Page 12 of Agent Zero
“It looked worse than it was.”
“Oh.”She searched for a polite escape.“Well, I’m glad.Listen...”
“I’m listening.”
She reached over and scooped up his ticket.“This one’s on me.Okay?”
Nowthatgot a reaction.“There’s no need for that.”His hand shot out, but she was too quick; she already had the bill tucked in an apron pocket.
She stepped back, hurriedly.“Call it relief.Last time you were in, you looked pretty thrashed.Jet lag can really wallop you.”Why am I doing this?
Even if you were looking to exit a room quietly, there was no reason to leave a mess, right?No reason not to be kind while she was waiting to go.
“Holly...”
The grin on her face felt strange, because it was genuine.“You can saythank you,” she informed him.He wasn’t so bad after all.Just strange, but that was okay.She headed for the register, her back not cramping so much now that she’d had a bit of a breather.“Leave a good tip for Brenda.She’s got kids.”
“Thank you.I really wish you’d?—”
The swinging doors burst open, and Benny—six foot plus of good-natured pacifist Samoan, with gentle eyes and light feet—threw his hands in the air.“I have arrived, good peoples!”
“Benny in the house!”she called back, and didn’t notice Reese the mystery man’s hand slipping away from his waistband.“Be careful, Tony’s going to try to con you into closing.”
“On a Friday?Oh yeah, the Toppers are playing.”The front doorbell chimed, and Benny dropped his arms, a little sheepishly.Sometimes people thought his size meant he was scary.“Was that a dine and ditch?”
“Hmm?No, I’ve got it right here.”Holly glanced up and stopped.“Huh.”
The Crossroads was empty.Reese was gone.He’d left a twenty, though.
Brenda was happy about that; she didn’t even notice Holly was a little...disappointed?Was that the word?
Let it go, Holl, she told herself yet again.Getting involved, even just overly friendly, wasn’t a luxury she was allowed.
Even if she—useless to deny it—wouldn’t mind just a tiny taste of it, one more time.
NINE
His arms itched,and he’d almost put the drop on the guy.Just a waiter.That would be great, to walk into his next eval and lay that on the table:I killed a waiter, because he startled me.
It had been going pretty damn great up until then.She’d dropped her guard, visibly deciding he wasn’t a stalker.He’d laid the groundwork, nice and careful, then almost ruined it.
He could still call off the strike.All it would take was staying away.He wasn’t real enough to get close to her, even.He was an agent, a ghost in the machine, an invisible man.It was pretty likely that he’d try to help her and get misinterpreted, or worse, mess everything up just like the idiot he was.He should stay well away—it was best for her.
So why was he here in the rain without his hat, watching the alley?Why hadn’t he gone back to residence, dried off, poured himself a shot of something alcoholic and useless?
You had to drink a lot to outpace the invaders.
His fingers drifted across his hip.He couldn’t feel the little telltale bump, but he knew it was there, a small silver cylinder inserted under the skin.He hadn’t been able to determine if it was live or just a passive beacon, though he’d gotten offgrid with it a couple times now.Technology was great, but transmitters still had a hard time with foil.
That little bump was a very good reason for leaving a kind, pretty little waitress alone.No matterhowgood she smelled.
It was dark when she appeared.No laughter this time, just the head down, don’t-look-at-me walk.Her hair was loose, spilling against the shoulders of a plastic-gleaming raincoat.He probably could have followed her a lot more closely, but why?Hanging back was good practice.
No need to make her skittish.Sometimes your mark caught on for no reason—instinct, or their subconscious working overtime.
She pulled out another book on the subway.Chinese history.But she didn’t turn a page, just stared at the letters and swayed, obviously exhausted.She was too thin.Someone needed to hold her down and feed her cheeseburgers.Was she a ketchup person?Mustard?
I want to know.The itching got worse, and so did a nameless tension.His own instincts twitched.Most people didn’t pay any damn attention to what their senses were telling them, even without little invaders jacking them up into the red.Lots of the agent training was just common sense, really.Tuning in, paying attention.
