Sinners and Saints (6 page)

“
Money will never be an object, he works in intelligence.”

“
Oh, I see.”

“
And not just for the U.S., but our allies as well.”

“
Oooh.”

Mr. Buchanan stopped pacing and sat
at the table across from her. “Do you have any questions?”

“
Wait, that claiming business? What exactly were you talking about?”

“
You are a perfect candidate to join our team. You have a very high survival need, you are already ahead of the game in the fact that you would train in the upper class in the defense due to your knowledge of combat skills. This last part will sound harsh, but please don't take offense, you have no family. Your file says your family was killed in a boating accident a few years back and you would have died too, but were abroad expanding your studies instead of going with them.”

“
Now, I have a secret to tell.”

Chapter 11

Vylette took a deep breath, preparing to tell the one thing that had always been instilled in her to keep secret at all costs. Given what she had just been told, if it were all true, and by the amount of information she had seen, she was pretty sure it was, this man needed to know who he had saved and all that went with it. It was time.

Now or never. Here goes.

“My parents and brothers didn't die in a boating accident and I was not abroad studying. That was fabricated and added to the file later. I was with my uncle, who also works in intelligence. I have not spoken to my family in about six months with the exception of my Uncle. The accident was-”

Her words were cut off as the commotion just outside the door grew louder and closer. The sentential behind her repositioned himself and pulled his weapon. She was pulled out of the way and behind Mr. Buchanan just before
the door burst open. She sidestepped to see who had came in. There stood a big mountain of man, red faced and angry, obviously ready to commit murder. His eyes were dark and narrowed, worry lines were like a map on his face and his breathing was labored and heavy. After the initial shock of his presence, she realized she recognized him and nearly dropped to her knees. Her voice mixed with Mr. Buchanan's as they both addressed the man.

“
Mr. Blackstone.”

“
Uncle.”

Mr. Buchanan and the guard
stared at her and said, “Uncle?”

She ran to her uncle and fell into his arms, squeezing him tight. Her uncle's soft words filled her ears, and she could swear she felt tear drops wet her hair.

“Thank heavens you are alright. I was fixing to order a murder,” her uncle pointed out, relief in his voice.

“
Well, if it weren't for Mr. Buchanan, I probably wouldn't be.” She pulled away a little and looked at his face.

“
How did you know I had gone missing?”

“
Well for one, you didn't call me on Saturday, but I let that go and assumed maybe you were out with friends, but then yesterday, I got a call from your phone from a some girl named―”

“
Macie.”

“
Yes, that is her. How did you know?”

“
I was supposed to meet her yesterday.”

“
She said that you told her that if anything ever happened to get your back up phone and call the number on it and ask for the Master Fisherman. I asked her to tell me what happened. She said the last time she’d seen you was Saturday night. You were supposed to meet up for lunch Sunday, but you never showed. She went on to say that, the reason she knew something had happened was because you were a stickler for being on time and keeping appointments. So, since you didn't show, she knew something was wrong.”

“
See, being on time all the time has its advantages. Go, Macie. When did she call you?”

“
I got her call twenty minutes ago. I rushed over here to give Mr. Buchanan an urgent mission, but I see you already have her. I am happy as hell to see she's okay, but please tell me what happened. Did you join him and forget to tell me or were you...”

She saw
his face darken and something unlike her uncle swam in his eyes, fear and insanity.

He looks like he would
for real kill someone, right now.

“
...taken.”

She sat in the nearby chair and explained what happened.

“I was taken early Sunday morning when I was heading to the gym to work out before lunch. It was still dark out. College students have a key card to a 'student' door behind the gym because it stays open twenty-four hours for students and not the public. I parked my car and got out. They grabbed me while I was swiping my card. I know what you taught me, Uncle and I failed. I was still half asleep and not paying attention.”

“
Well, since you are in good hands now I will refrain from grilling you on what happens when you let your guard down. I think maybe you got the lethal version of that lesson.” Her uncle turned his attention to Mr. Buchanan. “Tell me of the mission that included her rescue.”

She could see the tension coming off Dorrian in waves as he retold the events. She knew her uncle intimidated people, she
’d just never seen it live and in color before. It was fascinating and for Mr. Buchanan, kind of scary.

“
It was like the rest. Pretty simple. We made contact with Falken and set up a meeting to see the girls. I brought the money case as proof and in two days time we had the second meeting to view the girls. Myself, Lewis, Brams, Devons and Leon, accompanied Falken to his meeting suite. While we were there, as protocol suggests the rest of the guard team went in and killed Falken's men. After the women were brought in for the 'viewing', the team carved the logo of the severed head and serpent on the door to let me know it was done. However, two of Falken's men had arrived when I did with Vylette in tow. Mr. Falken told me he had a new girl I needed to see. I told him to bring her in, as the contract was for all of his girls. He complied with my orders. A few minutes later, she was brought in and I have had her ever since. I swear to you, if I had known she belonged to you, I would have called you straight away, sir.”

“
Did you complete the mission?”

“
He and all his men are dead, yes.”

“
Good. Good.”

Her uncle turned to her and asked the question she was considering herself.
“So, Vylette, are you going to join our cause? I never wanted you in this life, but since you were brought in anyway, I think you would be an asset to this team.”

Chapter 12

Vylette looked around the room, all eyes were on her, expectant, waiting for an answer. Mr. Buchanan and her uncle, looked hopeful and the guard, Lewis stood quiet, but smiling. She always hated being put on the spot because it always made her sweat and the perspiration dotting her skin let everyone else in the room know she was nervous too. She didn't eye a clock in the room, but she swore she heard it ticking away the seconds as her mind raced, working through all the information she had been given.

“
Okay, first I have two questions. Mr. Buchanan, why is your mark that ugly ass snake?”

He laughed. “
Of all the things I told you, that is your question?”

“
Look, given how I was raised with my whole family and their 'James Bond' kind of lifestyle, and what I have seen the last few days, what you have told me is easy enough to wrap my head around. I am used to crazy outlandish mission type stuff, but I just can't wrap my head around the snake. An angel, a star of hope or something like that as your mark, I could understand, but that snake...I just don't understand it.”

Deep chuckles rumbled through the room.

“Think about it, Vylette. In my business, how threatening does an angel or a star look? Hmm? That snake does exactly what it’s supposed to. One, it lets the local cops know to not look so deep into the murders and second, it looks twisted and disturbing, letting all the others in that business know that they have one helluva adversary. It is a warning to those in this business that someone is out to take them down. However, none of these people I do business with connect me with that mark. Does that answer your question?”

Smiling,
she said, “For now.” She turned back to the guard. “My next question is for you. Why are you smiling? This is the first time I have seen you do such a thing.”

Lewis' smile grew bigger, showing a bit of teeth. “
Because I know your answer and you haven't even completely committed to it...in your mind anyway. It is written all over your face what you feel in your heart.”

Sighing, she dropped into the chair and ran her hand across her face. “
Okay, so say I do join this cause, exactly what would I be doing? I mean, I am all for taking down these scumbags who would do such vile things, but I just want to be fully aware of what I am getting into.”

Mr. Buchanan and her uncle took seats across from her, her uncle grabbed her hand in a soothing manner.

“Vylette, make no mistake, this is a rewarding business...when we win. It is also very dangerous and very deadly. I won't sugarcoat it for you. We have lost good people before, now, it has been very rare because we are very careful and we stick with the rules, but I won't lie and tell you that you won't be putting yourself in danger. You will...”

Dorrian Buchanan chimed
in. “It is dangerous, Vylette, but remember what I said, you will not go out on any missions until you have been properly trained. The training is intense, and will push you to your limits, but so will the missions. That is why we put you through so much, to make sure you can handle the stress.”

“
Sweetheart, I know that you can do this and you would be a wonderful asset to this team, but if you for a second think you can't do this, don't!”

She
felt the tears slowly falling from her cheeks. “Uncle, I want to help though. I know I can do this, just the thought of being put through what these women went through scares the hell out of me.”

Lewis for the first time, interrupted and became more than just a guard.

“Vylette, that is what us guards are for. I have an idea, how about if Mr. Buchanan takes you down and shows you the Academy? What we do and what he expects...”

“
That's a great idea, Lewis. Vylette, perhaps if you seen just how extensive the training is you can make a better decision.”

She thought about t
hat for a moment and weighed her options. Wiping the tears from her face, she said, “Let's do it. I really want to do this... It's not that I don't believe you when you say you will keep me protected... In my mind it makes perfect sense, but my heart...”

S
he turned to Lewis. “See you had it backwards. In my mind I said yes, it was my heart that is not so sure.”

The guard
’s face got really close, he smiled and whispered, “No, Echo, it is you who are confused. You'll see.”

She looked back across the table. “
Okay, I want to see the Academy. But if I decide to do this, which I probably will, I want Lewis as one of my bodyguards. When I say Body guard, I mean, he is never more than a few inches away from me.”

Both her Uncle and Mr. Buchanan gave
a final and slightly cheerful answer. “Done!”

C
hapter 13

The Academy looked just as she expected, it was very
Star Trek
meets military training. From the secret pin plus swipe card keypad to enter the building to the touch screen pads along the wall attached to the different workout machines. She stood in the middle of a 'command' center type room. The walls were lined with flat screen TVs, each showing something different. Some displayed maps with blinking dots, some showed stats on people using the workout equipment, while the ones which were attached to desks arranged throughout the room, held what looked like mug-shot pictures along with information on whereabouts and last seen locations. Vylette was in definite awe of the place.

Dorrian's voice sounded behind her,
startling her. “What do you think so far?”

She spun and looked at him.
“What do I think? I am half expecting James Bond or Jason Bourne to walk through that door. I have never seen such a place before. What is all of this? You have TVs on the wall, lights and beeping noises coming from everything and this desk, I guess it's a desk, with this high tech map, is just mind boggling to me.”

“
Okay, let me walk you through it. First off, this room is the tracking and information room. To the left, this wall full of TV screens with the 'country' maps is of countries we have agents working, each dot shows the location of the agent. See the small number here next to the dot? That number identifies which agent, and the light blinks to indicate that their tracking devices are active and working.”

“
So, blinking lights is good then?”

“
Yes, very. If it stops blinking, we have problems.”

“
Such as?”

“
Could be the tracker was damaged, or something is interfering with the reception, which hardly ever is the case, or it could be the agent has been killed.”

“
Oh...”

She followed him to the opposite side of the room so he could explain further.

“On this wall, as you guessed, these TVs are getting a live feed from the training area and show each recruit using a specific machine and their body's stats. We can keep track of heart rate, breathing, and how hard they are pushing themselves during that workout. It's like working out at the doctor's office with the doctor monitoring your workout.”

“
Okay, I get that. What are the desks with the computer screens? What's their purpose?”

Getting more excited with each new explanation, she was now right next to him as he walked to the nearest station with a screen.

“These are not TVs, they are computers with large screens. From these we monitor leads, camera feeds in locations we suspect trafficking is going on and things of that nature. We call them Groid Feeds, it's like
Google
on steroids. These allow us to generate information, public, private and even some 'how did they find that out', on people and places of interest. Based on the information we get from these leads, is how we gain our missions. Its gives us a starting point and is useful when making contact. We watch the video feed and learn who the 'ring leader' of that particular organization is, plus we also gain access to his or her associates. We need all of this information to help gain their trust when we first contact them. If we go in there and we know no one in this line of work or we can produce very little information to this line of work, it’s a dead giveaway we play for the 'good guys'. This program we run was designed by a group of Intelligence higher ups, there are two from the CIA, two from the FBI and five from Homeland Security. Oh and a handful of retired agents working in intelligence like your uncle. I told you, Vylette, I have come a long way.”

“
I had no idea. I mean I know you said you had worked very hard to get where you are, I just didn't know you had so much backing.”

“
It growing to this is due in part to your uncle. He is the one who pitched the whole idea to the different branches...and there is a lot more.”

She gazed at
him and his smile, suspiciously. “How much more?”

She found
herself in his embrace as he led her to a wall sized window looking out upon the grounds and the outside training area.

“
What do you see?”

She stared out the enormous plexiglass window at the beautiful
landscape as far as she could see.

“
I see the grounds and people training in the different training areas. I see buildings and trees...” She turned back to him. “What exactly am I supposed to be seeing?”

“
Do you see men and woman training?”

“
Yes, but you said all the recruits are rescues.”

“
No, I said all the people we save get a choice. Not everyone chooses to join our cause, in fact that is a small number. Most are too scared that things will go wrong and they will end up back where they were.”

Shrugging,
she said, “Okay, I'll bite. Where do the other recruits come from?”

His smile was like a slice of heaven with a healthy dose of devils foods.

“They are chosen by
the
Secret Service. Most of these men and woman, worked their way up to eventually land themselves an opportunity to work for a branch of government as agents. Each agent goes through an extensive background check, a mental evaluation and a fitness examination as well as a 'that's life' questionnaire. Which is basically testing them to find out their views on things like laws, politics, religion and such. This helps to place them. I don't know what answers get them here, but I am very grateful. I even have several retired Navy Seals who I love because they are balls to the wall. My only issue is they sometimes go off protocol, but they never fail in their mission, so I let them have that free reign. As I said they are retired, and all of them served in several tours while they were enlisted and they pretty much have the experience and the know how, to go off track. I trust them and they have never proven me wrong.”

Clearly this is his passion. He is just so...into it. I swear the more he
talks the more animated he is becoming and man, that light in his eyes...bright, vibrant, full of life.

“
And the virtual map on that huge desk in the center?”

“
Oh, come and look. It is my favorite toy. I call it ‘Happy Fantasy’.”

He had her full attentio
n.
Happy Fantasy
? She had to know what he meant, it seemed out of place in this 'spy saving the world' high tech extravaganza they had going on. She followed him over and looked down at the cyber map as she explained.

“
This is the only machine in this entire operation that is dedicated to happiness only. We do not look for crimes, suspects, or anything negative. With this we can tap into any camera anywhere in the world. We use it for happy things. For instance, earlier last year we rescued a woman who had two children while she was with her captors. They allowed her to keep her children as another way to control her. When we showed up, she refused to go and it took us three hours to get it out of her, that they had her children somewhere else. We got them all. After they had all been rescued, and through the program, we brought them in here and turned on this map. It was glorious, Vylette, to see these kids' faces light up. We pulled up camera views of fun parks, kid friendly places, oceans, hotels, adventure tours, anything we could think of. We spent the entire day planning a much needed fun and loving vacation, all expenses paid for them. We sent them with undercover guards posing as family. It was wonderful. I came in here every day and pulled up cameras and watched those kids and their poor mother have the time of their lives...”

A tear ran down her cheek when he turned to her, fire in his eyes and excitement in his tone.

“This is what we do this for. The smiles and happy laughter from men, women and children and the relief and over all well being of all concerned. We don't just save lives here, we give them back hope and offer healing for not only their physical and mental being, but for their soul. Your soul is the core of your being and is deeply connected to every part of you and enriches the spirit. A healthy happy soul leads to a healthy and happy life. But when too much darkness and devastation attacks the soul it can be shattered and ripped to shreds leaving a person broken. It takes a lot of healing to overcome that, but when a soul if flooded with happiness and love, even a damaged one, it can heal. It will be forever scarred, but it will be mended and healthy once more. I told you saving them is only a small part of what we do and now you have seen the rest.”

She knew very little about Dorrian Buchanan, and what she knew was based on what she had seen. He was caring, compassionate, deeply devoted to his cause and consciously conflicted about his actions. Yes, in her mind, he was a real life hero a
nd angel, and he had the devilish good looks to pull it off. Vylette did something she had never done before. She threw her arms around him and kissed him, hoping he’d kiss her back. This man gave so much love to others, and she quickly found herself falling for him. In that second, when her lips first touched his, she held her breath waiting and hoping, but when the warmth of his arms encircled her, pulling her closer, deepening the kiss, she was thankful he had asked everyone to leave upon their arrival and were now the only ones in the room.

Her temperature rose higher with each swish of their tongues, butterflies fluttered in her stomach and heated desire spotted her skin with sweat and she didn't care, she didn't pull away
, but was left breathless when he did. Her eyes, slightly glazed over took in the horrid expression on his face and sobered her up quickly. Her chest tightened and she was sure if she looked down there would be someone holding the proverbial knife twisting it in her chest, adding to not only her embarrassment, but her feelings of rejection. Just as she was about to storm away in tears, his hands caught her face, his smooth voice caressing her skin.

“
Please, no don't cry, Vylette. It's not what you think. I see that look in your eyes. I am not rejecting you, I swear it. God, please help me.”

She took a step back when he let go of her and ran his hands through his hair. “
You were just rescued from a nightmare a few days ago...this is too much, too fast...I mean...I don't...Ugh, I don't want you to feel like I am taking advantage here...”

Wiping the tears from her eyes, “
Do you do this with all of the girls?”

He spun and faced her. “
No. I usually try and stay away from them as much as possible. I don't give the speech at the seminar, I don't talk to them about their decisions, hell, you are the first recruit I’ve shown all of this too. This right here, explaining all of this, of what we do and showing you this place, this is done by the recruit's assigned person only. Other than checking on them here and there, I rarely interact with the rescues until they have been here a while. Most are women, and since I’m a man, I make sure I give them room to breathe. I don't want them to feel uncomfortable.”

“
Well...”

He went on as if she hadn't spoken.

“But you... There is something about you...I can't put my finger on it...You are outspoken, spunky, full of life...I just...I don't know...”

To lighten the tension in the room,
she said, “You forgot hot and awesome.”

Blush flooded her cheeks when his gaze
slid over her, stopping at her eyes and the look he held, made her tingle in places she never knew existed. His words were like silk across her skin. She shivered and damn near exploded.

He makes me want to save the world and rip his clothes off all in
the same instant. Sinner and Saint, indeed. Damn, he is quite the combination...that look...mmm, perhaps angel in the streets, but I bet a demon in the sheets. Oh God, I can feel myself blushing again.

“
Yes, that too.” He shook his head and her heart rose. “I have never been in this situation before. I really don't know what to do...”

She stepped up close and grabbed his hand.
“Me either. But you are freaking out because you rescued me, but remember I’m not like those other women. As you said, I was very lucky. I’m not going to fall for you or into bed with you because I fear that is what you expect. Quite the opposite. I rarely do anything I don't want to. That is what you were afraid of, right?”

The inferno of his touch on her skin, fell from her grip
when he moved a few steps away. “Yes...No...Kind of. It's more like I am concerned that what you feel for me is just because I rescued you...Like the damsel in distress and I was the hero kind of thing. It happens and I understand it, which is why I keep my distance from the women we save. The last thing I want is to give any of these girls the wrong impression or put them in a position that would compromise their healing process.”

More tears, happy tears this time.
My God, he so good down to his core.

“
I swear to you this is the first time I have ever felt...whatever this is, but I assure you it’s not the whole hero-saved thing.”