Well, this mission isn't exatly sanctioned, but at least it hasn't been forbidden. Will Annie and Auggie discover some useful intel about the Zhukovs? Remember the most important buzz words among spys are "don't get caught."

I own nothing associated with the television show Covert Affairs. This is just for fun. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 25 – On a Mission

By six o'clock, both Annie and Auggie were beginning to wake; but neither wanted to stir to wake the other. Annie finally opened her eyes and studied Auggie's face on the pillow facing her. He could still be sleeping, but he might be trying not to disturb her. "Auggie" she barely whispered, "are you awake?"

He grinned and whispered back "Not if you don't want be to be … wanna get a few more Zs?"

Annie schooched closer to him. "Not really. Are you still up for a little workout this morning?"

Auggie pulled her in close to his body and growled teasingly. "Auggie! I meant a run," she said as she swatted his arm.

"Yep, that sounds good, too." They both rolled out of bed and started gathering their running gear and getting dressed. When Annie came out of the bathroom Auggie was waiting for her holding the running tether that had been on the back corner of his desk. Without paying any attention to Auggie, she went straight to the desk and was perplexed when she saw the empty corner.

"Auggie?" she said turning around, "I've misplaced the ….."

He held up his right hand with the folded strap.

"Oh, I see you've found it. Just a little eager to get out for some fresh air, are we?" she said as she opened the door.

Fred, dressed in his suit and tie ready to leave for work, was reading the morning paper and finishing his coffee when he heard the squeak of running shoes on the hardwood foyer floor coming his way. "Mornin' kids," he said as the couple rounded the corner into the breakfast room.

"Good morning," they answered in unison. Auggie added, "Have a good day, Dad. Are you going to be home for dinner tonight?"

"I've cleared my evening calendar until Thursday so I could be home in the evening for as long as you're here, Son," Fred answered.

"We'll see you tonight then," Auggie said as they stepped onto the patio to stretch and take a run.

About ten minutes later, Fred noticed Annie and Auggie enjoying their run as he drove out of the neighborhood headed to his office downtown. Out of habit he waved not knowing if Annie would recognize his car. She did and waved back and smiled. She must have said something to Auggie, because he smiled and waved, too.

Fred hoped that Auggie and Annie's relationship would continue, because the Auggie he saw in his rear view mirror that morning was more like the happy, witty, brilliant young man who had left for Iraq so many months ago than the one who returned.

Annie and Auggie walked the last two blocks back to the house to cool down, because they wanted to eat some breakfast before they cleaned up and left for Wheaton. Amanda was making a second pot of coffee when they stepped into the breakfast room from the patio. "Did you enjoy your run this morning?" she asked without really looking up.

"Sure did," Auggie answered. "But it's better to run on the trail. Annie doesn't want me to sprint by myself on the street."

Amanda's head popped up and she shot a questioning look at Annie who returned the look with a grimace and a shrug. She mouthed "We'll talk later."

Amanda nodded and asked, "Who wants coffee?"

Annie spoke up and said, "That would be both of us."

After breakfast, at Annie's urging, Auggie called Joan to tell her about finding Annie's photo, whose phone it was coming from and suspicions about the Zhukov family. He told her they wanted to drive down to Wheaton to check out the shop there and attempt to gather some information that might be useful.

"Well," Joan sighed, "this wouldn't be the first time you've sneaked off with Annie, would it? At least you're giving me some warning in case I receive an unwanted call from the FBI."

"You won't be getting any calls," Auggie said. "We're just going to check out the store."

Joan was quiet. She was smiling on the other end of the conversation and wanted to wait until she had a straight face before she said, "Ok. Be careful. Don't get caught."

"There's nothing to get caught doing … we're just going shopping for vases."

During the drive to Wheaton, Annie spied her beloved Starbucks logo, slowed down, activated the right blinker and turned into the drive-thru lane. "Stopping already?" Auggie asked sarcastically.

"For coffee. Want some?"

"What do you think?"

Annie ordered the drinks. "This is going to take a few minutes. About five cars are ahead of us."

Auggie cleared his throat. "Annie, if I ask you a question, will you be totally and brutally honest with me?"

"At what cost?"

"At any cost," Auggie said emphatically. "I sensed some tension when you and my mom were talking at breakfast. What was that all about?"

"It wasn't so much tension, Auggie. You shouldn't have dropped the sprinting bomb on her. I thought I was going to have to pick up her jaw off the floor," Annie tried to explain.

"Oh," he said thoughtfully.

"I think she was aggravated at both of us. At you for doing it and at me for allowing it … as if I could stop you from doing something you're adamant about doing. I'll talk to her about it before we leave."

"What will you tell her?" he asked with a little sadness in his voice.

The truth … that your sprints without a lead make me nervous, too; but we're both careful to make sure we're in a safe place. That you do have a great sense of self-preservation and that I'm as close behind you as I can keep up, and you've promised that you'll pull up when I say stop … and that you have so much fun doing it that I don't have the heart to not be a part of it."

Auggie was quiet and still. He reached over to Annie with his left hand, stroked the back of her head and patted her back, "Thank you for understanding." They both took deep breaths, sniffled a little and rode in silence for a couple of miles.

"Auggie," Annie spoke up, "what's our plan for today. You better get your superior brain in gear, cause we just passed a Wheaton 15-mile sign."

"Here's what I've been thinking. It'll be hard to find out very much unless we can get into the store's office. So we need to get really interested in something that might need a special order or special lookup on the computer. We need to get ahold of some information that I can use later when I get into their computers to see what kind of cash flow each of the stores has." The hint of earlier sadness dissipated quickly as he talked through what they needed to do.

No wonder Joan was so protective of Auggie's safety because his problem-solving abilities and mission-planning skills were the best of anyone she'd worked with or observed, Annie thought. "What do you want me to be watching for? What do you need to know? What would YOU look for?" Annie asked.

Without hesitation Auggie said, "The kind of software the store uses and any hints about an employee's password. Number of keystrokes in the password. If you can get a vantage point to see what keystrokes they use for the password, it would be huge for us. Just remember we're on our own for this little expedition. There's nobody in D.C. backing us up … so, don't take chances."

"The shop is on Main Street just past Wheaton College," Annie said as she pulled onto College Avenue. "And since we've just turned onto College Avenue, I'm guessing we're getting close."

"The college campus is pretty," she said as they drove past. In a couple of blocks she stopped at the Main Street intersection and prepared to make a left turn. "They've kind of got a hoppin' downtown. I see the shop, but I'm going to have to drive around the block to find a parking spot. You OK with walking?"

"Unless you decide to buy something real heavy that you expect me to carry to the car," he teased.

Annie found a parking space around on the next side street. When they got out of the car, Auggie reached into his pocket and pulled out two quarters, which he held out for Annie when she came around the front to the sidewalk. "What's that?"

"Quarters for the parking meter."

"Right. There is a parking meter."

Auggie had a self-satisfied expression because he'd remembered a detail about Wheaton's downtown correctly.

Annie fed the meter and said, "We have an hour and a half. Parking here is 45 minutes for 25 cents.

"That should give us plenty of time," Auggie said.

"One thing we didn't discuss," Annie whispered. "Are we shopping for us or for a gift? Let's shop for a gift for your mother. We might actually find something that she would like. Maybe that vase you were teasing Joan about. We could find a great vase and then take it to Burma for flowers to give to her before we leave," Annie said enthusiastically.

"OK, a vase it is, then," Auggie said as he took her right elbow.

They strolled up the sidewalk and around the corner toward the shop. Auggie was carrying his folded cane unobtrusively in his right hand. They were walking close together and chatting about the shop windows along the way, but Annie noticed several people slowing down to look at them and in particular stare at Auggie. She bit her lower lip in frustration and sighed.

"Something wrong?"

"Nope."

"Why the troubled sigh?"

She carefully considered her response. "Just frustrated. I don't like it when people stare at you once they realize you're blind. It's some kind of morbid curiosity thing and it aggravates me.'

Auggie chuckled and gave her arm a gentle squeeze. "I appreciate your loyalty and protectiveness, but you … we … have more important things to worry about. It doesn't bother me, so please don't let it bother you." He then leaned into her ear and whispered, "You're in the lead here, so just don't give them anything to stare at."

Annie let out a laugh and told him she wanted to swat him, but that might elicit stares. "Exactly my point," Auggie chuckled.

"Here we go. Door opens to the right." As she opened the door a loud chime announced they were entering. "It's just about as crowded in here as the shop in Glencoe," Annie whispered. "Stick close to me and maybe behind me."

In less than a minute, a young woman approached them offering her help. "We're sort of window shopping for a gift," Annie replied.

"For my mother," Auggie added with his best charming smile.

"We'd like to wander around to see what you have," Annie said. "We'll let you know when we need help."

They started winding their way through the displays. Annie was describing what she saw, Auggie was asking questions. She'd pick up an interesting piece and hand it to him so he could explore it with his sensitive fingers. If something were large, Annie would hold it so he could use both hands to enjoy its shape and contour.

"As much as I really am enjoying this, we do need to find something to ask about so we can get into their office," Auggie whispered.

"I know … they have some smoky vases and some black ones. I'll ask if the square smoky one comes in black. Besides I think your mother will really like the black square one. Do I have a budget here?"

Auggie raised his eyebrows, "There you go being a girly girl on me again. Try to keep it under five hundred dollars."

Four months ago, Annie would have been surprised out of her socks if Auggie had indicated he could afford a five hundred dollar vase as a gift for his mother. This morning she didn't even blink an eye. In fact she was beginning to understand how and why his apartment was such a beautiful space … designed with his needs in mind but stunning.

She picked up the square smoky vase and looked at its price. "It's your lucky day, Mister," Annie said loudly, "the one we like best is three hundred seventy-five dollars. Only it doesn't come in black. Let's see if we can get a black one."

Auggie took her arm to get to the counter at the back of the store. He leaned in close and whispered, "Good job, so far."

Annie dawdled until both cash registers were busy and then asked the young woman who had offered to help initially if the square vase was available in black. Annie had positioned herself and Auggie at the end of the counter so it would be easy to follow someone into the office area. "Let me check," the young woman said. Annie followed her to the office like it was the most natural thing in the world and Auggie happily trailed along.

Annie handed the vase over to the young woman so she could get the stock codes from the label. She jotted down the numbers and turned to her computer. Annie and Auggie were standing behind her with their hands touching enough to give Auggie an anchor in the space. Annie studied the screen and made a mental note of the software "Total Retail."

She watched as the woman keyed in her user name Julie15 and her password. She quickly typed in 10 keystrokes. The first two strokes came from the left letter side of the keyboard A-S-Z-X … she wasn't exactly sure. The third keystroke was a number either 2 or 3, and then the fourth keystroke was 7 or 8. The next three strokes appeared to be more numbers 9 -1-6, and the last four keystrokes were letters L-N-E-T.

Annie breathed deeply and kept repeating what she saw of the sequence in her mind. Over and over she repeated it in her mind willing herself to keep the information fresh until she could get out of the store to write it down. She put her hand in Auggie's giving him a squeeze trying to tell him she had some information.

"It doesn't look like we have a black one here, but there is one at our store in Naperville. It's not too far from here. Do you want me to have them hold it for you."

Auggie said, "Yes, please."

"Can you give me pen and a piece of paper so I can write down the address for the GPS and my phone." The store clerk handed Annie a store pen and a piece of paper and recited the address, which Annie jotted down along with the username and password information. "Thanks, that's everything I need," Annie said.

"I'll call them," the clerk said. "Who shall I say is picking it up?"

"Anne … Anne Brooks," Annie said as they left the office.

"Thank you, Ms. Brooks. They'll have it ready for you by the time you get there."

When they got around the corner from the store, Auggie said, "Quick thinking about using your sister's name."

"I hope we have over three hundred dollars in cash between us."

Auggie said, "Don't worry. I have my ATM card with me. We just need to find a bank around here to get some cash. We don't want to use a credit card that will give anyone a paper trail about what we've done."

Backtracking out of town, Annie turned into a bank parking lot and parked close to a covered ATM. "How do you want to handle this? There's a walk-up ATM and a drive-thru ATM."

"Are we close to the walk-up?" he asked as he pulled the ATM card out of his pocket and held it out to Annie.

"You want me to get the cash? You'll have to give me your PIN."

"Yes … and your point is? You know I can always arrange for a polygraph if something funky happens to my bank account," he said lightly. "Now go get four hundred fifty dollars so we can pay for the vase and have some lunch money."

"Don't you want to come, too?"

"No, it might look strange on the ATM camera if a beautiful blonde is helping a blind guy get four hundred fifty dollars. We don't need to be raising any flags, so you go get the money."

Annie returned with the money and handed Auggie his card first and then the handful of cash, which he folded over and stuffed into his pocket.

They stopped at the shop in Naperville to pick up the vase and shop for gifts at a close-by boutique. They enjoyed a quick, tasty lunch at a café, and hurried back to Glencoe and Auggie's encrypted computer. They made one detour to drop off the new vase for Burma to fill with flowers for Amanda. "We're planning to leave Friday morning," Annie explained, "so I'd like to pick up the arrangement on Thursday afternoon to give to her Thursday evening. You know what flowers she likes best, so make an elegant arrangement that looks good in this vase."

"I think I can handle that," Burma said. "See you Thursday."

Auggie checked his watch when they left the florist shop. It was just after three o'clock, and he was eager to get his fingers on his computer. Annie could tell Auggie was impatient on the ride home because his fingers were drumming on the console and the armrest.

"You just can't wait to get to your computer, can you?"

Annie pulled into the driveway and Auggie was out of the car and had his cane unfolded before Annie had engaged the emergency brake and unbuckled her safety belt. He walked around the front of the car and to the edge of the driveway where, with the aid of his cane, he found the sidewalk to the patio and walked quickly ahead of Annie. He easily located the atrium door into the breakfast room, opened it and stepped in.

Amanda was in the kitchen putting together lasagna for dinner. She was surprised to see Auggie by himself. "Hi Auggie, where's Annie?"

"Hi, Mom … she's getting something out of the car. She's right behind me. I smell something Italian. Are you cooking supper?"

"Thank you for noticing. I'm making lasagna, Italian salad and have some garlic bread from the bakery to warm. Does dinner at seven sound good to you?"

"It does," Auggie answered as Annie opened the door and said, "It smells yummy in here."

"Did you have a nice excursion around the area?" Amanda asked.

"We did. We went down to Wheaton and drove around the college campus and stopped at Naperville to do some shopping and had a bite of lunch," Annie said holding up the bags from the gift shop where she'd bought gifts for Danni and the girls.

"I was just telling Auggie, I was planning to have dinner ready by seven."

"That sounds great. I need to put these bags away," Annie said smiling.

Being out of the office, Auggie is going to have to rely on his most important resources ... his own knowledge of computers and Annie's willingness to help. Join me for Chapter 26 to see if he can gain any actionable information about the Zhukovs.

Thanks for reading.