The Protector (8 page)

“Conway isn’t questioning her yet,” he asked in disbelief and with utter annoyance in his voice.

I nodded my head. “No.” I had let Mike scream and yell, but in the end he knew he wasn’t going to get a hold of the processor on his terms.  “She isn’t any use if she is exhausted. We need as much information as possible.”

Seth shook his head and followed me into Mrs. Walker’s kitchen.  “You look like hell.”

“Thanks !” I said handing him a fresh cup of coffee. “You look refreshed!”

“Slept on the plane. You should get some rest.” 

Seth was right. I did need sleep.  Mike had left in a tantrum vowing to return later in the morning to question her. Our parting words had not been pleasant.

I stopped replaying the conversation in my head and looked at Seth sitting at the breakfast bar.  “I can’t figure out why Tom sent her. This wasn’t a new exchange. He did this stuff all the time.” I considered all the options, including the one where Tom knew exactly what he was doing.

“Chicken shit, I guess.” Seth responded. “You know Hassan is dead.”

“Yeah.  Funny thing is Hamas isn’t claiming this.  If they had killed a prominent Israeli scientist they would be singing.”

Seth looked at me and took another sip of his coffee. “It wasn’t Hamas’s MO or the Iranians for that matter. Hell not even the Iraqi’s. Something’s not right with it.”

I had asked Mike earlier if it was the Israeli Moussad, but he had only nodded his head, no. Seth could see where my thoughts were leading. “No, I don’t think it was Moussad. Hasan was one of their own.  He was too loyal.  Plus he had been dead for a few days when they found him.”

I sat there and pondered my friend’s words.  Something wasn’t right. This was something that always went smoothly. The only reason we even watched such detail, was exactly for this reason, someone had to be sure what ever was being exchanged didn’t fall into the wrong hands. Steps were taken to ensure this didn’t’ happen.  And protocol stated that if it did, we were to clean up the mess and leave no witnesses. 

“Sonny switched out the processers. The real one is back in Albuquerque.”

Seth’s eyes grew wide as I said her name. “Sonny?”

I realized my mistake as my friend looked at me with a grin on his face. I knew then I had slipped up.  “Alison.” I corrected.

“No, you just called her Sonny.” Seth’s right eyebrow went up and his grin grew wider.  “What’s going on Jack?”

“Sonny fits her more than Alison, that’s all.” I tried to cover my slip up but I knew it was useless.

“Nickname huh?  Wow, less than a day too. It usually takes you at least a few days with someone to come up with a fitting nickname.”

“You forget I have been watching her for a few days. You’re here I am going to get some sleep. Wake me if something comes up.”

“Dude. You’re getting too close. I’ll admit she’s attractive in an average way. Not a good thing to fall for her though.  Not to mention aren’t you like ages older than her?”

I turned and shot my friend a look. “Go to hell Seth! Not everyone has to have a supermodel.” Seth’s taste in women was extraordinary.  He only dated supermodel material and usually those women towered over his small five foot six frame. His comment about Alison being average annoyed me. She had the most incredible green eyes and her brown hair framed those eyes into a perfectly shaped face. She was far from tall, but she had the curves. And frankly I liked a woman with curves. It didn’t matter what her age was or what mine was.   I shook my head to get the thoughts that were rambling in my brain out. Was I getting too close?

  I walked to the stairs and grabbed Alison’s bags.  I knew she would want them once she woke up.  The more and more I thought about Seth’s suggestions I fumed. Sonny fit her and what did it matter if I gave her a nickname or not. And what did it matter if I thought she was beautiful.  I made it up to the stairs and opened the door I knew well. 

She slept quietly curled up in a ball on the bed, her back was turned to me and her hair looked to still be damp from her shower. She looked peaceful lying there as if she belonged in that bed. I put her bags down and watched her for a moment. Her breathing was steady, as it seemed the asthma attack had completely subsided.  If the steam didn’t work, I had decided that I was going to force someone to hunt down an oxygen bottle for her. 

She started to move restlessly in her sleep as I watched her.  She flipped over and as she did so the top of her robe fell open, exposing her bare skin.  I took in a deep breath as her breasts lay exposed. I felt the urge to walk over and cover her up and then the man in me held firm where I stood and admired.  I shook my head as chivalry once again kicked in and I walked closer to the bed to cover her up. 

As I gently pulled the covers over her, her eyes flew open.  And she shot straight up, with fear.  She looked at me and sighed with relief as she realized it was me.  “Jack?”

“Sorry, I brought your bags up and you looked cold.”  She looked down and her face immediately turned several shades of red as she realized her robe was open from neck to navel, exposing everything in between. It was a very pleasant view but I quickly turned away as I could see the embarrassment in her face. I was pretty sure that the heat in my face would reveal the same red color if it wasn’t so dark. 

“Sorry.” I kept my head turned. “Go back to sleep Sonny.”

“Jack?”

I turned back around hoping desperately she had closed her robe. I didn’t need to see anymore of her than I already had although I wanted to. “Yes?”

As she sat up in the bed, I could tell by the light from the television that her face had turned back to its normal shade and her robe was closed. “Tom?”

“What about him Alison?”  At this point I had pretty much determined Tom was not as innocent as Alison thought he was but I didn’t want to tell her that until I had more concrete proof.

“Did someone kill him?”

I couldn’t lie to her and tell her no. I was pretty sure he had been murdered but by whom I didn’t’ know. “Yes.”

She nodded her head and looked down at the bed she laid in.  For the first time since I had pushed her on to the plane in Tel Aviv, her eyes were filled with resolve.  It wasn’t fear I saw but rather an understanding of all the events that had led to this moment. “I’m next aren’t I?”

I sat down next to her on the bed and looked into her deep green eyes. “I’m not sure.” She took a deep breath as she registered my answer and shook her head. “We will protect you. “ I paused and opened my mouth, I knew I wasn’t going to let there be a “we” in this, “I will protect you.”

“Thank you.”    She stared forward at the television and did not turn to look at me. I watched her carefully and tried to figure out what was going through her mind.  I was usually pretty good and reading people’s faces and discerning their thoughts. But right now, hers were a mystery to me.

“Sonny?”  She looked up at me and smiled. It was the sweetest smile I could have imagined. How anyone could want to hurt this beautiful woman was beyond anything I could comprehend. “You need to sleep.”

“So do you,” she said almost in a whisper. I got up from the bed and walked slowly to the door. As I turned the knob I looked back at her. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me.” She only nodded as I turned and walked back out.

No matter what the men surrounding me thought, I wasn’t leaving her alone. She trusted me and I wasn’t going to let her down.  Mike had mentioned bringing in others to protect her when he was debriefing me. I had thought briefly about the possibility, but as he went through the list of names, none of them were good enough in my eyes.  “You are more valuable here in DC or back in Tel Aviv helping the Israelis figure out who killed Hassan.” I didn’t say anything then, but this wasn’t something I was going to let happen. She was my responsibility to protect.

I slowly made my way down the stairs to the couch in the front room. I could see Seth in the kitchen eating something from the fridge. My eyes were heavy with exhaustion as I laid down, worried about closing my eyes and missing something. My only consolation was the crazy red head in the kitchen stuffing his face. He would wake me if something happened.  It was then I let the exhaustion over take me and sleep came easier than I thought.

I had hoped as I drifted to sleep that it would be a dreamless sleep. But as the water was suddenly overhead, I struggled once again to reach the surface and for the hand that was now reaching for me. I still didn’t know who it was trying to save me, or why?  I let the hand slip from grasp and once again I heard the sobs of the woman I left behind.

I wasn’t sure how long I had actually slept, but the voices coming from the kitchen and the smell of freshly brewed coffee stirred my senses and drowned out the sobs of the faceless woman of my dreams.  I got up and glanced briefly down at the watch on my wrist. It was eight o’clock. I had managed to get a few hours’ worth of sleep, which was better than nothing. I still wasn’t sure what today was going to hold for Alison or I, but I needed to have the use of all my senses. 

I walked into the kitchen and saw Alison sitting at the breakfast bar next to Mrs. Walker and Seth.  The ring of Seth’s words from earlier still echoed in my head, ‘Not a good idea to get
too
close to her.’   I truly didn’t understand Seth’s concern. Yes, this was different. Alison was different, but I was doing my job. 

As I walked into the kitchen, Alison turned and smiled at me. Considering the events of yesterday and where she was now, she was holding up better than I expected.

“Good morning,” I said moving to stand next her.  Her hair was up in a twist, but today there were no loose strands hanging out. She wore jeans and a black t-shirt.  The shirt hugged her curves and I could feel the heat rise in my face as images of her last night flooded my head.  Seth caught notice of my embarrassment and turned his head to look at her quizzically. 

“Mrs. Walker.”

“Good morning Jack, coffee?”

“Please.” I stood next to Alison. “You get enough sleep?”
“Enough, thank you,” her voice was soft and no longer hoarse like she had been a few hours ago.

“She’s been up since 6:30,” Seth chimed in before pouring himself another cup of coffee. “And you were right, she wanted to kill me on the flight to Dulles.” Seth’s grin was huge and there was nothing but satisfaction on his face.

“You’re lucky she didn’t. Alison, please tell me you didn’t listen to anything this guy said about me?” I looked at her with a huge grin on my face. I knew she was in good hands with Seth but I also knew he would interrogate her about everything in her life. He was one of the best and I was sure Mike would have him asking the questions later today.

“Hey I’ve only told her your deepest and darkest secrets.”  I could only imagine the look of horror that came across my face. I knew Seth was not serious as my secrets were his secrets and so forth. But the thought of Alison knowing the horrors I had seen and the atrocities I had committed scared me.  I did not want her to have those visions of me in her head.

Alison’s eyes grew big as she gauged my reaction to Seth’s words.  She looked back and forth between Seth and I only guessing what unspoken words we were sharing.  “He didn’t tell me much,” she quickly stated. “He said you were a nice guy.”

“He was lying,” I quickly retorted through clenched teeth.  Mrs. Walker, who knew us both well enough, knew the nature of Seth’s joking but quickly changed the subject.  “Conway will be here shortly, Jack, go and clean up and I will have something for you to eat when you come back down.”

I walked over to the older lady and hugged her tightly.  She knew how to handle all of us and she did it quite well.  She was like our dorm room mom. She could calm angered nerves and cook a mean chicken pot pie.  She often times stated that she was the mother of many and the keeper of none.  In reality she was right.  She was like a second mother to all of us but she was unable to keep any of us close by for any length of time.

I turned and walked out of the kitchen and grabbed my duffel bag at the foot of the stairs.  I bounded up them two at a time and unconsciously went into the room I always used when I had to stay at the safe house for any particular reason. Although, I had a home not far away from the safe house, this place had often been my refuge over the last two years.

Alison’s stuff was laid out neatly in the room. On the bed was her suitcase and overnight bag. The only item in the bathroom was the robe she had worn last night and her soap and shampoo sitting on the counter. I reached under the sink and found my spare shaving bag. I had left it once and Mrs. Walker never bothered to return it. She put it with the towels under the sink and there it was for me every time I came to the safe house.

I quickly undressed and threw my clothes onto the floor. I showered quickly, shaved and jumped out. I wrapped a fresh towel around my waist and walked out to the duffel bag I had left on the bed next to Alison’s belongings. 

I didn’t notice her standing there rummaging through her bags.  Her eyes grew wide as a horrified look crossed her face and I wasn’t sure if I had dropped my towel somewhere between the bathroom and where I now stood. I quickly looked down and heaved a sigh of relief as I realized the towel was still securely around my waist.

She quickly looked down, “I, I am so sorry. I didn’t realize you were in here.  Seth said I could use my laptop. I, uh,” She stuttered as she couldn’t find the words to continue her sentence. She stared at me the way I had stared at her a few hours ago when our roles were reversed.