Chapter 2
The next day in the bullpen they were reviewing the case, but Jack could hardly keep his mind on things. He looked over at Sue sitting at her desk. She was doing background research for this case and was presently engrossed in a conversation with David, and was talking too quietly for him to overhear. He wished again that she could have been part of his 'executive' group, but Garret had wanted her to be involved in a different way. So, as it was, she was stuck doing research at the moment. With nothing else to occupy him, his mind kept drifting back to last night, the beautiful pianist, and the way she had looked, sitting in the spotlight like an angel. He gave up trying to concentrate and gave in to daydreaming about her. Leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms behind his head, he let himself dwell on the beauty that had seemed to radiate from that woman. He realized that he was really looking forward to going back there, just so that he could see that woman again. It took a punch in the ribs from Bobby to bring him back to the present. He yelped, dropped his arms, and sat straight up. He found the entire office staring at him. Bobby was looking slightly concerned.
"You alright, mate?" He asked. "We were calling your name for about a minute."
"Sorry." Jack apologized, leaning forward and putting his elbows on the desk. "What's up?"
"We found out that Leynnier has had past dealings with the Russians," Tara told him, "and he's meeting with Alexander Shiva tomorrow night, at The Winged Lion."
"You mean The Dinged Lion." Bobby grumbled. At the strange looks he got from everyone, he elaborated. "If the Bureau hadn't been paying for that, it would have dinged my pocketbook. Big time." Jack, Sue, Lucy and Tara all laughed at this remark.
"We know Bobby." Jack said, grimacing slightly. "Did you have to hit me so hard?"
"You left yourself wide open Spark." Bobby said, grinning. Jack just shook his head.
"We'll set our plan in motion tonight." Jack said switching back into business mode. "If all goes well, we should be able to gain the information we need to take these guys down."
"Shiva is expected to be in the country for three days," Tara piped up from behind her computer, "so we only have a small window in which we can catch him."
"He also is known to be a ladies man. He likes to flirt and will try to charm those women…" Sue trailed off, blushing a little, but they got the picture.
"And so it makes sense," Lucy added, "that he's not married. If he had a wife, just imagine what she'd say."
"Well, there are some men in foreign countries whose wives are just glad it's not them." Sue told her. "Evidently men can get pretty sick minded and don't hesitate to pick up a girl off the streets for that. In some countries, men even slip into women's rooms at night to secure a marriage."
"Ugh!" Lucy said, rubbing her arms and shivering. "I am so glad I live here."
"Well, just as long as you don't end up in Shiva's 'back room,'" Myles said, leaning on the edge of his desk, "you should have nothing to worry about." Lucy just glared at him but he ignored her.
"What we need to do is discover if there are any tips or tricks we can find for dealing with Shiva." Jack said, retaking control. "See if we can make the connection any easier." Soon the bullpen was quiet, except for the normal sounds of work, and Jack started to daydream again. Around lunchtime, Bobby came over to Jack and sat on the edge of his desk.
"You know, Sue's free for lunch." Bobby told him.
"Your point?" Jack asked, innocently, knowing that Bobby and Lucy were trying to set him and Sue up, yet again.
"You could take her out to lunch." Bobby told him, his eyes sparkling mischievously as he tried to appear innocent.
"You've become just as much of a matchmaker as Lucy." Jack said, glaring at Bobby a little. Bobby only grinned back, and Jack shook his head. "You're shameless, 'ja know that?" Bobby walked back to his desk laughing as Jack decided that it might not be a bad idea to take Sue out to lunch. As the rest of his colleagues left, he walked over to Sue's desk. She looked up at his approach.
"I was wondering if you might like to go out to lunch." he said, shrugging his shoulders a little.
"I don't know. Since Lucy went out to lunch with Bobby, I was just planning on grabbing something from the cafeteria, but I might be persuaded to go somewhere else." Sue said, a mischievous grin on her face.
"I know this nice Italian restaurant that's pretty quick." Jack said, trying to hide his own smile. This woman had a way of making him smile by just looking at him.
"I'd like that." Sue told him, grabbing her purse and clipping Levi's leash on. They ended up having a wonderful lunch, despite the fact that Jack's thoughts kept straying back to the night before.