Page 82 of Between Love and Honor

There wasn’t always room for curious little girl in their orbit.

Secretary Lyle’s expression grew melancholy. “That’s because she almost lost him.”

“What?” Quinn turned toward the other woman.

“It was around the same time I was there. You were too young to remember.” The secretary turned to look out the window. “We all run the risk of taking our work home with us. In this case, an agent from the other side was able to track your mother down. Only it was your father who was caught in the cross fire.”

Quinn felt light-headed. She couldn’t imagine life without her sweet, jovial father. Or how her mum would have suffered losing her best friend and soul mate.

“As you well know, this life isn’t conducive to long-term relationships.”

She looked up from her trembling hands to see the other woman studying her.

“Sacrifices are made for the good of our career. Of our country. After the incident, your mother didn’t want to make that sacrifice any longer. She wanted to give it all up. For your father. And for you.”

“That doesn’t make sense. She didn’t give it up.”

“No. Because your father loved her enough to know what clipping her wings would do to her. She needed the game as much as it needed her. She was brilliant at it.

Everyone knew that. Even your father. So they made it work.”

The secretary’s revelations stunned her.

“I get the sense you are a lot like her.”

Quinn snorted. “Hardly. Mum and Dad wanted to leave me with an aunt when they were out in the field. But I would always pitch a horrid fit until they took me. She could barely relate to me until I joined the game.”

“My guess is she was afraid to get too close to you. That way if something did happen it wouldn’t hurt too much.”

She locked eyes with Quinn. “Sound familiar? I’m sure we are all guilty of that MO in this profession.”

Unable to stand the other woman’s scrutiny any longer, Quinn turned her face toward the window. They were crossing the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. She stared off into the water, wondering if she really knew anything about anything. There had never been any doubt her parents loved her. They just didn’t do it in the all-consuming way parents did these days. She’d been given little guidance on how to navigate life. Most of it she figured out on her own.

No doubt, that was what made her a successful spy. But it also made her a serial loner. A trait she desperately wanted to change.

Her attention was suddenly refocused when a large boat in the water caught her eye.

“There it is. Alexi’s yacht,” she said.

The secretary already had her phone to ear. The yacht slowly crawled toward the shore where hotels, glass sculptures, and the Capitol Ferris wheel decorated the landscape.

Crowded among the landmarks were hundreds of people al enjoying a summer Sunday evening. She sucked in a breath when a surge of uneasiness coursed through her body.

“I know,” the secretary said, seeming to sense Quinn’s thoughts. “We’ll need to be extra cautious. But whatever happens, the traitor must be apprehended tonight.”

Quinn turned to meet her fierce gaze. “Agreed.”

A few minutes later, Agent Caracas left the car with the valet at the Gaylord Hotel. The four of them wandered through the hotel’s expansive atrium featuring a silent disco, a decorative fountain, and a miniature colonial village, all of it overshadowed by a stunning nineteen-story wall of metal and glass overlooking the Potomac River.

With so much going on, it was difficult to focus on the faces in the crowd. Quinn kept her eyes peeled for anyone looking familiar, but her pulse raced at the feeling of being trapped despite the enormous picture window in front of them.

She felt better once they emerged onto Water Street and made their way toward the river. All around them, families were battling dripping ices, while couples strolled hand-in-hand window shopping. She was glad the secretary issued her warning to her detail because Agent Caracas hovered beside Quinn, seeming to pay more attention to her than the woman he was charged to protect.

“What are we looking for?” he asked.

Quinn didn’t take her eyes off the crowd. “I’ll let you know when I see it.”

“So what gives between you and Inspector Gadget?”

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