The Abandoned Spy

Chapter 8

Jonathan stood up, pulling himself to his full height, he looked down at Alec from the loft. "Alec lets talk this through," Jonathan said holding his hands in the air.

"I don't want to talk to you Pine, send down my daughter." Alec cocked the gun aiming it at Jonathan. "Laura, come down now," he said in a low growl. Jonathan looked at Laura over his shoulder. "Go on sweetheart."

Alec growled again, "Don't you dare talk to my daughter like that."

Laura, walked past Jonathan, blocking him from her father's view. "Daddy put the gun away." she crossed her arms, looking down at her father. Alec shook his head, stepping forward, "get down here now."

Jonathan placed his hand on Laura's lower back, "Go on, don't cause any problems." Laura wanted to protest, but the look in Jonathan's eyes told her to stop. Looking down at her father, she turned her back towards her father, reaching on her tiptoes she placed her lips against Jonathan's lips.

He couldn't help but respond to her, pulling her towards him.

The second shot rang through the air, making the two jump. "The next shot has your name on it, Pine," Alec shouted.

Laura looked at Jonathan, before making her way down the ladder, keeping her eyes locked with his. "Don't worry about this," he whispered as he didn't break eye contact.

Laura reached the final step before Alec reached forward pulling her towards him. The way he rough handled her made Jonathan's blood boil. But he knew the slightest movement would set Alec off.

"Alec, can we talk about what brought this about?" Jonathan tried once again looking down at Alec.

Alec pointed the gun at Jonathan, "I read a very interesting piece in the paper today." Jonathan couldn't help but freeze when he heard what Alec said. "Yes I thought that might interest you." Alec couldn't keep his voice malice free.

Jonathan stepped forward but Alec pointed his gun, "Why did you leave your wife?" Alec asked.

Laura gasped, "Is this true?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from breaking, the lump that was slowly growing in her throat, making it impossible to speak. She quickly swiped at a couple of tears that made their way down her cheeks.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Jonathan said, stepping forward, He grabbed the first rungs, making his way down the ladder as fast as he could. Not taking his eyes of Laura. "Please Laura, I don't know what your father is talking about. I am not married, never have been."

He stopped at the bottom of the ladder, turning to face Laura and Alec, he held his hands up again. "Alec please tell me you didn't contact those people." Alec lowered the gun, looking at the ground before holding it up again. "What does it matter. Your wife is frantic."

Jonathan shook his head, "You don't understand, I am a wanted man, if you told anyone where I am, you both could be in trouble. They won't just leave it." He stepped forward, "Alec I need to know you didn't contact anyone, if you did, you should get away from here as soon as possible."

Alec looked at Laura, he could see the pain in her eyes, but the look of determination on her face broke his heart. "Jonathan, please tell me what is going on?" she asked in a voice that came out so soft that he could barely hear her.

"I swear I am not married, sure I've had some flings, but nothing serious." He looked at the floor in front of him. "I work for an agency, I was undercover, but I got cocky, and it cost me dearly." Laura shook her head, "Are you a spy?" she asked incredulously.

Jonathan looked up at her, nodding only once. "But why isn't your agency looking for you?" she looked at her father. "Do you believe this?" she asked Alec.

Alec looked at Jonathan again, he could tell that this time, the young man was telling them the truth, but the question that Laura asked kept repeating in his head. "Why aren't they looking for you? And who are the people that are actually looking for you?" he said, lowering his gun completely.

Jonathan walked forward, his eyes locked on Laura, "We have rules at our agency, if you suspect that you have been compromised, you should lay low." His eyes quickly flickered towards Alec, before focusing once again on Laura. "Once you suspect that you are safe, I have a contact person. They will arrange for a pick-up and debriefing."

Laura finally looked up at Jonathan, a frown edged onto her forehead, "And the people who are looking for you, your supposed wife?" she couldn't keep the hurt tone from her voice, but she was silently hoping that what Jonathan was telling her, was actually true.

"They were my last mission, a drug lord, I was about to uncover their operation, but" Jonathan trailed off looking at the floor. Laura walked towards him, she gently rested her hand against his cheek, forcing him to look up at her.

"Before what Jonathan?" Taking a deep breath he continued. "I was snooping through his office, but before I could truly uncover anything, the man walked in on me, there was no way I could make it look innocent." Jonathan shrugged his shoulders, "The rest is history, I somehow escaped and stole a bike, I took the one route out of town that I thought wouldn't be as obvious."

Laura closed the gap between herself and Jonathan, throwing her arms around him, she couldn't prevent the tears that started to flow.

Jonathan held her tightly in his arms, kissing her neck softly.

"I still don't understand." Alec interrupted. "Why would they come looking for you?" Jonathan looked at Alec over Laura's shoulder. "These are bad people Alec, you couldn't even begin to imagine what they are capable of. All I need to know for now is if you spoke to them and told them where I was."

Alec shook his head, "I didn't, there was just something about the article that made me think twice." Alec unloaded the gun. "There was no name in the article and of course there is only a mobile number."

Jonathan nodded, "Can I please see that article?" he hugged Laura before following Alec out of the barn. Laura watched as he disappeared through the door, the sense of relief that washed over her made her knees weak, and before she knew it, she was kneeling on the floor of the barn. She held her face in her hands as the tears started flowing.

***

Jonathan followed Alec to the truck, "Alec did you tell anyone else about me?" Alec stopped in his tracks, he quickly tried to think before he shook his head, "I don't think so." At the doubt, that crossed his face, Jonathan ran to catch up with Alec.

"Alec I'm serious, if you told anyone, anyone at all we have to get out of here." Alec shook his head at Jonathan's persistence. "Don't worry lad, no one will know where you are." He reached into the cab of the truck, removing the newspaper, he handed it to Jonathan.

"Page 4." Alec walked past Jonathan heading towards the house. 

Jonathan grabbed the paper, flipping through the pages, he found the article. At first glance it looked perfectly normal, a worried family looking for their lost son. But reading between the lines he could tell there was something else.

He was almost certain that he could make out that there was a reward if they could return him, alive or dead. He couldn't help but wonder why Alec had acted so strangely, was there a chance that he had told someone about him. If so he would have to leave them, he couldn't put them into any danger.