Chapter 4

The next morning, Sam knocked on Michael's door and called, "Hey Mikey, rise and shine!"

Michael opened the door and studied Sam's cheerful expression. Apparently he'd gotten over his being upset the night before. Michael, on the other hand, spent a good part of his night dreaming of Fiona, and in most of the scenarios she wound up leaving him behind, smiling and waving as she disappeared on the horizon.

"Jeez, Mike, you look like hell," Sam muttered. "Bad night? I, uh, didn't say anything to..."

"No," Michael answered quickly. "If anything, I should be wondering about the things I said, but... never mind. Getting a hold of Fiona will go a long way toward making me feel better."

"Well, let's start with a little breakfast first," Sam suggested and tugged on Michael's sleeve. "Elsa's downstairs getting us a table. A couple, three, four cups of coffee and some protein and carbs, and you'll be rarin' to go!"

Michael barely had a chance to sit and study his menu when Elsa asked, "So, what's our plan?"

"Our plan," Michael replied as he pointed to Sam and himself. "Our plan is to get over to the bed and breakfast, hopefully before Fi comes out. When she does, we'll track her and find a good place to get her aside to talk."

"But I want to help," Elsa pleaded. "Fiona doesn't really know me. She saw me that one time. Maybe I can go in there and locate her, flush her out somehow and then we all confront her." Elsa grinned. "Sort of an intervention."

Michael thought it was cute how naïve she was and gave her an indulgent smile. "You don't even realize how dangerous that could be."

"Amen, Brother," Sam agreed and turned to Elsa. "If Fi's armed, who knows what she might do if she feels threatened by you."

"I'll go in unarmed," Elsa countered as she held her butter knife over her toast. She dropped it to her plate and it clattered against the china. "Sam has taught me how to shoot, but I'd rather go in without a gun or anything, and just talk to her woman to woman."

"We don't know what kind of frame of mind she's in right now," Michael said. "No, I'm not going to risk you getting hurt."

Her brows knit in frustration, she asked, "Well, what do you want me to do?"

"Stay here at the hotel, punkin," Sam answered with a smile.

"I think you're both being ridiculous." Elsa sat back in her chair and put on her sunglasses. "See, she'd never recognize me."

Michael sighed and shook his head. As far as he was concerned, the discussion was over. He would never risk Elsa's life just to get to Fiona. He had time, although he would rather spend it with Fi than use it to find her, but if that's what he had to do, he would do it. Then he'd try to get an extension on his leave if he needed it.

After everyone finished and the bill was paid, the three got up from the table. Elsa turned away and started down the sidewalk toward the inn. Sam took a couple large strides, caught up to her and grabbed her arm. "Woah, woah, where do you think you're going?"

"It's a free country, sweetheart. If I want to go shopping or look at the charming architecture around here, there's no law that says I can't, is there?" Behind her sunglasses she blinked at the unwavering stare Sam gave her and she huffed out a breath and replied, "Recon. I'm doing recon, okay? I'll check out the B and B, and let you know if I see Fiona with this guy."

Michael scowled and warned, "Elsa, you're not getting involved."

Before Sam could say a word, Elsa stepped between the two men, slid the glasses off her face, and looked into Michael's eyes. "For your information, Westen, I got involved the moment you intended to borrow my catamaran to get out of the country, and especially when you took my SUV. You don't have the right to tell me that I can't get involved, because I already am. Got it?"

Michael stared at her, then over her shoulder he met Sam's eyes.

"It's up to you, Mike. I'm just warning you, she can be pretty stubborn about this. Kinda like Fi."

"Okay," Michael said with a sigh. "Just don't do anything stupid, and follow us." He turned to Sam. "Looks like Elsa's with us."

"I knew that," Sam responded with a smirk.

Michael studied Elsa, hoping he could find a way to discourage her, but like Fiona, she was determined to do what she wanted to do.

Elsa took a step forward, a smile of victory on her face. "Okay, now show me where this place is, and I'll go check it out."

"Be careful. If she recognizes you, get out," Michael urged as they headed for the bed and breakfast.

"Don't worry. Sam has taught me quite a bit about what you do. I think I can manage." Elsa walked with confidence ahead of the two men.

The bed and breakfast was now only a couple blocks away. Suddenly, Michael ordered, "Elsa, stop." Sam knew better than to question him, and Elsa was too surprised to say anything. A man stepped out of the front entrance, trotted down the stairs, and walked eastward. Michael recognized him as the man he saw with Fiona earlier.

"Jeez Mike, is that him?" Sam asked after the man disappeared down a side street. "He does look like Campbell, a little."

"Yeah."

"But he's taller, more muscular." Sam squinted at the old Victorian house that had been turned into an inn. "You think she's still inside?"

"I don't know. I'm also not sure this is a good idea for you to be going in there, Elsa." Michael eyed her.

Elsa returned the gaze with a hard, business-like one of her own, but her eyes softened. "Michael, there's no better time for me to go in there. Fiona is alone right now, and if she's accessible to start up a casual conversation..."

"No, don't talk to her. Just find out if she's there and I'll do the talking," Michael advised and held up a hand to stop her, his fingers curling around her upper arm. He noted the way Sam looked at him and released her. "She knows you, remember?"

Elsa considered this for a moment. "But if she's planning something, the last thing on her mind will be one of Sam's girlfriends, don't you think?"

Michael didn't like this plan, not one bit. He thought it was crazy to begin with, and as they closed in on their quarry, his unease increased. He'd put his friends in danger too many times, not thinking about their welfare because they were so eager to jump in and sacrifice for him. Such bravery, or foolishness, nearly cost Sam his life. If something happened to Elsa, Sam would never forgive him and he could never forgive himself. She might have thought she had an idea what she was getting into, but Elsa had no clue.

"I changed my mind. Ican't let you do this, Elsa. We don't really know that Fi's alone. We don't know how she'll react to seeing you, if she recognizes you or not."

"Mike, maybe we can just keep an eye on the place and when she comes out, we follow her." Sam's eyes roved to the entrance. "Like right now."

His eyes widening, Michael pressed Sam and Elsa into the alcove of a shop entrance. "Wait here." He stood with them just out of sight. Fiona walked past the doorway, and in the mid-morning shadows the trio was hidden well enough to not catch her attention. After she was past a good distance, Michael let out a breath and stepped onto the sidewalk. Fiona strolled ahead about fifty yards, her stride casual and her arms swinging as if she didn't have a care in the world.

"Are we following her or not," Elsa asked with an impatient tone in her voice.

"Following at a safe distance," Michael replied. He led the way, saying, "You two fall back a little. I don't want her to see us all together. She'll think we're ganging up on her."

"Alright," Sam agreed. He grasped Elsa's hand and held her back. She was like a nervous filly in her first horse race, but with his hand holding hers, squeezing it in reassurance, she settled down a little.

Fiona took her time walking, stopping often to browse the wares in the outdoor displays. Michael, Sam, and Elsa used the stands to mask their approach, but Michael feared that it wasn't enough. Not when he saw a smug little smile cross her lips before she was on the move again. She turned abruptly down a side street, Michael followed her onto the deserted thoroughfare, and Sam and Elsa followed.

"Michael. You better have a damn good reason for you and Sam to be following me everywhere." Fiona spoke through a locked jaw as she pointed a gun at him, waving it between him and Sam. She turned her attention to Elsa and asked, "And who's this?"

Elsa removed her sunglasses. "I'm Elsa. Remember me?" She smiled at Fiona and held out a nervous hand. "I don't think we've ever been formally introduced."

"Yes, I do remember you. What are you doing here? And what are you and Sam doing here, Michael? Shouldn't you be off with your CIA buddies?"

"Fi, is there somewhere we can talk? I need to explain..."

"I have a meeting to go to and I'm late. Perhaps we can talk later." Her eyes returned to Michael's as she added, "If you stop following me, I'll meet you wherever you like. If it fits in my schedule."

Michael nodded. At the moment, he would take any crumb she would give him. "We're staying at the Magnolia. Can you meet us there for dinner?"

Fiona thought for a moment. "I think so. Let's make it six."

Before Michael could answer, she turned and walked down the side street toward a small sports car. A man sat in the driver's seat glaring at them. Fiona said something to the man as she got in, but they couldn't hear her words. He pulled out of the parking space and pealed away, giving Michael an evil look as he passed.

"Looks like whoever Fi's hanging with these days doesn't like you," Sam declared. He memorized the license plate on the car. "Let's go back to the hotel. I wanna run that plate through the system."

"You still have access, Sam?" Michael had a hopeful tone in his voice.

Sam grinned. "I never lost it. Just because we got in hot water with the CIA for a little while, that didn't mean my buddies would cut me off. Let's go."

Michael hated the time when there was nothing to do, no investigating or lead chasing. Sam was taking care of the only thing they had, Fiona's companion's license plate. The three retreated to the swimming pool, and while he and Elsa swam laps, Sam parked at a small table with a drink and his laptop, doing a lot of tapping at keys. Michael glided to the shallow end and pushed himself out of the water, grabbed a towel, and sat across from Sam.

"You've been spending a lot of time getting the owner of that plate," Michael said.

"That's because I found a lot about our mystery man. First of all, the car is a rental, and I was able to tap into the rental company to get a name. Then I ran him through DMV. For a guy who may be an arms dealer, he doesn't keep a very low profile," Sam replied. "He has a few traffic citations for speeding, running red lights, stuff like that. But he's also been arrested a couple of times for smuggling and forgery. He must have a good lawyer, 'cause nothing ever seems to stick. At least none of the serious stuff." Sam hit a button and a sheet of paper he stuck into his portable printer spit out a page that he handed to Michael. "There's the short sheet for Thomas Jay Carter. He goes by TJ."

"Why would Fiona be hanging out with him," Elsa asked as she sat in the other empty chair and worked her hair back with her fingertips.

"It doesn't look like he's much of a criminal... yet," Michael said. "But if he's got some good connections, maybe Fi's just using him for those."

"I'm checking out some other things, Mikey. I don't know, it just seems like there's gotta be more to this guy, so I'm looking into the FBI database." The computer chirped and Sam stared at the screen. "Oh, this is interesting. He's on the FBI watch list, with the CIA having an interest in him too."

Michael leaned forward, his curiosity up. "Why?"

"Apparently, Thomas Jay Carter is an alias for Thomas Jason Kelly. He's an Irish national, possible ties to the IRA, but nothing has ever been pinned on him." He looked up from the screen and met Michael's eyes. "Maybe he's an old friend of Fi's from back in the day."

"I don't know." Michael's short answer told Sam that he didn't care, and Sam worried that he was letting his jealousy cloud his vision.

"I'm going to do a little more digging here. Maybe you can get the Agency to do a check on him. If they've got their sights on Kelly, this might be a nice little feather in your cap and get you out of their clutches a little sooner."

"I could only hope." Michael studied the sheet before him and sighed. "Thanks, Sam. I'm really glad you're here." He turned to Elsa. "Thanks for letting me borrow him."

"You know he could never stay away." Elsa smiled. "I think after lunch I'm going to go do a little shopping while you guys do your investigating."

"Okay, but whatever you do, stay away from that bed and breakfast," Michael ordered, knowing that if she was as spunky as she appeared to be, she might take interviewing Fiona into her own hands anyway without consulting either him or Sam.

Elsa smiled. "I'll have you know this isn't just a pleasure trip, Michael. There are some trendy boutiques here that supply merchandise to the shop in my hotel, and It's been awhile since I've called on them. I want to see what new things they're carrying."

"I didn't know that." Michael frowned, feeling chastised for his jumping to conclusions. "I'm sorry if I..."

"It's okay," she said with a smile. "After everything you've been through, it's a wonder you're not completely paranoid." Elsa got up from her chair and moved around to kiss Sam's cheek. "I'll see you boys later. I'm going up to the room to change and head out on my excursion. I'll see you at dinner."

"Six o'clock Fi said she'd be here," Michael reminded her.

"I remember. See you both then." Elsa walked away as she slipped into a filmy wrap that covered her suit.

"Sam, do you think she's really going out on business?"

"Business business or Michael Westen business," Sam asked. He shrugged and tapped at the keys. "I know she's got some legitimate business here, so I'm hoping that she's going to do that."

"Maybe you should tag along with her. I'll do some more recon, see if I can track down Fi before dinner tonight."

"I've got a bunch of leads here, Mike..."

"Fine. I'll take a look at them," Michael said. "When I'm done, I'll leave the laptop in my room, okay?"

"Alright." A mischievous smile crossed his face. "I bet I can tell pretty quick if Elsa's going on the hunt for Fi. If I go up there and distract her," he said as he raised an eyebrow and smirked, "And she gets all evasive, I'll know she's up to something. Then I'll just work harder to distract her."

Michael didn't even want to know how Sam intended to distract Elsa. "Whatever you have to do, Sam. Just keep her away from Fi."

"I'll make the sacrifice for the team, Mikey." Sam chuckled and walked away as Michael shook his head, sat in Sam's seat, and stared at the information on the screen.

Sam entered the hotel room and heard the shower running. He glanced at the bed and saw that Elsa had a more business-like dress draped over the end of the bed and the sandals she wore last night sat on the floor. The outfit was deceptive, and he suspected that's how she wanted it. She sometimes blew him away with how much she learned from him without his speaking about spy craft. But he should know better. The woman was good at picking up subtleties and visual cues, which endeared her to him even more. I've got some visual cues for you, baby.

By the time Sam reached the shower he'd stripped down to nothing. The glass door was steamed up, so when he pushed it aside enough to get in, she was caught by complete surprise. Having a head full of shampoo suds didn't help.

"Who is it," she screeched and turned, slipping, and if Sam hadn't reached out to grab her, she would have collided with the tile wall. She struggled against him.

"It's okay, sweetheart, it's just me," Sam said and used his free hand to push the soap out of her face.

Elsa opened her eyes just a bit to see him standing inches from her. She blinked, then opened them some more. "What on earth are you doing? I have work to do." She pushed out of his grasp and rinsed the soap from her hair.

"I was feeling inclined to give you a little company today," Sam replied and ended with a tone that suggested something more. "Starting here."

She gave him a look and shook her head as she pulled back her hair. "You don't trust me. You think I'm going to go hunting for Fiona on my own, don't you?"

"The thought had occurred to both Mike and me, but if you do or not isn't the point. I just want to spend time with you."

She stared at him, sighing, and in that moment Sam knew he'd pegged her. Smiling, he moved forward and took her into his arms, the sleekness of her skin doing things to his insides. With a husky voice, he said, "We haven't had a lot of time to just let loose."

"No, we haven't."

"Let's do it. Everything else can wait, even Fiona."

"Mmhmm." She could only mumble as his touch enticed her to surrender and press into him.

He lowered his lips to hers and he was pleased when she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him close. The shower spray hit him in the face, so he turned to a position where the water fell on his body instead.

Sam managed to make her breathless and weak in his grip. Sometimes it was so easy to blaze a trail with his lips that touched every sensitive part of her so she was putty in his hands, and this was one of those times. Elsa backed up against the wall, using it to keep her on her feet as Sam controlled the water and himself to arouse her senses and bring her close to losing herself. The soap reduced the friction, creating an electricity between them and only one thing could disperse it.

"Sam," she moaned. "Let's go... lay down."

"Don't worry, I've got everything under control here," he muttered against her breast before taking it and her nerve endings to dizzying new heights. He pinned her against the wall and ravished her with his hands and lips so she was ready to explode.

He knew how to bring her to the edge, and he used that knowledge for both of their benefits. She clung to him begging for him, so he gave her what she wanted. Enveloped in the warmth of her and the heat from the shower, Sam felt as if he was on fire. He hiked up Elsa and her legs went around him, squeezing and goading him, and he threw back his head, mouth open, as he felt his own release. The spray pelted his face, but he didn't care. He was coming down from a high that no drug could ever emulate.

Elsa's legs slipped away and she stood on the tile, her body still close to his. Smiling, laughing, and kissing, they finished showering and indulged in another round in the bedroom before dressing and heading out on whatever mission Elsa had in mind. Sam was pleased to note that he'd delayed her by an hour and half. Not bad. Not bad at all. With any luck, Mike was already out on his mission.