Page 9 of Rescued By the Operative

She’s so close now, it would take nothing, no effort, to purse my lips and kiss her. “Maybe I’d like to find out.”

Chapter Three

Nelly

This guy is so annoying and mouthy, I don’t know whether to duct tape his mouth shut or fuck the shit out of him.

He’s so close to blowing my cover, I don’t know what to do.

So, I pin him against the wall.

“Who are you? Who sent you?” I snarl angrily, shoving my leg in between his to keep him from sliding away from me.

“Ow!” he says with a laugh. “Nobody sent me! I’m just a townie, babe. A townie who’s sick and tired of watching a bunch of creeps take over my town. There! You made me say it.”

“So you decided to do what? Bust into the detention building?”

“The what? The tunnel was supposed to lead to the cellar under the empty women’s dormitory.”

“Looks like you took a wrong turn at Albuquerque.”

He laughs again. “Every word you say is proving my point about what you’re not.”

“Guess I’ll have to keep my eye on you so you don’t snitch, then.”

“What are you going to do? Keep me prisoner?” he snorts.

“Maybe. Or I might have to kill you.”

“But I’m technically here to rescue you, so that would be a little bit counterproductive.”

Rescue me?

“Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?”

He laughs, and it makes me feel warm, though it shouldn’t. I turned off my feelings years ago. I don’t fall for guys who laugh at my jokes. So why do I keep making them?

And why do I like it when it becomes clearer and clearer that he’s attracted to me?

“Or maybe you show me the layout of this tunnel and tell me what you’re planning to do with it.”

“Not until you tell me who you really are.”

I push him against the wall and tell him, “Listen, cowboy. You need to go back to wherever you came from and forget you saw this place. Fill in the tunnel, and don’t ever tell anybody what you’re planning.”

“I wasn’t planning on telling anybody till I saw you. What can I say, Blondie, but your eyes mesmerize me.”

In the dark, I reach under my jumper and rip the wire off my chest. “What do I gotta do to get you to shut up, go away and forget you saw me?”

He shrugs. “Show me your tits?”

“Is that a question, or is that for real?”

“That depends on whether you take it as offensive or as a joke.”

I’ve gotten to where I am by learning a lot. The first years of my career involved putting up with a lot of extremely unprofessional people who don’t deserve to carry a badge. I’ve had to look the other way, keep my head down and do my best until I successfully applied to the Bureau. My skin has grown pretty thick over the years.

“I’ve heard way worse,” I say.