Page 28 of Forgotten

Kyrone snorted. “You don’t watch many spy movies, do you?”

Jared’s mouth twisted slightly. “No.”

“He’ll be waiting for his signal or orders. That coffee shop will be the agreed meeting point if the Russians want to get in touch with him.”

“Even if he’s a sleeper assassin?”

“Yup. It’ll be embedded deep in his subconscious that hehasto go to the same place at the same time every day and read a newspaper.”

Jared watched the ‘assassin’ intently, a thoughtful expression on his face. After the longest time, he said, “Do you think the Danish pastry is part of the hypnosis too?”

Kyrone laughed from deep within his belly. “No, I think he just likes those.”

Jared chuckled.

The ‘assassin’ lowered his paper long enough to take a bite of his pastry. He glanced over at Kyrone and Jared, eyes narrowing. Kyrone quickly kissed Jared, not releasing his lips until the ‘assassin’ had shrugged and went back to reading his paper.

“Does that count as being spotted?” Jared asked.

“Not yet. If he notices us again, then we’re busted.”

When the ‘assassin’ moved on, about fifteen minutes later, they tailed him to a large, multi-storey bookshop. Although they could have waited outside and across the road—the shop only had one entrance—Kyrone opted to go inside to get out of the chilly air for a while. They followed the ‘assassin’ up to the non-fiction section, where they pretended to browse books a few shelves away. The shelf Kyrone was looking at was dedicated to self-care, with books on mindfulness, meditation, and massage techniques. He grinned as he pulled a book off the shelf and showed it to Jared.

“Have you ever tried sensual massage?”

Jared’s eyes sparkled as he looked at the cover of the book Kyrone had found. “No, but it sounds fun.” He arched an eyebrow. “It comes with three DVDs!”

“I bet they’d be useful.”

“More useful if it was a guy massaging a guy,” Jared said.

“True, but as a learning aide…” Kyrone scanned the blurb on the back cover and then stepped closer to run his hand down Jared’s cheek. “Would you like me to learn how to work my way from your head to your toes, spreading pleasure wherever I go?”

Jared cackled. “Does it really say somethingthatcheesy?”

“Yes, look.” Kyrone turned the book around and pointed to the bit of the blurb he’d sort of quoted.

Jared pressed his lips together, but he was still laughing silently. “Apparently, you’ll learn how to knead and stroke, spreading warmth. Do you think that’s a euphemism for turning your partner on?”

“I hope so.” Kyrone leant in to kiss Jared’s neck. “What do you think? Should I buy it?”

Jared glanced past him. “The sleeper assassin is on the move.”

“Damn.” Kyrone put the book back on the shelf, making a mental note of the title.

The ‘assassin’ turned left out of the bookstore and started heading up out of town.

“I think he might be going home,” Jared said.

“Or to the stadium. That’s up this way,” Kyrone pointed out.

Kyrone was sort of right in that the ‘assassin’ did lead them up to the arena, but then he kept walking past, stopping to cross the road. When he turned his head to the right, he looked straight at Kyrone and Jared. A bemused expression crossed his face.

“And we’re done,” Kyrone said, grabbing Jared’s hand and leading him away at a fast pace.

“Now what?” Jared asked a little breathlessly.

“Now we find the closest restaurant…” Kyrone glanced around, smiling broadly as he pointed at the first eatery he could see. “Which is right there.”