Codename: Kryptonite

Chapter Three

August 22, 2003

That email had been on Jon's mind all damn day. He still wasn't sure who had sent it, and to be honest, he'd half-decided it was some sort of practical joke that Sambo, Joker, or even Obie had put into motion.

The little niggling sense of doubt was using the fact that none of them knew about the impending divorce until he'd told Rich as proof that it was no joke. And, it was all over the news that the plane that Rich should've been on earlier had crash landed due to unexplained engine trouble only two hours after take off. There had been minor to major injuries, even two deaths in first class...where Rich would've been sitting. Had that been why he'd been told to get Rich to cancel his flight? If so, how had the email sender known? It was all very weird!

Jon tried to shrug it all off so that he could enjoy this opportunity to have dinner with his friend. Al was only going to be in town tonight, and had invited Jon to join him and his wife in their hotel suite for a private dinner. There were only a few select close friends invited for the evening, and Jon felt honored to be among them.

Stepping off the elevator, he followed the signs that directed him toward suite number 1143. Just before he knocked on the door, the words from the email flashed through his mind. Furtively, he glanced up and down the hallway to make sure no one was around, then checked his fly.

He sucked in ten lungfuls of air even as he zipped up his pants. What the fuck? How had they known? This had just went eons farther than just plain ol' everyday weird. Quickly, he dug his PDA out of his jacket pocket. He had been just anal enough to save the phone number from the email. Thank God for his type-A personality!

Without even blinking, he stepped away from the door, moving closer to the elevators, and dialed the number on his cell. He heard a cell phone ringing somewhere not too far away, even as it rang in his ear.

A husky feminine voice answered the phone. "Hello, Sir."

He felt absolutely ridiculous when he asked, "Kryptonite?"

"Yes, Sir." There was just the slightest of pauses. "That would be me."

Jon heard the voice in the hallway with him, not just on the phone, and looked up to see a beautiful woman dressed in a beautiful teal blue cocktail dress. She waved at him as she made a big show of closing up her own cell phone. Her light brown hair hung in waves down around her shoulders; he could see the red highlights even in the florescent lighting in the hallway. With four inch heels on her tiny little feet, she was almost as tall as him, but she was tiny with an athletic build. The halter neck of the dress showed off the muscle definition in her arms, and the short skirt showed off tight calves and thighs.

In fact, had he not been so damn curious about how she knew what she knew, he'd be completely taken with that view.

Who was he kidding? He was totally taken with the view.

Awkwardly, he cleared his throat. "I don't even know where to start."

"That's okay, Sir. I'll take you through it step by step, just like always." Her voice was patient and sure. Hell, she even sounded like they'd had this conversation a million times. "But first, let's go in to dinner with Mr. Gore."

That took him completely by surprise. "Uh," he stumbled over his words, "you can't go in there with me. Security stuff. I didn't tell them I was bringing a date."

"Don't worry, Sir. I flashed my creds earlier and told them I'd be your date. I've got this under control."

Why did he feel like they'd had this conversation before? "You are going to explain this all to me at some point, right?" He was trying to stay suspicious, but she seemed like she knew him so well, and she looked so damn good.

"Yes, Sir." She held up her hand in the typical girl scout salute. "I promise. The first time you sneak away for a cigarette, I'll fill you in."

Jon took a deep breath, and offered her the crook of his arm, then smiled at how well her little hand fit there. What the fuck was going on?