The Hellman

Chapter 11

Alexander stopped outside the building where Michelle lived and once again his heart fell. They had been dating for three weeks now and it had somehow been the best three weeks of his life. She was the most amazing woman he ever met. Although she was shy, she was assertive and charismatic. It was the most alive he had felt in a very long time. While he respected that she wanted to take it slow, he wanted more of her than she was willing to give. There were days when he drove her home and he wanted to tell her to spend the night with him instead.

“I enjoyed our date tonight,” she said smiling at him, “next time, we can do it at your place.”

Her subtle hint gave him a bit of hope, but he knew better than to expect more of her than she was willing to give.

“Yes, Id like that” he replied, “I could make dinner.”

“I would love to see that.” She said

He leaned over and kissed her. It was the best part of the night. Since they started dating, he had gotten as far as second base but no further.

“Thank for tonight,” she said opening the door of his SUV and getting out.

He waited until she walked into her building before driving off. As he drove, something on the chair caught his eyes. He reached over to pick it up and realized she had left her phone on the seat. He drove back to her building but when he got there, he saw her walking out. He was about to stop her when he noticed she was walking towards her car. She looked around to check if anyone was watching her before she got into her car and drove off. He followed her closely trying not to spook her. She drove around the city for almost an hour before turning off into one of the suburbs. If she was trying to avoid being tailed, she was doing an excellent job. After driving through the suburbs, she was back in the city and once again he wondered why she was trying to avoid being tailed. As he followed her, a million thoughts went through his mind. Not long after, he lost her. Conceding defeat, he drove home wondering all the time what she was up to and why she went to such lengths to lose him. He got home and began digging into the occupancy of the building he said she rented. After checking with the listed occupants he noted that he name wasn’t there.

As he fell asleep that night, he felt a deep unease settling over him. He decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and ask her in the morning.

The next day she showed up to work early. She knocked on their connecting door and put her head through the doorway. She smiled when she saw him and walked into his office wearing a flattering pink dress and wearing her hair down.

“Hey,” she said, “I think I forgot my hone in your car last night. Did you see it?”

He studied her face but find no sign of guilt there.

“I found it” he replied holding out the phone to her.

“Thanks,” she said taking it.

She came and sat at the edge of his desk which was a bit distracting since his eyes were focused on her long beautiful legs.

“I was thinking about the way we’ve been doing things so far,” she said

The way her hair fell over her shoulders had his hands itching to touch.

“What have you been thinking?” he asked,

“Maybe we should take it to the next level” she replied

His thoughts suddenly began to run wild and he began having a hard time controlling his mind.

“Like what?” he asked,

She was blushing, and he wondered how she could be so confident one minute and so shy the next.

“I don’t know” she replied,

Standing, he rested one hand on her crossed legs. She inhaled sharply, and he liked knowing that she was so open with her reactions. She didn’t hold anything back and he could only imagine she wouldn’t be much different in his bed. He let his hand linger on the exposed flesh and then he looked up to meet her eyes.

“Something like this?” he asked moving his hand further up

Her eyes widened, and her lips parted ever so slightly.

He was losing all self-control just watching her react to his touch.

“Yes,” she whispered softly.

He bit his lip, tugged her legs apart and pulled her to the edge of the table so he was cradled between her legs. Her eyes flew open and she looked up at him in total surprise.

“It’s a good idea,” he said, lowering his head to kiss her

At the last second, he changed his mind and lowered his head to kiss her neck. She inhaled sharply and he felt himself throbbing with anticipation.

“Alex,” she said softly,

He looked up and found her staring up at him with fire in her eyes.

“I think you’re right,” he said, “we should take this t the next level”

He stepped away allowing her to stand and straighten her dress.

“Why the change of mind?” he asked

He remembered then that he had more than one reason to be suspicious.

“I don’t know” she replied, “I wanted us to take it slow and I think maybe we’re ready.”

“Alright” he replied pulling her towards him for a hug, “we can talk about it later.”

“Sounds good to me” she replied

Grabbing her phone, she left his office and as he watched her, he felt as if he had somehow lost control of himself. He paced his office for half an hour before deciding to call Theodore. His brother showed up an hour later wearing a questioning look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Theodore asked

“I think something’s going on with Michelle,” he said

He couldn’t believe he was saying it, but he couldn’t deny that something was wrong.

“What do you mean?” Theodore asked

“I mean, I don’t think she’s being totally honest about where she lives.”

Although the issue may be bigger, the only suspicion he could claim was that she wasn’t honest about where she lived.

“What, she stood you up?” he asked

“No, I dropped her off last night and then when I circled back to give her the phone she left in my van, she took me on a wild goose chase?”

“What do you mean?” he asked,

“She drove around the city for half an hour then an hour in the suburbs and then back into the city. She never stopped anywhere, didn’t do anything, she just drove around as if she was trying to avoid being tailed.”

“Do you think she’s hiding something so big that she’d spend hours driving around at night to conceal where she lived?” Theodore asked taking a seat.

“Well it’s strange” he replied, “why would she feel the need to avoid being tailed?”

“Maybe she’s careful” Theodore replied,

“She doesn’t live in the building she told me she lived in” he replied, “I checked, there’s no listing of a woman with her features or name registered in the list of occupants.”

“So, you’re telling me that she’s lied about where she lives and she’s driving around at all hour of the night as if someone’s watching her?”

Alexander knew it was crazy, but something didn’t add up and he didn’t like when things didn’t add up. Besides his obvious feelings for her, he knew it was easy to lose sight of a person’s true motives the closer they got to you and he was trying very hard to prevent that.

“I can’t deny that it may be nothing.” He replied,

“Alex, if you’re concerned then I trust your instinct.” Theodore replied after some time, “she isn’t the normal girl, we all know this.”

“What do you mean?” he asked

“Well, I’ve been watching her since she got here,” he said, “she was very good at a job she’s never done before, and she was too good at surveillance.”

Alexander began to think about it. She was the one who had figured out how to pinpoint the location of the group in Germany and she had given them a lot of insights into surveillance that he knew wasn’t general knowledge.

“Do you think she’s a spy?” he asked

Saying the word left a bitter taste in his mouth. He didn’t know what to think and he hoped she wasn’t a spy for her sake.

“I don’t know what to tell you” he replied, “you’ve spent more time with her than any of us, what do you think about it?”

Alexander stood and walked over to the window and looked over at the city. How could it be that the woman he was interested in was dishonest? He couldn’t imagine what she was into or why she was targeting the company, but he vowed that he would get to the bottom of it without letting her know.

“I need you to find out who she is.” He said softly walking over to his brother, “find out so we can control whatever intel she has access to and her plans for the company.

Theodore was silent.

“What if she already has what she wants?” he asked

Alexander thought about it and caused himself. It was hard to believe she was malicious especially when she was so beautiful and honest with her feelings. He was doing his best not to believe it but he had to trust his first instincts.

“I don’t think she’s here under any suspicious terms,” he said, “but I have to do my due diligence to prevent anything from happening. “

“I’ll look into it,” Theodore said, “for what it’s worth, I don’t think she’s an evil villain.”

“Good” he replied thinking about the way she had looked up at him earlier that morning. There was no way her eyes could lie, and he had in her eyes that she trusted him.

“What will you do in the meantime?” Theodore asked

He thought about it and he saw no reason to let his suspicions show. If he had been wrong and she was only taking a night drive, then he didn’t want to accuse her and ruin what they had. Their relationship was in its infancy and he knew she was depending on him for a lot of things. She didn’t have much family or friends and he needed her too. She was sunshine where he only saw clouds and she was smart and beautiful.

“I’ll keep my thoughts to myself.” He replied, “there’s no reason to expose myself when I’m not sure about what I’m saying.

“Good idea” Theodore replied

Soon his brother was gone, and he sat down to begin working. The first thing he had to do was call Dillon. He was trying to get him to source the pictures of the dead family that his father had destroyed. So far there was no luck.

“Hey,” he said when Dillon picked up, “how are things?”

“Not bad” Dillon replied, “I haven’t been able to source those pictures you wanted.”

“Do you have any new intel?” Alexander asked

“Nothing much” he replied, “things have slowed down a bit, but I think I have a lead on the target, it’s a woman.”

“Wait, a woman?” he asked, “they’re going through all that for a woman?”

“I don’t know why,” Dillon said,” but it turns out she’s very important to the cartel hierarchy.

Alexander was a bit perplexed, but he couldn’t do much more than waiting until Dillon found more info.

“Don’t die down there?” he said, “be careful.”

With that Dillon was gone.

He sat in his chair and began reviewing notes, but his mind kept going to the woman in the other room. Who was she, what was she doing here and why had she allowed him to feel so much about her when she didn’t plan on sticking around?