Honey Kisses

Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Flirting with the Enemy

Jackson paced the sitting room. He felt like a caged lion. Maybe he'd join Annie in the bookstore whether she wanted him there or not. The look she'd given him earlier clearly indicated she'd rather he didn't. Too bad.

Alligator's cell phone rang and he glanced at the caller ID before answering. "What's up, Officer Acuff?"

Jackson watched the color drain from Al's face as he shouted, "What! I'm on my way down."

"What's going on? Is Annie okay?"

Alligator said tersely, "She's slipped away from Acuff."

"Huh."

"Come on. She left a note."

Jackson's could barely hear Alligator above the blood rushing to his head. What the hell was Annie up to?

Officer Acuff met them as soon as they stepped off of the elevator. She looked distraught.

"Let me see the note," said Alligator.

She handed it to him and he read aloud.

I'm sorry to sneak out on you, but I need some air. A week in this place is driving me crazy. I just want to explore the city a little. I'll be back soon. Don't worry.

—Ann

Jackson exclaimed, "What! When I get my hands on her..." He started forward. "I'm going looking for her. Hopefully, she's wandering nearby."

Alligator's phone jingled. "Officer Kosky, here." He listened and his eyes got big.

"What! What!" Jackson shouted.

"I'm on my way back up."

"What!" Jackson shouted again.

"Just come with me and you'll see."

Jackson wanted to shove Alligator against the elevator door on the ride up and demand to know what was happening, but he knew that would be pushing the envelope. If he didn't get satisfactory answers in the next few minutes, he was out the door looking for his wife.

Back upstairs, the three of them rushed to the surveillance room. Charlie said, "Here's why we didn't catch her leaving the building." They crowded around a screen and the officer entered a couple of keystrokes that started a still picture moving again. They watched a woman wearing a scarf, dark glasses, and high heels exit the bookstore. She rushed down the street until she was out of sight of the camera. And even though Charlie punched some keystrokes that rewound the video and panned a close up of Annie's face for verification, Jackson would have recognized her tiny shape anywhere. He exclaimed, "I'm going to find her!"

Acuff said, "Why didn't she just ask to go for a walk? Why go through this charade? And those are some fancy heels she's wearing. Why would she change into spike heels to go for a walk?"

Alligator and Jackson looked back at the screen. Al put a staying hand on Jackson's shoulder. "You don't think–" He didn't finish his thought before Jackson interrupted.

"Oh, my God, Annie. No. No."

Acuff said, "She's not going to the club to hack the computer, is she?"

For a couple of seconds all the agents just stared at each other in stunned silence Then Charlie said, "There's one way to know for sure. I heard Hatcher ask if she could store her costume in Mrs. Martinez' closet. It was in a black bag."

Jackson rushed from the room, followed closely by Alligator and Acuff. He almost ripped Annie's closet door off its hinge jerking it open. He spotted a black bag and jammed the zipper down. It was empty.