he was doing right now.

My eyes scanned over his neat desk. Other than his computer and its keyboard, the desk was clean of any other objects other than a framed picture of him and his mother resting in the corner. My lips twitched into a saddened grin as I glanced over the glossy photo. His mother was beautiful. She had blonde hair that reached her shoulders and the blue shirt she wore complimented her blue eyes and pale skin. Unfortunately, Ian's mother was killed on a mission in the States. The specifics are still unclear, even to Ian, but we were fortunate enough to obtain her body so that we could give her a proper funeral. Her one year anniversary of her death should be coming up in a couple of months.

"Hey, Ian." I feigned the sadden look on my face with a friendly smile and sat on the empty corner of his desk. I looked at his computer screen and saw a word document that was filled with information in a tiny font.  I don't know how this guy took interest in the research, but I was grateful for people like him willing to do put in the extra work for our benefit.

Ian barely glanced at me before realizing who it was that greeted him. After his double-take looking at me, Ian pushed himself away from the computer in his rolling chair so that he could face me. He smiled amiably at me.

"Kelly. I hear we've got a new case."

"Unfortunately," I said with a breathy sigh. I could hear Louis cursing me out in my head and had to physically shake the memory away. "I would have come to you sooner to talk about the details but I had a lot on my mind and needed to give myself some time to prepare for it. I leave tomorrow."

"Hey," Ian said softly. He reached over and squeezed my wrist as a simple action of comfort. I glanced down at his hand wrapped around my arm in a warm embrace and felt my heart swell with gratitude. "I understand."

Ian gets a copy of my file every time I go away for a case so that he is always in the loop of things that go down. There was no doubt in my mind that he already skimmed through it and saw that I was going to be working with Louis.

"Thanks Ian." I smiled appreciatively. I stood up and moved around his desk so I was standing in front of it. "Would you like to move into the conference room to go over the case?"

Ian nodded and followed me into the back corner that was isolated by white frosted glass walls. Inside was a small rounded table with four chairs around it. On one of the walls was a TV in case anything needed to be displayed for the group. The room was used for people to speak about occurring missions without the threat of being overheard.