Chapter Two
At precisely the same moment that Steve was being led upstairs into Jack Hansen's office, Oscar and Jaime were still thoroughly entwined - completely satiated and too content to move.
"This is actually gonna work!" Jaime sighed when they were once again able to speak.
Oscar chuckled. "Was there ever any doubt?"
"I don't mean us, Silly! I mean the plan. You think we'll really be able to just be normal again?"
"Define normal," Oscar teased. "As long as Steve can pull this off, we'll all be just fine."
"Can he?"
"He has to."
- - - - - -
"Coffee, Colonel Austin?" Hansen offered.
"Please - cream, no sugar."
"You heard him," the NSB Director told Parr. "Take care of it. And black for me." Bill Parr stared at his boss, his jaw dropped in disbelief, and then with a disgruntled 'hrumph' he did as he was told.
"Thank you," Hansen said, receiving his coffee. "You can go, Bill."
"But -"
"I'll call you if I need you. Please wait in your office."
"Always great to see you, Bill," Steve taunted as Parr slammed out of the office. Turning toward Hansen, Steve smiled. "Jack, your agency has spent hundreds of man-hours searching for a pair of so-called fugitives when the truth is that no one was ever on the run at all."
"I know that Miss Sommers resigned from the OSI. And then she and Goldman suddenly disappeared - minutes before our agents arrived to...ah...take her to her new home."
"Well, yes," Steve hedged calmly, "she did leave the OSI, but not for the reasons you've been led to believe. Under the real circumstances, there was no reason to put her away. The true facts got thrown into the ol' NSB blender and pureed into mush. And the person responsible for all the misinformation and the wasted man-hours was...Bill Parr."
- - - - - -
"How 'bout a snack?" Jaime suggested.
Oscar smiled, pulling her in for another kiss. "Be careful; that might just give me another burst of energy."
"I know," Jaime whispered. She rolled out of bed and picked up her robe.
"You look even better without it," Oscar told her.
"I'll be right back," she giggled. She returned a few minutes later with crackers and cheese on a wicker tray - and another bottle of chilled champagne.
Oscar filled their glasses as his new wife snuggled beside him. "Steve must be doing a good job," he said softly. "No one is beating down the door."
Jaime shivered. "Do you think they put him in The Hole?"
"Probably, but we expected that and knowing Steve, he won't be there for long."
"Are you sure no one else saw my resignation letter?"
"Not even Russ or Callahan. It never left my briefcase...until I burned it. As long as the three of us tell the same story, it'll all work out exactly the way we want it to."
"And it really is almost the truth," Jaime reflected. "We just...adjusted the timeline a little bit."
"Babe, it is the truth." Oscar moved the snack tray to the bedside table, preferring to nibble on Jaime's earlobe instead.
- - - - - -
Steve grinned smugly, so sure of himself that he leaned back and propped his feet on the edge of Hansen's desk. "It's past dinnertime, Jack. You might wanna order take-out; and get extra - it's gonna be a long night."
- - - - - -
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