Devil’s in the Details (51 page)

Victoria was sitting at her desk, leaning over a thin, sleek looking black laptop, touching the screen and moving images around. I could see the edge of her jaw clench and release as she quickly typed in a chat window. Squinting in the ambient light, I was able to make out what appeared to be a driver's license photograph of an older man I vaguely recognized as the one oil baron who was everywhere in the news lately, defending the rising oil prices.

Before I could confirm it was him, I saw a unique logo with a lion and a unicorn cradling a crown, with their respective hoofs, and the words secret intelligence service underneath it followed by a bright blocky classified stamp at the top of a memo.

I bent my head down at the floor, knowing that I should just turn around and go back upstairs to bed, or at least take a few steps back and loudly call for Victoria. Give her the opportunity to prepare for my sudden appearance in her den in the middle of the night.

But I didn't, I returned to the laptop screen, not moving so I wouldn't disturb Victoria and risk getting caught snooping like I was. I couldn't see much from where I stood, only catching the bold lettering of a few words. Words like termination, national security, and classified, operative code named Chimera assigned, and SIS eyes only, fluttered across the screen. Making me swallow hard as my gut chirped at me to pay attention to everything I’d been ignoring.

I was entranced by the veritable spy novel buffet in front of me, squinting as hard as I could to read more when Victoria shifted in her seat, looking over her shoulder for a second. Her face was quickly illuminated by the desk lamp light, casting hard shadows across her face, giving her sharp angles that gave the woman a frightening appearance. This image before me, echoed the same images she showed me of her covered in blood the day she was rescued.

I gasped at the sight, covering my mouth and escaping back into the shadows of the kitchen before she spotted me standing in the doorway. I waited a second, holding my breath, pressing my hand harder against my mouth, listening for Victoria.

I let out my breath when I heard the quick rapid clicking of the keyboard, signaling that Victoria had not seen me. Dropping my hand away from my mouth, I rushed back upstairs and sat on the edge of the bed. My heart beating furiously at the look in her eyes. The distant, dead look in her eyes. A look that I’d seen a thousand times as a nurse, but never shook down to the depths of my heart like hers just did.

My body shivered from the chill in the room, the chill running down my spine and down to my fingertips. I tucked my limbs and chin deeper into the afghan, sitting on the bed. I debated if I should try and go back to sleep, if I should wait for Victoria to come back to bed, or go to her and ask her why she was up so late.

As I moved to return downstairs, opting to go confront her, the bedroom door opened, Victoria walked in, smiling when she saw me, "Hey, did I wake you up?" She closed the door behind her, reaching for my hand.

I snaked it from under the afghan, sighing when I felt her warm hand in mine and how perfect it always felt, helping to chase away the shivers. "I woke up to go to the bathroom and you were missing. I've been debating for the last five minutes whether or not to go back to bed or eat the rest of mom’s meatloaf." I smiled, looking up in her eyes and saw no trace of what I had in the den. The darkness in her eyes that frightened me.

Victoria sat next to me, "I ate the rest of it with the bourbon." She frowned playfully, "I couldn't sleep and the bourbon wasn't working so I started working on boring myself to sleep with some of the intake forms for my trip. I got hungry and made a meatloaf sandwich." She kissed the side of my head, "Sorry, I'll make it up to you at breakfast."

I leaned against her, shutting my eyes as the sting of her white lie hit, "You better be making waffles to make up for it."

Victoria laughed, standing up, my hand still in hers, "For you, anything." She motioned to the empty bed with the blankets tossed around, "Let's get some sleep, I’m already dreading spending a night away from you."

I swallowed hard, my heart fluttering in my chest at her words, her touch and how Victoria in general made my heart so full and happy. Overcoming the sick feeling my gut was stirring up from the white lie and what I saw on her laptop. I dropped her hand, crawling to my side of the bed and throwing the afghan to the edge of the bed as I settled against a pillow, waiting for her to get in. As she slid into the bed, Victoria immediately reached for me, lying her head on my chest and pulling the blankets over us, "I'm sorry about tonight."

I glanced down at her, giving her a confused look, "Sorry for what?"

"For disappearing on you after my secretary stopped by." Victoria looked up at me, "I couldn't help it. My job has always been the one constant in my life for a very long time. I sometimes let it control my mood." She ran her hand over my stomach, "That's why I am apologizing, Alex, I want you to know that it isn't your fault when I become the grumpy gus."

I shrugged, choosing to use humor to ease the tension. "If I had a shitty secretary like yours, I would probably be grumpy every day." I brushed some hair from her face, "How did you know I noticed you were disappearing after your secretary left?" My gut wanted me to ask her about Dani and the things I saw on the laptop, but I lacked the courage. I was so stupidly in love that I was afraid to upset the balance Victoria and I had finally found.

Victoria smiled, squeezing my side, "You eat excessively when you’re nervous. You devoured the entire bowl of popcorn before I had two handfuls. You also stare at me biting your lip in that way you want to ask me something, but don't know how to." She kissed the corner of my mouth, "After this vacation I’m going to work on next semester being my last at the academy."

I shot Victoria a look, "Really?" I was shocked and confused, "You love teaching and the Navy, why would want to leave?"

Victoria laid her head back on my chest, "Because I have finally found a reason to live freely, a reason to want to."

Before I could say anything, I felt her press her body deeper into mine while I blinked back tears. I was speechless at her confession, vague as it was, I knew I was the reason she was about to give up the one thing I was sure she loved more than me. I looked down at the woman, her eyes now closed and sleeping, I let out a slow breath.

My gut still twisted into knots, wanting me to explore the secrets Victoria kept. While my heart begged me to get Victoria to finally tell me that she loved me instead of tip toeing around it with grand comments that swept me off my feet.

"You can stay here, I don't mind." I looked at Alex sitting in the chair next to the bed, holding a cup of coffee wearing my sweatshirt. I’d just come upstairs from loading my bags into the back of the BMW in preparation of leaving for New York in a handful of minutes. The day had gone by faster than expected and now I was milling around the room, dreading having to say goodbye and return to my work.

Alex smiled over the rim of the coffee cup, "I would feel weird being here without you."

"Why?" I leaned against the dresser, "I’ve hidden most of my porn and with one phone call, I can have the nicest and snoopiest neighbor's at my house in three seconds." I cocked an eyebrow, "Dale and Mary do a have a key."

Alex giggled, setting the cup down to reach for me, "I have my own porn." She took my hand, dragging me over to sit on the edge of the chair, "I feel weird being here without you. Like I might spill something on the couch, fall asleep with all the lights on, or a stray spider may encourage a drastic reaction from me." She looked at me with a soft smile. "I can live without being around you for a day. I have a fully stocked fridge and pantry that will allow me to eat away my emotions of missing you."

I laughed, bending down to kiss her, "Fine, but if you change your mind, there’s a spare key in the light over the front door." Turning away from her, I caught the clock telling me that I needed to leave in five minutes to get to the private airport and meet up with the clean-up crew. Groaning, I stood up reluctantly, "I need to get going. My flight leaves in three hours."

Alex frowned, holding tightly onto my hand until releasing it to stand up with me. "When will you back?"

"Late Tuesday night if the flights are on time, latest, Wednesday morning by the time you wake up." I dropped her hand, picking up my briefcase. "And I’m hoping that when I come home, there will be a warm, sleepy brunette hogging the entire width of that bed."

Alex moved into my personal space, wrapping her arms around my waist, "Are you suggesting something?"

I nodded, glancing at the bed, "I might be, and if this brunette is in that bed when I come home, I will make it worth her time." I smirked, bending forward and brushing my lips over hers. Feeling Alex shiver and gasp before I kissed her hard. Breaking away from her, I latched onto her arm to take her downstairs before I made myself late for the flight.

Shutting the back hatch of the BMW, I turned to Alex leaning against the driver's door of her mini. "I’ll call you when I land and text you throughout the day when I can." I rolled my eyes, "You know the usual."

Alex smiled, "You better." She pushed off from the car, "Why does this feel weird? You've gone on a million trips and it felt like nothing."

I shrugged, "I blame the bubble."

"The bubble?" Alex gave me a look.

"Yes, the bubble. The bubble we created where it's nothing but you and I." I smirked, "Without clothing." I reached out, running my hands down her arms, "It's weird because after wasting a year, I think neither of us want to waste any more time." I felt my face fall, "Alex, when I get home, I want us to talk about the future." I peered at the blue eyes that were driving me to change ten years of stoic routine.

Alex bit her bottom lip, "The future." Her cheeks were flushed, "Yes, let's talk about the future." She bent her head down when the grin finally took over, shoving me playfully, "You better go before I trap you in the bubble, call your secretary and tell her you have the bubonic plague."

I laughed, opening my arms to hug her. "Bring it in Ivers."

Alex fell into my open arms, squeezing me until I grunted softly, leaning back after a moment, she kissed me softly, murmuring against my lips, "Be safe and come home soon, Victoria. I love you."

I fought the clench in my jaw, kissing her back and whispering, "I will." before untangling from her arms and walking to the driver's side. I didn't want to look at Alex's face. I knew she was waiting for the moment I finally returned those three little words to her, and I knew the time had to come soon.

I just needed to get the exit plan with Dani started before I could tell Alex I loved her without feeling like it was a fruitless lie.

I backed the BMW out of the driveway, waving at Alex as she climbed into her mini, going to the right as I went to the left. A strange metaphor of how our lives connected in the middle but still divided at the ends.

I distracted my heavy thoughts and heart by calling Dani to tell her I was on my way.

I couldn't sleep as night fell when I was finally back in my apartment. The apartment felt cold and empty being alone in it. My bed felt too big and no matter how many times I rolled over, hoping to collide into a warm body, I just found the cold corners of the bed. Victoria had called and texted as promised, but it did little to fill the void curating in my body and heart.

Finally, around three in the morning I gave in. Turned on the television and surfed through late night infomercials and reruns, flipping channels without a purpose. When that did nothing to put me to sleep, I picked up my laptop to play one of the annoying computer games Stacy had downloaded after my incident. A year later, I figured it was good time to check on my simulated family and hope they were still alive.

After confirming that the simulated family was still alive and that I lacked any of the patience needed to take care of them, I closed out of the game and went back online, reading the news. Five minutes into an article about the upcoming elections and which candidates where best for me, I leaned against the headboard and closed my eyes. Willing my body to go to sleep and stay asleep.

Instead, my mind started back up. Thinking about the laundry I still had to do, that I should clean out the fridge, or maybe I should just go back to Victoria's house where the fridge was clean and didn't smell like old plastic tupperware and baking soda. That's when my mind drifted to the things I’d seen on her laptop late last night. The strange terms and images that looked like they belonged in a James Bond movie and not on my girlfriend's computer.

Hesitating for a few minutes, I folded to my gut and my curiosity and started searching the terms and images I could remember.

The search results were fruitless, leading me to Greek mythology sites and spy novel suggestions. All of it easing my suspicions until I typed in SIS along with the lion, crown, unicorn image I saw on Victoria’s laptop.

Those two brought up the homepage for the British intelligence service, particularly MI6. I paused, staring at the fridge from my bed, maybe Victoria was a secret James Bond fan, or she was writing a spy novel in her very spare time. Then I remembered the picture of that old oil baron who flashed on the screen. I searched for all the British oil companies and was able to find the man after clicking through three different websites.

Bertram Spencer was the richest oil baron in the world, turning his company from one oil well in a desert to an endless empire that fed most of the world's petrol needs. Clicking on his name, the laptop screen became littered with news reports from every media outlet. All of them discussing how Bertram was suspected of gouging his buyers and using the profits to finance terrorism.

I scrolled, reading article after article about Bertram. His eccentric ways and outspoken thoughts on how the world fared better when the eastern block was under full communistic control. The United States had him barred from entering the country due to his suspect collaboration with America's enemies, and now his own country was seeking out charges for plotting and treason. In particular, MI6.

I looked away from the screen, this wasn't a spy novel or a spy movie, this was real life. There was something more to why this man and the strange key phrases lit up Victoria's screen last night. Leaving me with the sinking feeling it all went far beyond anything simple.

I woke up a few hours after shutting off my laptop and laying down in the dark. My mind in hyper drive as it went through the possible reasons why Victoria would have sensitive information on her computer. She was a retired intelligence officer, she worked for the Navy in some capacity, and maybe she was helping them out. Maybe she was writing a lesson plan for next semester around current events that would become military history.

Maybe I was crazy and reading far more into everything than was necessary.

When I woke up in the morning, grumbling at how tired I was, I went about taking care of the laundry and ignoring cleaning the fridge. I’d decided that I would meet Stacy for lunch after I picked up Victoria's mail, then head back to her house for the night. Make dinner and maybe hang out with her neighbors.

Victoria had sent me a few texts, a good morning one and a few about how boring the meetings were and that she was still on schedule for being home on the last late flight out of Rhode Island. I smiled, sighing like a lovesick idiot whenever I read her texts. Feeling the stupid swirl of butterflies in my stomach when I thought about seeing her again and sleeping next to her. I sent back a few texts and headed out the door, calling Stacey and asking her to meet me in a couple of hours.

When I pulled the old mini into Victoria's driveway, waving at Dale sweeping his driveway, I opened the car door to find a black sedan pulling up behind me. The familiar redhead dressed in the same uniform from the other day, hopped out of the car a second later, dragging a tailor's suit bag with her.

Dani smiled at me, "Hi Alex, how are you?"

I smiled politely, "Good. Victoria's not here, she's up in Rhode Island." I shifted my bag on my shoulder, the weird feelings coming back from the last time I saw Dani and from last night when I was doing my late night searches. I was also a bit suspicious as to why Dani was at the house when she would know better than anyone else where Victoria was.

Dani nodded, "Oh I know, she is knee deep in OCS candidate intake forms." She motioned to the suit bag in her hand, "I wanted to drop off her dress uniform for Saturday's event, we use the same tailor and she asked me to drop hers off when I picked up mine." She continued to smile, noticing the wary look I was giving her, "The spare key is above the front door light, the neighbors and I trade off on keeping an eye on Casa De Commander since she moved in five years ago."

I frowned lightly, "Okay." I was starting to really not like or trust the redhead, "I guess I’ll grab the mail while you unlock the door?"

Dani winked at me, "Sounds like a plan." She took a few steps past me, looking over her shoulder, "I’ll make a pot of coffee, I can see you want to ask me a few things Alex."

I stared back at the redhead, watching her reach up and grab the spare key like it was something she did every day. I glanced over at Dale, still sweeping his driveway like it was nothing. At least that gave me some comfort. If Dani wasn't a trusted visitor, Dale and Mary would be glaring over the fence waiting for me to give them the signal to either attack, or call the police.

Grabbing the mail, I walked into the house, spotting Dani in the kitchen fiddling with the coffee maker. I set the mail down on the island, "How exactly do you know Victoria?" This woman had my defenses up. My instincts were in over drive and my gut sat up on my shoulder. Leering at the redhead in her perfectly pressed khaki Navy uniform that had just as many ribbons over her chest as Victoria did when she wore hers.

Dani didn't look at me, focusing her energy on making coffee, "She calls me her shitty inept secretary, but in reality it's an exaggeration of the truth."

She turned to face me, leaning against the counter top, smiling my way. "I’m more of an administrative assistant, a term that allows me to come and go in the halls of the Academy without too much guff from the eager Ensigns who actually are secretaries."

I frowned, folding my arms across my chest, "You’re in all of the pictures with Victoria from the news, with the president and those other medal ceremonies. You're even in the pictures Victoria showed me when she told me what happened." I stumbled over the last bit. I wasn't sure how much Dani knew and if she was to be trusted in the slightest.

Dani sucked in a breath through her nose, nodding slowly, "You are a smart one, nurse, smarter than I think a lot of people give you credit for." She held up her hand to stop me when I threw a dirty look her way, "It's not an insult, it's a compliment, and to answer your questions. Yes, I am in those pictures with Victoria, and yes I know Victoria more than on a secretarial level."

I stared at the redhead, clenching my fists to prevent from hitting her or yelling at her. She was pissing me off with her flippant tone.

Dani moved closer to the island, "I know Victoria told you everything that happened in the war. I know she showed you the file, the same file I have seen a thousand times before, scrubbing over it trying to figure out what I could’ve done to find her a day or two sooner."

Dani's snarky smile faded away, her green eyes clouding over like Victoria's often did. "I know Victoria because I’m the intelligence officer who found her in that mud hut of hell. I was the first person to find her and draw her out of her confused state." The redhead paused, "She also saved my life."

My hands relaxed and I moved to sit on the stool in front of the island, feeling a bit shitty for wanting to hit her. I should have known that Dani was an integral part in Victoria's rescue. "I thought Victoria was alone when the rescue team found her?"

Dani shrugged, "We all thought that, but one of the hostage takers had squirreled away and snuck up behind me. I was sixty seconds away from being another casualty of that hole, when Victoria eliminated him." Dani carefully pronounced the one word. Her distaste in the word was evident. "So, I saved her and she saved me. We were both heralded as American heroes, but neither of us felt like it. We both carry some sort of regret or guilt that we didn't do as much as we could have that day, or in the days following up to that one day. I owe her my life and I have a lot of mistakes I need to amend for."

Dani's face fell as her eyes completely clouded over, looking past me, lost in terrible memories. The way she spoke in very little detail and got right to the point, suggested that Dani was only willing to tell me the key points of her and Victoria's relationship. Suggesting that if I poked any deeper, I would be shut out. I had learned over the years, that most war veterans only spoke about the war when they felt comfortable.

They would only speak of the details if their guard was completely down and trusted you. Victoria had been like that from the first day we met until a week ago when she let all the walls down. Dani was the same type of woman and veteran who would only give me the large chunks I needed to know, nothing more, at least until I had earned all of her trust. It was something I would have to respect, and would, like I had with Victoria.