Note: I do not own these characters, they are the property of CA Writers/USA. THANK YOU for reading, I'm glad there are still readers out there who also ship Ryan and Annie, but I'm taking a departure from my normal story lines here and hope you all still like it and stay with me. And for Auggie fans, he makes an appearance in this chapter. I do love Auggie too! Walker is lucky to have these men in her life. Please review.
Chapter 12
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Annie went on "auto-pilot" for her first class. Her mind raced from the material she had planned to cover for the lecture to Mueller to Auggie to McQuaid to her career's highs and lows at the CIA and lastly to Ben Mercer. Ben had surprisingly come through for her. She only planned on using him to collect the cash she needed, but they developed a mutual trust, respect and concern for each other over the last couple of years. Only on paper were they husband and wife. They set up a trust where all their funds were held. It took a lot of trust on each other's part to co-mingle their life's fortunes.
When Ben was able to, he was around for her medical appointments and played the dutiful husband. There were moments the last couple of months when she felt something bubble in her for him, but she always put those feelings aside because she knew it would be a colossal mistake, their past track record wasn't good. He always wound up hurting her and ironically disappearing on her her like she did to McQuaid. In her early months on the island, still guilt ridden over ditching Ryan, he was the one she thought of constantly and played what ifs in her mind about. It took her a long time to get over giving up her chance to be McQuaid.
When she started having feelings for Ben recently, she chalked it up to being lonely. . . Ben flew in and out of her life and her job as a professor and contract translator for Pacific Command gave her some sense of purpose, but she was essentially alone and kept to herself. Each time she let herself imagine more with Ben, she concluded they were much better as friends than lovers. Besides, he was still quite the flirt and obnoxious towards the many female tourists he shamelessly led on whenever he was back in town.
Still, it was hard to shake the anxiety she felt recently because she hadn't heard from Ben in a couple of weeks. When he was away, it was usually a long stretch. Sometimes he would only be gone for a week or two, but most of the time he was gone for months at a time. No matter how long he was gone, Ben and Annie usually checked in using various protocols they set up. Ostensibly, it was to see if there were any issues with the cottage rentals or short-term renters. Together the Steele Family Trust owned a total of four vacation cottages on five acres of ocean front property. They had room to build more in the future. But truthfully he set up the communication protocols to check up on her health and she came to look forward to hearing his voice and knowing he was alive.
Even though they were strictly platonic friends, Ben's presence in her life brought her a sense of peace and security. She didn't appreciate that she did the same for him. Knowing she needed him at their "home" in Hawaii helped him get through some rough situations. For many years Ben Mercer lived for no one and a reckless aura defined him, but after he and Annie made a pact to help each other, he became a different operative. The change in him had pros and cons. . . sometimes being more cautious isn't what a spy needs to be. . . a spy needs to take risks and leave caution to the wind.
During the break between her lectures, Annie reviewed the files and intel regarding Nathan Mueller. She hadn't thought of Mueller in ages. After narrowly escaping death in Azerbaijan Annie had too much going on with being sentenced to desk duty after Joan and Calder found out about her condition. When she realized it, she only momentarily felt awful about not figuring out sooner that Mueller was the target and a victim of Aleksandre Belenko's convoluted quest for revenge against those responsible for his younger brother's death. Had she figured out all the pieces sooner, the outcome could have been different that day.
Annie asked the essential questions, why did Nathan resurface after all this time? The CIA thought he was dead, he was free to adopt a new life. The only two people alive who could shed some light on Nathan Mueller were Auggie Anderson and James Decker. Annie wanted to find out more details on the kind of guy Mueller was before he became Farouk Tabrizi, her hunger for intel came back. She used to study her targets and learned everything about them. She wanted information on his childhood, his family, his dreams and figure out what made him vulnerable to Belenko's manipulations. This is how she used to find just the right bit of information to use for turning assets. She was always great at honing in on that piece of information that would gain trust.
Annie left her lecture hall and went to her small closet like office as a junior faculty member. She opened her file cabinet and retrieved one of many burner cells she had hidden. Annie used her burner cell to call her old friend Auggie.
Her spycraft was rusty, she didn't notice Luiz Gonzalez watching her as she left her lecture hall for her office in between her classes.
Auggie was surprised to hear from Annie. She went off the grid as she had done before and though a worried McQuaid came knocking on his door a long time ago, Auggie wasn't worried. Judging from where McQuaid had traced Annie to, he concluded that Annie collected some of Teo's money and would not resurface for a long time. The last time he spoke to Annie she was in Argentina and he was back at Langley, he understood when the time came to sever ties with Langley, he had gotten there too. It took nearly getting murdered by Langer and deep conversations with his old buddy James Decker for him to realize that he needed to get out on his own terms and not give up his chance at happiness with Tash. He figured Annie realized the same thing.
"This job is like riding a bike for you," joked Auggie when Annie filled in him on why she called him. "You're not the first one to call me about this, I'll tell you what I told McQuaid," said Auggie.
"You spoke to him?"
"Yeah, you haven't?"
"I'm not sure he knows I'm involved yet," said Annie.
"That's going to be an awkward reunion," quipped Auggie.
"Any more awkward than ours after I returned?"
"Nah, you have a way Walker. He'll be fine, besides, he's in a serious relationship."
"Oh,"
"Yeah, we did the whole small talk thing."
"Ok tell me what you know about Mueller. I want to know what's not in his service records and personnel files."
Auggie proceeded to tell him what he told McQuaid. "Tony told me his marriage was unraveling."
"Why?"
"We don't have great stats when it comes to marriage, most end in divorce for guys in Special Forces. . . his long absences and tough missions strained his marriage. When he was home his erratic behavior didn't help things."
"You think he had PTSD?"
"Likely."
"His wife was a saint, she tried to help him, but you can't help someone who doesn't want it. Tony said eventually she left him. Nathan became increasingly erratic, he questioned his life and his choices, the people he killed haunted him in dreams, he blamed the military for ruining his marriage. I heard they were trying to have a family, but they struggled with that since Nathan was rarely home and he balked at getting checked out for infertility. His wife never filed for divorce, she seemed pretty broken up at his funeral and blamed herself for his death. She wished she had done more to help him. Said he was once a tender and loving man who loved serving in the Army. He just lost his way."
"He seemed pretty dogmatic when we met," said Annie, "but I saw a part of him that softened when I mentioned you."
"Can you get me in contact with Decker?"
"I wish, I have no idea where he is, he took off, wanted nothing to do with Langley and was still slightly pissed that I brought him back, I tried to contact him a few times using our old protocols, but nothing," said Auggie.
"Okay, thanks, Auggie. . ." there was a pause.
"I would help out, but if I left Tash now she'd kill me. She's ready to pop anyday now."
"What?"
"Expecting a little girl next month," said Auggie.
"Congratulations Auggie!"
"I hope you can meet her one day."
"Me too Auggie. Say hello to Tash for me," said Annie.
"Call me, I can talk to Nathan for you."
"Do me a favor will ya?"
"Name it,"
"Do you have footage from his funeral?"
"I think Tash recorded some of it and I can ask around."
"Great, can you send it to me?"
"You'll get it by the end of today."
"Thanks Auggie," said Annie.
"It was good hearing from you Walker."
"Good-bye," said Annie.
/
Next Annie called Miller.
"I'm near your office, we can talk in person rather than on an open line."
"What are you still doing on campus? I thought you were working on my cover," Annie was surprised that he was still hanging around.
"Oh, I had some business to take care of here," said Miller as he turned a corner and knocked on Annie's office door and opened it before she invited him in.
Miller noted that there was another phone on her desk that she dumped some file folders on top of. It was Annie's burner that she just used to speak to Auggie.
"I've gone over some of the intel and understand that we're heading to an urgent care clinic where the target has received treatment."
"Yes, ma'am, that's correct."
"Can you get your hands on a generous supply of suture kits, various broad spectrum antibiotics, any children's vaccines and all the Tylenol and Advil you think the plane can hold," said Annie with authority.
"What for? We're not a charity over here, we're just pretending to be. . ." said Miller with a laugh, he was a goofball at heart.
"Bartering information, good will, trust me Miller, these items will get us credibility over there," replied Annie.
"You seem to know what you're talking about," said Miller narrowing his eyes. She seemed entirely too skilled to be what she appeared. His old C.O. McQuaid was right. . .he never picked up on it because all she was ever asked to do was provide translations and she did nothing more and never offered any opinions.
"I'm just trying to be prepared," said Annie.
"Can you make it happen?"
"I'll get on it Ma'am," said Miller.
"Then go, I need to go a couple of things before my next class," said Annie grabbing her files from her desk along with her burner.
Miller followed her out after noting that the phone was no longer on her desk.
"I'll pick you up outside your lecture hall in two hours," said Miller.
"Not necessary Lieutenant, I'll make my way home on my own," said Annie as she noticed the janitor sweeping the hall. He was there earlier. Does it take that long to sweep the hall? And it's the start of the day, usually they worked after the last classes. The hairs on the back of her neck stood and goose bumps developed on her arms. It took a little time, but it was like riding a bike as Auggie pointed out. She realized she was being watched.
"I'm under orders to escort you ma'am, you're needed for this mission," said Miller. And that's when Annie realized Ryan knew.
"Orders?"
"Yes, ma'am," said Miller.
She didn't need any explanation. "All right, I'll see you after my last class," said Annie as she walked away.
Annie always used the university's computer lab to send messages to Ben. She stopped by the lab when she left Miller. She felt eyes on her back and simply kept going. Annie let Ben know that she needed to go away to help out an old friend and would not be back for four or five days in case he tried to make contact.
/
On the plane. . . Ryan headed over to the bar on his lush private jet. He wasn't a man who overindulged and rarely got drunk, but this occasion called for a stiff drink. Dex cleaned up and organized the files as Ryan poured a long shot of whiskey and downed it as he thought about Annie and their past.
Joan was right, he had moved on, Laura was a lovely person like she said. He found stability and someone he could count on. He knew everything there was to know about Laura, she was the antithesis of Annie Walker. Then why was he so riled up and bothered. . .
"Get us a helo once we land, if we drive it will probably take us over an hour to get to Steele's home from the airstrip."
"Why don't we just have her meet us at the airtrip?" asked Dex.
"I want to see her in her element," is what Ryan thought, but he didn't say it. He wanted to see where she lived with her husband the man she left him for. What her life was like the past two years. . .he couldn't contain the part of him that was curious.
Damn that Annie Walker, thought Ryan.