Page 35 of The Spy Ring

TWELVE

Jagger

“You’ve been spyingon her?” Tenn said.

I thought he would laugh. That was the sort of thing my partner got a kick out of—as awful as it was—since he had a childish sense of humor.

“I had to make sure she was safe. Being with her, in her life, was putting her at risk,” I said accentuating my point by sawing my hands in the air.

It made sense. I didn’t want anything to happen to Tiffany or her son. What better person to make sure no one hurt them than me, a government agent.

“Then stop having her in your life! Like I talked to you about last week when you swore you were going to end things.”

“I was. I meant to but . . .” I drifted off not wanting to finish. Luckily, I had a cup of coffee in front of me to bring to my lips.

We were back at Wake Up Joe’s taking a break from work. I was trying to get him on my side, make him understand why I still needed to see Tiffany and David.

“But what?”

“Tiffany grabbed my ass. And I sniffed her hair.” With each explanation, Tenn’s eyes grew wider. “Then after spying on her date three days ago, I almost kissed her.”

Tenn sat back in the booth with a curious look on his face.

“But that’s all that happened. I swear.” I held my hands up.

“Does she know?”

“No. She started to figure something out when I mentioned her date’s name, and she had never told it to me. But I quickly recovered by telling her I heard his mom yell out his name before they left the restaurant. That was close.” I scratched the back of my neck as it was really itchy since we got here.

Tenn’s eyes widened before shaking his head. “And how were you spying on her?”

“Hmm.” I brought the cup to my lips again turning my gaze to the other people in the café.

“I know you heard me, Jagger.”

“Oh, you know.” I shrugged and blew air past my lips which made a ridiculous farting sound.

I was hoping if I dodged Tenn’s question enough then he would drop it.

“No, I don’t, Jagger. I’m your partner. What you are doing doesn’t just affect Tiffany . . . it affects me, the agency, and even the government. This is the shit that gets agents thrown in jail. The best-case scenario in all this would be losing your job.”

I guess he’s not going to drop it.

“This time I’m going to end things. I swear!” I held up my hand as if I had the other on a bible in a courtroom.

He shook his head and wouldn’t look at me.

I scratched at my neck again. “What? I am. Besides I got rid of the listening devices after her date. It felt weird doing that. It’s just going—”

“It’s not that, Jagger. It’s the Jewel, Emma Hawthorne. She’s saying that you framed her. That everything you did this past year, was a setup. She says she isn’t the one who planned this out. It was someone else, and you’re helping to protect that person,” Tenn said as he finally turned to me, his eyes burrowing into mine.

I sat up straighter.

“What the fuck? Who does she think I’m protecting?”

That woman was a piece of work. She had all the money in the world and a good son. Instead of being a doting mother, she manipulated her son since he was a little boy so she could get back at the men who had hurt her.

To do that, she tried to force her loving son to marry into a political dynasty. Emma wanted her son to run for public office and one day become President of the United States. All so she could use his status and his name to take revenge on the men she despised.

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