Agent X Read Free

just “see where everything takes me.” A small smile creased her lips.
    “What is it, Kate?”
    “Oh, no, nothing. Did you need anything else?”
    “That’s enough for now.” Daniels stood up. “Take care.”
    He closed the door, and after a moment her smile disappeared.
    She was sure she was never going to see Vail again.

1
    Kate Bannon opened her door. “What are you doing here?”
    With mock surprise on his face, Steve Vail recoiled slightly at the level of protest in her voice. He stepped inside, setting down his suitcase and, for the briefest moment, allowed his eyes to trace the flawless symmetry of her face. “I’ve got the right day, don’t I? This is New Year’s Eve. Is it the wrong year?”
    “After that last time, when I told you this wasn’t going to work, I assumed you understood that included tonight.”
    He smiled crookedly. “Come on, Kate, it’s the twenty-first century. What woman wants to have to admit that she’s never been stalked? It’s become an accoutrement, like Italian shoes or one of those little purse-size dogs.”
    “We tried, Steve. Three times. And the last two, if you remember, were not pretty.”
    “That means statistically we’re due.”
    Kate shook her head slowly. She really couldn’t believe he was standing there. “You know as well as I do that we’re a disaster. We’re too different. Or too much alike. I don’t know. Every time we try to get close, we wind up driving each other crazy. You don’t know how much I wanted it to work, but it can’t.”
    Vail looked at her dress. “I guess you were planning to go to whatever this was tonight without me. Why don’t we go together and see what happens? What’s the worst that can happen? So I ruin your career. That would probably be the best thing that could happen to us.”
    “I have to go to this. It’s a command performance. And you know exactly what it is—an ambassador’s reception. Why else would you have a suit on? Even though the proper dress is a tuxedo. Which I’m going to guess was your way of letting all the phonies in the room know that you’re a lowly bricklayer.”
    “A man has to seek amusement wherever he can.”
    “I’ll never understand you. You could be whatever you want. You have advanced degrees. The director has offered you complete autonomy if you’ll come back to the Bureau, but instead you choose physical labor just so you won’t have to take orders. If that’s who you are, fine, but you don’t get to rub everyone else’s face in it simply because they’re not like you.” She looked at him sternly. “It’s called hypocrisy.” She could see that her words had stung him, but she couldn’t find anything inaccurate in what she’d said.
    He reached up and traced the small L-shaped scar high on her cheekbone and then smiled gently. “You don’t have to wonder anymore, Kate, whether we’re too much alike. There was a time, and not very long ago, that you would have thought they were phonies, too,” he said. “But you’re right, I’ve been a phony myself. The only defense I can offer is that you make my compass go haywire. The only reason I’m doing any of this is you.”
    He turned and opened the door. “Like you said, we gave it a shot,” he said. “When it was right, it was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. That’s why I had to try one last time.”
    “You can’t just walk out like that. Not after everything we’ve been through.”
    “This is the best way to leave it. Then we won’t have any lingering doubts.”
    “At least let me drive you to the airport. It’s freezing out.”
    “I live in Chicago, remember? This isn’t cold.”
    “I’ll feel better about this if I can take you. It’ll give us a chance to talk a little more. Right now I feel like we’re supposed to hate each other.”
    “It’ll be fine, Kate. I’ll get a taxi.”
    “It’s New Year’s Eve—you’ll never find one.”
    “You’re probably right.” He picked up his