Suspicion
Chapter One
"You're loaning me out?" Jaime repeated. "Like a library book?"
Oscar smiled. "Jack Hansen specifically requested you."
"Ok; like a 'reserved' library book."
"I suppose you could look at it that way," Oscar conceded. "He's waiting for you in his office right now."
"He wants my help, and I have to go to him?"
"Jaime -"
"I'm going," she said with a slight pout. "Maybe he'll have a sense of humor."
"Close the door on your way out," Oscar said, frowning at the thought of what Jaime was about to face. He probably should've warned her, but he just didn't have the heart.
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"Miss Sommers, thank you for coming," Hansen said, motioning to a chair next to his desk. "Please, sit down." He thought she looked like someone facing a firing squad. Poor kid - probably be easier on her if she was.
"I don't mean to be rude, Mr. Hansen, but why am I here?" Jaime asked, intimidated and more than a little frightened at having been summoned to the NSB Director's office.
"Miss Sommers, do you understand what is meant by the phrase a dirty agent?"
"Yes. That doesn't have anything to do with me, though."
"Unfortunately, it just might," Jack Hansen informed her solemnly.
"Excuse me?"
Hansen pulled a packet from his top desk drawer and removed a photo, which he set in front of Jaime. It was an 8 X 10 head shot of a woman in her late 20's. "Miss Sommers, do you know this woman?"
"No."
"Are you certain?"
"Positive. I've never seen her before. Is she the dirty agent?"
"Her name is Lydia Spence. She's a double agent, Soviet, working for our side. Recently some of the documents in her possession have ended up for sale on the international market."
Jaime was puzzled. "If she's Soviet, why wouldn't she turn the documents over to her own country?"
"As I told you, she's working on our side now."
"Obviously not, if her documents are up for sale," Jaime observed.
"She isn't selling them," Hansen said. He set out another picture, taken from a distance, regretting the effect he knew it would have on the young woman seated across from him.
"No..." Jaime whispered. The picture showed Steve, standing next to Lydia Spence, with one arm around her waist and the other reaching for the packet she held in her hand.
"As you can see, Miss Spence has at least one American contact -"
"This...it isn't...possible..."
"Miss Sommers, you can see why I've called you here today. I need your help, and also your utmost discretion."
"There's been a mistake, Mr. Hansen. Some other explanation..."
"If you can find one, I'm open to hearing it. Right now, in my eyes and the eyes of the United States government, this is our dirty agent, and he needs to be stopped. You are to find our proof, or proof to the contrary if it exists, without letting him know he's being investigated."
"Mr. Hansen -"
"You are in a most unique position, in terms of access to this agent. I must warn you, if you do not cooperate with this investigation, or if you attempt to warn him or protect him in any fashion, you can and will be charged as an accomplice."
"Mr. Hansen -"
"That will be all for now, Miss Sommers. You will check in with me first thing tomorrow morning, and every morning after that, until we solve this case."
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Jaime stormed into Oscar's office, slamming the heavy wooden door hard enough to crack it clean through. "Oscar, you knew about this, didn't you?"
"Jaime, I couldn't -"
"You knew!" Jaime fumed. "How am I supposed to go home and face Steve?"
"You can't tell him."
"I know. That's the problem! We don't keep things from each other!"
Oscar put it as gently as he could. "Babe, there's obviously at least one thing he did keep from you."
"He's not a 'dirty agent' - Steve would never betray his country!"
"Jaime -"
"I know what you're gonna say: that maybe the only one he betrayed...was me."
"Jaime, I'm so sorry this happened."
"He isn't cheating! He wouldn't...do that...to...me." Jaime sank into a chair, dissolving into tears. "There's another explanation; there has to be!"
Oscar pulled a chair next to Jaime's and held out a box of Kleenex, which she ignored. She ignored Oscar, as well. He longed to reach out and comfort her, to wrap his arms around her and let her cry it out on his shoulder, but he forced those feelings away, gently touching her arm instead. "Jaime, how can I help?"
"I can't do this," she sobbed, staring out the far window instead of looking at her boss. "Tell Jack to find someone else."
"I wish I could, Babe. In Hansen's eyes, since you and Steve live together, you've either got to find the evidence and turn him in, or you're a part of it, too."
"He can't force me -"
"Actually, he can. You and Steve aren't related; legally, you have no protection."
Jaime sat bolt upright in the chair, her tears suddenly forgotten. "Oscar, you're right. Thank you." She stood up and headed for the door.
"Jaime, wait -"
"Sorry. Too much to do. See ya!"
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