7.

*Joe*

"Target in sight," I muttered softly, sticking my hands casually in the pockets of my jeans.

"It's a building," Katelyn said with a roll of her eyes.

I just smiled and glanced at her once more. She looked beautiful this morning, wearing shorts and a coral colored blouse. Her hair was down and it blew with the breeze, allowing me to smell her shampoo and the floral smell coming off of her skin. Her makeup was well done, too, a gray color that brought out her eyes.

She'd always known how to drive me crazy without trying.

"You want the west or the east?" I asked her.

She shrugged. "East."

"More security cameras," I noted, recalling images of the blueprints Katelyn had given me to study the previous night.

"You do your homework," she noted as she turned slightly to get out of the way of a man walking much to fast down the sidewalk.

"Always."

She sighed and veered away. "See you in half an hour."

I nodded and forced my mind to focus as I weaved through people and around the side of the building. I stopped to tie my shoe once to get an idea of the security camera's sweeping patterns and then I ventured inside. The air was cool and I breathed in relief as I ran a hand through my already messy hair.

I caught a glimpse of myself in a reflective surface and noticed that a couple of women were staring at me and whispering amongst themselves. Of course. I hadn't even picked out really great clothes that morning. I just wore jeans and a simple blue button-up shirt. But women, I had learned, weren't all that picky about clothing choices. They looked at height and eye color and whether or not he had muscles.

Across the room, I could see Katelyn talking to an executive, smiling and probably spinning some magnificent tale. After all, she'd had a good CoveOps teacher; at least, for a year. I had no idea what she'd been learning since. But, I knew that she was still good and so I tried not to worry about her. Instead, I found an executive of my own and he seemed eager to talk to me after my well thought out and well backed up lie.

Finally, my half an hour was up and I said goodbye to the executive as politely as I could. I exited the building, managing to keep my face off of the camera sweep and walked out of the building and back out into the afternoon heat.

Katelyn had picked a meeting place and I headed there at a slow pace, knowing that she probably needed more time. It was her operation, after all, and she would feel the need to be more thorough than I had been. And I would let her because that's the kind of man I am.

*Katelyn*

"Thank you," I told the executive politely in flawless Italian as I flashed him a winning smile. "I'll be in touch."

He nodded. "That would be most appreciated, Ms. Cullen."

Cullen. Of all the names I could have picked, I picked the one off of that vampire book that Stephanie Meyer had written? Why was that the one stuck in my head? But by the time I'd realized what I had said, it was already out there and I just had to run with it.

I exited the building, careful to avoid contact with cameras, and headed for the meeting place. I knew that I was a little bit late, but I liked my knowledge to be extensive and it was, after all, my operation. I had to know everything that I could possibly know. I had to be the best that I could possibly be.

Although, Joe Solomon would definitely be an asset. I'd managed to hack into some of his CIA files and from what I'd seen, he was an extremely experienced field agent who had been on more missions that I figured I would ever have tossed at me. He was one of those living legends that people always whisper about but never realize are right in front of their face.

People brushed past me and I walked steadily along, seeing the building up in the distance. Then, suddenly, a breeze came and it was as if it carried memories right along with it.

Syrup.

I could smell syrup and cinnamon and bacon. Yes, I could hear the bacon frying.

I was walking in a room, looking at all of the books on a bookshelf. They had special titles, the kind that you only see if you're in the clandestine services. I paused at one of my favorites and flipped through the pages until I found my favorite quote. I smiled as I read it, and then I slipped the book back onto the shelf where I'd found it.

I then stepped over a coffee table and headed for what seemed to be the kitchen, where the smell was coming from. I could even hear someone humming… most definitely a guy. That song… It sounded familiar.

I watched myself enter the kitchen and say, "Smells delicious."

The memory faded and I found myself standing in front of the coffee shop where I was supposed to meet Joe. I stared at the glass door and wondered what in the world had just happened. Everything had been fine and then I'd smelled syrup and then all of a sudden…

What was with me lately? First smelling the cologne and now having some kind of weird flashback because I smelled syrup? But how could that be a flashback when I had no idea where I was in that memory. I had no idea why I couldn't remember it. I had no idea why it was so powerful to make me oblivious to everything else.

And I definitely had no idea why I felt this strange, aching need somewhere deep down inside of me.