He placed their order and approached her chair. He watched her work for a little while before caressing her cheek softly with the back of his fingers.
“We will have to try that down the road.” His reference to the future slowly wiped the smile he adored from her lips and he wanted to curse for not using more caution.
“We’re already there, don’t you think? Funny—I’m hungry now.” Cassandra skillfully diverted the conversation away from the bomb he had just tossed in her lap.
“I ordered your favorite, grilled cheese and ham with French fries—crunchy, the way you like them. It’ll be here in about fifteen minutes.”
Trevor noticed the shadows clouding her eyes again. The woman confused him. Watching her go through her emotional swings was like intently studying an encrypted piece of code, searching for the key to its decryption. She liked his touch. There was no question about it. He was also fairly certain she liked working and laughing with him. The only thing that threw her off was when he alluded to a more serious relationship.
The more he tried to decipher the clues, the more they pointed to that pivotal moment in her life—the one that darkened her eyes each time she mentioned it. He wondered at the depth of her father’s reaction to her mother’s death that would cause her to fear a deeper connection with anyone.
As his mind continued to explore those questions further, he heard the little beep from his computer indicating an email had arrived. He hurried to his laptop and found one from George containing the coordinates to the last signal received from Kenyon’s cell phone.
“Bingo!” His smile said it all.
“What is it?” Cassandra approached him and looked over his shoulders at his screen.
“We got data,” Trevor joked as he typed, furiously inputting the new numbers provided by George. “We have the cell’s location.”
He pinpointed the area and zoomed in so they could get a better view of it. The satellite image showed a static view of Monte Carlo, Monaco, the land of the rich and famous, where people went to live the high life or gamble everything away.
“Is that Monaco?” Cassandra could see the satellite image on his screen.
“Sure is.”
“Based on Kenyon’s profile, Monte Carlo is definitely his kind of place. Funny though,” Cassandra mused; “it isn’t a location tied to any pharmaceutical companies’ headquarters. It seems odd the parties involved in the theft would choose Monaco for the hard drive exchange. Maybe they just needed a neutral place; Monte Carlo certainly fits the bill.”
Another beep sounded on the computer. It was George again, but this time he was on a secure chat line.
I assume you got my email?
Yes. The coordinates and the location. Any new details?
Funny you should ask. Just came across something in the latest transcripts of conversations he had within the last twenty-four hours. Something is really weird, Trev. I think he has turned coat, the bastard.
What do you mean?
Cassandra, who had been reading the dialogue as he typed, inhaled deeply at the new nugget of information and its implications.
You said he’d been hired by someone to meet Allison and retrieve the hard drive, correct?
That’s what Allison told us. He was basically a middleman. Why?
If that’s the case, then he appears to be double-crossing them by trying to sell the files to the highest bidder. He’s been making calls to key contacts with pharmaceutical companies. The last set he contacted has indicated they have people interested in taking the files off his hands.
Damn…the guy is a slug. BUT that could be a good sign. It means he still has possession of the files.
That’s what I was thinking, and why I wanted to get you the info right away. Find Kenyon and you’ll find the files.
Perfect! Thank you!
Sooooo…how are things with Cassandra? Still K-I-S-S-I…
Trevor quickly closed the chat application before George could finish his tirade. Cassandra chuckled behind him. He closed his eyes and dropped his head while he seriously considered what kind of torture he would put George through once he got back home.
“So, do you always talk about me when you are alone? You and George?” she asked with a straight face, but Trevor could see the humor sparkling in her eyes.
He shook his head, ignored the question, and opened his browser to see what transportation options to Monte Carlo were available. They needed to get there the fastest way possible. “Drop the laughter, missy, or I’ll leave you behind.”
“As if,” Cassandra scoffed and said in in a soft singsong voice, “You think I’m gorgeous…You want to kiss me…You want to hug me…You want to love me….”
Trevor burst out laughing. “Come on. We have work to do. As much as I admit I want to do all those things, we need to get our stuff together and hit the road.”
Cassandra appeared to have taken him at his word. Over the next hour, he didn’t hear a peep out of her as all play was forgotten and she tackled the preparations for their departure.
****
Relieved to finally have something to go on, and after careful debate, they decided to hold on to Trevor’s room in Paris and check Cassandra out of hers. They would use the room as a base of operations again in case they needed to return for a new round of surveillance and research.
They headed to the station to catch the high-speed train to Monte Carlo. If they’d driven, they would’ve been out of touch with George for at least eleven hours, the time it would take to drive from Paris to Monaco on the A6 highway. The train would not only give them time to regroup and plan their strategy, but would also allow them to remain in contact with George via the train’s wireless access. George could keep them updated on Kenyon’s location and give them the ability to react to any change in the signal’s direction. They were already at least two days behind Kenyon; keeping a lock on his position while on the move was critical.
Cassandra let out a deep sigh as the train left the Paris Gare de Lyon station. Finally, they were on their way and possibly onto something big.
In their rush to catch the earliest train, they had purchased economy seating without taking into account the need for added privacy during the long trip. They were working with fairly sensitive data and economy seating would hinder their freedom to strategize and share information.
Pulling her laptop out, Cassandra joined Trevor in logging into the train’s Wi-Fi service. Transitioning to operative mode, she began some additional research on the hotel and surrounding area to which they were heading. She would use it to strategize back-up plans. They might not need them, but she always liked to have them in her back pocket. It was how she rolled, always one step ahead.
The seven-hour trip from Paris to Monte Carlo took them through the beautiful French countryside, but neither of them was in the spirit to enjoy the rustic view. Trevor and George had been thick as thieves for a good portion of the trip.
“Remind me to book a sleeper cabin for our trip back,” Trevor grumbled from his chair across from hers.
“Hey, look on the bright side, we’re not driving and you’re online. Thank God by the way—you would probably wither away without it.”
“‘Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity.’ St. Augustine,” Trevor quipped back.
“Quite a deep thought. I kinda like this Catholic-boy thing you’ve got going on,” she joked. Then, in a more serious tone, added, “I wouldn’t mind not having to watch over my shoulders every time I open a file.”
“A little privacy would be nice. We can always spend the trip back cuddling in the amazingly tight bed they have in the cabins,” Trevor joked. “Have you seen those things? If it wasn’t for the lock on the door, it wouldn’t be worth it.”
Cassandra laughed, enjoying her discovery of his softer side. He had wormed his way into her life within a short period of time and was fast becoming a very important part of it.
The few days since their relationship had developed and flourished had been surprising on many levels. He had exposed his geeky side and, in turn, Cassandra had let loose the reins to her methodical one. Both had done so without fear of being ridiculed. They had worked smoothly together from the start. It was as if they’d known each other and had been doing the same since forever—finishing each other’s thoughts and sentences. To her, the added intimacy had become a natural extension of their friendship.
Her eyes travelled the length of him and her heart stammered in her chest. Cassandra recalled the moments in his arms—combing her hands through his unruly hair, the scrape of his unshaven chin—and shivers ran across her skin. The nights spent under Trevor’s hands and body had been more than she had bargained for. She felt thoroughly loved, but at the same time raw and exposed. Trevor’s loving attention had debunked her past belief that she was incapable of giving herself to the act. He left her trembling with need, wanting more, and completely whole. She was compelled to give as much as she received. That alone scared her almost as much as the loss of control over her emotions—and the nights spent with Trevor had proved to her that she didn’t have much control over them where he was concerned.
Even with all that they had shared and experienced, Cassandra’s gut told her Trevor held something back, just as it had on that first day she had confronted him. They had no problems talking about work experiences. It was when things went into the personal arena that Trevor balked.
While Cassandra shared facts and events of her childhood before her mother’s passing, Trevor avoided the subject of his own family with the skill of a professional dodgeball player. She wondered what kind of life he had lived in Ireland that made him clam up any time she inquired about it.
Cassandra returned her focus to her laptop and considered writing a resignation letter to her father. She had thought long and hard about the future and about her role within his company. On some level she knew that her father loved her; however, at the end of the day, it came down to the respect he placed on her work. There wasn’t much there. For her to stay with his company, it meant resigning herself to a dead-end job and a boatload of frustration.
These weeks away had shown her she didn’t want that. She still enjoyed field work and the rush of the hunt. She could no longer settle for a desk job, which was what most likely awaited her when she returned. She had been exploring a few options and would consider them more closely once she’d cleared Kenyon from her plate.
****
Cassandra sprang awake and immediately sat up, searching for Trevor, only to find him exactly where he had been since the start of the trip—typing away on his laptop. She had not even realized she had fallen asleep. The exhaustion from the past few days had caught up with her. She allowed the tension to flow from her body and sat back to watch him work.
“Are we there yet?” she asked a few minutes later, with a slight curve of a smile.
Tossing a quick, humorous glance her way, Trevor replied, “Almost, sleepyhead. Another thirty minutes and we should be arriving in Nice.”
Slowly, Cassandra’s grin faded. Having Kenyon’s location in Monte Carlo only solved one problem. They still needed to verify his possession of the hard drive and retrieve it. The strategic hunt had become a race against time. They knew it was only a matter of time before it changed hands again.
To add to the list of concerns, Cassandra had to consider her own safety as well as Trevor’s. Kenyon had already proved he’d literally kill for the data on that hard drive. Her hand strayed to her side and to the scar, which had been radiating an achy pain since they’d left Paris. It had been bothering her regularly since their run from Allison’s apartment, and Cassandra couldn’t tell if the pain was directly related to the threat Kenyon represented or to the havoc Trevor had created in her heart and mind.
Either way, she had to be careful. They both had to be careful. She quickly purged all thoughts of injuries out of her mind for fear of jinxing their mission. Soon the call for Nice came across the intercom, alerting all passengers of their arrival and providing instructions regarding connections to other cities.
****
As the train rode by the shoreline toward Monte Carlo, the Mediterranean Sea welcomed them with sprays of its deep blue water as the waves crashed against the rocky coast. The color brought Trevor’s eyes to mind—deep and, at times, stormy.
A short thirty-minute train ride later, they arrived in the Principality of Monaco under a beautiful sunset. They caught a cab to the magnificent Hôtel Métropole, their stay a courtesy of Trevor’s platinum Visa. The card was another incongruent part of Trevor’s picture. She knew government agents didn’t make much—at least, that had been her case when she had worked for the CIA.
“I’ll cover my half once we’re back. You know that, right?” Cassandra felt uncomfortable letting Trevor foot the bill for the entire leg of their trip in addition to the hotel room they had kept in Paris. The stay in Monte Carlo was definitely going to put a dent in his card.
“We need to be close to Kenyon, and if this is where he is staying, then this is where we are staying also,” Trevor responded, slightly irritated.
“Yes, but I’ll…”
“Pay me back. I know. You’re starting to sound like a broken record. I told you to chill and not worry so much about it. Let it go, Cassie girl.” The way his accent drew out her nickname let her know he wasn’t backing down.
The taxi dropped them at the hotel’s entrance. The lavishness of the place caused her jaw to drop; she was fairly certain she’d seen that same lobby in a number of movies. Trevor took her hand in his and tugged her to the front desk for a quick check-in. She stood next to him and allowed her eyes to absorb every single detail of her surroundings. She was fairly certain she would never be back again. That hotel was way out of her budget.
A bellboy escorted them to a fourth-floor suite and opened the double doors, allowing Cassandra to enter while Trevor tipped him. The suite was richly decorated in burgundy and gold. The floral fabric on the couch and pillows were a feminine contrast to the boldness of the colors used on the huge king-sized headboard and accents throughout the room.