Jake got to his room and hesitated at the door. He wasn’t sure if Alexandra would be sleeping. When the door suddenly opened, Jake couldn’t help checking her over from top to bottom. Her hair was a bit more full than he had ever seen it. Her red, white and blue T-shirt from the Montreal Canadians hung down to her bare legs. It appeared to be the only thing she wore.
She let him in and locked the door behind her.
Jake set down his backpack and turned to her. She immediately embraced him in a tight bear hug, her right hand moving up to his hair and feeling the stubble.
“What did you do?” she asked.
He pulled away and looked at her expressive eyes. “I had to cut it in Taipei. Someone took a picture of me with the banker just before he was killed. It was a lot easier doing this without everyone with cell phone cameras.”
Alexandra went over and sat on the bed, her shirt riding up higher on her bare legs. “I agree. I’m beginning to hate the damn things.”
“So…the Habs?”
She was confused.
“The Habs,” he repeated. “The Montreal Canadians hockey team. You’re wearing their jersey.”
“This?” She pulled it out from her body at both breasts, making the shirt even shorter. “What’s a Hab?”
“Nobody knows.”
“It’s French,” Alexandra said. “Short for the word Habitant, or an Inhabitant of Montreal.”
Jake let out a sigh.
“I picked up the shirt at the Montreal airport on my way here. I had to ask the clerk what the H stood for.”
He wasn’t sure about their current relationship. Part of him wanted to rip that shirt off her and discover anew her wonderful body. But on the phone they had agreed to be partners. Did that mean strictly business? Or something more? Perhaps a regression to their former status as lovers.
“Are you all right, Jake?”
He scratched the short hair on his head. “Yeah. Just a little tired.”
She got up from the bed and lifted the shirt over her head, exposing her firm naked body, her large breasts pointing right at him, the nipples hard from the air conditioned room or excitement. “I hope you aren’t too tired.”
Without answering, he stripped down and the two of them went at it like high school kids expecting their parents at any time. When they both finished, the two of them lay in bed, their naked bodies pressed together as one, Alexandra behind him, her fingers curling through his chest hair.
“Thank you,” she whispered into his ear.
“You don’t have to thank me for that,” he said.
She slapped his chest. “Not for that, although that was wonderful. I meant for taking me on as your partner. I really need this, Jake.”
He turned his head and kissed her cheek. “I’m happy you’re with me.”
“What have you found out so far?”
Jake turned his body to her and said, “I downloaded your files to my laptop. You were right about Kreuzwelt Industries.” He explained how he had sent a copy of the files to his old boss, Kurt Jenkins, who had done a quick analysis. “They were stupid to keep all of their skeletons on that computer. It makes sense that they wanted to keep you out.”
Alexandra put her hand to her mouth and a tear came from the edge of her right eye.
“What’s the matter?” he asked her.
“I was attacked at my apartment just before I left. I was forced to kill three men.”
He checked over her body and found the bruise on her left arm. “Are you all right? What’s this?”
“I quickly put in an IV and sprayed my blood all over my apartment.”
“Jesus. Your Service will think you’re dead. Or at least kidnapped. Who were they?”
“I don’t know for sure. They all wore masks, but they were Asian. Probably Chinese.”
“How did they find you?”
“That’s my problem, Jake. I shed no tears for those I was forced to kill. I’m concerned about how they tracked me down. I was very careful. I was set up with a car, an apartment, an entire identity. And I made damn sure nobody followed me to my real apartment after I got the information.”
Jake sat up and then put on his underwear. He turned to Alexandra and said, “You’ve got a problem at BND. Someone sent those killers your way. How many people knew you were undercover at Kreuzwelt Industries?”
Alexandra stood up and thought about that, with Jake having a hard time not ravishing her again. God she had a beautiful body, he thought.
“It’s a short list,” she said. “My boss there. Perhaps a couple more people. I set up my own apartment and car, buying it with cash from a dealer. Of course our techs who make our credentials would know my name and address, but nothing more. They wouldn’t give out my real address.” As she talked, she quickly put on her undergarments and then sat back on the bed while she pulled on her pants. “Where are we going? It’s almost ten.”
“Before we do anything in Singapore, I have to see a man about a horse.”
She laughed. “Do you remember the last time you told me that?”
“France, I think. But we actually found some horses in Montana.”
“Good memory. But what are we really going to get?”
“Two Glocks and some extra magazines.”
“From who?”
“I know a guy.” Well, he knew a guy who knew a guy.
The two of them spent the next two hours traveling around the city, picking up various taxis, city buses, the MRT metro system, and simply walking along the river paths, until Jake was damn sure they were not being followed.
Now they stood against a railing in relative darkness, away from the restaurants and bars in Singapore’s Clarke Quay region, where tourists rode slowly in boats below on the river.
“Why all the caution?” Alexandra asked.
Jake wasn’t entirely sure about that. “You know me. I like to be thorough. I picked up a tail at the Hong Kong airport.”
“How is that possible? I thought you flew there on a business charter.”
“I did. But someone must have caught me getting on that flight in Taipei.”
She moved closer to him, like a lover snuggling for warmth, despite the hot, muggy evening. She whispered, “Who do you think it was?”
Jake shrugged. “Probably one of Remington’s Agency assets.”
“You think he knows you’re after him?”
“That’s what I’m hoping,” Jake said. “There’s no other way to find the man.”
Alexandra gazed into his eyes with concern. “And you still trust this contact providing guns?”
Wrapping his hand at the small of her back, Jake said, “I think so. There are a number of factions within the Agency. Some are obviously still loyal to Bill Remington, and others are associates of Kurt Jenkins.”
“And this is one of Kurt’s guys?”
“Yeah. A young officer with no ties to Remington.” Jake checked his watch. It was ten minutes after midnight. They guy was late.
“Based on the photo you showed me on your phone, young is the correct term,” she said with a slight laugh.
The way the two of them stood, the river to one side, she could look over his shoulder in one direction and Jake could observe anyone coming from the other way. Finally, Jake saw the young officer approach. He wore dark clothing and carried a man-satchel across his shoulders. But he was limping like a wounded animal, a grimace of pain on his face.
“Here we go,” Jake said, pulling away somewhat from Alexandra.
Then Jake saw the man’s left leg had a wound, with blood leaving a trail behind him.
Jake closed the distance on the guy, his eyes instinctively scanning for danger. “What happened?” Jake asked the man.
The Agency man stopped and glanced behind him. “Sorry I’m late. It’s nice to meet you, Jake. I’ve heard so many good things.” He was definitely in extreme pain. But something had compelled him to complete his mission.