Lee watched Charlie as she slept. After he had slapped her, she hadn't said a word nor tried to fight back. Her cheek was still red, and he felt bad about it. He hated the fact that he had to strike her. He would never hit a woman, unless really deserved and yet not someone innocent like Charlie.
He looked at the screen. They had been circling over the state of Florida for hours, probably waiting for Church's green light to land so he could get back on board.
He discreetly sent Barney a quick message, saying that everything was going as planned so far and that Charlie was safe and unharmed. He intentionally omitted to tell him that he'd had to slap her. He hoped that when the truth came out, she wouldn't hold it against him.
In the early hours of the morning, the plane changed trajectory and headed towards the west coast. Where the hell was Church?
He let himself doze off, knowing full well that he had a light sleep and had placed himself in front of the door. There was no way Charlie would be able to get out without him knowing.
When Church saw Barney's pickup truck stop at the rendezvous point, he got out of his car and walked to the middle of the abandoned lot underneath a highway bridge.
"I was starting to get the impression that you had decided not to save your daughter", said Church as Barney walked in his direction.
"Then you don't know me", replied Barney. "Where is she Church"?
"Charlie is fine. I've enjoyed the little time I've been able to spend with her, but then again what man wouldn't. In all honesty, I'm having a hard time from restraining myself of doing two things".
"What's that put a bullet through your head and dying"?
"Oh, no. The first would be to tell her the truth about the father she believes to be dead and the second is keeping my hands off her body".
Barney said nothing even though he wanted to punch Church in the face.
"I'm still wondering which of the two would get you really mad to the point that it would break you".
"I'm stronger than you think", replied Barney.
"See, I doubt that. If she were a stranger, I'd agree but we're talking about your flesh and blood, daddy's little girl, even if she's all grown up. I'm not a father, but if I were, knowing that someone as vile as me, were to even think about touching one of my children, I'd inflict the worse death possible, because I'd be so broken, that something would have snapped inside of me".
"You and I have nothing in common Church. I'll do your mission and I'll get you your money and you're going to give me daughter back".
Church nodded and handed a file over to Barney. "Callum Schleck. He has something that I need. Retrieve it, give me my money and Charlie is free to go".
"Got it", said Barney has he took the file and headed back towards his pickup truck.
"You have 5 days, Ross. After that, you can kiss Charlie goodbye".
When he woke up, he saw that Charlie was awake, sitting on the bed and looking at him.
"I need a shower", she said looking at him.
He opened the door and headed for the bathroom. He opened the door and did a quick check of the room, which allowed him to see that there was also a camera there. There was apparently no limit to the extent of Church's surveillance, and he found it quite perverse.
He stepped aside allowing Charlie inside and he looked the door from the outside making sure she couldn't get out. He then walked over to the control center and saw that indeed they were watching Charlie get undressed. All the guys were eyeing her and smiling.
"Man! I'd give anything to give her a taste of my medicine", said one of the guys crudely.
"Tell me about it! Look at her"!
The first guy turned around and winked at Lee.
"You're one lucky SOB".
"What do you mean"? asked Lee.
"Well you can actually follow her in there. She's off limits for us, boss' orders. If I were you, I'd go in there and show her a good time"!
"Voyeurism is not my thing", replied Lee.
The guys looked at each other and smiled. "Well, there's no audio and if you get your way, I promise to shut off the camera for ten minutes, that should give you plenty of time to give that bitch a good ride"!
"And then I get fired. Tempting, but I'll pass".
Lee didn't want to pass that opportunity, but he had to be sure of what he was getting into.
"Church isn't here, and he can't have access to that camera from the ground, only the one in her bedroom, living room, dining room and kitchen. He won't know and we won't tell him. Consider it as our welcome gift to you for joining the team".
Lee raised an eyebrow. It was perfect. No audio, no video for ten minutes and Church not knowing. He could turn the situation around in his head over and over again, this was the only way he'd be able to talk to Charlie and explain everything. If he wanted to get her out, she was going to have to trust him and she wouldn't be able to do that if she ignored the truth. Yet, he knew that if this the way he was going to go about doing it, Barney would have his head on a stick. To slap her was one thing, to seduce her and…, that was something completely different.
Lee threw his hands up in the air. "Deal. But, if one of you doesn't stick to your part of the deal, I'll kill you the first chance I get".
The guys nodded and Lee walked out of the control room. He hesitated briefly outside of the bathroom door before unlocking it and stepping inside, carefully locking it back up. The water was running, and she hadn't heard him come in. He looked towards the camera as he started to get undressed. He opened the glass door and let himself in the shower, keeping his back to the camera.
Charlie turned around as she heard the glass door open and close behind her. Her eyes grew wide with fear and anger as she saw Lee naked in front of her.
She slapped him across the face and tried to push him aside so she could get out of the shower.
"Ouch", said one of the guys as they watched the screen. "You've got to give him credit for trying".
"Don't rule him out just yet, no one said it be done with her consent".
Lee grabbed Charlie by the arm and pinned her against the shower wall, so that she had her back to him, removing any possibility she had to knee him in a very strategic place. He had a déjà vu when he had done the same the night before in her quarters.
He leaned in and placed his mouth close to her ear, from behind, it would look as though he was kissing her neck.
"I don't work for Church, I'm here to get you out and to safety".
Charlie was trying to free herself from his grasp and she was strong.
"Look, Drummer sent me, please work with me here".
Upon hearing Drummer's name, he felt Charlie ease up.
"How do I know you're not setting me up"?
"You are CIA Covert Agent Charlotte Jane Michaels. You were on an undercover mission in South Africa when you got kidnapped by Church as you were headed to meet your handler. Your mother is Joanna Michaels and your father Barney Ross, you grew up in Ann Arbor".
"Anybody could know that, even Church".
Lee sighed. She was right. He had to find something more personal, that Church wouldn't have been able to know.
"There's a picture of you on the beach looking out at the sunset and you've got quite an arsenal hidden behind a panel of your office wall triggered by The Art of War".
Again, he felt her ease up.
"Fine. You've got a plan"? she asked.
"For this particular moment, yes, but you're not going to like the first and last couple of minutes".
"Why"?
"Because, the only way, I'm going to get them to stop watching us through the surveillance camera, for ten minutes, is if we …", his voice trailed off.
She inhaled and exhaled. It didn't take a brain surgeon to know what it was. He was, after all, naked behind her and in the shower.
"Fine, let's just get these first couple of minutes over and done with, just don't go overboard".
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind", said Lee as he rolled his eyes. He was naked in front of what he considered to be his type of woman and with the body to go with it and she was asking him not to go overboard? It was like asking a cat not to purr, when you caressed it, almost impossible.
Lee started to kiss her neck and at the same time, let his hands inch down to her chest.
As much as Charlie didn't want to react, it was obvious that this guy's touch on her skin had more of an impact than she had imagined. She was trying to convince herself it was all an act, like being undercover, but her body was winning the battle against her mind.
"See, told you. Ah, the Brits, there's something about them that women go crazy about".
"Let's turn off the camera", said the other guy.
"Nah, let's give him another minute".
Lee turned Charlie, so that she faced him. He brought his face closer to hers. "Over my left shoulder, red light or no light"? he asked with his lips an inch from hers.
She carefully looked over his shoulder. "Red".
Upon her answer, Lee's lips closed over hers and it sent her overboard. What she had asked him not to do, she found herself doing and he realized it. He suddenly let go of all his inhibitions; the fact that they were being watched, the fact that they hardly knew each other, the fact that it was a mission, the fact that she was Barney's daughter. Suddenly, in that precise moment, none of it mattered. There was a connection, a mutual attraction and neither one of them apparently wanted to fight it.
She felt his tongue outline her lips through his and welcomed it as she parted her lips. When her tongue caressed his, she let out a soft moan. He let go of her hands and she placed them on his broad, muscular and bare back and pulled him in closer to her.
