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Isobel swallowed down the bile that had risen in her throat.
“He knows who you are, Isobel. We think the attack on 26 Fed was aimed at you, he knows your FBI, he’s making a point.”
“What do I do?” She asked, her face void of any emotion, her hands sweating, her heart pounding.
“You stay. You follow the plan, you get as much information out of Vargas and his men as possible and then you try not to get killed.”
She looked at her handler. “You think his end game is to kill me?”
Her handler shook their head. “No. You’ve been with him for six years, Isobel. We think he loves you, but he can’t kill you. He’s doing this because killing you isn’t an option.”
Isobel let out a breath. “Put me in touch with 26 Fed by the end of the day. I want to be back in Mexico by tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll get it done.”
Isobel was left alone in the parked car, her handler having left an hour ago to put her in touch with the JOC. She scrolled through updates on her phone both in the US and Mexico, she let her mind wander before bringing it back to the task at hand.
Over the last six years she played the lover of one of the most notorious drug lords in Mexico, had watched him kill lowly drug runners, had shared a bed with him, had listened as he discussed business, looked pretty on his arm, washed blood out of his clothes. The murders were never pleasent, but they were felt and far between, drugs and assult fitted him better.
Now he had crossed a line. Or she had. She couldn’t figure out how it happened. She had two theories.
First, he knew all along. Something which made Isobel’s blood run cold.
Second, something happened, someone saw them, someone said something and he got curious. Either way he’d placed a bomb around somone’s neck and tried to get away with it, all because of her. All because she wasn’t who she said she was.
Isobel put her phone down, straightening in her seat, reaching for the key in the ignition. A fleeting thought, but a thought nonetheless. How she wished he had just killed her.
It was warm, humid and she was begging for a storm to clear the air when she got back to Mexico, thankful her driver had decided against small talk and even more thankful when she walked in to find Vargas in a meeting with some of his men.
She walked right past the office to the bedroom, dropping her overnight bag, grabbing a summer dress and heading into the bathroom to change. She wasn’t about to spend the rest of the day in the house lost in thoughts about whether or not she was going to get killed.
“How was New York?”
She turned just as she was about to step into the garden, he looked normal, but then he never gave anything away.
“Good, I miss it sometimes, but it was nice, cooler than it is here.”
He moved closer to her, “Give me a moment to change and I’ll sit in the garden with you.”
Isobel smiled, “I would like the company.”
She wasn’t sure when she got so comfortable at lying, or when some of it stopped being lies, but all of her memories were now merged together in a report file that her handler had every time she saw them. She told herself if she made it then one day she would read it all.
“So,” He took a seat beside her, “tell me about New York, Agent Castille.”
He knew. But then she knew that. She was the one who told him.
“What would you like to know?”
“Did I succeed?”
Isobel shook her head. “No, love, but I think they got the message.”
Vargas nodded, “Good, and your handler?”
“Suspects you know who I am, but I can handle that. She’s sending a team to watch over me for the next few weeks, so maybe a few more romantic walks on the beach are in order?”
“Maybe another trip to New York?
Isobel shook her head at that suggestion, “No more death, darling. No more bombs, no more threats, we stay here, we continue to build our empire, we don’t need to go back there.”
She took a slow breath as Vargas looked at her, “You still care,”
Isobel turned to face him, “I told you I would never stop caring about the FBI, and you told me you could live with that. You have scared them, Antinio, you have made your point, please, let’s leave it at that.”
“Okay.”
Isobel leaned in to kiss the side of his head, “Thank you, I know letting it go isn’t easy.”
“You never ask for anything, Isobel, you never have, so I can deal with this, just like I said.”
Isobel stood up from her chair, standing in front of him, “Let’s go inside, love.”
“You have plans?”
Isobel hummed, “My handler gave me a little intel on our friends from Texas, things we should discuss.”
Vargas stood up, following her lead, “I quite like when you take charge.”
“Me too.”