Codename: Kryptonite

Chapter Four

When he raised his hand to knock on the door, it occurred to him that although she'd said she had 'creds', she hadn't shown them to him. Instead of knocking, he turned to her. "So," he began, "those 'creds' you mentioned? You wouldn't happen to have them in that tiny little purse, would ya?"

She smiled patiently at him. "I wondered how long it was going to take you, Sir. Normally, you're a lot quicker on the uptake than that."

While she reached in her little purse, he wondered at her words. Why did she keep talking like they knew each other? He was fairly certain he'd never met her. He'd remember a looker like her.

There was nothing bashful about the way she handed over her credentials for him to have a closer look. He frowned with concentration while he read the details on her identification.

"Special Agent in Charge, Gabriella Prince?" He grinned boyishly at her. "And what, exactly, are you in charge of?"

Without blinking, she answered. "You."

"Me?" he asked, taken aback. Had someone in the chain of command decided he needed to be watched? That would put a serious crimp in his ability to socialize with the higher ups in the Democratic Party. "What did I do?"

"Nothing." She paused for effect. "Yet."

"What the..."

She interrupted him. "All in good time, Sir. The first cigarette break. I promise."

As bad as it irritated him to wait for his answers, he nodded curtly and knocked on the door.

It was an hour later before Jon was able to sneak away for a cigarette. Gabriella had been the perfect date so far. She'd been gracious and had smiled until he was positive her cheeks had to hurt. She had cautioned him to just introduce her as Gabriella Prince, not to tell people that she was an agent. Jon had enough sense to know that meant she was undercover, but undercover doing what was what he was dying to know.

When they first stepped out onto the balcony of Al's suite, they weren't alone. So, he chewed the inside of his cheek while they made small talk with one of Al's other guests. When the man finally went back inside, Jon turned to her and said, "Okay, now spill."

"It's really not that easy, Sir." She looked inside the door to make sure no one was standing within hearing range. "First, I was instructed to give you something." She began to dig around in her small purse. "I was told that you would recognize it anywhere."

He waited patiently, until she pulled a chain out of her purse, the pendant clutched tightly in her palm. He realized she was a little reluctant to hand it over. "Is there something wrong?"

"The person who gave me this told me it was one of his most prized possessions. He knew he'd never get it back when he sent it with me to give to you, and it seems strange to give it up now."

He held his hand out to her palm up. "I'll be more than happy to put it back in your care then, once I see it."

Gabriella doubted that, very seriously, and told him so. He scoffed at her, and she reached out to put the necklace in his palm, hoping to make him choke on that scoff. He didn't even blink as he looked at a Slippery When Wet pendant in his hand. "Why would this mean anything to me? You can buy these from the fan website now."

"Not like that one, you can't," she assured him. "The inscription on the back is apparently the important part."

Jon frowned at her. Only someone inside the inner circle knew about the inscriptions on the back of the pendants. He flipped it over and sucked in a huge breath. In small print, there it was: #1. "How the fuck did you get this?" Not too many people knew the pendants were numbered, and most of the ones that knew didn't know who had been given what number. Jon knew without a doubt he held Richie's pendant in his hand. "You wait right there," he ordered, pointing one long finger at her, even as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. What the fuck was Richie trying to pull?

He hit the speed dial button to call his friend. And, as soon as Richie answered, Jon barked into the phone, "Where is your pendant?"

"Hi, Rich. Did I interrupt anything, Rich?"

"Fuck you, asshole," Jon growled. "I'm not falling for whatever you're trying to put over on me."

"What the fuck are you talking about, Kidd?"

Jon could hear it in Richie's voice; he had no idea what Jon was talking about. "Where's your pendant?" Jon asked, slightly calmer this time.

Richie reached up and fingered the pendant that hung in the hollow of his throat. "It's around my neck, man. Why?"

"You sure? You're not fucking with me, right?" Jon asked. He hadn't taken his eyes off Gabriella the whole time he'd been talking on his cell phone. She stood leaning slightly against the railing of the balcony, with a look of boredom on her lovely face. It was as if she was simply waiting on him to draw the only obvious conclusion. And yet, he had no fucking clue what that 'obvious conclusion' was.

Absently, he rubbed his thumb across the two little indentions in the back of the pendant. They were right at the bottom one on either side of the 'v' that made up the bottom of the diamond shape. His mind flashed back to a night ten years earlier. It was during the Keep the Faith tour. He'd been in his hotel room, about to go to bed, when he'd heard Richie's voice raised out in the hall.

He'd stuck his head out his own door only to start laughing at the sight in the hall. A very tall red head had her arms around Richie's neck in a death grip, while Rich tried to push her away with both hands. Jon realized the woman had Richie's pendant in her mouth, obviously biting down on it for all she was worth.

Richie rolled his eyes at Jon's laughter. "A little help would be appreciated," he'd called out sarcastically.

"Oh, c'mon, Rich," Jon said between barks of laughter. "Give her a night she'll never forget." He had stepped out into the hallway then to get a better view of the action.

"I'd rather not lay a hand on HIM," Richie barked back, stressing the last word.

That's when Jon realized the she in question had an Adam's apple. Jon fell back against the wall, holding his stomach as he began to laugh even harder.

"Hardy har har," Richie growled in frustration, still trying to push the red head away, and dodge greedy grasping hands at the same time.

Jon was finally able to bite back his laughter long enough to pull on the guy's shoulder. "Let 'im go, buddy. Can't you see he's not interested?"

The guy spun around and punched Jon, knocking him back against the wall. Richie used the space provided to throw a punch of his own. Jon stood holding his nose and glaring down at 'her'. Richie just turned to unlock the door to his room.

"You gonna call housekeeping, or am I?" Jon's voice was muffled by his hands.

"I'm not calling anybody. Do you really wanna admit that you got hit by 'a girl'?" Richie teased as he walked through his door.

"Do you really wanna admit that you were almost raped by a guy?" he'd responded.

"No." Richie leaned back out his door. "To the grave?"

"To the grave," he'd nodded in agreement as he closed his own door.

To this day the words 'That red head in Denver' would bring a smile to both of their faces, but they'd never told a soul.

Now, he flipped the pendant over and found the corresponding marks in the front of the pendant. Said red head had been gap-toothed, and you could still tell by the teeth impressions in the pendant. There was no doubt this was Richie's pendant.

Richie's voice in his ear pulled him back to the present. "Why would I lie to you, Kidd? My necklace is around my neck."

"You're sure it's YOUR necklace?" Jon asked.

Richie rubbed his finger and thumb across the bottom point of the pendant. "Yeah, the red head in Denver's teeth marks are still there."

"I'll call ya back, Rich," Jon said as he disconnected the call. He leveled an icy blue gaze on Gabriella. "What the fuck is going on here?"

"Sir, that requires a very elaborate explanation."

"Then you better start fucking elaborating."