Part of her wished they weren't and that he would kiss her again. Too soon they were at the mall and he'd paid the taxi driver who was now driving off.
Wolfe picked up her bag. "Okay, we're going to go into the mall, look inside a few shop windows, then in about fifteen minutes we'll leave and get on the bus. From there we'll get to the restaurant and then we can talk. Really talk."
"I've been okay with the not talking." She couldn't believe she'd been so bold as to say that. But with the kissing some line had already been crossed. "I'd be okay with the not talking again."
He laughed and slipped his arm around her waist. "That could be arranged."
No one followed them from the mall and soon she found herself seated across from him in a tiny little hole in the wall restaurant, which served Vietnamese food.
"We can speak freely here and I know you have plenty of questions. Would you like me to order for you, or do you want to make your own selection?"
"I, well I can't even think right now. This whole day has been so, unreal."
"Do you like egg rolls?"
"Yes."
"And you said you like the soup. Is there anything you're allergic to or don't like to eat?"
"No allergies. Anything you order will be fine."
He placed an order for egg rolls and two different kinds of soup in case she preferred one to the other.
Who was this man? He was so thoughtful.
Had she dreamed him up? Where was this man when she was younger and dating with stars in her eyes? Before she grew disillusioned about marriage. Before she'd had her heart broken and trampled all over.
"You need to know what Sendot really is and why I am so glad you didn't take it."
"Yes. What is it really? Is it harmful?"
"The pills have a tiny chip inside which settles in your stomach for up to two weeks, depending on what you've eaten. The coating of the pill attaches to any processed form of sugar and slows down the release of the pill. So anyone eating a lot of sugar is going to take a long time to release it."
"My God, that's awful." Her eyes widened. "People who think they can't get that onion flu might catch it and die."
"Yes. They started giving this pill to travelers yesterday on the evening flights and we got word of it."
"We?" She held up a hand. "Okay wait. So they created a food that makes everyone sick and instead of taking it off the grocery stores they're handing out this Sendot? Which they know is a lie?"
"Yes."
"Oh my God. That's. I don't even have a word for it."
"I understand that." He nodded. "Must come as a shock, hearing that."
Shock; yes that was a good word. She was feeling as if her world had suddenly shifted. Which it had.
"Yes. It's. Yes." She closed her eyes and took a breath, then let it out and looked and him again. "How do you know all this? Who are you? You said 'we." Who are you referring to?"
"Everyone calls me Wolfe. It's my nickname. We all have them. There's a group of former Special Forces who have been monitoring government moves over the last five years. More and more of our ranks have grown as we've seen constitutional rights whittled away by power hungry men in office. We each swore an oath to defend the constitution. That's all you need to know about that. You are safer that way."
"Wolfe isn't your real name?"
He smiled. "Not my legal name, no."
"Can you tell me your real name?"
"Maybe later. Not right now."
"Okay." She took a breath and let it out. "Thank you." She smiled. "I am glad I didn't get on that plane now. So very glad."
"Me too." The plate of egg rolls came and he placed one on her plate and then handed her the plate of green leafy food to wrap around it. "Where were you headed?"
"Tampa, Florida. I'm overdue for a vacation. I just went through a divorce and wanted to get away."
"I was going to ask you if you were single.' He smiled. "But I thought from the way you were kissing me back that you might be."
She smiled back. "I enjoy your kisses."
His grin deepened. "Good."
Their tea came and both took a minute to eat and drink while watching each other.
"Divorce is rough. Been through one of those myself a few years ago. It gets easier with time."
"Yeah, well mine was pretty bad. My husband was having an affair. With my attorney, who'd been my friend since high school. And I didn't find out who he was having the affair with until halfway, right before the final settlement. He tried to take the house I'd paid for and she was helping him."
"Wow. Most people only go for half of the house."
"Well yeah, but not him. I paid for that house with my inheritance and he tried to take it away from me, with her help. He wanted it all."
"That's low."
"He is low. A bottom feeder. Handsome and smooth though. All my girlfriends liked him. But they never saw how he really was. He's persuasive." She shook her head. "I still can't believe Priscilla did that to me. She's as low as he is. She even tried to pay off the judge so he would get a better settlement and he didn't even have grounds because I'd done nothing wrong."
"Sounds to me like grounds for her disbarment, maybe a separate lawsuit since she was supposed to be representing you."
"I wouldn't know how or where to start. They've up and moved across the country, taking the money he got out of the final settlement after we sold the house. They're out in California starting over I think, but I'm not sure. And me? I'm now in an apartment."
He watched her in silence for a moment then said, "It's good that you're moving on with your life now, in a new place. A vacation is a good way to start. New experiences, new places."
"It sounds like you know about that."
"My divorce happened because my wife couldn't handle being alone when I was away on missions. She started having an affair while I was away and then she left me. Cleaned everything out of the house and didn't even leave a note. I came back from deployment, got a ride home because she wasn't there to pick me up like we'd agreed and wasn't answering her phone. Got to the house and it was empty." He looked off, over her shoulder. "Emptiest damn house I've ever seen."
"My God, that's awful. Did she try to take your money too?"
"She didn't try, she succeeded. Cleaned out the bank accounts and ran up the credit cards. I re-upped to get away from the mess and to pay everything off. Took me another four years but I did it. It's in the past now. I've moved on. As I said, life gets better with time. You'll get there."
She smiled at him. His confident and cheerful manner gave her hope she could be feeling the way he was now that her divorce was over and done with. It was time to move on.
"So why were you in that lounge? I'm guessing you aren't getting on one of those flights."
"I had instructions to check the lounge out. The Sendot was being stored here a few days ago and they were going to use the lounge as a center to hand out the pills. One of our men found out about it and organized a raid. Two of our guys were killed there in that raid two days ago."
"Oh no. But why did you have to go there?"
"I'm in what you might call the clean up crew. I take care of whatever needs taking care of. One of them might have left a message behind."
She shivered. "I'm glad I didn't walk in on anything dangerous. Why do you suppose I was able to get into the room? I don't understand why it wasn't locked."
"No idea. But I do know we knocked out their security cameras in there so they didn't know you were in there. Though they will know you didn't meet your plane and wonder why. They may follow up on this."
"That sucks. I don't want to talk to them." She frowned.
"If they approach you, just tell them what I suggested and stick to it. They'll then focus on other people."
"There was a man with orange shoes. Was he the one following us?"
"One of them."
"There was more than one?"
"The man with the orange shoes got y
our attention."
"Yes."
"That's why you didn't notice the others. He was a distraction."
Wolfe was the biggest distraction. Her cheeks heated at the thought and from the way he grinned and looked at her, she suspected he'd guessed her thoughts.
"I know you've lived the kind of life where this is your job and you take this all matter of factly and do your job, but for me, well it's feel like I've stepped into a cloak and dagger movie." She shook her head. "But it's not like I thought it would be at all."
"What do you mean?"
"Well in the movies, where everyone is a suspect and bad guys jump out of the bushes, it seems exciting and glamorous. But in reality, it's scary and it's hard to know who the bad guys are because they look like everyone else. If that guy hadn't had orange shoes, I wouldn't have noticed him and you're telling me I was supposed to notice him. That's what they wanted. And there were other guys."
"That's because they do look like everyone else. They blend in, that's their job. You're not going to see some guy in a trench coat that looks out of place. It could be a woman, or even an old man, who isn't really an old man."
"How will I know if they're watching me?"
He reached out his hands and took her hands in his. "I don't want you to become frightened and paranoid about this. I want you to go on with your life as if no one is watching you and free from worry." His thumbs caressed her hands. "Sweetheart, one of the reasons I do this job is so sweet women like you don't have to worry."
He held her hands and she gathered strength from his words, his touch and his gaze. It touched her heart and she blinked away the watering in her eyes.
"You're going to be okay."
"Yes." She felt she would, as he was so sure of it. "Will I," she glanced down, "Will I see you again?"
"If you want to, then yes."
"I do want to." Her words came out soft and quiet.
"That's good, sweetheart, because I want to see you too. If it's not too soon."
She glanced up at him rapidly. "Oh no, it's not."
His smiled deepened. "You'd say that even if it was, wouldn't you?"
"Yes," she said with a sheepish look.
"It's all right, we'll take it slow."
She wasn't sure slow was what she wanted or needed, but she was glad he was considering what she might need. He seemed to want to put her first, which was so refreshing she wanted to pinch herself. The whole day was now starting to feel like a dream, it was so different from her life before she'd met him.
"I'm afraid of what will happen when I go home. I don't want to be alone tonight."
"Then you won't have to be. If you want me to stay with you, I will."
"Oh good." She breathed a sigh of relief, but it was more than that. More than him keeping fears and boogiemen away. She didn't want him to go, because she wanted to be near him. She was afraid if he walked away she would never see him again and if that happened she might never get over it. She didn't want them to be apart.
"Cyree, I want you to stop worrying. I can see it in your eyes. I want you to be able to relax again."
"I'll try."
"We'll get through tonight and you'll learn you can relax again. I know much of this has been a shock to you. But it's amazing how much better you'll feel after a good nights sleep in your own bed. And I'm good sleeping on your couch or the floor."
"You're not sleeping on the floor and I don't want you to sleep on the couch. I won't sleep if I'm by myself."
"Then you won't have to be."
She was glad he would be staying the night with her. She didn't know if this was love, but she knew she didn't want him to go.
All she knew was when he was near, everyone and everything around her faded away. As if there was no one else in the world but the two of them.
Maybe she didn't need that expensive vacation after all. She was happy sitting right here with him in a tiny little hole in the wall restaurant, talking and holding hands. Oh yes, she could be happy doing this for a very long time. She wouldn't think about the future, because the now was something she didn't want to miss a moment of.
She began to relax into the moments they were sharing and pushed away all thoughts of anything else, because nothing felt as good as the time they were sharing together right now.
"Oh no." Her eyes widened. "What will we tell people about how we met?"
He laughed. "We'll say we bumped into each other in the airport and couldn't keep our eyes or our hands off each other."
"No one will believe that."
"No?" His eyes crinkled as he smiled. "One look at the way we look at each other and they will. Haven't you noticed it?"
"Oh yes," she said. "I did notice that."
Was it love at first sight? Only time would tell.
THE END
THE PAINTING
by Diane Adams Taylor
https://dianeadamstaylor.com/