Page 9 of Enigma: The Complete Collection
I was barely swimming above water during my training at FBI Headquarters. Now, I have no doubt I’m in way over my head.
A rookie FBI agent versus the mob—I don’t see how this will end well.
CHAPTER5
“You do realize that during surveillance you’re supposed to be incognito with the rest of the population?”
When Regina cocks a brow, I glance down at my black linen pants, white short-sleeve shirt, and black cropped boots. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
Regina’s eyes dart to the top of my head. Shooting my hand up, a smile forms on my face when I discover I’ve instinctively put on my black FBI cap. It’s become a habit the past two years to brush my thick brown hair into a low ponytail and place my FBI cap over the top. The pants are the standard government-issue black trousers, and my shirt is now plain instead of having ‘Trainee’ emblazoned on the front in thick black ink.
“Much better.” She nods when I remove the cap and put it on the mantelpiece. “Your Uncle Tobias would’ve been very proud of you, Isabelle.”
Her words compel tears to well in my eyes. My Uncle Tobias raised me from a small child. He passed away six months before I sent in my application to join the FBI. He had initially been a police officer, and that was how he met Regina. He took her under his wing and taught her everything he knew about the local beat, even though he was ten years her senior. A few years later, he became a detective, and then he was recruited by the FBI.
My Uncle Tobias is the sole reason I decided to join the Bureau. I want to make him proud, and I want to help people the way he helped me. I can still accomplish that, even if I have to go against a man who can make my heart beat faster with only a sideways glance.
I aim to keep my focus on the task at hand and not on the man who has invaded my dreams every night this week. “Have you ever worked with Alex Rogers before?”
Alex is my superior officer. He’s four years older than me and was the talk of the town at FBI Academy. He was the golden boy, the beloved son of the trainers. He started his illustrious career like the rest of us rookies do—at the bottom of the rankings—but he soon climbed his way to a very lucrative position. He’s now the head of his department and has a handful of staff underneath him. It’s inspiring considering he’s only twenty-eight years old.
“No, but he’s a pretty little thing.”
My lips tug higher on my face. I saw a photo of Alex on the wall at FBI Headquarters in San Francisco. My first thought was also that he is a pretty boy. He looks like he would spend more time in front of the mirror than I do each morning. I’m not saying he isn’t good looking—he most certainly is—but he has that plastic Ken-doll type of look.
The flash of a camera blinds me. “Smile.”
Once the bright light clears from my vision, I spot the source of my sudden blindness. Regina is holding an ancient-looking Polaroid camera. She smiles a full-tooth grin while placing my half-exposed picture alongside two similar-looking photos on her refrigerator. The only difference between the images is that I’m in plain clothes, and she and Uncle Tobias are wearing police officer uniforms.
“It’s tradition.”
After wiping under her eyes to ensure her tears haven’t fallen, Regina flurries around her eat-in kitchen, gathering her purse and keys. The year before my Uncle Tobias died, he shared many stories about Regina and him. He loved Regina, but their work kept them apart. Their interracial relationship already raised eyebrows, but a rookie officer dating her superior was also frowned upon.
He thought once he became a detective, he’d no longer have to hide his relationship with Regina, but he did. Not because it was frowned upon anymore, but because he had gone undercover. He had to keep his whole life a secret, not just his relationship status.
“How come you never married and had your own family?”
Regina freezes with her coffee mug halfway to her mouth. Her dark eyes shift to the Polaroid picture of Tobias on her refrigerator before they stray to face me. She doesn’t need to say anything. Everything is relayed in her pained eyes. They reflect not only pain but love as well. Just like Tobias, there was nobody else for her, either. I often asked Tobias the same question, and he merely replied, “Why do I need anyone else but you, kiddo?” But I could see his heartache in his blue eyes. He was a good man who sacrificed his own happiness for the sake of others. He passed that trait on to both Regina and me.
“Are you ready?”
After exhaling my nerves with a big breath, I nod.
“Excuse me,” I interrupt.
I’ve just walked into an office on the third floor of a brick and mortar building located across the street from Isaac’s eighteen-plus dance club, The Dungeon. Considering there’s only a handful of people, the atmosphere is surprisingly bustling.
The middle-aged lady I addressed walks right by me, rudely ignoring my introduction. “Hello,” I greet again, this time to a young blond gentleman sitting at a desk urgently ruffling through a stack of papers.
His eyes leisurely glide over my body before they settle on my face. Just as he’s about to speak, we’re interrupted by a profound voice across the room. “I need that document now, Brandon.”
Brandon smiles a lopsided grin before his eyes shoot down to the documents he was tousling through before I disturbed him. Enthusiasm beams out of him when he locates the item he’s searching for. My eyes track him as he bolts to the other side of the room where I spot a face I recognize. It’s Ken from the Bureau wall.Oh, shit, I meant to say Alex.At least I didn’t call him Ken to his face. Imagine how embarrassing that would’ve been?
The room plunges into silence, amplifying my quiet giggles. I mask my laughter with an impromptu cough. My gesture doesn’t fool Alex. His eyes narrow, and his lips set in a hard line.
Great first impression, Isabelle, I chastise myself while making my way to the man glaring at me in disdain.
Alex studies my body just like Brandon did, except when his eyes return to my face, he fails to smile, making me falter in my step. He’s just as pretty in person as his photo shows. His blond hair has every strand faultlessly placed, though it does look like he drags his fingers through it several times a day, giving it that sexed-up look. His eyes are light blue, his nose flawlessly straight. His cheeks are well-defined, and his jawline is razor-sharp. He’s preppy and pretty at the same time. I might have even said he was deliriously handsome if his eyes weren’t narrowed into thin slits and planted on me. An angry scowl never looks good, no matter how gorgeous your face might be.
