CHAPTER SIX
Really ? He was going to be a glutton for punishment? Why couldn’t he just admit to himself that Sloane wasn’t interested; that previous to regaining her mind, she’d only been reacting pityingly to his sweetly-worded overtures, and now she was trying to let him down easily. It had happened to him any number of times. Women he’d met in the past hadn’t been interested in looking beyond his handsome baby-face to understand there was a living, breathing, adult-male inside the adolescent looking package.
He’d thought Sloane might be different, but now…
“I have a job for you.”
Sloane interrupted his thoughts, and it took Perk a minute to figure out what she’d just said.
“A job?” he reiterated stupidly.
“Yeah. And it’s a conflict of interest with us going out.”
Perk let that statement settle for a moment.
Was she saying she still wanted to see him, but this job, whatever it was, had to take precedence? If that was the case, he was one-hundred percent on board. If she was making up an excuse, however, it was a new one on him and a pretty good one at that.
He took a deep, fortifying breath and gave her the benefit of the doubt. “Why don’t you give me details on this…job.”
Sloane didn’t hesitate. “I’d rather do it with Del present; in front of your team. It’s something that needs to be addressed almost immediately, and you’ll need your boss’s blessing to continue. My superiors and I have already discussed the ins and outs of the case, but it’s always good to get additional input, so we’ll all be coming to the SOS offices to put our heads together and get the approval from Del.”
Which meant Perk wasn’t going to get the sandwich he’d been craving, or an answer to his self-doubts unless he pushed it right now.
Which he would.
“Just tell me one thing, Sloane,” Perk put forward. “Does this mean you’ve changed your mind and you’re not interested in going out with me? Or is this simply a postponement of us getting together?”
Perk swallowed the large lump in his throat as he waited for an answer.
“Oh, shit,” Sloane swore. “I see how you might have jumped to conclusions, but… I still think you’re worthy of a few personal hours.”
The worry began to recede from Perk’s tight shoulders.
“This job, however?” Sloane continued. “It involves the friend who was going to ride shotgun with me for our Monday meet-up. And now, for security purposes, she can no longer know who you are or even get an inkling that I know you.”
That sounded confusing, but also had Perk feeling optimistic.
“So…you’re not shooting me down permanently,” he stated, making sure he had it right.
Sloane actually snorted. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily, Perkins,” she chided. “I may be off dating, but I’m going to be honest here. You intrigue me. And if, during this job, we find a way to meet up someplace far away where we can remain anonymous, I’ll still be okay with that.”
Perk felt conflicted. It didn’t sound like Sloane was blowing smoke, but…
“Is this because you don’t want to be seen with me anyplace where you might run into someone you know?”
Because of my youthful appearance ? he wanted to add, but managed to refrain.
“Yes… No,” she immediately corrected, her voice clipped. “I’m not afraid to be seen with you, Perk, so you can get that right out of your head. What we can’t do is blow your cover by being together anyplace local.”
“Ahh.” Now Perk understood, and the heaviness in his heart lifted. “My cover,” he reiterated. “I’m going to be under cover.”
“Right in one. And now I’ve said too much, so… I’m going to call Mizzay and set up a meeting in your office tonight.”
“Uh, Mizzay is out with a sick kid, so I’m on the phones. I’ll make sure everyone is here. What time are you thinking?”
“One hour, Perk, if that’s possible.”
“Can do.” He knew his team. Nobody would have a problem with a case that was deemed important by the FBI.
“Great. I’ll see you soon, and everything will become clear.”
“Okay, Sloane. And…” Should he say it? Well, hell. Why not ? “…it’s going to be tough keeping my expression neutral while you’re in the same room with me. I’m sorry if that will make you uncomfortable in front of your peers.”
“Are you kidding?” She gave an amused huff. “If anything, it’ll rattle their cages. They’ve always considered me androgenous, so you giving me puppy-dog eyes will confuse the shit out of them, and probably raise my cred. If I know them, as soon as our group leaves the office, I’ll be inundated with questions, which… You know what? Maybe you should do something a tad more overt, like…touch my shoulder, or lay a hand on my back. That will make them nuts.”
Perk laughed, feeling lighter and lighter with every word out of Sloane’s mouth. “I can do that,” he agreed. In reality, he’d give Sloane a little more than that; more than she bargained for. He hoped like hell it didn’t backfire.
“Okay. I’ll see you soon,” she ended.
“Yup. Soon.”
Perk had phone calls to make, and a coffee pot to fill.
****
Within thirty-five minutes, every one of the team—minus Billboard—had rolled in. Del, Prez, Sarge, Wiley, Brent, and Daire.
“Do you know what this is about?” Del asked from the chair at the head of the conference table where he sat guzzling coffee after everyone but Perk had settled. Perk was still standing at the ready to man the main doors and let the FBI agents in when they arrived.
“I don’t. All I know is that it involves a friend of Agent Vessers’, and they want me to go in and do some undercover work.”
“Not very specific,” Del huffed, clearly ready to be finished with what appeared to have been a very long day for him.
“I know, but she didn’t want to fill me in without the whole team present.”
“Well, here we are,” Del gruffed. “And…thanks for making coffee.” He took another massive chug, and sat back, sullenly.
Not so, Prez. He seemed to be in a chipper mood.
“So, Agent Vessers, huh?” Prez questioned with an impish look on his face. “And she called you with this potential case instead of the boss?”
“She called the office ,” Perk corrected. “And because I’m on phone duty today, I got the heads up.”
“Yeah, but she wants you to go in, undercover,” Prez persisted.
Perk shrugged. Prez’s speculation regarding the job and what it entailed was exactly the same as Perk’s inner conjecture.
“I don’t know why she wants me,” Perk responded. “But if you’d rather it be you, I’m sure the Bureau can make accommodations.”
“No. No.” Prez held up a hand. “I see where this is going. Agent Vessers clearly wants to interface with you on this one, and I get it. The two of you were looking pretty cozy at Billboard’s wedding.”
Perk wasn’t going to deny it. As a matter of fact…
“We actually had a lunch date set up for Monday.”
Everyone beamed, including the exhausted Del.
Perk continued. “But that friend of hers I mentioned in regards to the case was going to come along to, uh, assess me I guess. Sloane had to cancel because the woman in question isn’t allowed to know who I am.”
“Interesting,” Sarge piped up. “I like the way this is moving ahead; your interaction with the lovely Agent Vessers. Before she leaves the office tonight, make sure you pin her down on another date to make up for the one she cancelled. Don’t let any time go by before you make it happen. Letting things hang is never a good thing.”
Yeah. Sarge knew what he was talking about. He and his wife Brigid had, a long time ago, become estranged. They’d let years pass before they’d reconnected.
“Oh, I plan on it,” he assured Sarge.
Daire, who had also let four years get by him before he and his wife Jewel had reconnected, nodded his agreement. “If she’s caught your interest, don’t hold back from telling her so.”
Right. That was smart. There was no way he was letting Sloane slip through his fingers.
There was a subtle knock on the main door that Perk had locked, and he hotfooted it out of the room to see several black-suited agents on the other side of the glass.
He pushed on the door, letting them in.
“Hello everyone,” he said magnanimously. “Welcome to SOS. I’m Henry Perkins.” None of these agents—with the exception of Sloane—were ones he’d worked with before. While he included them all in the greeting, he had eyes only for the stunning woman who looked hot as hell in her regulation attire, even after a full day of work.
Perk cleared his throat. “Follow me, and the boss will make the rest of the introductions.”
Of course, Sloane wouldn’t need any. They’d all met her before. The director and Del were also old friends. But the other two individuals, a male and a female, both a little older, were a blank slate.
Once in the room, Sloane and the other female agent went right to the coffee pot and poured themselves big mugs. The others…
“Can I get you two something to drink?” Perk asked the pair of male agents. “Water? Soda?”
“I’ll take a water,” Baskins said, but the older man just shook his head—his face permanently set on “dour”—before he sat down.
“Okay,” Del called the meeting to order, and in quick fashion, he and Baskins introduced everyone who was unfamiliar with each other. Once that was out of the way, the SOS team greeted the newcomers who were…Baskins, the head of the department, Agent Tertia of the coffee, and Agent Smalley of the grizzled glower.
Del then addressed Director Baskins. “So, Emil. Why don’t you fill us in on what you’ve got.”
The director came right to the point. “I’m sorry we had to call this meeting on such short notice, but time, as you will find out, is already not on our side. We found out about this case just a few hours ago. The local police in Waterston have been sitting on it for the last seven weeks, thinking they could solve it, but yesterday things escalated and this afternoon the shit hit the fan.”
Del leaned forward, as did all the members of the team while Baskins outlined the salient points of the case, starting with the money grabs from people’s accounts, and ending with the disappearance of one Kaelyn Jefferson.
“I contacted the detective in charge,” Baskins went on. “And after finding out that Kealyn went missing, he eagerly gave me all the information his department had already amassed, which isn’t much.” Baskins handed each SOS member a single sheet of paper.
Perk read his quickly, and huffed. There definitely wasn’t a lot to go on.
“I won’t put any blame on the locals…except for not contacting us sooner. They did what they could, not knowing of course, that things would move beyond theft. They tried to do their best with what they’d uncovered, but as you all know, dealing with crypto is a nightmare.”
There were nods all around, except from Sarge, who looked…smug?
Del must have noticed. “Sarge? You have something to say?”
“Yeah. I’ve been experimenting a lot with AI,” he apprised the group. “With that as a tool, I’ve been making some decent inroads into following trails to and from crypto accounts.”
Sarge held up a hand when Baskins went to speak, clearly needing the director to give him another minute. “That’s not to say I’m anywhere near as proficient as some of the kids in that high school might be. Their supple-synapses absorb new technologies far faster than what our older, ossified brains are capable of. But I’ll dig into things and see what I can find.” He looked excited at the prospect.
“Good,” Baskins replied. “And our Agent Smalley here is also computer savvy, so you and he will be working together, closely.”
Perk almost wanted to laugh at the pained expression that crossed Sarge’s face. Sarge was a bit of a savant, and didn’t play well with others—except the team, of course. But clearly he was going to have to suck this up.
“Right. Now to get to the meat of things,” Baskins continued, addressing Del. “We want your man Perk, here, to go into the high school, undercover. Agent Vessers told us he could pose as a student, and I see,” he let his glance glide over to Perk, “that she was correct.”
He addressed Perk. “You don’t look a day over seventeen, Mr. Perkins.”
Perk managed to hold back his grimace. “It’s Perk, Director Baskins, and yes, at the age of twenty-eight I still get carded when I want a beer.”
“That’s good. It plays into just what we need.” His face grew serious. “Del?”
“You have my blessing,” the boss answered without hesitation. Time really was of the essence.
Baskins outlined details. “Late today my office fast-tracked some paperwork and transcripts to the school, giving Perk a fake name and background as a transfer student. We’ve made it look like the info was given to the administration weeks ago, but somehow it got lost in their system and overlooked.” Once again, he glanced at Perk, directly. “When you go in tomorrow to introduce yourself, those records will magically appear, and I’m assuming they’ll be very apologetic about the screw-up.
“You’ll meet with Agent Vessers’ contact, Melissa Phillipoff, who will then get you settled. She doesn’t know your real identity, nor your connection to Agent Vessers. No one at the school will. Your objective is to stay under the administrations’ radar thereafter, acclimate quickly to the student body, come off to your fellow classmates as somewhat of a troublemaker, then swiftly attempt to infiltrate whichever of them is perpetrating these crimes.”
“With an emphasis on finding out what happened to Kaelyn Jefferson,” Perk added astutely.
“Correct,” Baskins agreed. “We have to hope that, for now, they’ve got her stashed safely somewhere. But the more time that goes by, the more the possibility becomes that they’ll need to get rid of her.”
“I understand,” Perk responded solemnly.
Finally. Here was a case where Perk could put his youthful appearance to good use. If he could solve this kidnapping, it might help make up for years of him railing at the universe for not letting him age appropriately.
“Here’s your dossier.” Baskins sent a folder over to Perk. “You’ll want to memorize everything in there. We’ve already procured a house for you in Waterston. Agent Tertia and Agent Smalley will be posing as your parents.”
Perk nodded and opened the file, reading his new name aloud. “Thomas Perdudan.” He looked up with a grin. “Hey. Great. My nickname can be Dude.”
Everyone at the table chuckled except Perk’s “new dad”, who simply shook his head.
Damn. He hoped the man would eventually lighten up, or “Dude’s” new home-life was going to suck.
“Okay. I guess if there are no other questions,” Baskins slapped his palms on the tabletop, “we can call it a night.”
“One thing,” Sloane put in before they took their asses out of chairs. She dangled some keys. “I’ve got a car for you, Perk. A beater Volvo, but it’s sound, mechanically. Agent Smalley will pick you up at your real home tomorrow morning at 0600, then drop you at school. He’ll also pick you up at the end of the day. But in order for you to have autonomy to do what’s needed, your new wheels will be waiting in your driveway once you get to your pretend home.”
She tossed him the keys, which he caught adeptly.
Perk laughed and thanked her. He wasn’t particular about what he drove. His Ford F150 was a base model that had seen better days, but it got him where he needed to go. A crappy Volvo wasn’t going to ruin his day. “If you’ve had your hands on it, Agent Vessers, I’m sure it’ll purr like a kitten.”
One of the safe subjects they’d broached was her love of being under a hood.
Did Sloane just blush?
Was he the only one to notice?
“Okay. Anything else?” Baskins asked, clearing his throat.
Yup. The reddening of Sloane’s cheeks hadn’t escaped her boss.
When nobody spoke up, they all arose, milling about making small talk before they’d take their leave.
Here was Perk’s opportunity.
“Sloane,” he called out, a little louder than was necessary.
Perk noted that the other agents’ heads turned.
“Yeah Perk?” she answered, a smile twitching to escape her pretty lips. She thought she knew what was about to happen.
Perk walked over to her, but instead of laying a hand on her arm as he’d been tasked, he bent and kissed her cheek. Lingeringly, before mock-whispering, “I thought we could set up a time to meet someplace where we won’t be recognized. To discuss the case, of course,” he stated, not bothering to hide his real agenda from anybody as he looked at her with heat in his eyes.
“I, uh…”
Wow. He’d managed to tongue-tie Sloane. Something he figured didn’t happen very often.
“Just a coffee shop kind of thing. Outside of the area,” he assured her, this time placing a proprietary hand on her bicep and leaving it there.
“Umm, okay,” she agreed, her glance shifting to her boss.
When the man nodded, with a clear smirk threatening, Sloane groaned at Baskins. “I’m never going to hear the end of this, am I?”
Agent Tertia spoke up before Baskins could answer. “Well, as this young man’s mother,” she asserted playfully, skewering Sloane with a parental look, “I might have to find out exactly what your intentions are toward my son.” She walked over and actually nudged Sloane in the ribs with her elbow. “Girl to girl, of course.”
Sloane gave a long, painful sigh, then focused her laser-gaze on Perkins.
“Perk? Just so you know. I will get you for this.”
Yup. Perk couldn’t wait.