Chapter 30

 

LILIA TUCKED HER hair back, knowing that she needed to appear as controlled as possible. The CIG team had been sent out on vacation, at least that was the official line. In reality, Lilia had sent them on a training exercise in Alaska to look for a person who didn’t actually live there.

It was easier than explaining.

The base brought back a familiar sense of exile and she shook away the thoughts. It was hard to settle back into her role. A role she’d never wanted. Having tasted the sense of home, she felt so empty being without. Bess had always been the one for moving on, for isolation.

Bess was the adventurous one. All Lilia had ever wanted, as strange as it probably sounded to most, was to be a wife and mother. Her dream had been to live with Eli, raise children, and bake. She smiled at herself. Bess would have told her to head on back to the fifties. Women should be out exploring.

Lilia had explored for more years than she cared to remember and her childhood dream hadn’t changed. She still wanted to go back to Eli and the girls and try and crack Nan’s recipe for the perfect cookie. No matter how much she asked, Nan wasn’t giving up that secret ingredient. Never mind, she liked a challenge.

Lilia flashed her badge and a tight smile at the guards on the gate. She made sure not to socialize or appear friendly to anyone on base. It made it easier when someone was just another name to send them into places that were perilous.

She sighed. Only Renee Black, Ursula Frei, and a certain Aeron Lorelei made that ethos impossible. All three needed her to get in and do some creative things with their files.

Lilia stepped out of the rental car and sighed.

“Agent Lorelei?”

She turned, knowing who stood on the curb waiting for her. “How are you, Agent Fleming?”

Abby Fleming stood proud in front of her. She had long dark hair, bright intense eyes, and pale white skin. Her curves had grown a bit since the last time they’d talked but there was no denying that the woman was gorgeous.

“I don’t have enough sunblock to put up with this heat.” She gave a sweet lopsided smile and motioned to Lilia’s office.

“Yes, well . . . the air conditioning is working so that should cool any pink patches you have.” Lilia kept the humor in her voice but her mind spurred into action. Why was Fleming on base? She shouldn’t know Frei had gone missing. She shouldn’t know anything was wrong. Why was she here?

Lilia was pleased to see that Brenda’s desk was empty. She leaned over and touched the button to unlock the door up to her office. “As you can see, we’re on a skeleton staff at the moment.”

“Yes, I noticed that not one of your team is on base,” Fleming said, her tone gentle and calm as always. “Busy period?”

Lilia led her up the stairs and tried not to glance at Frei’s office. The files were in there. “Vacation . . . enforced. We had a tough case.”

She walked around her large glass desk and took a seat, motioning for Fleming to do the same. “So, what can I help you with?”

Fleming reached in her handbag and pulled out a tablet. She frowned when it wouldn’t turn on. “I could’ve sworn I charged it.”

Lilia smiled. “Kids like the games, hmmm?”

Fleming locked eyes with hers then a gentle laugh fell from her lips. “Wouldn’t surprise me. They love anything to do with gadgets.” She slotted the tablet away. “I had an odd report that the head of the task force is missing?”

Lilia controlled her breathing. Odd report? Who could have known? “She’s not here so they, whoever they were, only got it half right.” Lilia leaned forward and placed her hands together. “She had more vacation days than I knew what to do with.”

“I remember that she was always here.” Fleming crossed her legs, smoothing over her skirt. “So she’s on vacation?”

“Knowing Ursula, she’s doing some kind of survival training for fun.” Lilia offered a warm smile. “You know how competitive they were.”

Fleming’s eyes glinted with a hollow ache. Lilia swallowed back the guilt of bringing it up. She understood how hard it was to breathe through the pain. “I’m sorry. I guess, to me, it helps to keep her in mind.”

Fleming cleared her throat but Lilia didn’t miss her fingers fiddling with her wedding ring. “Can’t be helped. I don’t really want to be here any longer than I have to, you understand?”

Lilia nodded.

“I wouldn’t even entertain such reports normally. I’d have just sent someone else but I don’t want them making things difficult for you.” Fleming closed her handbag. “I just need to see that Lead Agent Frei is fit and well, then I can leave.”

“You might be waiting for a while,” Lilia said, hoping her gentle tone would cover the panic. Fleming was better than some ambitious idiot looking to cause trouble but she was far more astute. “I am at fault for that . . .” She sighed, offering a wry smile. “I told her to go off line.”

Fleming raised her eyebrows. Yes, protocol dictated that every agent, especially hers, had a flag planted on their hinds.

“I think she deserves it, don’t you?”

Fleming nodded. “Although it explains why someone may think otherwise.”

“Indeed.” Lilia studied Fleming for a moment. She had pain in her back, no doubt from carrying her children. She wasn’t as impeccable as she’d once been either. She had some kind of animal fur, brown, on her jacket; her bag was breaking at the straps and had faint marks of sticky fingers. It was an improvement. Motherhood suited her.

“If that person had decided to contact me instead, then I wouldn’t have told them a thing.”

Fleming smiled. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.” She brushed over her skirt once more. “So, I’ll need to check Ursula’s file for her recent medical updates and status reports, then I will need to assess a basic description of her previous assignment . . .” She met Lilia’s eyes. “To ascertain if there is anything that could be a problem.”

Lilia had a good idea that Frei going missing had a lot to do with her previous assignment.

“Then, if I can try and pinpoint her most recent location and leave a message, she can reply and I’ll be out of your hair.” Fleming pulled out a notepad and pen instead. A pink princess pen. She shook her head. “I suppose I’m lucky she hasn’t put her favorite doll in.”

“Yes, my stepdaughter, Ruth, likes to wear my heels. It wouldn’t be so bad if she didn’t also like digging in ditches.”

Fleming chuckled. “Wouldn’t be without them.”

Again there was that telltale twist of the wedding band.

“It’s nice that you found happiness.” Lilia got up and motioned to the coffee machine. “If you help yourself, I’ll go rustle up her files.”

Fleming wandered over and took a cup from the side. “Shame you haven’t updated the memorial wall.”

Lilia’s guard shot up. Clever. “I . . . Ursula . . . Neither of us could face authorizing it.” She shrugged. “There’s always hope.”

Fleming nodded and fired up the machine. Lilia headed out of the office to Frei’s and let out a long, slow breath. This wasn’t going to be easy.