Chapter 26
“ J ane, are you sure you’re okay with this?” Blue asked. They sat in his office, on differing sides of his desk, discussing their upcoming assignment.
“Are you joking? Outside of Indiana Jones, how often does an anthropologist get to do anything remotely this exciting?” Jane asked.
“We’re going to be observed and covered. The danger is low,” he assured her.
“Kind of harshing my buzz here,” she said, pinching an eggroll with her chopsticks. “Let me have my secret agent moment in the sun.”
“Well, there is some danger,” he said. “Things could go south at any moment when you’re in the field.”
“Stop it, you’re turning me on,” Jane said.
“Just trying to bring you up to my level,” Blue said, smiling.
“Who says I’m not already there?” Jane asked, reaching for a bite of noodle from his Chinese takeout container. She had picked the restaurant this time, thanks to his inability to be trusted with such a task.
“Despite your words to the contrary, you don’t sound a hundred percent convinced. Do you not want to do it? I’ll talk to Ridge, you don’t have to.”
“I want to, I swear,” she said.
“Then what is it? What’s bothering you?” he asked.
“It’s really stupid. I’m embarrassed to tell you.”
“Sweetheart, we’ve puked in tandem; our embarrassment days are over forever after that.”
“You have a point there,” Jane said. She took a breath. “I kind of wish I looked and felt more like a spy. I mean, we’re going to this cool hacker bar to meet a possible forger and international terrorist, and I’m going to walk in like this.” She spread her hand wide, indicating herself.
“What’s wrong with how you look? I like how you look. You’re adorable.”
“Thank you, but I don’t want to be adorable. I want to be dangerous and exciting and like the type of person who would show up at an underground hacker bar for an illicit meeting with a terrorist.”
Blue leaned forward on his elbows, regarding her intently. “You know, we brought you on for your expertise of the subject, not because you look like a hardened criminal.”
Jane blushed. “I know, I’m doing the girl thing where I feel insecure and overthink it. Never mind, I told you it was stupid. I’ll show up in my regular black pants and gray sweater, and it will be fine.”
“Maybe not,” Blue said.
“You want me to show up naked?” she countered and his elbow slipped, causing his head to plummet a few inches before he righted himself.
“Geez, warn a guy before you start talking about yourself in the nude. While I would be totally fine with that prospect, I was thinking of something else, of someone who can make you look exactly the way you want to look.”
“You have an ace up your sleeve?” she asked. “Some kind of super spy costumer?”
“No, I don’t have an ace. I have an Amelia.”
“Huh?” she said.
“Give me a minute. And don’t eat all my noodles.” He stood, pulled his phone from his pocket, and stepped out of the office, pushing a button as he left.
Amelia answered on the first ring.
“Hey, baby bear. Remember how you owe me about a thousand favors?” Blue began.
“Who is this?” Amelia asked, an unusually high amount of mischief in her tone.
“This is the guy who, with one push of a button, can turn your credit rating to yesterday’s oatmeal.”
“Oh, Blue, right. How’s it going?”
“Super, and I need to call in a few favors.”
“If you need me to kill someone for you, I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong spouse on the line,” she said.
“I have someone who needs a makeover, and Ethan really stinks at those,” he said.
“Fun. Who is it?”
“Her name is Jane. She needs to go less Ann Taylor and more Daft Punk, pronto.”
“Double fun. I take it this is time sensitive,” Amelia said.
“Tomorrow, if possible.”
“I can squeeze you in after the salon closes, if that works.”
“That works perfectly,” Blue said.
“One condition,” Amelia said.
“Condition? I don’t remember adding a condition when you were stranded in Africa and in need of a passport,” Blue said.
“Only because you didn’t think of it,” Amelia replied. “When you show up at the salon tomorrow, I expect you to be unshaved.”
“I’ll let Jane know.”
“Not Jane. You. Don’t shave in the morning or the deal’s off,” she said.
“Why?”
“You’re going to have to trust me.”
He looked around and lowered his voice. “Look, I have to warn you about Jane. She’s not going to be easy. She’s…really entrenched in her ultra-conservative style. You’re going to have a hard time making her…”
“Let me interrupt you right there. I’m not going to have a hard time because you’re vastly underestimating my abilities. See you tomorrow. Don’t shave.”
“You’re a weird child,” he said, but she’d already disconnected.
The next day was spent planning and in meetings, making sure Jane was comfortable with the plan and well prepared to carry it out. Blue had set up a meeting with the hackers who represented the forger by going on the dark web and pretending to be an interested buyer. Jane would be going to authenticate the sale and ID the forger’s work. The rest of the team would be listening in and providing cover, should the need arise. Blue would likewise be armed. He was trying to project a confident image, but, like Jane, he had never actually been needed in the field before. He was usually the one in the trailer running information behind the scenes.
Finally the day ended, and it was time to see Amelia.
Jane was nervous, but there was nothing new about that. Blue was cagey about where he was taking her, and when they showed up at a swanky salon in the nice part of town, her anxiety didn’t back down.
“Um,” she said.
“Amelia’s going to fix you up,” he said.
“Who is Amelia?” she asked. Blue kept referring to her as if Jane should have any idea who she was.
“Maggie’s sister.”
Jane rolled her eyes. Great. Just what she needed, another paragon of perfection. Did Blue have a thing for the sister, too? They parked and Blue held the door for her. They hadn’t had much time alone together during the day. Now that it was just the two of them, the tension was back full force.
They reached the door of the salon. Blue put his hand on the door, but before he opened it, he leaned down and whispered in Jane’s ear. “Just so we’re clear, I’m a huge fan of the before.”
Jane smiled up at him, her heart beating triple time. “And I yours,” she said, then closed her eyes and shook her head. Why did the awkwardness have to come pouring out of her at the most inopportune times? Blue laughed and touched his finger to the end of her nose before opening the door and ushering her inside.
“Jane, hi, welcome.” A blond woman who bore a strong resemblance to Maggie came forward and warmly shook Jane’s hand. While Maggie was fresh-faced and cute with a girl-next-door appeal, the sister was the intimidating sort of pretty that always made Jane feel dowdy by comparison. Here was a woman who had likely never burned her forehead curling unfortunately short bangs. “We’re going to have fun today. I’m going to hand you off to Alma for a moment. She’ll get you something to drink, massage your hands, and wash your hair. Meanwhile,” she clasped Blue’s arm, “you’re coming with me.” She turned and began dragging him away.
He glanced helplessly at Jane who gave him a shrug. If he was hoping for a rescue, he was looking in the wrong place. She was completely out of her element in this place.
Amelia dragged Blue to another room and let him go. “So,” she said, circling him like a monkey looking for mites.
“What’s happening? Do I pass muster, General?”
“No,” Amelia said. She stopped in front of him, crossing her arms. “Here’s the deal. You’re in dire need of a makeover.”
“Um, no,” Blue said. He motioned to himself. “This is my look.”
Amelia rolled her eyes. “You know what this look says? ‘I’m a teenage gamer who hangs out at the skate park on the weekends. And sometimes, if my mom gives me money, I go out for crullers with my friends.’”
“But,” he began.
“Shh,” she put her finger to her lips and interrupted him. “Mommy’s still talking.” She rested her hands on his shoulders and stared solemnly into his eyes. “You are a grown man, a highly trained spy, a secret agent tasked with the world’s biggest secrets. Isn’t it time you looked the part instead of like a Tony Hawk fanboy?”
“What did you have in mind?” he asked, his tone wary. He picked up his t-shirt and began nervously twisting the ends of it.
“First we start with the hair.”
He put his hand to his signature blue tresses. “No way.”
She nodded. “Yes way. You’re going to put yourself in my hands, and when it’s over, you don’t have to tell me how right I am. All you have to say is, ‘Thank you, Amelia.’”
She led him to a chair, washed his hair, and mixed the color she’d selected for him. She would return him to what she guessed was his natural color, a sandy blond. If it wasn’t his natural color, it should be. He had a perpetually sun kissed complexion, like a California surfer who’d spent too much time on the board. While his color was setting, she checked in with Jane.
Alma had just finished washing her hair. She sat nervously in Amelia’s chair, staring at herself in the mirror. “So, Jane,” she said, and the woman jumped. She hunkered down beside Jane, staring at their combined reflection in the mirror.
“Tell me about this style. How long have you had it?”
Jane looked like she feared there was a wrong answer. Amelia took her hand and began gently petting it, something she did with her more skittish clients to soothe them. Jane returned her attention to her reflection in the mirror, surveying her harsh, chin-length bob. “Since I was fifteen. I was living in Africa and going through a big Egyptian phase. I thought it would make me seem more like Cleopatra.”
“Cleopatra,” Amelia said, tipping her head. “Interesting. Let me ask you another question. Do you ever feel like everyone in life is having an adventure but you?”
Jane nodded, her eyes filling with tears.
“Are you ready to change that?”
She nodded again, blinking hard to clear her eyes.
“Well, then, here we go.” Amelia picked up her scissors and got to work.
Ninety minutes later, she returned to Blue. His hair was done, and it looked as amazing as she knew it would. She had colored the blue out of it and left it long on top, parting it on the top and slicking it to the side in an imitation of 1940’s movie star glam. The day-old stubble on his cheeks gave his face more definition. Now it was time for the rest of him. She handed him a white dress shirt and a pair of pants.
“New clothes, too?” he asked, sounding much less disdainful than when he’d walked in nearly two hours ago.
“Trust me yet?” she asked and smiled when he reached for the clothes without comment. She left him and went to Jane who, like Blue, stood staring at herself in a full-length mirror.
“Is this really me?” she whispered.
“One hundred percent,” Amelia said. “Except that stripe in your hair. It’s temporary, but I can make it permanent, if you want.”
“Maybe,” Jane whispered, touching the blue stripe in her hair. Amelia had given her a modified pixie cut, leaving one long chunk that draped coquettishly over her forehead. That chunk of hair was now blue. Likewise Jane’s makeup was completely over the top, yet still somehow worked. Amelia had done an exaggerated cat’s eye on her, swirling the outer edges and dotting them with a heart on each side of Jane’s temple. Her lipstick was bright pink but not gaudy or garish. Instead Jane looked somewhere between punk and adorable, and she kind of loved it.
“Jane, do you know how to tie a man’s tie?”
“Yes, why?”
“Because Blue’s going to need a teacher. Come with me.” Amelia took her hand and led her next door where Blue stood in the center of the room. Or at least she thought it was Blue. It might easily have been a GQ model. He was polished, put together, well-tailored, and blond.
“Whoa,” Jane whispered, taking in the sight of him.
His eyes brushed over her with no recognition. They fell to the door behind her, then to Amelia. “Is Jane almost done?”
Beaming now, Amelia put her arm around Jane and drew her front and center. “Jane Dunbar, may I introduce Blue Bishop?” She gave Jane a little push. Jane stumbled, causing Blue to put out his hands to catch her. He grasped her hands and drew her closer, inspecting her as if she were a foreign object.
“Jane?” he whispered. “Is this the real Jane or did you kill her and make a replica?”
“Turns out this one was in there all along,” Amelia said. “Oh, hey, I almost forgot. I have one more thing for you.” She held up a tie, handing it to Blue.
“Uh, I don’t know how to tie this,” he said.
Amelia nudged Jane. “I do,” Jane said softly. She took the tie, shook it out, and stood on her toes to slip it around Blue’s neck.
“How do you know how to tie a man’s tie?” he asked.
Her eyes met his. Was that a hint of jealousy in his tone or was it her imagination? “My dad.”
“Ah,” he said. “Look at you with the sleeve tats.” He touched her arms where she wore literal sleeves with pictures of tattoos on them. Over that, Amelia had put a leather bustier atop a leather skirt. She looked punk but still with an air of sweetness. Now that he saw the change, he realized he wouldn’t have been able to stand it if she looked hard.
“A blue tie,” Jane said, smoothing it flat after she finished tying it. “Nice touch.” Her eyes met Blue’s again. “You look rather spectacular.”
“Yeah?” he asked, smiling.
She nodded. Her hands seemed to have a mind of their own, first smoothing over his chest and then down his arms, ending at his hands where they clasped fingers.
“You’re possibly the only person who could wear a leather bustier and still look innocent,” he said. “I love the hair. So adorable.” His fingers brushed the ends of her barely there pixie cut.
“Thank you. Do you think we’ll fit at the place we’re going?” she asked.
“I think we fit perfectly,” he said, smiling as he swung their joined hands between them.
Jane inched closer, pressing her body lightly to his. “It’s been a long six months, Blue.”
“The longest,” he agreed. His hands let go of hers and rested lightly on her hips. “Jane…” His phone buzzed. They froze.
“Work?” she guessed.
“I’d say they’re probably wondering where we are,” he said.
“I guess we’d better go,” she said.
“Yes.” He let her go, clasped her hand, and led her back to the main portion of the salon where Amelia was cleaning her station. He cleared his throat. Amelia looked up at him with an expectant smile.
“Thank you, Amelia,” he said.
“Are we even?” Amelia asked.
“All debts are paid and then some,” he replied.
“Well then you’re welcome, Papa Bear. PS. Let me know how the night turns out.”
“It’s classified,” he told her.
“Not the parts I want to hear,” she said, tossing them a wink and a wave before returning to her work.