I love you guys. Really, I do. Thanks for reviewing with gadget ideas. I'm going to try to use them all. I'd also like to thank (again) taurausgirl for her notes on my language in the previous chapter. Here in the states, we call mobiles cell phones, and I didn't know that Alex would call it a mobile. Thanks again!

Okay, and on with the story!

"So what do you know about this case?" Harry asked. Alex sank into the chair, facing Alan's niece's team. They were all staring him down, and he was trying not to be intimidated, but it really was very hard.

In his defense, he did have twenty some-odd hardened CIA agents staring him down.

"Almost nothing." Alex replied. "All I was told was that Alan Blunt's niece was missing, and he needed my help."

"So you just jumped at the opportunity to save our asses?" One of the men asked. Alex swept his eyes up to him.

"No." He replied coolly. The man looked taken aback. "I've worked with the CIA before, and I wasn't too eager to do it again." So he was being harsh, but could anyone blame him?

"All right then." Harry said, and handed him a file. "There is a group of drug runners on the island. Lindsay Blunt was working her way up in the group. She was getting pretty close to the top when she just dropped off the face of the Earth last Tuesday." Alex looked down at the girl's picture in the file. It wasn't a head shot like he would have expected, it was a picture of her getting into a car, her black hair blowing into her gray eyes. He fought the smile that threatened to come over his face. She was pretty.

"All we know," Another man added "Is that she was last seen here." He pointed to the picture. "Getting in this car with the head man himself." Alex lifted the picture to find another one, this one of a man. "Demetri Orlov."

"Russian drug dealers?" Alex couldn't help the skepticism in his voice. "Russians are usually into heavier things, like arms dealings."

"Yes, well. . ." Harry said, running a hand through his hair. "They're a bit unorthodox. Which is why we were having trouble." Alex nodded. "Whatever you need you'll have." Harry said. "Lindy was - is a valued member of this team." Harry smacked himself in the forehead.

"Right. Can I have the name of the hotel where she was staying?"

"We've already gotten you a room. Same floor where she was staying." Alex nodded thoughtfully.

"Good. I'll need a second room too." He said. That earned him strange looks, but he didn't care. He was being cautious. "Under the name Kenny Alan." He said. Harry raised an eyebrow, but nodded anyway. "I'll also need the names and locations of everywhere she's been in the past week." Harry nodded, and looked to one of the others around the table. She got up and hurried out of the room, presumably to get the information.

"That will probably take us until tomorrow morning. Now, how'd you like a drink?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"I don't drink." He said. "Plus, I think I've got a bad case of jet lag." Harry smiled.

"Right. You can go straight to your hotel then. Follow me then."

Alex walked around the hotel room in a circle. Actually it was a resort, but it was all the same to him. He flopped down on one of the beds and stared at the ceiling, his hands behind his head. Absently, the fingers of his left hand slid down to the small white scar on the right side of his chest. He sighed. If he hadn't moved an inch to the left at the last second, the bullet would have pierced his heart. As it was, puncturing a lung was bad enough. He closed his eyes, remembering the moment he woke in the hospital.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

That was the only thing in the world. The strange beeping sound that wouldn't stop. Alex fought to open his eyes, and the beep grew louder, and faster, slowly but surely.

"Alex? Alex, can you hear me!" The voice was far away, and he tried to reach for it, but his world exploded into silence again.

The next time he tried to wake up, he was able to open his eyes. It was dark outside, and Jack was asleep in a chair, her neck at an obviously uncomfortable angle. His eyes roamed around the room. White walls, white ceiling, white floor. Blue and white curtains. Had to be a hospital.

"Alex?" His eyes landed back on Jack. Her eyes widened. "Oh Lord, Alex!" Her hands flew around her in a flurry, as though she wasn't sure what to do with them. "You're awake! I'll be right back!" She shot out of her chair, and through the door, returning only seconds later with a grip on a doctor's stiff white coat. His eyes widened when he saw Alex.

"Mr. Rider." He said. His voice was low and soft. "Nice to see you're awake." Alex nodded weakly. He started to sit up, but pain shot through his chest, and his breathing became heavy and labored. He eased himself back into his pillows. What had happened?

A punch to the chest.

The road tilted.

Blood.

Pain.

His parents.

No pain.

Then darkness.

He'd been shot.

"Don't try that again." Jack said, her hand firmly on his shoulder. "At least for right now."

"What happened?" Alex asked her. Her eyes darkened.

"They shot you. Those sons-of-"

"Jack!"

"They shot a fourteen-year-old boy! They deserve to be called the foulest names that man can conceive! Then beaten with sticks and dragged through streets behind horses while being stoned, and. . ." Alex sighed, and looked to the doctor as Jack continued her rant. Maybe he could provide a more rational explanation.

"You were shot." He said. Jack stopped her rambling. "Missed your heart by about an inch, but it caught your lung. We've removed the bullet, and reinflated your lung, but it's going to take a long time before you're back to normal."

In truth, it had been years before Alex had returned to normal, if that's what you could call it. It was almost four years later, and he still had some trouble breathing when he ran for long distances.

He got up and grabbed a shirt out of his suitcase. He didn't want to be sucked back into this life. He didn't want to be a spy again. He wanted to be a normal boy again, at least as normal as he had ever been.

He slid his shoes on his feet, and slid his wallet into his jeans. He needed to relax. He'd found it disgusting how easy it was to slip back into agent-mode as he liked to call it. He'd been out of the 'game' for four years. Yet here he was, just because Blunt asked him to be.

It disgusted him.

He padded down the carpeted hall to the room that had been Lindsay's, and slipped his wallet out of his pants pocket. He smiled as he pulled out what looked like a drivers license. He slid it into the key card slot, and pulled it out. The light turned green, and he pushed the door open. He closed the door quietly behind him, and turned on the light. His brown eyes swept over the room, from the open suitcases to the closed blinds. He stepped over to the suitcase and peered into it. He smirked. The suitcase was anything but orderly. Shirts, socks, pants, shorts, skirts and bras were all jumbled around. He slid a finger under one of the straps, and pulled out a rather lacy bra. He smirked, then let it fall back into the suitcase. He moved on to the another open suitcase. More clothes. Except these were different. They were folded neatly. He picked up a pair of folded dress pants. Inside was also a couple satin shirts that were sure to, shall we say accentuate a particular part of the female anatomy? His smirk growing, he folded them all back again, and place them in the exact same positions. He moved on to the last suitcase, which was filled with clothes one might find on a fashion-challenged woman. He shook his head. This girl had to be a master at disguise. If she wasn't in trouble, and just wanted to disappear, she could do it easily.

But why not inform her Uncle then? Why not contact Blunt?

He sighed and walked over to the dresser. On it rested several odds and ends. A pair of sunglasses, a mobile. . . Mobile? What girl in their right mind leaves their mobile in their room? He picked it up to open it, then noticed the weight difference. It was only slightly heavier than the typical mobile, but Alex knew exactly what a weight difference could mean. He put it back down, deciding he was safer that way.

He turned away from the dresser and looked around the room. There wasn't much else there. He ducked into the bathroom, and felt a little nosy. He shrugged off the feeling, and poked open her makeup bag. Nothing too suspicious there. He sighed as he strode over to the door. He hadn't really been expecting to find anything important, but the fact that he hadn't was a little disappointing.

Outside the hotel, a man watched the light go off. His eyes narrowed. Who'd been in her room?

The next morning, a loud knock on Alex's door woke him. He cracked one eyes and glanced at the window, as that was the way he was facing. It was barely even light out. He rolled over and looked at the clock. 5:30. Shit.

"Alex?" It was Harry Stineman's voice. "Alex!" Muttering curses under his breath, Alex stumbled over to the door, and flung it open. He blinked blearily in the bright light from the hallway. Harry looked worried. "Thank God!" He exclaimed after a moment. Alex raised an eyebrow at him.

"What the hell?" He asked, and yawned. Harry glanced nervously down the hallway. Stepping back, Alex motioned Harry into the room, and shut the door. He slipped into the bathroom pulled on a shirt, and splashed some cold water on his face. It helped wake him up a little.

"Sorry to wake you up this early." Harry said as Alex emerged. "But we received some intelligence early this morning." Alex ruffled his hair with his hand as he sat down on his bed, just sinking into the softness. "Someone was in Lindsay's room last night." Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Around eleven?" Harry did a bad job of hiding his surprise.

"How'd you know that?" Alex flopped back on his bed.

"Because I was in her room around eleven last night." He said. Harry stared at him.

"How'd you get in?" Silene met his question. "Of course." Harry nodded. "You can't tell me." Alex nodded.

"Is that it?" He asked. Harry shook his head, his eyes widening.

"Oh no! I wouldn't have gotten you up this early just for that!" Alex tried to keep himself from falling back asleep. "Orlov knows you're here!" Alex was suddenly very much awake.

"What?" He didn't shout it, and it wasn't really a question.

"We're not sure how, but we've gotten word through our informant net that Orlov knows there's a British agent here somewhere." Alex groaned, and flopped back on his bed. How did they always know? They always knew there was and agent, but they never knew who it was. He made a mental note to ask Blunt that when he got back. "And I wanted to give you this." Harry handed him a PDA. "It's got a list of all the places Lindy was supposed to go. If she made any stops along her way, it's not on there." Alex frowned.

"What am I supposed to do? Wander around with this? That's not suspicious." Harry shot him an annoyed look, and pulled a small cable out of his pocket.

"This will let you transfer the information to your cell phone." He said, and handed Alex the chord. He also pulled out a card. H. Stineman. Investment Banker. Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Can you people come up with nothing more creative than banks and bankers?" He asked. Harry glared at him good-naturedly.

"Well, the idea was original, until everyone started using it. We just thought that since bankers are old and boring, it was a good cover." Alex muttered something unintelligible under his breath. "We can't meet anymore, because it might draw unwanted attention. If you need anything, call that number, and ask for me." Alex nodded, and Harry left the room.

Four hours later, Alex was getting frustrated. He was on his way to the sixteenth place on his list when he saw an interesting looking club. There was just something about it that snagged his attention. He couldn't help walking in. After making his way to the bar, he flagged down a bartender.

"Can I help you?" He man asked. Alex nodded.

"Yes. I'm looking for my cousin. She might have been in here last week, probably on Tuesday." The man looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Cousin? She British too?" Alex shook his head.

"No. She's American. About 5"6', black hair, pretty. Couldn't miss her." The man nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I think she was talking to some Russian guy." He said reflectively. "Hang on, let me get Mike. He was working the tables last Tuesday." He turned. "Hey Mike!" A younger man with bleached blonde hair came over.

"Yeah boss?"

"This guys looking for his cousin. That hot chick who was in here last Tuesday, with the Russian guy." Mike eyed Alex.

"Cousin?"

"Yes. My Aunt Marie is worrying herself to death about this. She was supposed to come home on Sunday, but she didn't." He lied, surprising himself when he only felt the faintest twinge of guilt. He pushed it away, and was disgusted to find how easily he was able to.

"Have you filed a missing persons report?" Alex nodded, preparing himself for another lie. They just came too easily.

"Yes, but they can't do anything about it yet. Something about rules and regulations. . ." Mike nodded, wiping his hands on the towel he was holding.

"Okay. So when was she here?"

"I think on Tuesday." He replied. "She about this tall," He held up his hand. "Dark hair, gray eyes, really pretty." Mike nodded, smirking.

"No offense man, but your cousin is hot." Alex sighed.

"None taken man, I hear it all the time. All the time." He pretended to look annoyed. "So have you seen her around?" Mike shook his head.

"No dude, sorry." Alex nodded, and exchanged a handshake with the man.

"Thanks anyway. At least I know where she was Tuesday."

Twelve hours later, Alex had nothing more than when he'd left the bar. Before he'd gone, he'd also had Mike give him the description of the Russian she was with. It didn't fit Orlov's picture, but it did seem to fit his right hand man, Isidor Konstantinov. As he paced his room, he looked out his window at the beach. Maybe a walk would help him clear his head. He slid on a pair of 'flip-flops' which he'd bought earlier that day, and headed down to the beach.

As he walked down the deserted beach, Alex's mind wandered father and father as his body got farther and farther away from the resort. Where was Lindsay? And what had happened to her?

Thanks again to those who reviewed the first chapter!