Two days passed quickly and the necessary equipment had been discreetly installed in the classrooms and Sunset Village buildings. Monica had a room on the third floor of the second building, whereas Jake and Alex would be staying on the first floor of the third building. That left Frank and Bre. They would be holed up in an efficiency apartment just off-campus.
Monica wore a wire so they could stay in contact with all team members at all times. Bre sat at the desk watching the video feed from Monica's hidden camera. She laughed as Monica commented in her Swahili dialect that she always hated the first day of school.
"She carries the accent quite well," Bre commented to her silent roommate.
She cast a glance at him. He sat stiffly next to her, watching the monitor, his gaze intense. His brow was furrowed, his lips pursed. She noted the touch of gray at his temple and her fingers itched to touch it, run through his short black hair and then outline his ears. Cody had often joked about his boss' strange looking ears, but Bre thought they were...sexy in a strange way. He was sexy. He literally dripped sex appeal and she wondered if he knew how truly handsome he was. He leaned forward then, brushing against Bre and like a shock, his touch took her by storm, sending jolts of electricity right through her.
Trying to mask her sudden awareness of him, she snapped, "He isn't going to jump her in broad daylight."
"I know that," he snapped back. "How's that background check coming along?"
"I'm waiting for the search to complete. It shouldn't be much longer," she told him. "I included all occupants of the Sunset Village, fellow classmates, teachers and councilors."
"Good. That should cover it."
The day passed slowly, watching Monica go from one class to another, chatting easily with fellow classmates, attempting to make friends. Jake and Alex would check in periodically, letting Donovan know they hadn't made any headway. When classes were over, Monica headed back to her room at the Sunset Village. Jake and Alex took advantage of the students returning to their rooms to interview those that lived nearest the murder victims.
Bre stretched her bunched muscles; she ached from sitting in the same place and position for so long. She and Donovan had spent the better part of the day going over the background results that turned up in the search. Nothing odd had popped out at either of them, although they still had many to go through.
"Why don't you get some sleep? It's almost 8p.m.; I'll take the first watch and wake you in six hours," he suggested, taking the remaining pages of the report from her.
"Okay," she didn't resist and headed for the bathroom to brush her teeth. She curled up on the king size bed and closed her eyes. After a few minutes, she heard Donovan walk across the room and switch off the overhead lights and thought the gesture was a thoughtful one. She willed herself to relax in his presence and finally drifted off to sleep.
Fear. Terrifying and irrepressible. The shadowed face loomed above her; the knife glinted viciously in his hand as he waved it in front of her face. She kicked and struggled, but he was immovable. "No," she screamed, clawing at him as the knife descended to her chest, entering her at the breastbone. The pain was so intense she would be unconscious soon, but he held something strong smelling to her nose, something with ammonia. He wanted her awake while he pleasured himself with her terror. "No more," she pleaded. Reaching out she contacted something warm and gentle...comforting. Death was near; she just wished It would stop shaking her.
"Wake up, Sabrena," he called to her gently shaking her from her veil of sleep. "Wake up, you're having a nightmare." She continued to fight him, and he caught her fist just before it made contact with his left eye. He murmured soothing words of comfort until he felt her relax.
"Agent Donovan?" she asked, confused.
"You were having a nightmare," he told her, his eyes soft with concern.
Sabrena shook her head and removed herself from his comforting embrace. "It was more than a nightmare. It was so real." She brought a hand to her chest to make sure there wasn't a large opening where her breastbone was supposed to be.
"It's over now," he assured her. "It's almost 2a.m. anyway. Time for your watch."
She nodded, moving to a sitting position. "Did you find anything in the backgrounds?"
"No, not yet." He moved off the bed so Bre could get up. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," she smiled and took the hand he offered.
He watched as she took up the vigil at the monitors, then lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. He could smell her scent in the pillow, a light aroma of sweet roses. Her screams of agony had scared him nearly to death. Before her nightmare, he had been reading backgrounds. Yeah right. It had taken all his will to concentrate on the paperwork and monitors instead of watching Bre sleep. When he did watch her, he was entranced by her beauty. She sighed contently while she slept and her soft lips twitched with words unspoken. He found himself wanting nothing more than to unravel that braid and run his hands through that fiery mane of hair. He rolled away from her when he felt the tightening in his loins. "It's a sad day, Donovan," he thought to himself, "when just thinking about a woman's hair can get you hard."
Sunlight beamed through the slits in the blinds stirring Donovan from his sleep. He saw her immediately upon waking, sitting at the computer, the rays of sunlight dancing off her hair, creating a golden halo effect. She was scribbling in her notebook. "Find something?"
She nodded but didn't look up from her notebook. "Ten students come from families with known affiliates with Skin Head and Arian Nation organizations."
"Good work," he commented as he headed for the small bathroom. When he emerged he asked, "Want to take a shower? I'll contact Jake with the names you discovered and then I'll go for food after I shower." A playful smile appeared on Bre's face causing him to ask, "What?"
"Oh nothing," she laughed. "I remember saying something like that to Cody once."
"And?"
"His reply was 'we could save time and shower together'." She watched Donovan blink—hard. "Mind you, I'm not suggesting that. Your suggestion just brought Cody and his little quips to mind." His smile sent a shiver down her spine.
"Be careful who you say things like that to. Most red blooded males wouldn't pass up such a tempting offer," he warned.
"Trust me, Agent Donovan, you don't do a thing for me," she assured him as she swept past him and closed the bathroom door behind her. She could hear his laughter booming through the closed door.
*************
"Jake."
"Jake here," he said, speaking into the small mic attached to his earpiece.
"Bre...Agent Fairchild came up with ten names to check out."
Jake and Alex grinned at each other. "Bre," Alex whispered, a slight giggle followed.
"Go ahead," Jake said, while Alex waiting, pen and paper ready.
*************
"Do you mind if I go for the food? I really need to get out for a while," Bre asked when he sat beside her at the desk containing the computer and monitors.
"No, I don't mind."
"Thanks, I won't be long," she assured. She picked up her purse and headed out of the small apartment.
Frank turned his attention to the monitors. Monica, or should he say Anika, was on her way to her class. He saw Alex and Jake cross her path and noted how neither of them acknowledged Monica's presence.
He glanced at the monitor that surveyed the outside of the apartment building he and Bre were staying in. He watched her pull out her cell phone, dial, and then hold it to her ear. There was a brief pause before she started speaking. Who was she calling?
************
"Dad," she said when the voice on the other end answered.
"Bre?"
"It happened again, Dad. Last night."
"What happened?"
"Same as the other two...I felt it happen. But I couldn't see his face."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought I should tell you."
"I'm glad you called. I'm worried about you on this one, honey."
"Thanks, Dad, but I'm fine. I'm not the one in danger. I better go. Love you."
"I love you, too, sweetheart"
************
Sabrena returned to the apartment with coffee, Coke and bagel breakfast sandwiches from a local bagel shop. She sat the food on the small table in the tiny kitchen.
"Soda?" Donovan questioned.
"Coffee...ugh," came her response.
He had to laugh; he couldn't help himself. The face she made as he sipped the hot, black coffee was almost endearing. Even though he was curious to know whom she felt the need to call while not in his presence, he decided to wait to see if she would tell him on her own.
They turned their attention back to the monitors. "I need to see Monica after her class," she told him unexpectedly.
He shook his head. "We'll blow her cover."
"Come on! What young lively college student doesn't have friends over?" Bre reasoned.
"You look like a FBI agent," he responded while he looked her up and down.
Bre squirmed under his gaze. "Well, I won't for long." With that, she turned on her heel and headed for the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes later she emerged. "Still look like an agent?"
He turned toward her and was unaware that his mouth gaped open. Clad in a short skin tight black skirt and an emerald green halter top, she stood before him, her braid undone, her beautiful red hair pulled back from her face with a thin silver hair band, it hung loosely down her back, almost touching the back of her knees.
Bre walked toward him and placed a finger under his chin and pushed his mouth closed. "You're drooling," she teased. Then without another word she went in search of Monica.
To be continued...