Undercover with the Hottie (Investigating the Hottie) (17 page)

“Amanda, sit in the back with your aunt. Will, take the passenger seat. I'll drive.”

He helped Christie in, and then I ran around to get in the other side. Before I pulled open the door, Nic said in a low voice, “They gave her a sedative to help with shock, but I don't want her getting cold. Cuddle up next to her. Pretend it's for you if you have to.”

“Will do.”  When I got inside, I scooted toward her. “Lean on me,” I said.

To my surprise, she didn't protest. I put my arm around her shoulders, and she curled up against my chest.

“I love you,” I said.

“I love you too.”  She yawned and closed her eyes.

“Can you tell us what you found out back there?” Will asked.

“Of course,” Nic said. “The mercenary gave his bank account information so we can track the transfer of money. He thinks that the people who hired him set him up to take the fall for this, so he's talking. You have no idea how rare it is to get this kind of cooperation. He had two cell phones on him, and the analysts have started on them.”

“Did we get the woman?” I asked.

“The woman left,” Christie mumbled. “Supposed to return but she never did. You didn't grab her before you freed me?”

“No,” Nic said. “We don't have a name or a face. All we have is a few body parts thanks to your fast thinking with the contact lens.”

Christie smiled against my chest. “I never saw her. I heard her voice, but no real accent. I'll think about it.”

By the time we got to the loft, Christie was asleep.

“Will, can you park the car down the street?”

“Sure.”

Will took Nic's place and Nic opened the door to get Christie. When he gazed down at her and saw her sleeping, his features formed into an expression of tenderness so intimate that I had to look away.

“C'mon, sweetheart, let's get you cleaned up and put you in bed.”

“Should I go with you to open doors or stay with Will?”

“Come with me,” he said. “Christie, wake up and put your arms around my neck.”  He nudged her.

She woke up enough to hold onto him as he lifted her from the car.

“Be alert, Will,” I said. “We don't know how Christie got targeted.”  Then, I got out and followed them in.

When we got into the loft, the clock read four. I wasn't sure where the time had gone.

“Run a bath in the garden tub in the master,” Nic commanded. “I'll sit with her while you get it ready.”  

I dashed up the stairs and into the master. The tub was massive, and it looked clean. I started the water and chose a temperature warm enough to be just short of hot. My stomach growled as I watched the progress. When had we last eaten? When the tub was filled to a foot deep, I went downstairs to get Christie.

She wouldn't let Nic carry her, but he insisted on helping her up the stairs. Will came in the door and stood watching the two of them.

“Amanda, grab a garbage bag for my clothes. They'll want them for evidence.”

I found one under the sink.

“Is she doing okay?” Will asked as I started toward the stairs.

I shrugged. “I hope so.”

“It was right at twenty-four hours of captivity.”

“It was?”  It seemed like days to me. I couldn't imagine how it had seemed to her. “I've got to get up there. Do you want to order some food? Now that she's safe, I'm starving.”

“What kind? Pizza? Chinese?”

“Italian?”

“No problem,” he said. “I saw a menu that looked interesting.”

“Get extra. And touch base with Grandma, find out when she's coming home... I mean here. When she's coming here.”

After Christie got in the tub, I handed the bag of clothes out to Nic. He'd been pleased with our decision to order food.

I closed the door and sat on the toilet in case Christie needed me.

She moaned and sank further into the water.

“Are you okay? Do you hurt? Is it too hot?”

“It's perfect,” she said. “I can't believe how good this feels. I'm going to soak for a while, and then I'll need you to help wash my hair. I'm sorry to ask, but my arms are stiff and sore.”

“No problem,” I said. “I'm so glad you're back. I would wash your hair every day if you wanted me to.”

Christie snoozed for a while, and I kept an eye on her. Every now and then, I would let out some of the water and add some more hot  water. When I did that, she'd stir but not wake fully.

It had probably been about an hour when Nic came to the door. “Amanda, are you guys okay in there?”

I opened it a crack. “She keeps falling asleep.”

“Go ahead and wake her. I need her to answer a list of questions for GASI.”

“She needs me to wash her hair. Can we do that first?”

“Sure. Dry her hair too. We need to keep her body temperature regulated.”

“Okay.”  

“Your dinner is getting cold,” he said. “Should I bring something up?”

“No thanks. I'll finish with her hair first.”

I got her awake enough to shampoo and rinse her hair. She was moving better after the soak, and she was able to towel off and put on her robe so I could blow dry her hair. When I was sure there wasn't any moisture left, I carefully brushed her hair. “What do you want to wear?” I asked. “Do you have some pajamas, or sweatpants?”

“Sweatpants,” she said. “Definitely. And a T-shirt. Top drawer.”

“Will you wait here while I go change?” I asked, looking down at my wet hoodie. I wasn't exactly trained in washing other people's hair.

“I'll sit here on the bed.”

I dashed down the hall to my room. I wouldn't have minded a shower, but I didn't want to put off my dinner. After peeling off the body armor, I decided to hang it neatly in the closet instead of throwing it on the floor. I had no idea how to properly care for whatever that fabric was. For all I knew, it was a blend of titanium and silk from magical silkworms.

I found a red top in my closet that seemed festive. I paired it with a pair of cute but comfortable black pants. Then I kicked off my running shoes and pulled on a pair of black motorcycle boots.

When we finally got downstairs, Will and Nic had eaten and set two places for us at the table. Christie took one look at the chair. “I'll eat on the couch.”

She made her way to the couch and sat down, pulled her legs up, and then pulled the afghan over her lap. For the first time since we'd found her, she smiled. “I'm better now.”

I sank down on the other couch.

“Lasagna, spaghetti, vegetables and penne, or fettuccine Alfredo?” Will asked.

“Lasagna,” Christie said without hesitation. “Do we have any Sprite?”

Will lifted a glass from the counter. “I thought you might want some. And you, Amanda? What do you want to eat?”

“I'll take the spaghetti,” I said.

We waited while they ran our dinners through the microwave. Then they brought them over.

“We also have salad, but if you're as hungry as we were, you'll want something bulkier first.”  Will handed me a glass of unsweet tea and sat beside me.

Nic fetched a laptop from the table and brought it over to sit next to my aunt. “I'm sorry, sweetie, but we need to cover a few things or they're going to send someone else over here to debrief you.”

Chapter Sixteen

She took another bite of her lasagna. “I know. Go ahead.”

My spaghetti tasted better than anything I'd ever eaten.

Nic looked down at his computer. “Do you remember me asking about the woman? Did you remember anything about her?”

Christie swallowed and said, “I didn't get a look at her, but during the struggle, I had the impression that she was maybe four inches shorter than me, maybe five three? Very fit. She seemed to be in charge, not the man. And while he smoked cigarettes, she smoked clove cigarettes.”

“Did they question you about anything?”

“They knew I was a GASI agent, and they knew you were driving one of the UN Town Cars. They asked about GASI, about you, and about what we knew about the attack on the Secretary-General. They were very cautious. They didn't speak on their phones to anyone. I think they communicated with their people by texting. Last night they took turns sleeping and then she left this morning.”

Nic typed as she talked.

It sounded to me like they found her through Nic.

“Did they mention the driver?”

“No.”

“Did they threaten or torture you?”

She glanced at me. “What you'd expect. Threats that they didn't carry out. They never got around to the torture but they said they would start tonight. The man made comments also but didn't act on them.”

“Did they untie you at any point?”

“No.”

“Did they give you anything to eat or drink?”

“No.”

“We know that they drugged you with a sedative, probably to make it easier to keep you from escaping. Did they give you an injection today?”

“I don't think so. I thought it was yesterday, but I can't be sure.”

“Did they threaten to kill you?”

“Yes.”

“Did you think they would?”

She paused. “I don't know. They were so careful to hide their faces. They didn't inflict pain. I don't think they had any fears about failing to get information from me.”

“Tell me about the events in the gym.”

“When I walked in, I got something in my lens almost immediately. It was weird. I had the impression that the space between the outer door and the inner door was full of particulates of some sort.”

“You think they planned to sabotage your lens?”

“It sounds crazy, doesn't it? How would they know about the lens?”

“What was in the vestibule? Sand? Insulation particles? Did you have any impression of it?”

“My first thought was spackle. Like you patch a wall with or fill in nail holes. When you sand it down, there's a lot of dust. It was like that.”

“So you went to the locker room.”

“Yes.”

She described the attack which pretty much matched with our impression from the camera footage.

“How long were you out?”

She shook her head. “I have no idea. When I regained consciousness, I was already tied to that chair.”

“Did they mention Will or Amanda?”

“No. No references to teens at all.”

“That's it for now. Eat your dinner before they email me more questions. Grandma says the mercenary is sitting with a sketch artist. We may have the woman's likeness in the next few hours.”

“Good. I don't want her on the streets.”  Christie took another bite of lasagna.

“Did you talk to Grandma?” I asked Will.

“Yes, she was glad I called. She's working on tracing the money backward. They also have a description of the woman who met with the mercenary to give him the assignment.”

I turned to Nic. “Is there anything we can be doing right now, Nic?”

“Finish your dinner first. It wouldn't hurt for you guys to connect with the teens next door. I'm hoping they've been passing those chargers around to their friends.”

“They have,” Will said. “They've been texting us some.”

“That's good news. We don't know where we'll go from here, but it cannot hurt to expand our surveillance.”

“We can go soon,”  I said. “Unless you need me, Christie?”

“I'm fine.”  She took a sip of her Sprite. “We can call you back if we need you.”

“You guys are tired and emotionally drained,” Nic said. “That's a prime combination for mistakes. If you think you can't manage, tell me now. If you think you have it in you, then you can go for two hours. Don't say more than you need to. Just go to show your face and be sociable.”

We sat there, like the family we were pretending to be, in a comfortable silence. I finished my plate of spaghetti, and when I started to get up for the salad, Will insisted on bringing it to me. Finally, I was ready to go next door.

Christie had dozed off and Nic had carefully slipped the plate from her lap.

It took me a minute to figure out what day it was. “It's Sunday, right?”

“Yes,” my hottie answered. “Why?”

“I'm just trying to figure out if I'm dressed appropriately.”

“You look great.”

I glanced over at him. “Did you change too?”

“Right after I ordered dinner. I wasn't sure if that body armor would permanently attach to my skin after a certain amount of time.”

I grinned. “You think GASI is trying to turn us into terminators?”

“You didn't know they were training you. Maybe there's more we don't know. Like that we are part of a bigger, scarier experiment.”  His eyes lit with amusement as he spoke, and I knew he was just kidding.

“You could be right,” I said, nodding. “While I was helping Christie, I started thinking about water, and how water is a liquid, and how if I was a liquid, I could slip right out of the bathroom through the heat vent and slide down here to eat dinner. And I swear, my legs started to get softer, like the muscle and bone was breaking down.”

Will raised a brow and then reached out and pinched my thigh.

“Ouch!”

“Feels solid to me.”

“I'm not thinking about liquid right now, silly.”

He laughed. “Well don't think about it when you take a bath or swim in a pool. If you get mixed in with all that water, we may not be able to put you together again.”

I batted my eyelashes. “Would you miss me?”

He reached out to tweak me on the nose. “Terribly.”  Then he kissed me on the lips for the briefest of moments. “Let's go see our friends, and my date for New Year's Eve.”

“Fake date. She's your fake date for New Year's Eve.”

He shrugged but I saw that his lips twitch into a smile. “Are you jealous?”

“No!” I said automatically. That was always the answer to the question. Deny it. But in this situation, it seemed better to let him know I cared. “Yes. A little.”

Will leaned his forehead down against mine and we stood with our foreheads touching. “You don't have anything to worry about.”

No words came to mind and I just grinned at him like an idiot when he stepped away.

“We should go,” he said.

I nodded and followed him out the door and over to Leah, Logan, and Sydney’s.

Leah squealed when she opened the door. “We thought you'd never get here!”