Meliza gazed at the asphalt strip from her seat on the airplane. Two days since that dull confrontation with Andrew and the pain was still there, like a knife constantly jabbing into her side…a reminder of her stupidity of letting her guard down. She sighed. It wasn’t him stealing that made her angry the most. It was the fact that he had deliberately lied to her by playing with her emotions.

Why couldn’t he have said something else? Like he had a sick nephew and he needed money fast? A lot of money? She didn’t doubt his skills as a gambler. Heck, even if he lied about why he wanted a lot of money, that would have been better than pursuing her then tossing her back into the ocean with sharks.

Maybe this next time she’d learn.

She had bid the general manager of the hotel where she had been staying at a warm farewell with a promise to visit often. She had also called her relatives to inform them that she was leaving. And at the encouragement of her aunt, she had called her parents to inform them that she was going to Spain for as long as she wanted to stay. After that, who knows? They wondered when she would be visiting, and she provided a vague answer, but promised to call a lot more often. In times like these, she realized how important family was…

“You look like someone threw you into a meat grinder then stomped on you afterwards,” Cynthia Rogers spoke up as Andrew filed through a stack of papers.

Andrew shot her a look. “Hell…I’m here barely two minutes and already you’re harassing me?”

Cynthia’s eyes widened. “Bad day?”

“Bad days,” Andrew corrected softly.

“I see. Saunders wants you in his office,” Cynthia informed.

With a weary sigh, Andrew set down the stack on her desk. “You mean I don’t get to read all the information you’ve been collecting since I’ve been out?”

“Nope,” Cynthia said, an apologetic smile on her face.

Great, he thought. “All right. I’ll be back…” he turned, heading towards his employer’s office.

Cynthia couldn’t help but admire his form. He had arrived dressed in a crisp white shirt and navy tie, with a gray blazer and matching trousers. With a wistful sigh, she sat back down.

Andrew closed the door behind his back as he faced his employer.

Saunders, a man in his early thirties with blond hair and blue eyes, gestured to the seat in front of him. “Sit.”

“No thanks, I’ll stand,” Andrew said stiffly, shoving his hands in his pockets once he came to a stop in front of Saunders desk.

His employer studied him carefully. “I trust that everything went well in Atlantic City.”

Andrew nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“You’re absolutely sure that Miss Rinaldo has no idea of what she was holding?”

“Yes, sir,” he echoed.

“May I see it?”

Andrew reached into his inner jacket pocket, pulling out a small padded manila envelope. As his employer rose in his chair to reach for it, he abruptly tossed it onto the desk. Saunders regarded him steadily, a slight edge of irritation in his gaze. Andrew met that head on with his own stare.

Saunders sighed and opened the envelope, peering inside. “This is it?”

“I didn’t see anything else in her room,” Andrew responded.

“Where was it?”

“In a bracelet that was made in Malaysia. Apparently, Thao had given it to her. He knew we’d find him sooner or later,” Andrew responded.

“Was she wearing it?”

“No.”

“Then how did you take it without her noticing?” Saunders asked.

Andrew’s eyes didn’t waver. “I drugged her, took the bracelet from her jewelry box, had it duplicated, put the copy back in the box and took the original with me.”

“You obviously got very close to her if you were able to get into her room,” Saunders mused.

“Something like that,” Andrew barely said through clenched teeth.

His employer studied the item some more before setting it down.

“You’ve done everyone a great service. Good job. The FEDs nearly had a field day about this one when they heard about it,” Saunders chuckled.

“Right now, I just want to go home and sleep,” Andrew ignored his comment. “I filed for vacation a while back, saying that once I came back from this mission, I can go.”

Saunders nodded. “I know. I thought you’d reconsider, but...” Then he continued, “Rivera…Delaney,” he corrected himself, addressing his employee by his true last name, “…Men like us in this business…we don’t enjoy vacations. Every moment of our lives, we’re doing our job.”

“With all due respect sir,” Andrew said quietly, “I’m beginning to wonder if this is really what I want to do. A vacation will definitely give me time to think.”

“I see. I was planning on sending you to Iran, but if you want that vacation, then I’ll approve it.”

“Thank you, sir,” Andrew said, turning away. “If that’s all…”

“You can go,” Saunders responded, watching him head to the door.

As Andrew’s hand covered the doorknob to turn it, his employer spoke up again.

“Delaney…”

Andrew glanced over his shoulder.

“I saw the file on Miss Rinaldo. Very exquisite looking woman. I can only imagine that she must have been quite impressive in person to have affected you this much.”

Andrew looked away. “She was something, all right…”

“I’ll see you in two weeks,” Saunders said.

With that, Andrew left his office.

Cynthia looked up as Andrew headed to the exit. “You’re leaving already?”

“Going on vacation,” Andrew responded.

She nodded. “Oh…okay…”

Andrew sat on the hood of his car, the soles of his black shoes resting on the front bumper as he viewed Washington DC. Not too far away, the Washington Monument shot to the sky.

He blew out a breath, resting his elbows on his knees, leaning forward. Andrew loved his job. He really did. But it was the first time he ever wondered if it was really worth it.

A distinct ringing filled the air. Andrew reached into his pocket, pulling out his personal cell phone. The caller ID displayed his grandfather’s number.

“Hello?”

“How you doing, boy? Since I don’t need permission to call my grandson, I just picked up the phone and did so,” a voice boomed over the phone line.

Andrew smiled slightly. “Good timing, Grandpa,” he said. “I was just going to call you and tell you that I have a two-week vacation. Thought I’d come by and see if I remember anything about wine…”

“Well, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Edward Delaney noted.

“Listen, Grandpa…” Andrew hesitated. “I know I haven’t been visiting lately…especially since I’ve been in New Jersey…meeting with some contractors and…”

“Drew, you don’t have to lie to me,” Edward cut in. “I’ve known for a long time what it is that you do…and if telling me that your business job requires you to travel all the time, and that’s the story I’m supposed to hear, that’s fine.”

Andrew sighed. He hated keeping secrets from his grandfather.

“Okay.”

“And you’re always welcome here.”

“Thanks, Grandpa.”

It was nice to go to a place where he didn’t have to pretend to be someone he wasn’t. But on the other hand, everything he had felt for Meliza was real. The only problem with that…was that in his line of work…Real emotions could be difficult. He had spent the last five years at his job, and not once did he ever think about throwing it away and looking out for his own interest…