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The power of this memory completely freaked me out. It was like I was helpless against him.

My mouth was dry, I swallowed and got up.

“I… it’s late. I have to go to bed.”

“Of course,” he got up right away and headed for the door.

“Thanks for listening,” he said, smiling at me as he bid me good night.

Only once the door closed behind him, did I realize that I regretted him not even trying to kiss me, not making a single move on me. I knew I would not be able to resist him if he touched me again.

I went into the kitchen and drank two glasses of water, forcing myself to calm down. Then I took a cold shower, shocking my brain into numbness, washing away the memory of Jack Beaufort.

The next day, I called the agency and spoke to one of my handlers.

Josie owed me some favors and I asked her to look into the file of Jack Beaufort.

She called me back. “It’s weird, his file has been deleted,” she said.

“How is that possible?”

“I don’t know, the folder is still there but the content is gone.”

“What about the murder of Juan Marco Albarellos?” I asked. “I’m looking into finding the witness.”

“Hang on,” she said, while she did a search online.

“Here it is,” she said. “According to this report, the murder investigation was closed. It was ruled an accident in the end. Guy fell off his boat and drowned.”

“I thought he was shot?” I said.

“Not according to this report. The last filed note says there was a party, people took drugs and hallucinated. Someone thought he’d seen a shooter but later retracted his statement. The autopsy showed water in the lungs of the body, so that made it simple.”

Not to me, though.

“Oh, this is interesting,” she said suddenly.

“What is?”

“The case was closed following an executive order.”

“What do you mean?”

“The governor…” she said. “That’s weird. Why would he get involved?”

Why indeed?

Chapter 8

Jack

“Jack!”

My thoughts were rudely interrupted.

“Are you listening? Jack!”

It was Natania, my PA, trying to get me to pay attention to work.