Chapter 2

Annie's mind raced as she flipped through file after file. She knew she had a job to do but she couldn't focus now that she knew Ben Mercer had come back into her life. He was the only man she'd ever loved. Their fling in Sri Lanka had meant more to her than any other relationship she had ever had. The pain from his departure, which had broke her heart that morning in their beach cabin, had returned like a wave that drowned her when she had seen his beautiful face again. His eyes had bore into her soul and had brought back feelings she had buried so deeply that she was sure they'd never resurface. It hurt to think of him but she couldn't help herself, and yet somehow she was supposed to be concentrating on this new mission.

The Senator had been brought in for questioning and was waiting in the interrogation room. She gathered her papers and left her desk. The sooner she got away from her computer, the soon her mind might feel a bit occupied and distracted. She greeted the guard at the door as he unlocked the room. She waltzed inside, very professionally, and sat down across from the Senator.

He was old and grey. His beard was scruffy and the wrinkles around his eyes showed more in the dim lights then they normally should. He was wearing a well tailored black suit and still had his name tags attached to his outside pocket. He eyed Annie curiously as she took her seat, no doubt questioning her age and whether or not she was really qualified to be interrogating him. She had gotten used to this reaction from older members of the agency, and knew exactly how to handle it. She took a moment to once again analyze his façade and then she smiled widely at his scrutinizing gaze.

"Hello Senator Paolini, my name is Annie Walker."

The senator blinked during the silence of Annie's pause. He refused to answer her polite greeting with a response. If he was going to be treated like a criminal, he was going to act like one. He had no comprehension of just how childish such a response was, but he didn't care at this point. He knew they had found the data transfers. He also knew that he would be very unwise to answer any questions until his lawyer was present. Hopefully his connections could get him out of this.

"We know that data transfers were sent to China. Who were they sent to?" Annie knew he wouldn't answer before she asked the question. The Senator blinked once again. His calm, scrutinizing gaze burrowed deep underneath Annie's skin. She knew she didn't like him. There was something about him that just didn't sit right. "Senator it would be much wiser to communicate with us. If you refuse to cooperate, we will have no choice but to hand you over to the FBI and they will not be as forgiving. They'll be sure you end up in a dusty jail cell for a very long time. Cooperate with us, and you could get a more pleasing settlement that would help aid you on your journey back to your previous life."

The Senator once again returned her rousing speech with a silent, calm expression. "I will not answer any questions until my lawyer is present," he said quietly.

Annie sighed. "Well then we'll get your lawyer in here as soon as possible…for now, why don't you tell me who your source is?"

A small grin spread over the Senator's face. "Why don't you go contact my lawyer?"

Annie shook her head. "I'll leave you to rethink this decision of yours," she said as she rose and departed, leaving the Senator sitting all alone in the dark room. She sighed heavily as she closed the door behind her.

"They're always more difficult when they're guilty aren't they?" Anny turned to see Jai Wilcox walking down the hall.

"Yeah, you can say that again," Annie smiled. Jai was her first flirtatious encounter since Ben had left. They had never officially been on a date, but their flirting had taken a more serious tone recently when he had come to a cookout at her sister's house. Annie hadn't thought of that as a date, but a part of her wondered if Jai had taken it that way. Obviously Danielle had been taken with her new choice in a man but something continued to prevent their relationship from taking another level.

When Ben had returned to her that night in the guest house, she had realized that she may still have feelings for him, but this still didn't seem to match the reason for why she couldn't commit to Jai. Suddenly her thoughts turned to Auggie and his chiseled features. He had a smile and a look that could see into her heart despite the fact that he was blind.

She shook her head suddenly at the fond thoughts of her best friend and turned to walk beside Jai towards Joan's office. She didn't have much to report but as soon as she told Joan of Senator Paolini's lack of cooperation, she and Auggie could head over to his office to search the computers' hard-drives. She knew how excited he was to go out on such a mission considering he was never allowed out into the field very often. She smiled to herself at how happy she as for him.

"So you and Auggie are going to head out soon?" Jai asked, breaking her out of her thoughts. "I've been debriefed on the mission and I don't understand why they would send the transmissions to China. Something doesn't add up."

"As soon as Paolini starts talking, I'm sure we'll be able to piece it all together. There may be more information we can gather at the office."

"In the meantime, we're sending men to China. We've located the destination of the data transfer. They went directly to Hong Kong. We have intelligence there that may be able to help us."

"Let's hope so. This mission is so obscure. We have no real evidence besides the transmissions, which hopefully Auggie has fully translated by now." As they arrived at Joan's office, Annie could see Auggie inside with papers in his hands. "Speaking of translations, it looks like Auggie's got the intel."

Jai nodded, "Good luck." He smiled at Annie and then turned toward the office for the department of international affairs, no doubt, to give orders on who would be flying to Hong Kong in a few hours.

Annie returned his smile as he walked away before turning and walking through the door to the office. Joan looked up from her desk as Annie walked over and stood beside Auggie. He smelled of aftershave and cologne. It sent tingles down Annie's spine that she forced herself to ignore. "Do we have the translated data?" Annie said hopefully.

"Yeah, it was a blackmail message," Auggie explained. "It was a response that said the Senator would pay the requested 25 million dollars or his clients would be killed. My question is where would the Senator obtain 25 million dollars?"

"Maybe a search of the office will give us some more answers," Annie said. "We should start there. When we return, I'll question the Senator again. He was uncooperative during our first session. He refuses to answer any questions without his lawyer present."

"How many of his employees have been interrogated?" Joan asked.

"I'm not sure. I believe there are only three employees who were close enough to know anything about them, but I haven't received any word that they gave any useful information. Also, we should compile a list of the Senator's clients. We can put together a list if we find information at his office" Annie glanced at Auggie as he dropped the translated packet on Joan's desk. His muscles constricted as he reached forward and she noticed how veiny his large hands were. Annie was always struck by how strong Auggie was for being a computer expert.

"Let's get going to the office then," Auggie said. "The sooner we can gather any more information, the sooner we can figure out why the Senator is being blackmailed." He turned to grip Annie's shoulder as they left the room which sent another tingle down her spine. His scent clung to Annie and caused her head to spin a little. She wasn't sure what these feelings for Auggie were, but she couldn't deny she was attracted to him.