Chapter Five

Jaime headed back to the villa for dinner, and her knock on the door was answered by Alex's assistant.

"Hi, Susanna. C'mon in." He motioned toward the den at the end of the hallway. "Alex had to take a phone call, but he shouldn't be long. Please make yourself comfortable."

"Thank you," Jaime told him, instantly beginning to focus on each individual sound within the villa, trying to pick up whatever information she could. As she sank comfortably into the love seat, next to a roaring fire in the imported marble fireplace, she finally isolated Alex's voice. He was in the office on the other side of a door at the rear of the den. Thanks to Rudy's latest improvements, Jaime found she was able to pick up both sides of the conversation.

"You can send 'em wherever you want," Alex was saying, "but I need all six of them done, ready and available in five days. Wednesday - no exceptions and no excuses. They'll be working for me, personally, on Friday, and I'll need twenty-four hours to get them all into place."

"You sure you'll need all six? We'll be losing a lot of week-end business," the other voice, also male, pointed out.

"We can afford to lose one damned week-end!" Alex told him in a sharp, angry voice.

"But -"

"Which one of us is the boss? Just do it, and pass on the word."

As Alex abruptly hung up the phone, Jaime's mind was racing. Ok, that could mean a lot of different things. Doesn't mean he's doing anything wrong. Besides, he needs six choppers, not four. The numbers don't line up...

"Well, hello, Beautiful," Alex said in a much softer voice. He picked up the bottle and two glasses that had magically appeared on the sideboard, deftly poured the wine and handed a glass to Jaime as he sat down beside her. His arm slipped smoothly around her body as though it belonged there.

Jaime searched his face as her mind swam with confusion. His eyes were so kind, and his expression was almost...loving. "I missed you," she told him as an uneasy sense of foreboding drifted through her like thick, dark fog.

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A phone call from Oscar later that night did nothing to make her feel better. "Steve tells me you're doing a great job. Got anything for me yet?" he'd asked.

"I'm...not sure. Give me until tomorrow night, ok?" Jaime hedged. She didn't like turning in partial facts.

"I've gotten another intel report," Oscar told her. "The attacks are planned for next Friday, a week from today, and they've upped the ante and added England and Italy to the list."

"Ok. Call me back tomorrow." Jaime hung up the phone and briefly closed her eyes in dismay. England and Italy - that makes six.

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Jaime returned to work early the next morning. She and Alex were just about to embark on a sailboat ride when he was summoned back inside for a phone call.

"Take a message," Alex said, annoyed. He took Jaime's hand. "I've got far more important things to do right now."

"It's Rawson, and he says it's urgent," the younger man insisted.

"I'll be right back," Alex sighed.

Jaime followed him as far as the front of the villa, then seated herself on the veranda.

"What's so all-fire, important, Rawson?" she heard Alex demand, skipping the greeting as he picked up the receiver.

"They've moved up the date - day after tomorrow, high noon, DC time."

Oh, Alex...no, Jaime lamented silently.

"They can't do that!" Alex protested.

"Well, they have, and all we can do now is deal with it."

"I can't possibly have six people, who are all over the globe at this moment, by the way, in their places in time," Alex insisted.

"You need to find a way. We only get this one shot, and you know what happens if we blow it. We can't blow it."

"Dammit!" Alex sighed once more. "I'll get back to you."

Jaime feigned total absorption in cloud formations as Alex rejoined her. "I'm sorry," he said softly, his arm claiming her once more. "Shall we?"

"Is...is everything ok?"

Alex beamed at her, his ice-blue eyes sparkling and chilling Jaime to the bone. "The sun is shining, I've got you in my arms; how could things be any way but alright?"

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Jaime passed Steve and his harem on her way back to the cottage that night. When she was sure he was looking at her, she raised a loose fist toward her ear and mouthed the words 'Call me', hoping he'd read her lips. The phone rang within minutes of when she walked through the door. As usual, she picked up silently.

"It's me."

This time, Jaime's heart skipped several beats; a tell-tale whine-click told her the line was no longer clear. She was about to let Steve know that and hang up, when she heard his voice again, although this time he wasn't talking to her.

"What the hell -?" Steve said nothing else, and she heard a soft thwack and a much louder thud before someone hung up the phone.

Jaime was on her own.

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