Her blood was still raging as she pulled her little red car onto the highway. How could she have been played so badly? Had Eyal really played her? Or had Mossad played the CIA? Was there a difference even?
She tried Eyals's phone again. No answer. Damn six hour time difference. She threw the phone angrily at the passenger seat. She needed to talk to him. She needed answers. She needed something…
Auggie.
Maybe he could help her get to the bottom of this. Things had been so tense between them in the morning—he sounded jealous and that threw her a little. They'd gotten back on track as the day went on, at least as on track as they'd been recently, which wasn't all that great. She reached for her phone, inadvertently veering the car into the other lane. An angry horn blast greeted her, and she quickly corrected course.
She selected Auggie from her Favorites list and brought the phone to her ear. "Are you still at Allen's?" she asked as soon as he answered.
"I just left," he sighed. "What's wrong?"
Was it that obvious in her tone? She supposed it probably was. "I-" she faltered. She was such a mess she couldn't even get a coherent thought out.
"Are you driving?" he asked pointedly.
"I am."
"You don't sound like you should be."
"I…" He was right.
"Where are you?"
"The Key Bridge."
"Okay. Hang up, take a deep breath, and drive to my apartment. You're not that far."
"Can you stay on the phone?"
"I'd rather you not have the distraction."
"Okay…" Again, he was right.
"You're only a few miles out. My car is almost there. I'll wait outside."
"'Kay." She dropped her phone onto her lap and put both hands on the wheel, taking one deep breath and then another. She continued to try to breathe herself under control for the rest of the ride. As promised, Auggie was standing outside his front door as she pulled up to the curb. His head turned her way at the sound of the car door closing and her heels on the pavement.
She flung herself at them. Whatever issues they'd had earlier hadn't really been dealt with, but she needed him right now. All the tension that she'd tried to tame on the car ride over erupted and the tears flowed as she buried her head into his wool jacket. He quickly brought both arms around her shoulders, letting his came clatter to the sidewalk.
"Hey…" He ran his hand up and down the back of her suit. "Hey, its okay."
"It's not," she sobbed. "It's not."
"We'll figure this out." He wrapped his arms tighter around her shoulders and she melted into his warmth. In her frustration, she'd forgotten her coat at the office. Now, in the late hours of an early November evening, she was regretting that decision along with so many other choices she'd made today. Did she really fuck up that badly?
"Where's your coat?" he asked. "You must be freezing."
"I am," she admitted. The tears had stopped, but her face was still sticky, damp and surely makeup streaked. She pulled away from his embrace and bent to pick up his cane.
She sank down onto the couch and put her head in his hands while Auggie fumbled around in the kitchen. A minute later he set a glass down on the coffee table and sat beside her.
"Drink that," he instructed, resting his hand on the small of her back. She sat up just enough to knock back the small glass of tequila, before curling over onto his lap. He left a hand on her side and brought the other to comb through her hair. God, that felt good. She closed her eyes.
"So, what went down after I talked to you?" he asked after letting her have a few minutes of peaceful silence.
She rolled onto her back to look up at him. "The pictures were doctored."
"Doctored how?"
"I found another picture of Al Masri, from the watch intel, and that very same image was what appeared in front of the compound. It was photoshopped. Mossad played us." Auggie was quiet for a minute. "What!?" Annie demanded.
"I just wonder…" he hesitated, and she knew she wasn't going to like what he had to say. "If Eyal is taking advantage of your trust."
She sat up angrily. "That's what Joan said! That it was Eyal playing me, not Mossad playing the CIA."
"You have to consider-"
"No, I don't!" She took the bottle from the table and took a swig, slamming it back down.
He sighed. "I know you trust him…"
"He was the one who saved me!"
Now it was Auggie who grabbed the bottle from the table, taking a sip as he flopped back against the couch. He took a deep breath, and then another drink. "He did," Auggie said, evenly.
Oh, no.
She sat back, grabbing onto his arm. "I didn't mean—I'm sorry," she told him. "I wasn't trying to discount what you did. I wasn't."
"If I could have gone myself, I would have," Auggie said quietly.
She tipped her forehead onto his arm, letting her hand trail down to capture his. "I know."
"I had a hard time accepting that I couldn't do it myself. That I had to send someone else."
She squeezed his hand. "You made it happen."
He nodded, squeezing back. "I'm so grateful to Eyal for what he did for you—without hesitation—but when it comes down to it, you are the one I care about, and something's not right here."
"I can't believe he'd set me up."
"Spycraft can be tricky like that. He works for a competing spy service," Auggie sighed. "Look, I'm not saying don't trust Eyal. I'm just saying we need to find out more."
Annie sighed, "I can't get ahold of him."
"That itself is not a good sign." She knew this, even if she didn't want to admit it. Auggie had a way of making her see those kinds of things.
"You'll help me?" she asked.
"Always," he assured her, lifting his arm up and over her shoulder. She curled into his side. "Just remember, I look out for you. And looking out for you, I can't just assume that Eyal didn't do it-"
"But-"
"I won't assume him guilty either," he said. "But like I said, whether he's guilty or innocent, I only care as it pertains to you." Fair enough. "And you know I look out with you whether I agree with you or not."
"And right now you don't…"
"I don't have enough info now," he clarified.
"I should get going," she said, not moving.
"To Eyal's apartment?"
There was that tone again. The one from their conversation about Eyal earlier this morning. "Auggie, I can't go back to Danielle's…" she toyed with her key necklace, "I just can't."
"I'm worried about you driving tonight." His lips were resting on the top of her head.
"I've calmed down."
"By having several shots of tequila."
"Oh, yeah…" No, she probably shouldn't drive. They fell into a comfortable silence. She decided to assume that his saying she shouldn't drive was an invitation to stay.
There was still so much between them that needed to be said. She still needed to find out what was so important for him to tell her while she was in Russia that he'd hedged around since. But when they finally sat down to talk, that needed to be their focus. Tonight, there was too much else weighing on her to give him the attention he deserved. Eventually it would happen.
Words weren't going to make her feel better tonight, but his embrace was nice. She closed her eyes, pressing her forehead into his chest. His arm tightened around her shoulder, stroking the side of her arm gently.
"The touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall. You say it best when you say nothing at all." – 'When You Say Nothing At All', Allison Krauss