Tyler set the razor down and frowned angrily at the mirror in his room at the motel. He hated the way he looked, but he was sure that he no longer resembled who he used to be; that is, the Tyler Fog that people were looking for.
He'd just finished buzzing his hair down to an almost non-existent length. It stuck out in funny tufts around his ears, now, but he didn't feel like cleaning up. Dampening his fingertips, he slicked the tufts against his head.
What was left of his blonde hair was dyed a nasty, but natural looking shade of auburn.
He had - to his shame – purchased some eyeshadow. It was a dark brownish-purple color, the color of bruises, in his opinion. He had applied the makeup carefully to resemble a junkie rock-star style.
The whole disguise was topped off by the one element that was out of his control...his nose. Thinking back, he had counted three times in the last four days that he'd had his nose broken: the first time was when he met Alice; the second time was his reunion with Jay, the third was his fight with Jay and David.
Furious, Tyler threw the razor and hair dye bottle against the sink. His face looked like it had been run over by a truck.
“No girl will fall for this.” he muttered, realizing that his best tool for getting information – his appearance- was destroyed
He had always been the more careless of the three when it came to girls. Jay had been excruciatingly faithful to Kim; they had both believed Will to be single.
Tyler had drifted from girl to girl, charming his way into each of their lives, then getting left in the dust when they realized that he wasn't a knight in shining armor. He'd been called so many awful names when the girls found out that he wasn't after a real relationship. He'd blown it so many times.
“Room service.” a voice said outside his door.
“Not now.” he answered.
“Sir, are you aware that you were supposed to check out three hours ago?” the maid ventured.
“Yes, I'm aware. I'm...having trouble packing.”
“I'll give you another ten minutes, sir. If you're not out by then, I'll have to call security.”
“It'll be like I was never here.” Tyler shouted through the door, shoving his things into his backpack.
Time to move on.
The FBI office buzzed uneasily as the agents gathered in a tight bunch. It was eleven pm on a Wednesday night, and over ninety percent of the people standing in the large hallway were holding yet another cup of coffee in their hands. Marlowe stood with the rest of them, ignoring her rumpled jacket, frazzled hair, and the growing bags under her eyes.
She couldn't remember the last full night of sleep she'd had in the past two weeks. Most of the sleep had been one to two hour naps in her car in the parking lot, or on the couch in the lobby. She'd been home three times in the past nine days...but only to shower, change her clothes, and steal a few moments of exhausted sleep. Not even bothering to unmake the bed, she'd sprawled over the top and let the embrace of the soft mattress capture her for a few brief moments of rest. Then, it was back at work again.
At the moment, she and the other agents were waiting for yet another briefing from Chambers. Marlowe was the most uneasy person in the room. She hadn't shared her mysterious and shocking call to Chambers with anyone else; she felt imprisoned by her position in comparison to his.
Only a day had passed. Her head kept whirling around with the information she had. No matter what the circumstances, though, she knew that the truth about the boss had to come out somehow...and soon.
Borjes was dead, maybe even because of Chambers.
The boss himself appeared before her. Almost regally, he stalked through the glass doors of his office and into the hallway. Marlowe's stomach twisted as she remembered that those glass doors had been part of Chambers downfall; allowing her to see in and positively identify him as the mysterious voice on the phone.
“Good evening, people. Let me first say how proud I am of this office. The New York branch of the FBI has an admirable group of people on its hands.
“Alright, let's get to business. We have several things to report to the press, but I wanted to get it to you people first. You better take some notes.
“We think that we're closing in on Tyler Fog. We've received several tips claiming that a person resembling Tyler Fog has been seen at least four times this week in the Trinity area. We're on it. Marlowe, I want you heading that team.”
Marlowe felt like she had swallowed a bucket of stones, but she managed to nod her head.
“Good. Now, the rest of you, just keep on keepin' on. Think about how good it will be to get these guys behind bars.”
There was a loud murmur, almost a cheer of agreement. Marlowe didn't join in. She was becoming more and more convinced that Tyler and Jay didn't belong behind bars, and that Chambers was the one who needed a long sentence.
“You alright, Marlowe?” Chambers' voice said in her ear.
She jumped, her appearance too shaken too look normal. Hopefully Chambers wouldn't notice.
As evenly as she could, she said. “Yes sir. Just tired, sir.”
“Aren't we all. Good work this week. Keep it up.”
Marlowe smiled a little. Chambers was proud of himself, obviously. He had benched her and forced her to push paperwork, obviously keeping her out of the way. She had taken the hint -and the mysterious phone call- and left him alone. He had been getting suspicious that she knew more than she should. She'd kept digging, although secretly, into everything that she felt was necessary, but only reported what Chambers expected her to. Even though she hated even the pretense of being his pawn, she knew that it was working...or was it?
Suddenly, Marlowe wondered about her new task. If Chambers didn't want her finding the truth about the Drexler, why was he letting her lead the team? Frowning and tapping her nails against the coffee mug in her hand, she headed back to her office.
Jay exhaled nervously as he squeezed Kim's hand. The two of them stood in the kitchen, waiting for the moment when David would hang up the phone and give them Alice's update.
As cliché as it sounded, Jay couldn't shake the feeling that time was standing still. He tried to focus on the reassuring knowledge and evidence that Kim was holding his hand. She was there. She wasn't going anywhere. He sighed and relaxed slightly.
Still, time was dragging. It seemed like hours before David hung up the phone and turned to them.
“It's good.” He said quickly.
“Are there any catches to that statement?” Jay asked, after letting out a relieved sigh.
“Not really. What Nel and Kim will be doing is dangerous, but we expected that. I don't see this going badly.”
“What exactly are they doing?” Jay asked, wrapping his arm around Kim's shoulders.
David explained Alice's plot, but Jay was hesitant.
“Are you sure...”
“Jay, don't over-think this. I know how much you want to analyze and fix everything, but in our world there's always going to be risk involved. Trust me, this is the safest way.”
“Are you sure that the doctor is completely on board with this plan?” Kim wondered.
“Alice is always very thorough in her undercover work. Trust me, this man is head over heels in love with her. He's going to trust her, no matter what. In return, she's going to do what she can for him as a civilian...protect him and what not.” David caught the expression on Jay's face.
“Kim, why don't I leave you two alone.”
Kim took the hint and sat at the table with Jay.
“I love you.” she told him.
He smiled and kissed her, hard. “I love you too.”
“Do you know why I love you? Because you're there for people, no matter what. Listen to me, though. This is okay. You're okay. Please,” she touched his cheek and brushed his hair away from his face. “relax. Go get some more sleep, let me rub your shoulders, eat some food, something! Just don't worry. You're going to give yourself gray hair.”
Jay smiled a little at this.
“You're too young for gray hair, Jay. Okay? Kiss me.”
He did.
“I'm glad I have you.”
“Look me in the eyes, and promise me that you'll quit worrying.”
He sighed and tugged on his sleeve.
“Jay.”
Shaking his head uncomfortably, he looked up and met her eyes.
“I promise.”
No comments:
Post a Comment