Chapter 3

It was more than he had hoped for. In the same breath Fi said emphatically, "You have a lot of work to do, Michael. I don't trust you. I may feel this way, but you need to earn my respect. It just doesn't come because we share a bed. I can still slit your throat. In the middle of the night. If I want." She stopped. "I'm not going to give you direction here, Michael. You really need to do this. I can be more dangerous than Anson. Do you understand me?"

Michael sat there knowing that his actions were really what she would judge him by. "I understand, Fiona."

"Oh, and that part about not having pride. That's good. Keep it that way. All this mess is really about your pride. We will see how this works."

Michael stayed quiet for a few minutes to give what she said a chance to sink in. "Fiona, we need to stop reacting to Anson. I think you know that. I have a plan, but you can't be a part of all of it." He waited for her to strike. When she didn't he continued, "Fiona, you need to die."

"Michael, you better be joking because you are really tempting fate here."

"Do you want to know how we get out of this? Do you want your life back? Because more than anything I want to give that to you." Michael became frustrated.

"Fine. What's your plan? Oh, that's right I have to die. I really think this is pay back for last night."

"No, it's not. There's a couple of goals here. First, we need to get some control over the leverage Anson has on you. We need to find Anson contact in the CIA without them knowing this. Then, we need to find out all about Anson. Who is he? How did he get his start? Did he have mommy issues? He mentioned a wife. Who is she? What's she like? Is she medicated? What's his blind spot? We need this intel, Fi. Then we play chess. Anson planned each step of this web. We need to do the same. So, what do we know about this guy. And don't be a smart ass. I need your help."

"Fine. He's a doctor. Sounds like he went to American Schools. He has a snotty sounding New Englandy accent. I wonder if he was pick on in prep school. Sounds like he went in early. Where does DIA recruit from? He likes control. So, he has control issues. Why? Did his mommy stop breast feeding too early? Did his dad ignore him? Was he affluent? How affluent? Did he have nannies?" Fi kept going on and on. Michael sat and listened. He was impressed. As much as she had influenced his practice, it was at that moment he realized how much he had changed her.

"Michael, are you listening? Really, Michael."

"I am. I need to get access to this information, but there's still a mole in the CIA who feeds Anson information. We need to find them and feed them different information while we research Anson's life. That's our first task."

"You know Michael. I'm still not clear on why I need to die. You know how much I really hate when you take me out of the loop. " Her eyes shown with an indignation he learned to respect.

"I know you hate it. And we are not taking you out of the loop yet. But, if this doesn't work, I don't want you to be in some prison because of something you didn't do."

"So, you like prison life, Michael? Ok, look. Let's cross the false death scenario when we come to it. We need to find out this mole. Any ideas?"

"Not a one. Well, actually, I need to find out who read that report I gave Max. That might give us some idea who the mole is. Anson killed Max because of that report. We just need to get this list without tipping them off."

"Ok. Well, we have an idea. Now, I need coffee and breakfast. Followed by a nap." Then Fiona got up and looked down at Michael. "I meant it, Michael. You need to earn my trust. You said it was important to you. Now, you need to show it. I will turn and walk out if you don't keep telling me the truth and your body will be cold. I'm being nice. But, so help me, if you continue to act like a self serving jerk, you will pay and I will enjoy it."