Chapter 6
"Everything all right, ma'am?" asked the deputy marshal outside the door as Shannon came out of the conference room.
Shannon didn't answer. She walked past them and hurried towards the elevator.
"Ma'am?" the deputy marshal called after her. Still no answer from Shannon. She just kept walking until she reached the elevator. She looked very upset. She pressed a button and impatiently waited for the elevator to take her down to the lobby.
The deputy marshals looked momentarily puzzled. Then one of them radioed to Steven in room 7-D to let them know that Shannon was heading back to the elevator. The other deputy marshal went in the conference room to check on Luis.
"Damn, I gotta hand it to Shannon. She managed to break his heart without even trying," remarked Ricardo in room 7-D who was still watching Luis in the TV monitor.
"This guy is really smitten with her, isn't he?" Steven commented while glancing at the monitor, his hands on his hips.
Jim ignored their remarks and excused himself out of the room. The plan was for him and Shannon to meet back at the lobby after the meeting. Jim quickly took the elevator and headed down to the lobby. Shannon was already near the entrance of the lobby when Jim spotted her. She was about to reach for the door and step out of the hotel when Jim called after her.
"Shannon, wait!"
She turned and saw him.
"Where are you going?" he asked, catching up with her. "We're still supposed to have a quick debriefing with Steven and Ricardo."
"I'm leaving, Jim. You stay and wait for them. I'm going home."
He frowned. "You look upset. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Look, I have to go," she turned towards the door.
"Shannon," Jim grabbed her arm and stopped her. He looked around and ushered her into a corner where they could talk in private.
"Tell me what's wrong. Why are you upset?" He asked firmly.
Shannon suddenly felt angry. "I hate this, Jim. I hate that I had to do this!"
"Shannon, we've already talked about this."
She took a deep breath to calm herself.
"He paid for my hospital bills. Did you know that? Luis paid for all my medication," she said suddenly.
Jim looked puzzled.
"I know that, Shannon. We tried to intervene with that as soon as we knew which hospital in Bogota you were in. But why are you bringing it up?"
"He looked after me, Jim. Luis took care of me after the accident. And now this is how I repay him?!"
"Shannon, I understand that you feel a deep sense of gratitude towards him for all he's done for you. But we didn't expect him to fall for you – much less ask you to marry him. It's not your fault that he fell in love with you."
"But you forced me to accept his proposal! I should have said no! I could have broken up with him properly!" Shannon responded in anger.
"I had no choice, Shannon. It was the best plan I could think of given the circumstances."
Shannon felt torn in that moment. On one hand, she felt guilty about failing to do her part in the Bogota mission. On the other hand, she also felt guilty that she hurt Luis.
"I just can't help but feel bad about hurting him," she said, biting her lip. "He's not the same as his uncle, you know."
"I know. I've read his file. But you know as well as I do that a mission comes first before anything else," he reminded her.
Jim studied her face closely. "Do you have feelings for him, Shannon?"
She looked away and didn't answer.
He asked again. "Shannon, answer me. Are you in love with him?"
Just then, they heard a voice calling him.
"Uh, Jim?"
Jim and Shannon turned to see that Ricardo had followed them down and was now walking towards them.
"Steven is waiting upstairs for the debriefing," said Ricardo.
"Right! We'll be there in a few minutes." Jim turned and looked at Shannon.
"You have to go back."
With a deep sigh, Shannon reluctantly nodded and followed Ricardo back upstairs.
Jim lingered for a few minutes behind them deep in thought. In all his years with the IMF, he has witnessed a few agents getting romantically involved with other agents. But agents falling in love with an enemy is another matter – a troubling matter he didn't like dealing with. And something told him that he might have to deal with something similar regarding Shannon.