The building was plain and anonymous, just like the man Special Agent Thomas York was there to meet. The man had no official title or position, but Agent York knew him to be one of the most powerful men in Washington D.C. He knew only one name for him, Jackson
, but thought it unlikely it was his real name.
Thomas!
the man stood from behind his desk to shake his hand and welcome him into the office.
Sir.
he replied. He looked around the office as he sat down. Plain. Unadorned. If he returned tomorrow he doubted there would be any sign Jackson had ever been there.
I have a request for you Thomas.
The anonymous man sat back down on his side of the desk. Straight to business, as was usual for him.
What is it, Jackson?
Thomas always asked. Jackson had no official position, no rank, no authority to give him orders. Years ago he had been recruited to do occasional jobs for him. His partner then had trusted that Jackson knew what was best for the country, and some of the tasks he'd done for the man were obviously crucial for the survival of the Republic, and equally obviously needed to be kept secret.
Other tasks were less obvious, or even trivial.
You're about to be assigned for a brief mission to Los Angeles. There you'll be questioning a possible witness about the theft of a computer with potentially sensitive information.
And…?
For this mission you'll be partnered with Special Agent Annabelle Toscanini.
He pushed a dossier across the desk. York took it, and read the detail's of Agent Toscanini's service record. Dark hair, dark complexion — along with the name she was probably of southern Italian descent — and quite pretty in spite of her severe expression in the passport style photo included.
He continued reading. Top marks academically, at the head of her class all through training. Commissioned as a agent just this year. All the signs of the supremely talented, dedicated individuals the bureau liked to recruit.
And the catch?
No catch, Thomas. Except…
Agent York just smiled.
I want you to stay in the background on this one. Far in the background. It would be best if the target never even learns that you exist. But I want you to watch closely. Especially I want you to watch Agent Toscanini's behavior, as full coverage as possible. But — this is important Thomas — do not interfere. No matter how strange Agent Toscanini might act, do not interfere. Observe, and report back to me.
So, Annabelle is the real target?
Jackson smiled back grimly. Just what I asked, Thomas.
The day after Cathy had sent her package to the FBI, she was kicking herself for her childlike naïveté. What would she do, if she received such a package? Evidence of Mind Control?
More like evidence of a nutjob with a homemade porn fetish. And the DVD was her best evidence, the only thing that actually showed Alex forcing an unwilling girl to have sex with him. It was her only copy, and now it was gone.
Still she felt faint hopes of rescue, of help in her predicament, when the front gate bell rang. Silly.
she told herself. It won't even get there until tomorrow, at the very earliest.
She opened the gate and met Sasha. Of course. The beautiful, Russian, student-turned-accidental-bikini-model-turned-student-again. Fellow sorority sister of Lisa. She had graced the cover of both men's and women's magazines, and was by general consensus the hottest woman on campus. She was mildly surprised that it had taken Alex this long to get around to her.
Sasha spoke formally, even a bit stiffly. She had been very upset that Cathy and Masako had won the Remembrance competition. Hello Cathy. I'm looking for your cousin.
Cathy smiled sweetly. Of course you are. Come in, please.
Bitch.
Cathy thought to herself. Good for Alex. She deserves…
abrubtly she caught herself. What did Sasha deserve, exactly?
She led the girl into the sitting room and leaned her head down the hallway to Alex's room. Alex! Someone here to see you!
Alex's first expression was surprise, which quickly broke to a smile of pleasure. Sasha! Welcome.
Hello Alex. I wish to speak with you.
For the first time Cathy noticed the other girl's accent. Russian, or so she assumed, she couldn't identify particular slavic languages. But there was something else…
Of course. Come to my room? We can talk in private.
As Alex led Sasha back to his room, Cathy snorted to herself. She had a good idea what sort of talking
they would be doing. She wondered if Sasha would be noisy or quiet. She experienced a moment of disquiet when she thought about Alex having sex with the beautiful model. He'd been looking especially hot this morning, and the idea of the two of them together… then she shivered with fear and wondered again just how Alex was making all these girls so eager to jump into bed with him.
This might be her chance. She quietly raced around to the tree by the gate, and stepped up into it until she was looking down through Alex's window. She did not see what she expected.
Sasha was lying on the bed, flat on her back. In fact, she seemed to be asleep. Alex, on the other hand, was sitting at his desk, in front of his computer. She felt a thrill of excitement. It was the computer! Her angle didn't allow her to see exactly what he was doing, but she could tell that the upper right corner of the screen had a picture of a girl, lying on her back. She couldn't make out any details, but the colors matched the yellow blouse and white shorts that Sasha was wearing.
Cathy climbed back down the tree trembling with excitement. It was the computer! She went back to her room, quietly, to scheme. The next time Alex left the house she would make a much more thorough examination of his computer, and whatever camera — or other devices — he had mounted above his bed.
Half an hour later, her earlier question was answered when she peeked into his room again. They were naked and actively thrusting away, but she couldn't hear anything but the occasional stifled moan. Sasha was a quiet one.
Alex had been quite pleased to see Sasha. He'd been wondering about the best way to see her again, whether to phone or just show up at her sorority house.
As soon as they were out of sight of Cathy, Sasha was all over him. She hugged him, kissed him, held him tight, pressing her breasts to his chest. Oh Alex!
she whispered into his ear. I need you so much! I need to feel it, feel so good again!
She kissed him across his cheeks and mouth and neck while he shuffled the two of them into his bedroom, closing the door behind him. I never heard, never imagined that pleasure like that could exist! That fucking could be so wonderful! I want to be with you Alex! I want you to do me for ever and ever! I'll do you forever. I'll do anything for you, anything you want!
On one level Alex was quite pleased by her behavior, and quite looked forward sex with the beautiful model in the next few minutes. On another level, none of his previous conquests had been quite so… forceful in their desire for his attentions. He was concerned that it might be a result of the forced experience of ultra-intense orgasms, a magnification level he'd never used before.
Why don't you lie on the bed?
He suggested. Sasha complied immediately, carefully rolling to her side in an alluring pose.
Alex bent over his desk. The Master Control Program was already running. He quickly typed in Sasha's name, then entered the command Go to sleep.
and clicked the Send
button. She fell asleep immediately, rolling onto her back, with one forearm resting on her flat tummy.
What effect has the intense pleasure of enhanced orgasms had on her?
he asked the help function.
The organization of her brain has been altered. The flood of sexual pleasure engaged networks not normally involved in sex to be re-oriented to allow for full perception of orgasmic sensation.
Is that why she… uh, came on so strong?
Her higher level goals and desires have been oriented towards experiencing sexual pleasure, specifically the unprecedented sensations associated with you.
Right. So what is the net effect on her behavior?
Her primary purpose in life now is to experience sex with you. As a corollary, she believes the best way to achieve that is to please you in every way possible.
Oh shit.
Alex remembered what Dan had done to the girls he'd collected. Their primary purpose in life had become to serve him sexually. He'd promised himself that he wouldn't do that, that he'd have more respect for the personalities of his victims.
Can you fix that?
Please be more specific.
Can you restore her mental functioning so that her goals and desires are what they were before I started messing with her?
Yes and no. It would be trivial to restore her mental and nervous settings by reverting to the saved backup from before you made edits. However, her memory and learned experiences would remain, resulting in a remnant impression on her decision-making process.
Do that. And then I'll make some new changes.
Sasha stirred. Looking about herself curiously. Huh? Where? Oh. Alex. Did I…
Her questions quickly stopped when Alex clicked the Send
button, re-sending the command that remained in the entry box. She fell asleep again.
Alex didn't want to permanently mess up Sasha, so he had restored her brain wiring to what it had been before he'd damaged it with with too-intense orgasms. But he had no desire to relinquish all control over the beautiful woman. He looked at her body, remembered how it had felt underneath him, remembered her response to the slightest movement of his cock inside her. He quickly swelled erect.
He entered two new commands, so sexual pleasure and orgasms would be four times as intense as normal. Sexual pleasure from his penis would be six times normal. This time he left off the command that would force her to remain conscious in the event of overwhelming pleasure. He added commands so she would no longer desire any man but himself, and at the same time not mind him having sex and relationships with other women. Finally he entered his standard command so she would not worry about pregnancy or STDs.
Then he entered a final command, that his command to fall asleep would be nullified when he kissed her. Then he shut down the computer, put away the magic disk, and crawled onto his bed. He carefully positioned himself above Sasha's sleeping form, then bent his lips down to hers.
As predicted, Agent York received orders to fly to Los Angeles with fellow Special Agent Annabelle Toscanini. It wasn't unusual for an older and more experienced agent to be paired with a new recruit, but it had been years since he'd had a regular partner. He was of such advanced age and standing within the Bureau that none of his assignments were usual
.
After receiving his orders, he'd asked his friends at work about his new partner. Those that knew Agent Toscanini were uniformly positive towards her, praising her skills and diligence and loyalty to the FBI. Some of them, when pressed, had concerns. When he followed those pauses in conversation, those reservations about partnering with her, the reason was trivial, even amusing. Special Agent Annabelle Toscanini was a very, very attractive woman. Enough so that his mature male colleagues worried about being distracted while working with her. His female colleagues, while never able to identify a flaw, were uniformly bland in their praise of her competence.
Even with that forewarning, when he actually met her, in the lobby of the D.C. office, he found himself distracted by her fine features, by a trim, feminine figure not entirely concealed by a businesslike jacket and mid-calf skirt.
He spoke with her, conversing through the cab ride to the airport, checking in with the TSA officials who required special verification of their status to board the plane with firearms, and then the long, transcontinental flight. She probed him for more information about their unorthodox and somewhat unusual assignment. He admitted that he knew nothing beyond the dossier they had been given. Naturally he didn't mention Jackson's interest in their assignment.
By the time they arrived in Los Angeles, he found himself surprised that he no longer noticed how attractive she was. Rather, her physical beauty had been overshadowed by the keen, investigator's mind within. Apparently she had cued into his concerns about working with such a junior Agent and done her best to convince him of her competence.
He was convinced. She had a cynical and sarcastic sense of humor that meshed with his own, by the time they were in a taxi to check in with the local office she felt like his partner, as if they'd been working together for years.
Cathy's pleasure at Terrie's visit quickly faded when she realized her friend hadn't dropped by to see her. Sure, she greeted her warmly, followed her inside to the kitchen where she'd been making dinner, but her gaze kept darting towards the other wing of the house. Towards Alex's room.
Yes, Alex is here.
Terrie blushed as she realized Cathy had divined her interest.
Why, Terrie?
What?
Why? I assume you're here because you want to fuck Alex. Why?
Terrie blushed even deeper. It's complicated.
Is it? Really? What about Jack, Terrie?
Terrie was flustered. Jack's nice Cathy.
But?
But it felt so good. Alex felt so good. Jack… noone ever felt… sex like that…
How? Seriously Terrie, what's so special about Alex? Is it just that he has a ten-inch dick?
He… I don't know. It's long, yes, but it's also thick; big around. He felt big, yeah, but… I was just so aware of it, of him inside me. Cathy I've never had multiple orgasms before, but Alex… it just went on and on, feeling so good. I felt so full… he's so handsome, just feeling his chest on my breasts, his hands under my head, his cock…
Cathy found herself inadvertently turned on by her friend's rapturous attempt to describe sex with her cousin. Okay. I get the picture. Alex is a great lay. But come on Terrie! He's sleeping with how many different girls? Did I mention he's fucking Sasha now, too?
Terrie looked away from Cathy, at the floor. I just… I just need to feel it again. Feel him again. I need to know if it's like… if it's like that all the time, with him.
Right. Whatever. Go on, Alex is in his room.
Sheepishly, Terrie turned away, but couldn't hide the eagerness in her step as she went down the hallway to Alex's bedroom.
With just a moment's hesitation, Cathy made her way outside to the tree by Alex's room. Maybe she'd see him using the computer again, using it on her best friend.
When she stepped up into the tree, she saw them embracing at the foot of Alex's bed. She watched them kiss, sliding their hands over each other's bodies, until Alex began stripping Terrie's clothing. She helped him, and once she was naked lay flat on his bed. Alex quickly removed his own clothes. Cathy felt an undefinable pang when she saw his erection.
She studied it carefully in the few seconds it took him to lower his body atop Terrie. It wasn't as big as she'd remembered, but it was definitely unusually large. And it was fat. She had toys that were larger, sure, but the thought of a real, flesh-and-blood cock like that…
Terrie spread her legs, welcoming Alex into her, into her pussy. Soon he was humping away eagerly, while Terrie's head rolled with obvious pleasure. Cathy worked her hand into her own pants, began rubbing her clit in time with their movements. She idly wondered how such a large penis would feel in her own pussy.
Then she caught herself. It wasn't right. She shouldn't feel like this, not about her own cousin. He did something to me.
the chilling thought echoed in her mind. He's affected me, used his computer, on me like all the others.
She dropped from the tree and went to her room, locking the door after herself. At the first opportunity, she had to investigate Alex's computer.
All-in-all, Alex was quite happy with his life. After fixing Sasha, her overpowering obsession with sex with him had dulled, but was still sharp enough to be frequently enjoyable. He'd decided to keep the enhancement of his own sexual pleasure with her… she was so exquisitely, classically, beautiful that he found it natural that the pleasure of sex with her was proportionate to his culturally conditioned attraction to her physical body.
Allison, his long time friend and now official
girlfriend was deeply in love with him, yet willing to share him sexually with the other girls in his life. She'd even joined him in bed with Ophelia, the one-time lesbian, and he'd easily satisfied them both. She'd hinted that she might like to try the same with her long-time friend Terrie.
But he had to go slowly with Terrie; he'd long found her attractive, and lately he'd learned that she'd always thought he was good-looking. With the Master Control Program's help she felt sexual contact with him too good to resist. Since first seducing her, she'd come over once more on her own.
She admitted that she'd tried to have sex with Jack, her boyfriend and partner, but every time he'd touched her she couldn't help but remember how much better it had felt when Alex did it. He'd kissed her complaints silent, stripped off her clothes, and fucked her into a long, delirious, thought-stopping orgasm. For a short while, at least, she wasn't worried about torn affections.
Those were Alex's daydreaming recollections as he left his Philosophy class. He'd stopped paying close attention when he realized that most philosophy was predicated upon fundamental assumptions about the nature of reality. He was privileged to know which models just didn't apply to how the world really worked. He spent his time in class fantasizing about Sasha or Terrie or Ophelia, or how he could use the Control Program to achieve his fantasy lifestyle… in his other, more interesting classes, he was more able to pay attention and appreciate their content, but Philosophy had been trumped by the reality of the Master Control Program.
Thus, Alex was distracted, still dreaming, wondering how big a mansion he'd need to own for all of his current girlfriends to live with him, how much of a staff he'd need, how many other girls he might want… when he noticed a highly attractive woman walking straight towards him, looking him in the face.
She had long, brown hair, down to her generous breasts. She was tall, just a couple inches shorter than he, with a thin, tight waist. And her face, fine and cute and well-shaped, and with a businesslike expression as she approached, she called out his name, and held forth a wallet — no, a badge — and identified herself as Annabelle Toscanini, Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Uh, yes, that's me.
He answered, surprised and a bit fearful, and thinking hard about the iPod in his pocket, and the interface to the Master Control Program that could, if necessary, turn any potential enemy into an ally. He took a moment to assess Agent Toscanini's long, slender legs and the narrow waist visible through through her open suit-coat, the Program could make her into more than an ally, if he wished.
I'd like to ask you a few questions, about a case I've been investigating?
Um, what case?
It involves the potential compromise of some sensitive information — from a National Security perspective — that occurred this past August.
Uh, August?
In the city of Denver, Colorado. We have reason to believe that you were at the scene.
Uh…
Fear was now much stronger in Alex's mind. Countering the fear was the confidence that if need be he could repair the situation with his Control Program. Undermining that confidence was the knowledge that at least two other Control Program users had been in Denver shortly after he had appropriated Dan's disk. He panicked, caught his breath, and decided that the best course of action was to tell as much truth as possible, and hope that doing so would give him the opportunity fix any problems later with the Master Control Program. He glanced at Agent Toscanini's chest, noted her generous breasts in passing, and saw the telltale strap of a shoulder holster for a sidearm.
Sure… I was in Denver. I passed through there on my way to go backpacking, get away from the urban sprawl here in L.A.
She smiled politely. Perhaps we could sit down somewhere then, so I can ask you more specific questions?
Alex's looked around him for a private place to sit down, and finally gestured behind him, into the Philosophy building. There's a coffee shop inside, we could talk there?
Annabelle smiled more broadly this time. That will do nicely.
Special Agent York mentally cursed himself as Agent Toscanini followed their target back into the building. He hadn't dared tell Annabelle that he would be observing the interview; she was already suspicious about contacting the subject alone; it was against procedure.
He caught up with them as they took seats at an indoor coffee shop. He looked around and followed the stairs to a balcony overlooking the atrium below. Behind him, students filed into classrooms, leaving him space to rest his camera on the railing.
He focused on the two of them, and took the first picture as Agent Toscanini slid a photograph across the table.
Alex's computer was on, humming away to itself, but access had been locked. Cathy stared at the login screen for a few minutes, and wondered how likely it was that she'd be able to guess his password. Not very.
She wouldn't be able to find out what it was doing right now, but perhaps Alex didn't have a password on startup. She flipped the switch on the power strip, turning the system off, and then on again.
The computer whirred away to itself. All right!
she exulted aloud. Not only was there no password, but the computer had auto-started into a complicated interface she didn't recognize. Master Control Program.
It must be what Alex used to control the resonaters or mind-control beams or whatever it was he used to warp women into sex with him.
Except it wasn't that simple. As she paged through the menus and options the controls were fantastically non-sensical. Eye color? Height? Intelligence? Interests? Emotional makeup? It must be a game of some kind, though Alex hadn't been into any roll-playing games this year.
Finally she found a set of pre-programmed macros, and clicked on the one titled Super seduction
as it seemed most likely to have something to do with the behavior she'd observed.
The macro referred to a specific target, obviously a female target, and made a series of changes so that the target
That would account for why women were suddenly throwing themselves at her cousin, but how did it actually work? Cathy noticed there was a box to enter the target's name. Trembling slightly, she entered her own name and pressed Enter
Instantly a box in the upper-right corner of the screen filled with an image of her, sitting at the computer, from behind. She turned around, looking for the camera, but not finding it. She turned back to the screen and raised her right arm. The image did the same. There were controls to change the point of view, she rotated her image, zoomed in on her face, and stuck out her tongue. So did the image.
There was no miniature camera zooming around the room. It was impossible. It was magic. It was real.
With a thrill of shock and fear Cathy realized it was all real. All those controls and options, this program allowed bodies and minds to be altered at the users' whim. At Alex's whim. And now hers.
It was worse than Alex had feared. Agent Toscanini slid a photograph across the table to him. There was a park, and an apartment building in the background, and police cars, and an ambulance and a quartet of very attractive girls. And behind one of the parked police cars, from the waist up, Alex was highly identifiable, deep in conversation with one of the police officers.
Oh.
Alex tried to sound neutral as possible, then tried to think how much of the truth a non-Control Program interrogator would know about.
That is you, isn't it? At the scene where a certain Daniel Scrowcroft was found dead? Did you know Daniel Scrowcroft?
No. I never heard about him until that day.
So what were you doing there?
I was lost. I was trying to find a place to buy a tent and ended up on the edge of town there. Obviously something was going on. And…
the picture reminded him how Dan's harem had been gathered underneath a tree. There were four girls out front. Hot girls.
These?
Agent Toscanini pulled out two more photos, both of Dan's quartet of happily miserable sex-slaves. Obviously the photographer and taken many pictures of the scene.
What about this one?
she showed him another picture, of him talking with a uniformed officer in front of the apartment building. What are you discussing here?
Uh, they seemed to mistake me for someone else. They thought I was an investigator or forensics expert or something. So I played along. I know I shouldn't have, but I thought it was funny. So…
I see. Did you enter the apartment building?
They probably had already interviewed the officers and paramedics who'd been at the scene. He'd just never counted on being identified. Yes.
Did you notice any computer equipment in Mr. Scrowcroft's apartment?
Uh, yes. It was there. There'd been a spill of some kind, but the computer was on a table, so it stayed dry.
Did you touch the computer?
No.
His first outright lie. His heart started beating louder.
Did anyone else touch it while you were there?
Not that I saw.
Was the computer there when you left the scene?
As best as I can recall, yes, it was.
She began to gather her pictures back into their file. Thank you. There may be more questions as the investigation proceeds, and I should warn you that the Denver authorities might have an interest at your impersonation of a police official. We will let them know it was you.
Um, couldn't you keep that to yourself?
No.
she looked him in the eyes as she stood up. Alex stood with her. He was distracted by her deep, brown eyes, eyes that matched her hair, hair that framed her broad cheekbones and sensuous lips. Despite the stereotype in the media, the Bureau tries to maintain good relations with local authorities. If you do have any more information about Mr. Scrowcroft, or his computer, please call me.
She handed him a business card, stood, and walked away.
Again Alex was distracted, this time by her body, by the play and sway of her hips and legs. Then his hand went to his hip to draw his iPod. He wanted to target her before she left the local screen — of course, he had her card, so he could always use her name but still…
The screen was blank. The reduced interface to the Control Program was an artifact, a projection of the main Program, symbolized by the strange disk. Which meant there was a problem at home.
Alex made his way outside, quickly, then broke into a run. He sprinted all the way home, exerting himself to the limit of his Program-enhanced physiology. He threw open the gate and raced to his room. It was Cathy. She stood up from the computer as he entered.
Alex! How could you?
What?
Alex was breathing hard.
What you did to us, to those girls, to Ophelia! You made it so she orgasms every time you stick your dick in her!
Uh, she seems to like it.
Of course she likes it! But you changed her! You made her like it, you made her have fantasies about your… your penis. She can't have an orgasm unless it's about your cock. That's sick!
I…
You changed Allison Alex. Allison was your friend, you made her into another one of your fucktoys. Like Dorothy and Stephanie and… oh God! You did it to Jennifer too, while she was here! You did it to me, you made me attracted to you. I'm your cousin, Alex, that's wrong!
I never did anything to you!
Alex, having caught his breath, was indignant.
Liar!
she bent over to type her own name in the target box of the Master Control Program.
Alex acted. He'd given himself fast reflexes and unusual strength. He grabbed Cathy from behind, lifted her off the floor, and threw her onto the bed. Then he grabbed the mouse, clicked to the command entry tab, typed Go to sleep
and clicked the Send
button.
Cathy, just starting to rise from the bed, fell asleep.
With a sigh of relief, Alex sat down. He'd tried, all along, to avoid using the Control Program on his cousin, but obviously that hadn't worked. Now he needed to fix things, fast. Then he needed to do more stuff before Special Agent Toscanini was outside of his control radius.
But there had been changes made to Cathy. Changes to make her find him attractive, to have fantasies about sex with him yet keep them secret… he recognized the blanket macro he'd used on Sasha's sorority house after he'd first taken her. Obviously Cathy had been there at the time; he could ask why later. He used the program to restore all the people affected by that macro to their original, saved backup state. He'd hadn't even looked for one of those girls; he'd been busy with Sasha and Terrie and… He'd been greedy, and almost paid a price for it.
Switching back to Cathy, he deleted her memories since coming to his room to inspect his computer, replacing them with a memory of lying down for a nap. Next he relaxed her suspicions about him somehow controlling her friends into bed with him. Instead, she would feel it natural and understandable that beautiful women would want to have sex with her handsome cousin. She would feel happy for him in his sexual triumphs, and happy for his partners since they obviously enjoyed sex with him very much.
Deciding it would suffice for the moment, Alex picked up Cathy and carried her to her own room, placing her on the bed. Back at the computer, he set her to wake up, naturally, in an hour.
The he typed in Agent Annabelle Toscanini's name, checking the spelling on her business card, then sat back to admire the image of the beautiful woman. He clicked away her clothing, nude she was exquisite. Her full breasts, her flat belly… then he shook his head. She was a Federal agent, trying to find Dan's Master Control Program, the disk he'd taken from Dan's computer. It was unlikely she was the only one, she would be watched. For the same reason he couldn't seduce her, he also couldn't simply alter her memory to put her off the case. Then again she was so attractive… and she might be able to tell him just what the government knew about the MCP.
She was unlocked; Alex was free to make changes to her. It was therefore unlikely she was an agent for another Control Program user. He programmed her mind so that she would find him interesting and entertaining. She would trust him, and want to confide in him. He left it at that, resisting an urge to make her find him attractive as well. He needed to avoid suspicion here.
He gave her an hour to return to headquarters, or her office, or wherever she was staying in Los Angeles. In the meantime he reinforced commands for Cathy, so that she would be un-interested in anything he might do with his computer or iPod. Thinking about it, he put the same filters on Agent Toscanini's perceptions; it might be necessary to put her to sleep for a quick escape, or he could always engage the Super Seduction Macro. Then he dialed the number on the card she'd given him. Agent Toscanini? Yes. Look, I was wondering if I might talk to you again this evening…
Agent York was enjoying the warm, southern California climate as he walked back to his hotel. Tomorrow he and Agent Toscanini would return to D.C. and maybe he'd get an explanation for this bizarre adventure from Jackson. He'd eaten an early dinner, and stopped at a liquor store for a fifth of bourbon which was the sum of his plans for the rest of the evening. He was approaching the hotel when Agent Toscanini exited the main entrance, looked around, then proceeded down the street.
York followed her down the block, where she entered a restaurant. Oh well, going out for dinner. Nothing unusual about that. But then he started when he recognized the young man walking down the street, turning into the same restaurant. It was Alex, their target. Coincidence? Unlikely. Carefully Agent York made his own way into the restaurant, being careful not to let Annabelle see him.
They were sitting together at a small table. Annabelle smiled and laughed, the first time he'd heard her laugh. She leaned forward, talking eagerly, as if telling Alex a story.
Jackson had asked him to observe Agent Toscanini's behavior. He obtained a table for himself, where he could watch them surreptitiously. Perhaps the evening would be interesting after all.