Agent with a History (10 page)

He had holstered one pistol as he had
approached and he reached behind his back with the now free hand to
pull out a nine millimeter, which he offered to me. The little man
had a point. I dropped the pipe and took the offered pistol,
instantly feeling better.

“Thank you mister?” I asked hesitantly.

“Tyre, at your service Ma’am.” He said
touching the tip of his hat brim, before he turned and headed back
out toward the street. I broke out of my trance and quickly stepped
over the fallen gang members to follow after the man. Another book
character of the same mysterious international private agency it
would seem. Tyre may have lacked the physical presence of raw
strength that Flint manifested, but he lacked nothing in lethality
of skill. As we made the street he drilled three more gang members,
who came rushing up with guns, before I could even raise mine
halfway.

He stood there in the street and appeared to
be waiting for someone, as he calmly reloaded his small
cannons.

Hesitantly I asked, “Do you have
transportation out of here?”

As if I had touched on the source of some
private pain he grimaced and said, “Yes, unfortunately I do.”

I didn’t understand his apparent pain at the
thought of transportation out of here. Why would that be a bad
thing? I heard a screech of tires followed by the throaty roar of
an engine with horses left over to spare. I turned to see a short
bed black dodge pickup peel around a corner a block down from us.
Tyre didn’t seem concerned so I stayed beside him even though it
looked like the truck was going to hit us.

The truck swerved to the side at the last
moment and came to a screeching halt. The passenger side door swung
open, as the driver leaned across the middle and pushed it open. A
blast of an old country music ballad in full swing reverberated out
of the cab of the truck to be heard over the sound of the
engine.

“Hop in babe!” Came the salacious statement
of the capable looking driver.

I complied quickly as I began to sense what
some of Tyre’s pain emanated from. I had no sooner gotten in then
the driver stomped on the gas, flinging me back against the
seat.

Turning to see that the door of the cab had
slammed shut I in a panic turned back to the driver, “What about
Tyre?”

“Oh, he likes the open spaces.” Said the
driver gesturing with a hand to the back.

I glanced through the back window to see Tyre
crouched with a semiautomatic rifle across his knees beside the
truck’s tailgate. “Shouldn’t we stop and let him up here?”

“What? Oh he’ll be fine! Speaking of fine,
you’re every bit as hot as the boss described you! Names Galloway.”
He said reaching his hand over to me for the purpose of a
shake.

I shook it responding, “Lisa”.

He hadn’t stopped from his frank admiration
of me yet, “Hey, could you keep your eyes on the road a little more
please!” I said, not liking his in depth study of my body or the
alarmingly close course of the truck with the side of the
street.

“What?” He asked, staring at me blankly. He
glanced out the front window and steered the truck back on track
moments before we would have collided with a dumpster, “Sorry about
that!”

I heard the semiautomatic begin to talk and I
glanced back to see maybe three or more vehicles pursuing us. The
bed of the truck began to fill with brass casings, as Tyre emptied
clip after clip into the pursuing vehicles. I heard Galloway say
something sharp under his breath and I glanced ahead.

Several blocks ahead the street narrowed and
a car and an SUV swung broadways cutting the street off even as
gunman poured out of them to take cover and aim at us.

Galloway stuck his head out his open window
and slapped the side of the truck loudly, before yelling out to
Tyre, “I need a door opened up little buddy!”

Tyre glanced around and saw the blockade. He
laid the rifle down and crawled to the back of the cab and started
working away at something.

“Oh my …!” My voice trailed off, as I saw
Tyre lift a rocket launcher out of a case and up to his shoulders,
as he stood up to aim it over the top of the cab.

The ploom of the rocket trail arched out away
in front of us and the car exploded in a ball of flames. Moments
later with the launcher reloaded a second trail arched out and
crashed into the SUV.

“Hang on honey!” Belted out Galloway and I
found the seatbelt in a hurry.

“Oh God!” I said clutching at the golden
cross at my throat.

We hit the burning vehicles. It really wasn’t
as bad, as I had thought it was going to be. The air bags didn’t
even deploy and I said as much.

Galloway looked over at me with a cheeky
grin, “What air bags?”

I just shook my head and glanced back to see
if Tyre was okay. I was in time to see the lead pursuit car blown
sky high as it passed through the burning wreckage of the other two
vehicles.

I watched Tyre set the launcher down. There
were no more signs of pursuit after that display of firepower. We
drove for a while and Galloway broke into my thoughts with a
question, “Are you okay?”

I glanced over at him and was surprised by
his look of concern. He indicated my cheek and I touched it to find
that I had been crying. I hadn’t known I had been crying.

“Thank you for coming for me.” I said
heartfeltly.

His jovial demeanor restored, he smiled back
at me, “Don’t mention it. Me and Tyre save maidens from gang raping
hordes every day.” He said it as a joke, but in reality that’s just
what they had done.

After several more minutes of driving
Galloway pulled the truck over to the curb. “It would be a little
conspicuous to drive this truck any further as bad as its shot up.
The safe house isn’t far from here. Tyre will take you there while
I ditch the truck.”

I nodded and got out.

Tyre was by my side directing me in an
instance. Walking wasn’t what I wanted to be doing right now, the
way my feet felt, but I had to play by their rules. We walked
several blocks and I got a lot of, ‘What happened to you looks?’
Tyre pointed ahead at a town house door.

“That’s it. The doors open and it will lock
behind you. Flint should be along any minute. I’ll stay around the
area just to make sure everything stays okay.”

He turned to go, but I stopped him with a
hand on his arm. “Thank you for what you did for me back
there.”

He’d lost his hat, but he touched the air
where the brim would have been anyway. “Anything for a lady.” He
said softly, before continuing on along the sidewalk.

I limped up the stairs and turned the knob,
halfway believing that the door wouldn’t open and that I’d be left
exposed here all by myself. The door opened and with a sigh of
relief I stepped in and closed the door. Bars clanged shut out of
the wall and steel mesh slid down from the ceiling as I shut the
door. Breathing heavy I stepped back from the door. They’d warned
me.

It would take an explosive charge to get
through the locked door now. I was further off grid at the moment
than I had perhaps ever been since growing up on the island. Just
what had I stumbled into?

The house was elegantly furnished and
immaculately clean and I, in comparison, felt dirty and disgusting.
Light streamed into a sitting area and I sat down on the corner of
an ottoman. Everything seemed to catch up with me in that moment.
My angst over visiting my father, Rafferty’s death and now the fear
I had experienced today. It was all too much to hold onto and I
fell apart in the quiet sanctity of this safe place.

I sobbed hard, as I clutched myself with my
arms. I was all alone! Through the blurriness of my tears I saw
Flint kneel down in front of me. I don’t know where he came from.
That didn’t matter. He was here and I was glad to see him, stranger
that he was. I melted against his chest, relishing the strength of
the arms that closed securely around me.

How had I managed to live the twenty seven
years of my life without the comfort I felt from the big hands
rubbing my back and the comforting aroma of his masculine presence.
I didn’t know, but I never wanted to be without it again!

He held me for a long time and then, picking
me up, said, “We need to get you cleaned up. I bet a nice hot
shower would feel good.”

That did sound really good. Dimly I noticed
that he was climbing stairs and then he sat me down in a luxurious
looking bathroom.

“You’ve got fluffy towels, a fuzzy bathrobe,
and all that feminine hair product gunk you females seem to think
you need. I think you’re set.”

I smiled a little. This must be a female’s
domain. Whose female?

He answered my jealous question without
meaning to do so, “This all belongs to a female coworker of mine.
You’ll probably meet her sometime in the future. Use whatever you
need to, I know she wouldn’t mind. She has clothes in the other
room. The pants might not fit as you’re several inches taller than
her, but you’re both similarly curvy and well…” He stumbled for a
second. “Endowed, so the shirts and other stuff should fit.”

I could see him struggling not to, but his
eyes drifted downward anyway to see the evidence of his words. I
minded it a lot when the Galloways of the world eyed me over, but
Flint was different. I wanted him to look.

He looked away out the door. “Well, you have
what you need. I’ll lay some clothes out for you. If you throw your
dirty clothes out into the other room, I’ll get rid of them for
you.”

He started to go without ever looking back at
me. “Flint could you do me another favor please?”

He looked at me, “Sure anything!”

“Could you get me something more comfortable
to wear shoe wise? I can pay!”

He glanced down at my boots and visibly
winced, “Ouch! Yeah sure. What’s your size?”

I told him and he was gone, closing the door
behind him. I stripped everything off, noticing the bullet burns on
my shoulder and thigh for the first time. I had been very lucky.
No, make that blessed.

The bullets hadn’t really penetrated; they’d
just burned a few skin layers off and bled a little. They’d burn in
the shower, but they needed to be cleaned. I gathered up the
clothes and the boots and standing behind the door I dropped them
all outside into the other room.

I heard him coming to pick them up. My head
rested on the door. How was I going to tell him? Unbelievably I
felt my lips curl into a smile. This was so unlike me!

“Flint?”

“Yes?”

I bit my lip trying not to let the humor I
felt come out in my tone. “You said I’m several inches taller than
your coworker and I bet I’m a little wider in the torso and just
bigger in general all around.”

There was silence on the other side of the
door. “Her bras and underwear probably aren’t going to fit, even
though we may look the same cup size.” Not waiting for the
continued silence I continued, “Do you have a pen and paper?”

I heard the clothes fall and then him
scrambling around the room.

He came back; “Go ahead.” Came the husky
response.

I told him my sizes and that of shirt and
pant sizes as well. “Okay I got it.”

“Flint?”

“Yes?”

How did I explain the hellish atrocities of
female clothes shopping to him? “Just because you buy clothes that
match the sizes that I’ve given you doesn’t mean they’ll fit
me.”

“What?” Came his reasonably doubtful
reply.

“Different manufactures size women’s clothes
differently than the size they are supposed to be.”

“Well that’s stupid!”

I couldn’t deny him the logic of that
statement. I told him what store to go to and the brand names.

“This is going to take a little while.” He
said hesitantly.

“That’s okay.” I heard him leaving, “I
appreciate this a lot Flint!”

I couldn’t make out his reply. I thought of
him bumbling around the women’s department at my favorite store and
a gurgle of laughter escaped from me. The picture of him, all big
and masculine, sorting through lingerie in search of my size was
priceless.

I could never have imagined being as intimate
with a man as to feel comfortable with him picking out my clothes
for me. I had thought that was gone from ever being a possibility
in my life, but it wasn’t and I was enjoying every moment of
it.

“Oh, I hope he’s not color blind!”, I said to
myself with a groan, as I stepped into the hot shower.

After a long shower I took a bath, completely
spoiling myself. I made full use of the bath oils and general
plethora of female product gunk, as he had put it and came walking
out of the bathroom cinched up in the fluffy bath robe at the same
time, as he came walking through the door with bags in each hand. A
lot of bags!

What had he done, bought the whole store? He
was looking at me with a funny look on his face, as he took in my
robed appearance wet hair and all and I rather liked it.

He seemed to gather his wits about him and
set the bags down on the bed. Coming to the bed beside him I
exclaimed, “You didn’t have to buy all this! You must have spent a
fortune!”

He hadn’t stopped looking at me and I watched
as he shrugged, “Money isn’t a problem at the moment and I thought
you could use a few extra changes of clothes.”

I fingered the material of a shirt as I
softly asked, “Why?”

He looked away for a moment and then back to
me and sighed as I studied him intently. “To be bluntly honest,
you’re in a lot of danger. You’re in danger while you’re with me
and when you’re not. I like to think that I’d be able to keep you
safer if you’re with me and to that intent I plan on taking you
with me, when I leave the country in a few days.”

“Is keeping me safe the only reason why
you’re taking me with you?”