She took another sip of champagne before answering. “I’ve had some experience in the field.”
“Oh? What did you do?”
She grinned. “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”
? ? ?
The party was a huge success, if I did say so myself. It was lovely to see my friends and neighbors enjoying one another’s company. The Chung children managed to behave well while having a blast at the same time. And none of them got hurt or cried too loudly.
Six-month-old Lily, the baby that Suzie and Vinnie had become guardians for, was a naturally happy child. She giggled and smiled for everyone and we all took turns holding and cuddling her.
Each of the guests came up with names for the kitten. Frisky and Dusty were suggested, and Bookie, because of my job, of course. A few of us argued over Snowflake and Mrs. Bigglesworth. Mrs. Chung liked Sweetie Pie, Tyler preferred Killer, and Jessica voted for Poofy. Jennifer, who was naturally more introspective than her twin, gave it a lot more thought and finally whispered her choice in my ear. “Tickles.”
“That’s a good one,” I assured her. I wrote all the names down and Derek and I promised to consider each one. But I didn’t think we’d arrived at the perfect name for our kitten yet.
After my odd moment with Alex earlier in the kitchen, I wasn’t sure what to think. But an hour into the party, she found me at the kitchen sink again while everyone else was laughing and talking upstairs. Taking a deep breath, she leaned against the counter and faced me. “I was a covert operative for many years.”
That was the last thing I had expected her to say. “Did you work for the CIA?”
She smiled. “I’m not giving you any details except to say that I had a talent for languages. I was recruited right out of college, a fresh, young thing determined to make a difference in the world. I found myself working for men whose only interests were in gaining power and control.” She shrugged. “So what else is new, right?”
“Sad, but true,” I said.
“I was a slow learner,” she said with a rueful twist of her lips. “After a year of hitting my head against a wall, I started playing their game, fighting for every crumb I could get—while still upholding the highest standards of conduct, of course.” Alex’s smile dissolved as she dipped into memories that were clearly not pleasant. “I managed to rise up the ranks fairly quickly after that. I refused to let anything stand in my way.”
She paused for too long.
“What happened?” I asked finally.
“My team was sent to the Balkans. Kosovo.”
I frowned at her. “You’re too young to have been involved in that war.”
“It was long after the war was over, but the country was still a mess. Criminals were in charge. The economy was running on drug and human trafficking. We were on a covert mission to supply the opposition with the means to take over the government. I figured we’d be cleaning up corruption and replacing the criminals with patriots.”
“Let me guess. You were wrong.”
“I was a fool.”
“You survived,” I said quietly.
“Not exactly.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She stared at the bubbles in her glass. “I died.”
I squinted at her. “Say what?”
“I died.” She added quickly, “Just for a minute or so. They were able to revive me and I was sent home to recuperate.”
“You’re omitting a few details.”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
My curiosity was killing me. “Well? How did you die?”
“I was ambushed,” she said darkly. “I trusted the wrong people. Let’s just leave it at that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I was, too, at the time.” She took a fast sip of champagne, maybe to wash down the memories. “And once I recovered, I was just plain angry. I hated everyone. One of my superiors suggested, in the nicest way possible, that I go and find a quiet place to be alone for a while. So I rented a cabin up in the San Juan Islands near Seattle. It was so damn cold, but beautiful. It took a long time to sink in but I finally concluded that I wanted to go on living.” She groaned. “And isn’t that the worst cliché imaginable?”
“Yes.”
She laughed. “But it was true. For years before that, I’d been in pure survival mode. Now I wanted more. I wanted to live and work and laugh and have boyfriends and be normal. So I quit the job. And here I am.”
She was still leaving out a lot of details, but I figured she would fill in the blanks as we got to know each other better. Something occurred to me. “Have you ever met Derek before?”
“No.”
“So what were you thinking when I introduced you? It looked like you were sizing each other up.”
“We were,” she admitted.
“Why?”
“It’s simple,” she said. “We’re both determined to be your champion.”