Honey Kisses (Romance on the Ranch Series #2) (14 page)

The agent said, "Cut it out, Hatcher."

Agent Hatcher started toward the door.
"Anyone want something to drink?"

One of the two officers lifted a can of coke,
"I'll take another." The officer with the mussed hair declined and
Ann shook her head no.

When Hatcher returned, she tossed a coke toward
the officer who'd wanted it, and then settled beside Ann with a cup of coffee
the size of a soup bowl.

For the next hour, Ann explained her logic and walked
Meg, as she insisted on being called, through the sequence of keystrokes
necessary to break into the mainframe, rob it of information to be sent to
online storage, and then destroy it with a self detonating virus.

Within a short time, Meg had mastered the keystrokes
and was on her second cup of coffee. She leaned back in her chair and sighed. "Oh,
that was brilliant."

Curiosity led Ann to ask, "Do you
infiltrate groups often?"

"All the time."

"Aren't you scared?"

"Shitless."

"So…why do you do it? Please excuse me if
I'm being too personal. I just find it fascinating that you've chosen this line
of work. You don't have to answer my question."

"I don't mind answering. Actually, I'm not
sure why I do it. I know I'm an adrenaline junkie. I also hate injustice. When
you put those two forces together, you get…me."

"So, you're actually going to go into the
club and pose as an exotic dancer. Will you have to dance?"

Meg laughed heartily. "You betcha. In fact,
I'm a damn good exotic dancer. Ain't that right, Charlie?" she said to the
agent whose hair she'd ruffled that morning.

"I guess if you're into that sort of thing.
I've seen enough to make me cross-eyed."

Meg snickered, "I guess I'll just have to
try harder next time to impress you. I'll be thinking the whole time,
Charlie's
watching,
and then get all goose bumpy."

"Don't knock yourself out, Hatcher."

Meg made a face at Charlie and then turned her
attention back to Ann. "Let's run through it one more time."

After a flawless execution, Meg drained the last
of her coffee and stood. "I guess I better head out. Tomorrow I'll return
for a final run through and then I'm off to bust some balls. Hey, do you mind
if I store my outfit in your closet?"

"Your outfit?"

Meg grinned, "My exotic dancer
outfit."

"Oh, no. Of course not."

"It's on the back of a chair in the dining
room. I'll get it now."

Ann followed Meg to the dining room and then led
the way to her bedroom. They met Jackson in the hallway and Meg said,
"Howdy, cowboy. Your wife is one smart cookie."

"Yes, she is," Jackson agreed.

Ann walked past him and opened her door. Meg
followed and walked to the closet. Ann was curious about the costume, but
didn't have the guts to ask her to take it out of the bag.

Meg closed the closet door and turned around
with a big grin. "That's one hot husband you have. If I wasn't married to
a hottie myself, I'd have my eyes on yours." She winked.

Ann's mouth gaped. "Does your husband know
the danger you put yourself in?"

"Oh, sure. He puts himself in the same
danger. We got assigned as partners a few years back to take down a known
hijacker. The plane almost crashed but my honey saved the day and won my heart
in the process."

Ann didn't know what to say.

Meg grinned, "Well, my new friend, I'll see
you tomorrow. Another day…another adventure." She gave a little wave and stepped
from the room.

The next morning Meg was supposed to arrive at
nine, but when she didn't show by ten, Charlie said, "I'm calling Agent
Kosky; something's wrong. Hatcher is
never
late." Ann could see
worry etching the faces of all the agents.

Shortly after eleven, Alligator entered the
apartment. The strained look on his face didn't bode well. He walked into the
surveillance room and Ann and Jackson followed.

"Meg and Harry were in a car accident early
this morning. They were hit by a teenage drunk driver. They're both in
intensive care, but expected to survive. You know, they put themselves in
volatile situations almost daily, and an idiot teenager takes them out."

"Shit!" said Charlie.

The other officers expressed their concern with
more colorful language.

Officer Acuff said, "Does that mean the
sting is off?"

The officers and agents looked at Alligator.
"Yeah, it's off. Although we have agents who could pull off the hack after
Annie trained them, none have the capability of infiltrating as an exotic
dancer. It was the only chance we had of robbing the mainframe data from a
terminal. We'll have to rethink this entire operation."

Charlie exclaimed, "That sucks! Now that
scumbag is gonna expand his operation."

The other agents murmured their frustration.

"What do you want to do about Kitty Puff? Should
we pull her out of the club?" asked Officer Acuff.

Al responded, "Not yet. Not until we know how
soon Meg will recover. Depending on that, we may be able to salvage a sting from
a different angle down the line." He turned to Jackson. "I'll check
with my superior and let you know when you and Annie can go home. It probably
won't be more than a day or two."

Jackson looked at Ann and then back at
Alligator. He nodded.

Ann left the group and returned to her room to
lay across her bed. She felt so bad for Meg and her husband. By late afternoon
she hadn't heard an update on their condition and she paced her room, trying to
shut out an idea that wouldn't stop nagging at her. After several minutes she
opened the closet door. With shaking hands she reached for the bag with the
costume. She unzipped it and removed the black and red sequined confection from
its hiding place.

Meg was a small woman and Ann knew the skimpy
outfit would fit her. She sat on the side of her bed and placed her head in her
hands. Did she have the guts to pull off such a ruse? Could she escape the government
agents and Jackson? She puffed air and thought about all the innocent people who
would be hurt, or even killed, if the crime organization wasn't stopped. She
thought about what they'd done to her and that made her angry. All she needed
was two minutes at the computer terminal. Maybe this was her atonement for
stealing from Jackson.

Taking the outfit off its hanger, she slipped it
on and then stepped back into her Levis and button down shirt. She stuffed the
red stiletto heels that were in the bottom of the bag into her purse, along
with her makeup bag, a scarf, and a skirt.

With her plan of escape fully formed, she
stepped from her room. In the living room, Alligator, Jackson, and Officer
Acuff were talking. Ann said, "I'd like to go to the bookstore. I'm going
stir crazy waiting to hear an update on Meg and her husband. You've let me go there
a couple of times already." She gave Jackson a chilly look, hoping that
would deter him from wanting to go with her. He looked away from her.

Alligator said, "Alright. Acuff would you
escort Annie, please?"

"Yes, sir."

Ann followed the female officer to the elevator.
On the ride down, she asked her what kind of books she liked to read.

"Oh, anything with suspense and
intrigue." She laughed, "I wonder why? Someday I hope to work
undercover, like Agent Hatcher. I sure hope she's okay."

When they reached the bookstore, Ann perused the
books, selected several popular suspense novels, and then, in the reading
section, sat in a cozy armchair that faced the front of the store. She patted
the chair across from her that faced the back of the store for Acuff to sit in.
Ann began shuffling through the action suspense novels she'd set on the table
between them. After a few minutes she said, "I'll bet this one would be
right up your alley." She handed the officer the latest book by Maxwell
Henry. "Did you see the movie?"

Officer Acuff gushed, "I sure did. Loved
it! I heard there's a sequel coming out and it's going to be made into a movie,
too." She began paging through the book.

Ann said, "Hey, remember the scene about
the female agent getting past the enemy's border while disguised as a hooker."

"Do I ever. It was my favorite part of the
movie and book."

"Can you find it so we can read it
again?"

"Yeah, let me look." She thumbed to
the back pages.

"Do you mind if I run to the bathroom while
you're looking?"

Officer Acuff started to set the book on the
table.

"Oh, pleeaassee. The bathroom's right
there. You find the spot and I'll be right back." Hastening down the
hallway, Ann prayed Acuff wouldn't accompany her. When she pushed the bathroom
door open and glanced over her shoulder to see she was alone, her pulse steadied.
Ducking into a stall, she yanked her purse open and pulled out the skirt and
scarf. Stepping out of her Levis, she slipped the skirt on and then wrapped the
large scarf over her head and shoulders, before riffled through her handbag to
find her sunglasses. Finally, she stuffed her feet into the stilettos and
tossed her Levis and shoes in the trash. Reaching for the note she'd prepared
earlier, she ripped off a line of tape from the roll she'd shoved in her purse,
and then fastened the note to the inside of the stall.

Inhaling a calming breath, she opened the
bathroom door and hastened toward the bookstore exit.

Jackson paced the living room. He felt like a
caged lion. Maybe he'd join Annie in the bookstore whether she wanted him to or
not. The look she'd given him earlier had clearly indicated she'd rather he
didn't.
Too bad.

Alligator's cell phone rang and he looked at the
caller ID. "What's up, Officer Acuff?"

Jackson watched the color drain from Al's face
as he shouted, "What! I'm on my way down."

What's going on? Is Annie okay?"

Alligator said tersely, "She's slipped away
from Acuff."

"Huh."

"Come on. She left a note."

Jackson's heart was pounding so hard he could
barely hear Alligator above the blood rushing to his head. What the hell was
Annie up to?

Officer Acuff met them as soon as they stepped
out of the elevator. She looked very distraught.

"Let me see the note," said Alligator.

She handed it to him and he read aloud.

I'm sorry to sneak out on you, but I need some
air. A week in this place is driving me crazy. I just want to explore the city
a little. I'll be back soon. Don't worry.

—Ann

Jackson exclaimed, "Shit! When I get my
hands on her…" He started forward. "I'm going looking for her. Hopefully,
she's wandering a nearby shop."

Alligator's phone jingled. "Officer Kosky,
here." He listened and his eyes got big.

"What! What!" Jackson shouted.

"I'm on my way back up."

"What!" Jackson shouted again.

"Just come with me and you'll see."

Jackson wanted to shove Alligator against the
elevator door on the ride up and demand to know what was happening, but he knew
that would be pushing the envelope. If he didn’t' get satisfactory answers in
the next few minutes, he was out the door looking for his wife.

Back inside the apartment, the three of them
rushed to the surveillance room. Charlie said, "Here's why we didn't catch
her leaving the building." They crowded around a screen and the officer
entered a couple of keystrokes that started the still picture moving. They watched
a woman wearing a scarf, dark glasses, and high heels exit the bookstore. She rushed
down the street until she was out of sight of the camera. And even though Charlie
punched some keystrokes that rewound the video and panned a close up of Annie's
face for verification, Jackson would have recognized her tiny shape anywhere.
He exclaimed, "I'm going to find her!"

Acuff said, "Why didn't she just ask to go
for a walk? Why go through this charade? And those are some fancy heels she's
wearing."

Alligator and Jackson looked back at the screen.
Al put a staying hand on Jackson's shoulder. "You don't think–" He
didn't finish his thought before Jackson interrupted.

"Oh, my God, Annie. No. No."

Acuff said, "She's
not
going to the
club to hack the computer,
is she?"

For a couple of seconds all the agents just stared
at each other stunned. Then Charlie said, "There's one way to know for
sure. I heard Hatcher ask if she could store her costume in Mrs. Martinez'
closet. It was in a black bag."

Jackson rushed from the room, followed closely
by Alligator and Acuff. He almost ripped Annie's closet door off its hinge jerking
it open. He spotted a black bag and jammed the zipper down. It was empty.