WINDOW OF TIME (17 page)

He nodded once toward the closed door. “I need to speak with my agent alone. You’re dismissed back to your clinic.”

Lucy saw the hesitant way her doctor glanced between Brockway and the door, and then the look she gave Lucy could only be described as “I’m not finished with you, not by a long shot” before she got up and left the room. Frankly, it seemed odd that Sunny had been allowed in the office at all during their short briefing.

“Do you remember the last time you saw Agent Green?” Brockway asked.

Lucy unzipped her handbag, pulled out her wallet, and took out a receipt. She didn’t need to look at it to remember the date. “Yes, sir. I met Gabe at a secluded beach in New Providence, Nassau, Bahamas on the nineteenth when he gave me his package.”

Standing up, he reached for the paper in her hand. “Seven days ago. Did he happen to tell you anything about his assignment—what was on that film?”

“No, sir. Why would he?”

He came around and sat down on the edge of his desk in front of Lucy. “We need to find out what he saw during his mission. What he knew.”

“Why don’t you get in contact with Gabe and ask—” It took a moment before Lucy understood what he had said. “What do you mean, what he
knew
? What happened to him?”

He handed her the receipt. “Your contact was shot and killed seven days ago, on the beach in New Providence. According to witnesses, two men dressed in dark suits walked up to Gabe, talked with him, and left him with two bullet holes.”

“Seven days?” Lucy asked breathlessly. “What time …” She felt lightheaded. Could Lucy have seen it happen and stopped it if she had stayed for the drinks Gabe wanted to buy her? Had the two foreign agents seen her then and followed her to Los Angeles? Why did they wait until she was on the City Hall staircase before confronting her?

“Agent James, this is why I’m going to give you a mission outside your usual duties as a courier. We need to know what he saw in that compound, and I feel confident that you have the skills needed to get the job done.”

“I know I have.” She took several deep breaths. Lucy got what she wanted, but it almost seemed too easy. Now she’d have to leave Johnny for several days when they’d just started getting to know each other. And her house! What if she lost it?

But then again, if she were dead, it wouldn’t matter if she had a house, or a boyfriend. “What have you discovered by satellite?”

Brockway went around his desk and opened a file drawer. He pulled out a single piece of paper and laid it on his desk, closer to Lucy. “This is a surveillance map of Long Island, Bahamas.” Touching a spot on the map, he said, “We have a satellite go over the compound twice a day, once in the morning just after sunup, and then again in the late afternoon, before the sun goes down. We believe they have intel on when they fly over. We’ve never seen any activity during those times. We don’t have enough probable cause to have a bird fly stationary over it for a continuous twenty-four time period.”

“Gabe’s death wasn’t enough PC?” Lucy’s anger finally flared. She jumped up and rushed around her chair. Raising her voice, she thumped a fist against her chest. “How about the attempted murder of an agent in connection with the same compound?” Turning, she paced the length of the room, thinking out loud. “Did he get inside? Did he get pictures of the people working there? What are they doing in there that’s dangerous enough to warrant them tracking me back to the US?”

“Which is why I’m sending you on his mission, Agent James,” Brockway said calmly. “You have a vested interest in how this turns out.”

“I need equipment.”

“The dungeon is at your disposal.”

“I’ll need a plane, too.”

“There will be one on standby in an hour at Daugherty Field.”

Lucy made a mental list of necessary items she knew she would want to take with her. Now she needed to say goodbye to Johnny and hope she stayed alive long enough to see him again.

Lucy had spent an hour in the agency’s warehouse, or, as it was better known, the dungeon. It encompassed the whole floor of the sub-subbasement, with metal shelving reaching up to the tall ceiling. From one room she was able to get everything she needed, as Agent Charles, the man in charge of the floor, followed her, questioning her decisions. Lucy ignored him as she found her black, battle dress uniform, the best in tactical weaponry, electronics, and keys to a new car, plus a few unique items she figured might come in useful. The car’s GPS had made it an easy drive to Daugherty Airport near Long Beach.

Driving up to a chain-link gate, Lucy took out a key-card and passed it across a box suspended on a metal pole. After a subtle beep, the gate slid sideways, and she drove through to a private parking area. Beyond were huge hangars. All but three were closed and dark as she drove to Hangar 8.

There were two men leaning against the fuselage of a small jet aircraft. “Impressive,” Lucy said as she turned off the car’s engine. She reached for the small bag next to her hip and froze—Johnny’s image floated in front of her mind’s eye. His presence physically pushed at her, nearly embracing her in warmth and security. She looked in the back seat at her other bags to make sure he hadn’t somehow slipped inside the car. Lucy rubbed the back of her neck and tried to rid the feeling of him being near. She needed to concentrate on her mission and not on how much she’d like to hold him again.

Opening her door prompted one of the men to come over and greet her. His blue jumpsuit suggested to Lucy that he might be a pilot.

“Agent James?”

“Yes, I’m Lucy.”

Holding out his hand, he said, “I’m Special Agent Adam Sanderson.” Adam motioned toward the other man flashing a white, toothy smile at Lucy. “That’s Special Agent Gerard Summers. We’re your pilots.”

Lucy shook his cool hand. He had a solid grip, but it was his intense stare that caught her off guard. He had soft blue eyes, and they were taking in every aspect of her anatomy. His hair was the same shade of light blonde as Sunny’s. He was shorter than Johnny, but he looked as muscular. “Nice to meet you.” Lucy motioned toward the aircraft. “Pretty plane.”

“Thank you,” Adam opened the car’s back door. “She’s a fully loaded Beechjet 400A.”

“I bet it needs a smooth runway to take off and land, huh?” Lucy asked. “It probably has a fairly small gas tank, too.”

Adam reached in and took out the first black backpack. “She’ll go five hundred miles an hour, so we’ll be in Nassau in about six hours, taking in a little extra time for refueling.”

“Nassau?”

“Yes, ma’am. We can charter a boat from there.”

“We?”

Summers spoke up. “Assistant Director Brockway suggested we stick close to you on your mission.”

Lucy noticed Summers’ smile never wavered.

“I think we’re going to need a bigger plane,” Johnny said.

Lucy whipped around, startled beyond reason when she heard his gentle voice come from behind her. It wasn’t her imagination. He was there. Standing next to him were Sunny and Dusty, and from their all black attire and the bags each of them carried, they weren’t coming to see Lucy off.

“What are you doing here?” The question wasn’t necessary—their presence there was obvious—but the words fell from her lips just the same.

Sunny said, “We’re coming with you.”

Lucy’s hardened stare fell on Sunny’s defiant face. Her chin was lifted like she was waiting for Lucy to tell her she couldn’t go. Then Lucy looked at the huge man standing behind Sunny’s shoulder. Dressed in black, Dusty was beyond intimidating. He dwarfed Sunny, and Sunny was as tall as Lucy. Lucy let her stare fall onto Johnny’s handsome face.

“Whose idea was this?” Lucy asked sharply.

Johnny immediately said, “Mine!”

Sunny huffed. “No, it wasn’t. It was my idea.” She gave Johnny a disrespectful glance. “I called Dusty about your mission—”

“How did you know about it?”

“Like I told you before, I’m not stupid. You told me you had a plane to catch. All I had to do was call Daugherty to see if a plane was being readied.” Sunny glanced at the towering hulk behind her. “I told Dusty that I was going with you whether you liked it or not, and things … well, things just kind of progressed from there.”

“Progressed from there?” Lucy lifted her shoulders. “How old are you? Ten? Don’t you have the strength to say no to a civilian when you’re asked something ridiculous?”

Johnny’s voice dropped in volume, but the intensity increased. “It’s not ridiculous.”

“As far as I’m concerned, this whole thing is silly.” Lucy motioned to the bags. “I don’t need a medic on a simple intelligence gathering mission. I certainly don’t need three.”

“I disagree,” Sunny said. “Hear me out.”

Lucy rubbed her temple.

“I could have argued with Jim about letting you go, and I could have used your health to keep you here. I am your physician, and I do have authority over even the assistant director in certain situations.” Sunny glanced over Lucy’s shoulder at the two pilots before continuing. “But I stayed quiet because I had a feeling that you would have sneaked out and gone on your own.”

“So now you think you’re going with me,” Lucy said. “I can understand your, um, thirst for adventure.” Lucy nodded toward Johnny and Dusty. “What I can’t understand is how you said two civilians could come along.”

Johnny gave her a charming smile. “I told Sunny that I would stand in front of the plane until you gave in.”

“No, you didn’t,” Lucy said in disbelief.

“Yes, he did,” Dusty added. “And I had to promise not to save him before the propellers hit him.”

“No props,” Sanderson said. “It’s a jet.”

Lucy sighed. “Whatever.”

“I need to talk to you—in private,” Johnny said, stepping closer. He grasped Lucy’s elbow, and she followed him away from the small group.

Lucy let him pull her past the hangar’s door. She could easily stop him with one blow if she wanted to hurt him. However, all she could think about was taking him in her arms and kissing him until her lips burned with pleasure. He looked so determined with his brows pinched together. He had his mouth drawn into a thin line as he led her near the next hangar. They stopped far enough away from the group that privacy wouldn’t be a problem.

“I can be useful to you,” Johnny said. He had his face hovering inches away from hers.

“How?” Lucy asked. “Can you shoot a gun?”

He hesitated. “I know how—”

“But would you?”

Johnny dragged his fingers through his hair. “I … I don’t know.”

“How about Dusty?”

Johnny didn’t hesitate when he answered, “He was a Marine for four years before he became a firefighter, so, yeah, he can shoot. He’s been in combat. Lucy, I’ve been thinking about this. I can stay close to you just in case you have a”—Johnny looked over at Sunny and lowered his voice—“…in case you’re in danger and have a window. You’ll see it if I’m trapped in it, right?”

Lucy felt her heart painfully constrict at the image. “What makes you think that I want to see you die, even once more?”

“How do you think it felt seeing myself being shot?” Johnny asked without answering. “I think if I can take it then you should be able to.”

Lucy placed her hand on his chest and leaned in close. She could feel his heart pounding under her touch. The hyper rhythm matched her own pulse. The rise and fall of his ribs was quicker than it should have been. “But what if I can’t? What if I see a window, and I can’t change it. What if you—”

“Don’t think in what-ifs.” He wrapped his hands around her shoulders and pulled her closer. “Just do your job, and everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.”

Lucy swung her arms around and broke loose from his grasp. “The way it’s supposed to?” she yelled. “I told you I don’t believe our lives are laid out for us to follow blindly, waiting for fate to take over.” Lucy pressed her hand to her stomach and tried to quell the sick feeling lurching up to her throat as Mac’s face flashed through her mind. “We have to be the best—” She quickly jabbed the point of her index finger against Johnny’s chest and lowered her voice. “Or we’re the ones dying instead of them.”

Lucy then gave an exaggerated groan. “This is ridiculous,” she said, loud enough that they could all hear. “None of you are coming with me.” She stepped around Johnny and strode to her car.

“Yes, I am,” Sunny told her as she picked up the backpack Lucy had set down on the ground. “You need a medic with you for the next thirty-six hours, and I’ve assigned myself to the mission.”

Dusty took the pack from Sunny’s hand. “You’re not going without me. You’re a doctor, not a field agent.”

“I’m coming too,” Johnny told them.

Lucy turned abruptly, facing him. “What then? Are you planning on quitting the fire department to become my permanent partner?” Johnny stepped back when she moved closer. “Or have you decided that I’ll be retiring from my job now that you’re in love with me?”

“I …” Johnny blinked several times.

“Lucy—” Sunny touched her shoulder, and Lucy swung around ready for a counter argument. “Admit it. This is different, and you know it.” Sunny reached for her wrist, but Lucy yanked her arm away.