Page 62 of The Spy Ring

TWENTY-ONE

Jagger

“Tiffany was right,”I said as I tore apart a paper napkin. “Everyone was right.”

I slammed my fist on the round table causing it to wobble and my coffee to spill a few drops.

“Why am I here?” Edgar asked, sitting across the booth from me at Wake Up Joe’s with wide eyes.

Taking a deep breath, I chuckled in that way a person does when they know their life is shit.

“Who am I to think I know better than a mother that has spent almost her entire kid’s life working hard to keep him healthy. To keep him alive. I’ve witnessed some terrible stuff as an agent and in my family. Things that would make you give up on humanity. Some things that parents do to their children, I still have nightmares about, but Tiffany is the opposite of that.”

It had been two days since Tiffany kicked me out of her place after telling her that she needed to give her son more freedom. I’m such an ass. She’ll probably run back into the arms of that shirtless guy that she was in the picture with. He probably doesn’t judge her.

I still hadn’t heard back from Tenn about anything he might have found out about that guy. Tenn probably didn’t even look into it. I really am alone.

“Evaleen said you had something to tell me so I agreed to sit down to talk. Now if you don’t mind, I need to get back to my pregnant girlfriend who happens to be craving scones. Lots of scones.” Edgar got out of the booth, but I grabbed his arm and stared up into his gray eyes.

“But I need your help.”

Edgar’s eyes crinkled in satisfaction as he removed my hand from his arm like he was picking off a spider. He folded his arms and towered over me as I stayed seated. “Well, well, well, it seems the tables have turned. The big, thuggish agent now needs help from my tiny balls.”

He glanced around realizing that a few people heard him. Edgar slid back into the booth. “Don’t think I forgot what you did to me.”

“You mean when I saved you, your girlfriend, and her mom from impending death?” I sat back staring at him.

Edgar cleared his throat. “That was your job, which you don’t even have any more from what I hear.”

I held up my hands in surrender. “Look, I’m sorry I kneed you in your balls in the alleyway that one time. You were right, I didn’t have to do it.”

“Then, why did you?”

“You were there and you wouldn’t shut up. Asking all those questions about your supposed cousin, who wasn’t your cousin at all.” I tilted my head at him because he wasn’t as innocent in all this as he made himself out to be.

“I thought you would take sympathy on me if I said Ashton was my cousin . . . that you might tell me something.”

“I did take sympathy on you since I know what it was like to lose a cousin in a terrible way. You’re lucky I didn’t do more than knee you after I found out he wasn’t your cousin and who you really were.” I pointed at Edgar.

My shoulders fell as I leaned back in my seat. “I do a lot of things I wouldn’t or couldn’t normally do when I’m undercover. Some things I shouldn’t do, like kneeing you in your junk. Some things are fun little perks like staying in a big suite in Las Vegas a few months back because Emma Hawthorne rented out the floor of the hotel.”

“Fine. I guess we’re even. I lied to you to get information and you kneed me in the balls. What is the help you need from me? If it’s to lie to Tiffany, that’s not going to happen. She’s a sweet and a thoughtful woman, and I’m not about to deceive her.”

She’s not as sweet as you think. There’s a wicked side to her that’s just as addictive.

“I don’t want you to lie to her. I want you to give her this letter.” I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the slightly wrinkled envelope. “I get the feeling if I mailed it to her, she’d only throw it in the trash.”

He took the envelope from my hand. “Fine but I don’t think I’ll have a chance to see Tiffany until the rehearsal dinner next week. With work, getting everything ready for Henrik’s bachelor night, and dealing with Evaleen’s unique cravings, I got a lot on my plate.”

I nodded. “That’s fine. It was time for me to be honest with her. The good and the bad. If she hates me I wanted it to be for the truth and not because she thinks I believe she’s a bad mother. If anything, she’s better than most parents I have come in contact with.”

“Wow, she must hate you. Did you really tell her she was a bad mom?” Edgar leaned forward.

“No, I didn’t. I just agreed with her son when they were having a fight—”

“Oh no. You don’t ever do that. Look, I’m going to let you in on something. I may not be a parent or, obviously a woman,” he waved a hand across his chest, “but I do know how women think. No matter what the woman says, you agree with her. She is always right. As for David, he has friends that he can complain to about his mom. It’s what all kids do, but Tiffany, she needs her friends to back her up. You understand?”

“Not really. What happens when Tiffany is wrong about something. Say hypothetically, it’s life-threatening. That her wrong decision will cost the life of someone. Then I really shouldn’t agree with her.”

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