8.

*Joe*

When I woke up and realized that it was Sunday, I grew depressed almost instantly. I had finally found Katelyn after so long and I had to leave after just a day with her. We hadn't even really gotten to talk all that much, aside from basic stuff about surveillance and things she'd learned about me from the parts of my file that she'd managed to hack into.

The good thing, I suppose, is that she was impressed by me. She had told me so. We'd been in the coffee shop after surveillance and we'd just finished exchanging information, which she had written neatly in a small black and white composition notebook.

"You know," she'd said, "I hacked into the CIA files to check you out."

I had known that she would, of course. She had no idea how well I knew her. "How long did it take you to break through their first firewall?"

I recognized the look on her face well. Annoyance. "An hour. And then the second firewall took me half an hour. And the final one took me two hours."

"You must have been determined," I commented and took a sip of my coffee.

"I'm always determined," she said. "Anyway, I'm impressed."

"By?"

"You," she said simply. "Did you really take out twelve arms dealers at once?"

"Yes."

She leaned forward slightly, resting her arms on the table. "And three of them were skilled martial artists?"

"Not as skilled as I was."

She smiled. "I gathered. You have a pretty impressive record, by the way."

"Thanks."

"What I could see of it, anyway," she added. "I didn't feel like breaking through any firewalls."

"I think you saw all you needed to."

She raised an eyebrow. "Did I?"

I folded a shirt and put it away before grabbing my suitcase and heading out of my hotel room. I wasn't going to get to see Katelyn before I left and I had no idea if I would ever get to see her again. Part of me hated that and wanted to stay in Italy forever and ever until she remembered.

Another part of me felt peaceful from the visit. From getting to see her and realizing that she was okay. Sure, she was with that ass Rider now, but at least he seemed to be taking pretty good care of her. She seemed happy enough.

And if she was happy, who was I to break that up?

"Joe!"

I turned to see Katelyn jogging towards me, wearing black running shorts and a red T-shirt, her ponytail of dark brown hair flying as she ran.

"Katelyn," I said softly, my heart stilling. I could hear the blades of the helicopter whirring behind me, but I paid them no mind as Katelyn stopped a few feet away from me.

"I just wanted to say goodbye," she said sheepishly, looking down at her Nike Shox, then back up at me. "And thanks."

"You're welcome."

"You can come back," she said. "Anytime. I could…use your help."

I smiled kindly at her. I knew how hard admitting that she liked my help was for her. She was just so naturally independent. "Maybe I will."

"How will we-"

I held out a small card that I'd prepared just in case. As a spy, you learned how to prepare for everything. And part of me had been hoping that she would come to say goodbye. I had been hoping that I would get to see her again before I left.

She took it and smiled as she read over it. But by the time she looked back up, I was already in the helicopter and ascending into the air. I would have stayed and talked, but I'm Joe Solomon and I have to continue to seem much more mysterious than I actually am.

Don't women find that hot?

*Katelyn*

Maybe it sounds really weird, but I honestly didn't want him to go. Something about his company had felt so right and he was an experienced agent and all. He could be a lot of help.

I looked back down at the small business card. It didn't have the name of any type of company on it. In fact, it appeared that it had once been just a blank card until someone had written: In case you ever need me. – Joe and a way to send a message.

Part of me wondered why he was being so nice to me, but I liked it. He seemed like a really nice guy and I just felt so right around him… Like I could be myself and not feel weird about it.

Sighing, I ran back to my hotel room and took a shower before I got ready to leave. I pulled my hair into an intricate messy bun and pulled on shorts and a T-shirt before I headed out of my room, intent on putting all of my surveillance together to find blind spots so that I could formulate Plan B. After all, operatives have to be prepared for anything and everything. I already had Plans C and D formed.

Altogether, surveillance took about two hours, which I couldn't help but think would have taken a lot less time if a) Joe had been there to help and b) I could have stopped thinking about him for an extended period of time.

It was actually quite ridiculous how much he was on my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about his messy blond hair and the way that he had looked at me with those startling green eyes… as if he could see right through me…

I sighed and headed back to the hotel room, finding myself wondering where it was Joe had flown off to. Maybe he was off to a mission or to CIA headquarters. Maybe he was on his way to a secret meeting or to a black bag job. But, wherever Joe Solomon was, my thoughts couldn't stay very far away.

I wondered if he could feel them.