Page 101 of Agent's Integrity

Ethan and I headed for his quarters. It was getting easier and easier to walk.I should be back to full strength soon at this rate. This wasn’t the first time I’d broken bones, but it was definitely the fastest I had recovered.

After retrieving Emerson’s tablet, I sank down into one of the plush chairs. Even though I was healing rapidly, I was still sore. That wasn’t going to go away so easily. I sighed and looked at Ethan, who was standing in the middle of the room watching me. “I want you to hang onto the pieces of that drive. I’ll ask you for them later, but once we get to IPF headquarters they’re going to insist I see the physician there, and I don’t want anyone finding them.”

He nodded. “I’ll keep them safe.”

“Thank you.” I fired up the tablet and called Jordan. I wasn’t going to tell him much, especially since I couldn’t be sure our call was private. It might have been a little paranoid of me, but I wanted to be sure no one could overhear something they shouldn’t. Especially since I wasn’t sure if the drive would end up yielding anything.

It didn’t take long before Jordan answered. “Julia!” He looked relieved. “Thank goodness. I was about to go to Esmuna myself and track you down. You look awful. Are you okay?”

I couldn’t help but smile. “I’ve been better, but I’m okay. Nothing some nanobots couldn’t fix. I wanted to tell you we’re on our way to Viridis. We should be there soon.”

Jordan visibly relaxed and his shoulders slumped. “Alexi will be happy to hear that. She’s been worried sick about you.”

“I know. I don’t blame her.” I leaned back and sighed. “The ones who kidnapped me are dead.”

Jordan frowned. “What happened?”

“They tracked us down and attacked. I got pretty banged up, but they’re dead. There was no other recourse.”

“Is it bad that I’m glad?”

“No.” I laughed. “I’m glad too. Of course, that means we are out of leads.”

“What about the drive? Were you able to recover it?”

“No,” I lied. “Whoever this guy was, he destroyed it in front of me to taunt me. We’re back to square one.”

Jordan hung his head, looking tired. “We’ll figure something out. I don’t think we’re ready to give up just yet.”

“Like IPF would let us.” I smiled, also feeling tired. “I should go shower. I just wanted you to know we’re on our way back, and to bring Alexi down to the office. That’s where we’ll go.”

“We?”

“I made a friend.” I glanced over at Ethan, who smiled at me. “He saved my life. I’ll explain it all when we get there.”

Jordan gave me a questioning look but didn’t press the matter. “I’ll be looking forward to your story then. Be safe, Jules.”

“I will. See you soon.”

“Bye.”

I cut the connection and sighed. “I’m going to have a ton of paperwork to fill out for this one.”

Ethan laughed. “Mind if I make a call? I am well past due to check in with my supervisor, and I should let them know about the ship.”

Flinching, I handed the tablet to him. “Make sure you tell them it was commandeered for IPF business and that they will pay for everything once I submit the paperwork. They’ll have to file a claim, and Centric Enterprises will probably have to pay for it out of pocket, but then IPF will reimburse the money. Sorry again about your ship. And Andy.”

He shrugged, and then smiled at me. “If all this hadn’t happened, I never would have met you. I can live with it.”

“You won’t get into a lot of trouble, will you?”

“No. Maybe a lecture. But once the IPF backs up my story and pays for it they’ll be fine. They have no reason to be mad at me anyway. I did the right thing.”

I nodded. “Thank you. For everything.”

He crouched in front of me, and his fingertips brushed gently across my face. “I think I should be thanking you, as well.”

His touch sent my stomach fluttering, and my skin tingled. I wasn’t sure I would ever get used to the way I responded to his touch. I leaned towards him, intent on kissing him. He leaned towards me as well, and I paused right before our lips met. “You know, I’m kind of icky right now. I’d understand if you didn’t want to kiss me.”

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