NorthernPassion (7 page)

On Point

Desiree could have never imagined they would be back in the
French countryside so quickly. The city was one thing. That wasn’t really so
different than any other city in the United States when it all boiled down to
it, but the loveliness of this place was what made France so French. She walked
carefully along the cobblestone street to the designated meeting area,
concentrating hard to avoid tripping. The place was quintessentially French—an
outdoor café formed by a simple tent over some tables, nestled between tourist
attractions and other small village businesses. The cooking was the only thing
actually done inside the building. She pulled her trench coat tighter around
her to stave off the wind. It was damp and everything was stone. Desiree
shivered. It felt as if there was nothing to absorb the chill left by the water
but the people. The area was breathtakingly beautiful set against the rolling
hills as a backdrop, but Desiree certainly wished it were warmer. She loved
this part of France, but she could take or leave the early spring weather.

A waiter greeted her and she nodded, holding up two fingers,
rather than try to stumble through her broken French. She hadn’t practiced
since their time at the inn, all of the neighbors spoke English first and
peppered it with the occasional French expression. She needed a few more days
to get back into the swing of things. Her waiter ushered her to a table near
the back where she had a clear view of the entrance. Desiree glanced around the
tent. Despite having no windows, the inside was bright and warm, heated by
kerosene heaters interspersed between the tables. She ordered coffee and slid
into her seat to wait for Reed. She calculated she had about ten minutes to
wait. Reed was one to make an entrance at every opportunity. His job might be
back office, but he absolutely had a flair for the dramatic.

The coffee came quickly. Desiree could barely wait to push
the plunger down on the French press. She absolutely needed something to calm
her nerves. This was the first time she would be meeting with Reed alone. He
usually saved these directional meetings for Sam. She took a deep breath. This
was unusual all around. Reed barely, if ever, left the relative safety of the
agency’s offices anymore. She had been told that eons ago, Reed had been the
best of the best among the agents in the field. Ancient history or rumor, she
wasn’t sure which. In this case, he was all the way in France, far outside his
normal stomping grounds. Desiree stirred her coffee as she contemplated this
new turn of events. She and Sam weren’t sure what Reed’s arrival meant. Maybe
she and Sam had appeared to have too much fun in France the last time they were
there or something. Or maybe he didn’t like how they had handled their last
assignment in India.

Reed never entered the way people thought he would, but
Desiree was still thrown off guard when he appeared behind her at the back of
the tent room. It was almost too ordinary. She half expected the man to enter
through the roof by rappelling down from a helicopter or something. He was
ancient, but he was certainly fit enough to do something like that. He slipped
up beside her quietly and tapped her on the shoulder. She jumped so high she
almost missed the seat coming back down. His half-sneer, half-smile didn’t make
Desiree feel amused at all. He seemed to derive some kind of sick joy from keeping
both Sam and her on their toes.

“Dammit, Reed,” Desiree said. “Are you trying to give me a
heart attack or something? Not funny at all.” Refusing to let him throw her off
her game, she struggled to contain her annoyance. There was no way she was going
to give him the satisfaction of seeing her frazzled and he damn sure was going
to try as hard as possible to unsettle her. That was just the way he was. Reed
always had something to prove, but none of them were sure what that was. He
wasn’t even sure. He was just one of those people who derived some kind of
twisted pleasure from annoying others every chance he could get.

“Well, Miss Desiree.” A smirk settled on his face. “It’s not
really about you. I was actually just trying to see how on your game you are.
So far, the confidence isn’t high.” He pulled out his chair to join her at the
table. “I’m thinking it’s not such a good thing for me to be able to sneak up
on someone in your line of work. I would think Sam taught you better.” Reed’s
mouth pulled into a tight, thin line so quickly, his earlier laughter was
barely a memory.

Desiree sighed. She’d worked for the agency for a while now
but had yet to get used to Reed’s strange ways. “I’m surprised to see you in
country. This is unusual, isn’t it?”

“It is. I admit I could have done this via video chat but
why should you guys have all the fun? I wanted to hop on over and see why the
two of you seemed to be so reluctant to leave France. First, you vacation here,
then you beg to be put on assignment here. You know, if I had my choice I’d
have you on an assignment where it was a billion degrees and you had to camp in
a tent and boil your water before you could drink it. Separately. Nothing like
this.” He waved his hand around. “Joy. Sounds like paradise. I take it you guys
are okay in that cushy ex-pat neighborhood you’re holed up in?”

Desiree nodded. “It’s quite lovely.” It didn’t matter what
she said. Her opinion about the setup was of no importance to Reed.

Reed mimicked her. “Yes, quite lovely. Don’t get too used to
playing house like you’re a grown-up or anything. I had to come and see
firsthand that your allegiance wasn’t changing.” His eyes bore into Desiree’s
as he spoke. She shuddered. It felt as if he were peering through to the core
of her soul.

She managed a thin smile. It was more like he had to come to
make sure they weren’t having too much fun. For her last assignment, they had
been sent to India and although it was magnificent, it was hot all the time and
the conditions were very different than the western standards they were used
to. Yes, she was certainly enjoying the ruse, but he didn’t need to know how
much. If Desiree had learned anything at all in her short time with the agency,
it was that she should keep some things close to her chest. “It’s all good,
Reed, I assure you.” There was almost an understanding at the agency that said
you always looked a little pained no matter the circumstances. It wouldn’t do
to make anything seem to easy. “In the name of justice, right?”

He paused, his hands now on the large manila envelope he’d
brought with him. “Justice.” He nodded. “If you say so. I also had to make sure
you and Sam weren’t forgetting what time it was. Your romance—”

Desiree was immediately defensive. Romance sounded so
impermanent. “Our relationship? What about it?”

“I know how fleeting these things can be. It’s highly
unorthodox to have this type of thing on my watch. Normally, I frown on
fraternization among coworkers.” He paused.

Bullshit
, Desiree thought. No one really knew what
happened when people were in the field. Or in the locker room for that matter. “Unless
it serves you, right? There has been nothing but opportunity to use our
relationship to the advantage of the agency.” She paused. “That is how you
found me.”

It had been okay for Sam to romance her when he was
undercover and she was just a civilian. It seemed the agency condoned playing
with people’s feelings as long as it was a means of them getting what they
needed. They hadn’t counted on Sam and Desiree falling in love for real. Desiree
was very aware that when his case had been solved, Sam was supposed to have
just kicked her to the curb like a discarded, used tissue. Sometimes the
reality of that thought still smarted, especially since now she so often felt
she couldn’t live without Sam if she tried.

“That may be, but I need to remind you now that the
assignment, whatever it is, is primary, right? And when this—fling or whatever
you two insist on having is over, you can’t let it get in the way of the job.”

Desiree knew this was coming. This was why he wanted to meet
with her and not Sam. She was surprised the condescending speech hadn’t
happened earlier. Reed never missed an opportunity to treat anyone like a
child, much less Sam. And now apparently that had extended to Desiree too. She
cleared her throat and tempered her words with a soft smile. “Reed, we’re
professionals. I know I’m new but Sam is damn good at his job. You said he was
one of the best yourself.” She raised her eyebrows. “Remember that? In your
recruiting speech?”

It was Reed’s turn to be pensive as if contemplating his
next move. His gaze centered on Desiree’s and she was sure he was trying to see
if she would crack. Finally, he sat back in his chair. “Right. He is.”

Sam’s record spoke for itself. Still, Reed’s words felt like
an attack on Desiree.

She was used to it. Desiree sucked in her breath and counted
to ten. All her life, people underestimated her or treated her as if she was
just a pretty face, but she was much more than what was on the surface and
could deal with anything Reed sent her way. “What you got for us?”

“No us,” Reed said. “Just you.”

Suddenly, the sound of waiters moving sounded louder than it
had before. This was new. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we know the guy you met in the hallway was part owner
of a research firm here in France.” Reed pushed a business card across the
table. “Or at least that’s what they say they do. Market research. We need you
to pose as a customer. We think there’s much more going on behind the scenes.”

Desiree was one step ahead. “Well his friends seemed to have
these parties where things are quite loose and free. We went to one but didn’t
see much action. We’re hoping to be invited again. I would bet this is somehow
tied into that business but I don’t know how his supposed death would affect
that.”

“Supposed?”

“No body. There was a memorial but no casket at the funeral
and he wasn’t identified at the accident site.”

“So you’re thinking—”

“I’m not thinking anything. Life has taught me to be a
skeptic. Some things I just have to see to believe. It just seems odd there
were no remains and the woman who claimed to be his sister—no one has seen her
either. Turns out, she is actually related to our neighbor. Now unless they are
all one big happy family, she was lying about something.”

Reed nodded. “That’s what you’re going to find out.” He
pushed an envelope across the table. “Your new neighbors don’t know what you do
yet, right?”

Desiree shook her head. “They think I’m still trying to
figure it out.”

“Good. You are now the owner of a small company. You want to
figure out how to expand your customer base into France.” He paused, allowing
time for Desiree to take in all the information. “You’ll also find information
about your new Facebook page in here. Passwords, etc. You need to become
familiar with it and you and Sam need to take over posting.”

She took the envelope but didn’t open it. “We’ve seen the
page but haven’t used it. Someone’s been doing it already?”

“Of course. We’ve created a history and everything. This
page makes it appear you and Sam have been running a joint Facebook page for
over two years.”

“Joint Facebook. Kinda creepy, like adults dressing alike.”

Reed ignored her. “Whoever wants to can go back and look
through your history and stalk all your friends if they like. Even check out
who you and Sam both dated before you were married to each other.” The grimace
on his face told Desiree what he thought of the idea.

Desiree’s eyes narrowed.
How much real life had they
included?
That was something she would have to explore later. Like Sam,
when she was deep in it, she wanted to be far removed from the reality that was
her life, just in case she needed to take refuge in that reality later.

“Don’t worry, we gave you a totally made-up timeline.”

Had Reed added mindreading to his skills?

“Nothing or no one who knew you before will link you to this
profile at all and it really wouldn’t matter if they did. You two are just
normal people, albeit a little freaky when you’re put together.” He was almost
gloating at the imagined genius of his plan. “This is important. This group
appears to operate on Facebook a lot.”

Her eyes narrowed. “How freaky?”

Reed’s eyes bore into hers. “I need you to focus. Sam is
your husband for this purpose, nothing more. Who cares how freaky? You need to
be the one who posts most of the page. It’s a joint-couple page. The history is
all made up but still believable. None of us at the agency actually care what
you did before you were in our employ. Got it?”

How could she not? He’d made himself quite clear. They were
just pawns in this game. The request did strike Desiree as odd. Up until now,
Sam had been the lead on their assignments but she welcomed the opportunity to
spread her wings a bit. Pensive, she nodded. This was certainly a switch from
her being the housewife at home waiting for her corporate husband to return and
it sounded like a lot more fun. “I still say it’s sappy. A couple’s page?”

Reed nodded. “Yes. Follow the example that’s been set.
Thanks to the technology department, you two are one helluva happy couple with
quite an adventurous history.”

A smirk crept onto Desiree’s face. Knowing Reed, there was
much more beneath his use of the word adventurous than met the eye.

He continued. “If you do this right, they will invite you to
join their closed group. They call it the Passion Club.”

* * * * *

And it was easier than she thought it would be. After she
left Reed, Desiree placed her call to Derek’s company asking about their
services and they scheduled a conference with her without asking too many
questions. Everything about the encounter made Desiree uneasy. Slowly, she let
the hand holding her phone drift back to her side. Sam looked at her wide-eyed.