Trouble 4
Mac paused for a moment as if he was unsure how to answer that. "Oh I work for a think tank, doing research and what not, kind of boring actually," said Mac She was fairly certain that was a lie but unwilling to call him on it just yet. She wanted them to tip their hand first, and then if it looked bad, then and only then would she flee.
She shrugged as nonchalantly as she could and said "That would depend on what's being researched I would imagine" said Zee He smiled in response to her answer. "Maybe but like I said it's kind of boring," said Mac "They recruit straight out of MIT?" said Zee He looked shocked for half a second before remembering what he had been wearing when they met. "Ah yeah, you remembered what I was wearing?" said Mac.
Kind of hard not to her mind supplied, you looked completely yummy in it. "Good memory," said Zee She took another bite of her sandwich and downed some more soda. He seemed like a decent guy so far, even despite her misgivings she was thinking of giving him a second date, just to see what it was they were really after. Who knows, maybe even get her a little something before she vanished into the night, anything other than that would put him in danger too.
"Yeah incredible, I'm impressed, so where did you go to school?" said Mac She paused for a second trying to recall the past she made up for this persona. "Just high school,why?"said Zee He smiled "No reason, it's just you seem well educated that's all"said Mac She frowned a bit "Parents were big on being well read, believed we should never stop learning and all that"said Zee "Oh, same here actually. Do they live in the area?" said Mac
He caught the wince even though she tried to hide it. "No, they died some time ago," said Zee He gave her a sad and very sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so insensitive, but I know how you feel my mother died when I was very young," said Mac
He seemed uncomfortable with the subject matter, and she sensed he was about to change the subject, not that she minded right now. He had brought up some seriously horrible memories, and she was quite willing to talk about anything else right now, as long as it had nothing to do with her family.
"Okay um.. this is awkward.. so you didn't grow up here I take it"said Mac "Ah no,why?" said Zee "Just curious where you're from,that's all"said Mac "Las Vegas and you?"said Zee "Small town near Yosemite, Mariposa I believe it's Spanish for butterfly"said Mac
She wasn't sure if that was the truth or not but sounded genuine. She almost felt bad for lying so thoroughly to the man, that was if she could fully trust he was who he said he was. She smirked and her phone rang in her back pocket.
She fished it out and flipped it open. "Yeah?" said Zee "Zee, what the hell! You were due back like half an hour ago, plus John is here and wants to know what the hell is going on?" said Kailey
Frowning, It couldn't be that late was it? Zee looked at her watch. "Oh shit, sorry Kailey," said Zee She started to turn, to tell Mac that they would have to cut this short, and he held up his hand to stop her.
"I heard, but if you want to do this again sometime, just hand me your phone, and I'll add my number to your contacts," said Mac She thought about it for a second then handed him her phone after she hung up.
She almost laughed at him, when he gave her phone a strange look like it was some sort of alien technology or something. "What the heck is..why do you use such an ancient phone, this is something my grandmother would use?" said Mac She chuckled and shrugged.
"It's simple to use, doesn't come cluttered with a bunch of bullshit I don't use, and I'm a bit of a technophobe," said Zee
Okay, the last one wasn't strictly true, she really had no problem with technology just the fact that people could use it to track her down and kill her, and all the lack of privacy being in such a connected world entailed. He gave her a look that plainly said he understood and scrolled through her rather short list of contacts before entering his own entry. He handed the phone back to her.
"Well, then I guess I should get you back then, huh," said Mac He climbed to his feet while Zee shoved the trash back into the now empty bag. He folded the blanket up and they started back for the car. Zee was actually sorry that their date had come to a close, but she also had another dilemma, she really had to pee.
She was looking around for a public toilet when she spotted one beachside. "Ah Mac do you mind?" said Zee She pointed at the bathroom. "Oh yeah sure, I'll wait for you if you like," said Mac "Ah, yeah sure," said Zee Then she rushed towards the door because she did really have to go. While she sat in the stall using it, she called Tom and gave him Mac's first and last name.
Mac thought it was hilarious that her roommate slash coworker had glared him down the whole time he was waiting for Zee. He honestly didn't expect her clients to glare at him though and wondered if that would be a problem later on. She was obviously well liked and respected.
When she told him as they walked to the car that she didn't usually date, he would have been offended until he remembered the harsh looks, maybe the reason they were intimidated had nothing to do with where she worked. She seemed open, but at the same time, he got the impression that she was cherry picking her responses to his questions as if she were reading off of a script, which he was fairly certain she was doing.
He wondered how long she had been doing this, and just how many identities she had in her head. They had a pleasant conversation over lunch until he mentioned parents, and caught the flash of pain in her eyes. He instantly felt bad and rushed to reassure her by mentioning his mom and trying to be understanding.
He was about to find out more when her roommate called, apparently they had both lost track of the time. Though a quick glance at his phone confirmed that it was only ten minutes past an hour. She did, however, hand him her phone and allow him to enter his number, even though the device was ancient as shit.
It was no wonder Riley couldn't find anything on her, the phone was obviously a burner, and it didn't have location services or any other app he could use for the same thing. He was beginning to believe her about being a technophobe just based on the phone alone. They packed up their meal and started to walk back to the car when she indicated that she had to use the restroom.
A second after she disappeared inside, he received a text. "She just had her friend in the police department do a background check on you," said Riley's text He nodded in understanding knowing the Phoenix profile would hold up under scrutiny, he wasn't really surprised. He typed back the limited list of contacts she had on her phone including a Tom Hoskins, so Riley could run the information and hopefully eliminate their inside man.
He watched the door while simultaneously texting Riley back, apparently, the group wanted to know how the date had gone since he had to leave the microphone in the car. He saw the door move and closed the messenger app, and reopened a mahjong app, and started playing it so it would look like he was doing so the entire time she was in the restroom. She looked relieved as if something was no longer bothering her. "So ready to go back to work?" said Mac
She smiled at him but he caught the nervous glance at his phone. "Yeah, I suppose I should let you go so you can get back to your boring research," said Zee He chuckled and they walked back to the car in good spirits. She was quiet when she got to the car and he assumed she was thinking about something. "So I have the weekend off if you want we can go out to dinner or something," said Zee
He smiled at her, glad he wasn't going to have to work around her schedule to get closer to her. "Sure that sounds great just text me the address, and I'll pick you up at your place," said Mac She giggled, and then he remembered the ancient phone she was using. "Let me guess that antique doesn't text," said Mac "Got it in one, sweetheart," said Zee He smirked. "Then I'll just have to call you I guess," said Mac
Zee rushed into the bathroom and into the first stall that was empty. It was horrifyingly dirty in here but it did give her some privacy. She sat down and quickly called Tom giving him Mac's first and last name, Tom promised to call her later with anything that he found.
Zee vowed that when she got off work tonight she would hit the nearest library and look up the phoenix foundation just to make sure it wasn't in any way connected to Reese pharmaceuticals.
First thing on the list, was a nice long talk that she needed to have with John, Kailey and most of her clientele, they seemed to be taking the we see you as a little sister attitude, a little too seriously. Mac had been right it was unusual, that every guy she met seemed to run for the hills right after the first date.
"Care to talk about it?" said Mac She frowned no not really, but she really should give him some sort of warning, just in case what she was thinking was true. "Ah actually yeah, I feel I should probably warn you, some of my friends and clientele see me as a sort of surrogate little sister, so they might.." said Zee "try to scare me away, not going to work I don't scare easily but thanks for the warning," said Mac
They pulled out into traffic and Zee noticed the same car was following them again. She had also noticed it in the parking lot by the beach, in a location that would have given whoever was driving it a perfect view of their location. Again she didn't know if that should worry her or not, but decided to let it go for now, and see what Tom came up with about her impromptu date. A few minutes later, because Mac drove like a crazy person, they were in front of the shop. Mac pulled up to the curb and she climbed out waving goodbye to the man as he pulled away.
Mac waited until he was out of visual range and then pulled the com out from under his seat and started talking.
"She claims to be a technophobe and uses a seriously ancient flip phone, like a pre-blackberry style, I think I found the only millennial in existence that doesn't text. She said she only finished high school, but something tells me that was a lie, she claims to be from the Las Vegas area and both her parents are dead. Certain that the hometown location is a lie, but pretty sure she's telling the truth about the parents.
She seemed to be struggling to remember details, so this may be an alias possibly one of many. She did claim to have a car once upon a time, but supposedly she junked it because she couldn't afford the repairs, sounds like a stolen vehicle to me. Oh, and I also put my number into her phone, because she wants to do this again sometime. I'll be back in a few minutes." said Mac
At Phoenix
Riley was frantically typing on keys before Mac even said he was on his way back. She was researching stolen vehicles, with out of state plates, that had shown up in junkyards around Las Vegas around the time frame Zee had started working for her current boss John Hart. Several other analysts were doing virtually the same thing combing through footage and lists and eliminating those the cops had already apprehended and were currently still in jail.
"Got her, about damn time! Now, what name did you sign? Damn it, lady, move your arm" said Riley The woman, who looked an awful lot like a heavier version of Zee walked towards the door shoving cash into her pocket. Riley screen captured her image and compared the two photos using facial recognition software. "It's her, but like a serious plus-sized version of her, damn she lost weight," said Bozer "Great now any idea what name she used to sell it," said Matti
"No not yet, but now that I have an older image I can use facial recognition to comb through tons of photos for her image."said Riley "Cage, Bozer, head to Vegas I want to know what alias she was using when she first rolled into town, and I want it traced back to its , keep combing I know this woman's real name is out there somewhere, we just have to find it"said Matti
"So what did I miss?" said Mac walking in the door, followed by a grinning Jack Dalton. "Man, she said she wanted to do it again? I tell you she is into you, hear what I am saying" said Jack "Dalton! Earth to Dalton did you get anything on her?" said Matti "Well as a matter of fact I did, she is as paranoid as you were saying and also she called someone named Tom while she was in the bathroom" said Jack "Yes we are aware of that, anything more" said Matti
Jack grinned "Just, that she was checking out our boy Mac's backside like he was a prime bit of beef or something," said Jack Mac blushed ever so slightly "She was not..was she?" said Mac Jack nodded yes, as soon as Matti turned away from them. Matti rolled her eyes and muttered men under her breath.
"Dalton, while we eagerly await Mac's next date with Zee I need you to shadow her boss and see what you can learn about the guy, Mac I need you to stay here I do not need any of them making the connection between you two," said Matti "butt?.."said Mac
"No butts MacGyver, your goal is to gain this woman's trust so we can get closer to Mendoza, you can't do that if it appears that you are stalking her"said Matti "Yeah, that's only romantic in teen movies not real life"said Bozer Mac shook his head and with a sigh collapsed into a chair.
"Don't worry Mac, we'll solve the mystery in your mystery woman" said Riley Mac caught a glimpse of what was on her screen and moved closer. "Is that her?" said Mac "Yeah at about 150 lbs heavier according to the facial software."said Riley "Damn, that must have taken a serious amount of work"said Jack "Yeah, but worth it I mean check out the before and after shots" said Bozer Mac was just staring at the screen trying to wrap his head around what he was seeing. Riley elbowed Bozer and they both grinned at the expression on Mac's face.
"She's that hot huh?" said Riley Mac looked down at the floor and then held up his hands in surrender. "What can I say, she's fascinating, a mystery.." said Mac "and appears to need our help?" said Bozer They gave Mac a level look because they had all caught that look on his face when they told him about the weapons and stuff at her house. They knew the man well enough to know that he would try to play white knight if he could. "Yeah..yeah I know," said Mac "Geez, I'm not that transparent," said Mac "Like glass, Blondie," said Matti
He glanced over at Matti and found her eyeing one of the analyst's screens and pretty much ignoring them all. She looked up to find Dalton, Bozer, and Cage were still there. "Don't you people have someplace to be?" said Matti
Jack saluted Matti and headed for the door. "Catch ya later man," said Jack Cage was likewise heading to the door with a printout one of the techs had made from the security footage. "Sorry Mac good buddy but I gots to go," said Bozer
Mac nodded in understanding as he watched all his friends leave on assignments, feeling a bit left out that he couldn't do any of the legwork with them. What he didn't see was Matti watching him with a worried look on her face. "Hey, Blondie.." said Matti Mac turned away from the screen to look at his boss.
"Try not to get too attached, if this works they will more than likely put her in witness protection and you probably won't see her again," said Matti Mac had absently picked up a paperclip while Matti talked and was slowly shaping it into a broken heart. "Yeah, I know," said Mac forlornly. Matti frowned at his response, because it sounded heartbroken already, and he had just barely spent one afternoon with this woman. Mac climbed to his feet and headed for the door."I'm going home, text me if they find anything interesting" said Mac
Zee walked into the shop to find her coworker and her boss whispering together like they were conspiring against someone. Zee cleared her throat and they both looked up guiltily. "Three minutes past the hour, and you're already calling out the national guard it's a new record," said Zee They both nervously looked away.
"Well?" said Kailey John glared at her and then turned his attention back to Zee.
"We were just concerned, it's not like you to be late," said John Zee chuckled, because she knew there was plenty of times that she had been late, and John was obviously choosing to ignore it. She glanced at the cameras and noted they still appeared to be off which meant she could talk here without being spied upon.
"So I take it you told him?" said Zee "About this mysterious guy, that may or may not be a cop?" said John "Yeah him, I gave the name to Tom to run"said Zee "You know if he does happen to be a cop, that puts us all in danger. Especially if certain clients find out" said Kailey She gave John a strange look and Zee was curious about what it meant.
"So who are you having do it?" said Zee "Do what?" said John "Scare away anyone that looks at me twice," said Zee Kailey looked away guiltily and Zee pined her with a glare, as did john, but for an entirely different reason.
"The sons," said Kailey Zee turned her narrowed gaze back to John. "You're having a bunch of bikers threaten my dates?" said Zee John swallowed nervously and actually backed up when Zee took a step forward. "To be fair we were only trying to protect you," said Kailey
"Well stop it, let me handle this"said Zee "and if they find out your using a stolen identity?"said John "Then I'll point them in the direction of someone who is no longer with us and vanish while they look"said Zee "We're just worried that's all"said Kailey "I know, so am I and believe me if it at any time feels like everything is about to go south, I'll make sure they look for me not you"said Zee
John frowned at her response and opened his mouth to protest. "You know I can take care of myself John you've seen me fight, just let me handle this" said Zee "Fine but I'm having Jose draw you up some new identity papers, and I'm leaving you the keys for the boat"said John "and I'm going to have Callie set up a room at the hotel for either of us, as well as some emergency funds just in case"said Kailey "You two are really that worried?"said Zee
"Yeah babe ain't no one gonna make you disappear on us,you're family," said John Zee softened and wrapped her arms around John, Kailey moved forward too so they were all in a group hug now. She had been so lost and scared when that car had dumped her in Las Vegas, and finding a job in that town without giving references had been so impossible, that John had been a literal godsend.
"Thanks you guys you have no idea what that means to me," said Zee "Just promise us you'll play it safe, no taking agent boy to any of the client's parties, or anything. I don't care how cute he is"said Kailey Zee blushed and lowered her head her friends were right she had been thinking with her libido and ignoring the very real danger that Mac represented to both herself and her friends, simply because the man had a killer smile, and abs, and butt..okay focus Jen.
"I promise, if you two promise me that when our clients start talking business that you will use it as an excuse to step out of the room, we can't give anyone anything we don't know"said Zee They both nodded in agreement though Kailey hesitated for some reason, then Zee walked towards the back. She thought John and Kailey were done, but obviously, it wasn't so, because he followed her into the back.
"Tell me about him," said John She had stopped by her locker, she was about to put her bag away. "He's smart, funny and seems like a genuinely decent guy" said Zee "but still there's something about him that scares you"said John She sighed and rested her forehead on her locker. "maybe its just cause I'm not used to guys like him being into me, or I'm right and he really is after something else" said Zee "You sure you're just not comparing him to Michael?"said Kailey
Apparently, she had followed John into the back as well. Michael was the name of the head of security from Reese that killed her parents, and at one time he had been a friend, but John and Kailey thought he was the crazy ex who tried to kill her, only the last half was true. He had tried to kill her, but she had never dated the man.
"No, I guess I'm just unwilling to trust anyone like that again," said Zee John sighed and rested his hand on her shoulder.
"I know it didn't work out between us, and honestly that was my fault. I have always thought you can do better than me, I just hope you can find the one that proves that to you" said John He sounded sad and she raised her eyes to meet his. It was obvious that John still had feelings for her but he had been starting to lean towards Kailey now that they had broken up. Even though she didn't know the woman as well as she liked, Kailey had stepped in and helped John to move on, Zee was certain that when she left that Kailey would do so again.
