Page 80 of Tom Clancy Line of Sight

“It’s nothing glamorous, Jack. I’m sure you’ll be bored.”

“I want to help out, if I can.”

She sized him up and down again. “Come if you want. Or not. Either way, I hope your mother likes the earrings.”

“Trust me, she will.”

“You have my number. I’ll be in the office until late if you change your mind.”

She extended her hand. Jack took it. Neither bothered to let go. The heat in her hand matched the warmth of her eyes.

“I’ll call you later either way.”

“Ciao, Jack.”

“Ciao.”

Aida turned and walked away, confident that Jack’s eyes were fixed on her every step as she disappeared into the crowds of tourists.

She was right.

40

When Jack got back to his apartment, he threw a load of laundry into the tiny washer/dryer combo unit in the kitchen. He had to Google instructions for it. Apparently, you needed a degree in electrical engineering to operate one of these things. As near as he could tell, it was going to take at least six hours to finish a load. He was down to his last pair of skivvies, the jeans he was wearing, and a faded Arcade Fire concert T-shirt, so he had to do it. Flying back to D.C. in dirty clothes wasn’t an option.

Shit.

Flying back to D.C. period isn’t what he wanted to do. He couldn’t stop thinking about Aida. Yeah, she was a looker, for sure. But there was something else about her. Smart, compassionate, committed.

Well, yeah. And freakin’ hot.

Lucky for him, he was able to extend his stay at the apartment because it wasn’t booked for another five days. The place was so good and the rent so cheap, he grabbed all five, partly asa favor to his struggling young landlords, and partly so he could stop thinking about it. It was a great place at half the price of a fleabag motel in Virginia, but Virginia was home and where his job was, and so back to Virginia he needed to go.

Oh, well.

After tossing in the load, he pulled out his phone to face the dragon, but to his pleasant surprise the two voice mails that Gerry had left weren’t royal ass-chewings, only pleas to call him when he got the chance. It was six hours earlier in Alexandria, and despite the coffee and baklava, Jack was hungry and knew he wouldn’t get the chance to eatcevapiagain, so he headed back to the same restaurant.

He dialed Gerry’s number while he was walking. His boss picked up on the first ring.

“Hello, kid. Glad you finally called. I was getting worried.”

“No worries. I was out of pocket today.”

“I thought you were supposed to be on that flight back today. What happened?”

“Nothing. I just decided to extend my trip another day.”

“Still haven’t found that girl?”

“Actually, I did.”

“And you gave her your mother’s letter?”

“Yep.”

“Great, so you’ll be on the first plane tomorrow, right?”

Jack crossed the Latin Bridge. He was about to tell Gerry about his decision to stay at least one more day, but there was something in Gerry’s voice.