Taking Hold {ON HOLD}

Chapter Three

"You've read the briefing?" Adam asked, as he led her through the open door at the foot of the stairs and towards the awaiting car, only dropping her arm to open the slick, black passenger door for her.

"Of course." She hadn't. She hadn't even turned over the 'confidential' page but Adam knew that. He would have noticed the pristine file on her desk, a bright pink post-it with a helpful reminder still pinned to its front. Unfortunately he rarely missed her faults.

"Harold Chapman is our target. He has information that the ARC would like regarding a certain fiancé of yours."

"Ex-fiancé." Ana bit but Adam ignored her as he would continue to do for as long as Ana's cheeks sparked red every time that he said it. Even in her subdued state they still flared fuchsia.

"Since you gave him the slip the agency have managed to build a case against our lovely Mario but there are some holes that need plugging before we can take him down."

"That's presumably where we come in."

"It does indeed. Tonight is Mr Chapman's wedding anniversary, we are crashing the party." Adam shifted the gears of the expensive sports car, shooting down the road at a speed that didn't agree with Ana's stomach but she refused to tell him to slow down. That would just give him more ammunition.

"And when they recognise me?" She asked, attempting to distract herself and therefore quench the queasy feeling lining her throat.

"I doubt that anyone will. Mr Chapman likes to keep his dealings with the Mafia on the quiet side. Apparently it isn't good for business if you are seen in the wrong company. If there is anyone there who does recognise you then we will play it by ear." There was a causal shrug and an easy smile in Ana's direction as Adam pulled off of the motor way and started to wind the car through the quiet countryside towards Mr Chapman's home.

"That is your brilliant plan? 'We'll play it by ear'?!" Ana was very aware of the slightly hysterical note in her tone and yet Adam didn't tease her about it this time. He seemed to realise that there may be something more than he was anticipating going on. It was one of his very few good qualities.

"I shoot them. We leave. How about that? Better?"

She huffed, glaring out at the fields of crops as they glided towards the mansion just creeping into sight.

"What's wrong Sparky?" It was the name she hated and yet Adam's tone wasn't one that aimed to provoke a reaction. He sounded concerned, as if he really did care about her.

"Nothing."

"I've disabled the bug in the car. It's just us two."

She hesitated, as if considering whether that should make a difference to what she said. "I don't want to go back into this life."

"The life of a spy?"

"No, I can control that. That's fine, I mean my life with Mario." It was barely a whisper, almost inaudible but the quiet purr of the expensive engine allowed Adam to follow.

"Why did you leave him?" He tried, unsuccessfully, to hide his curiosity.

"It's complicated."

"Did something happen?" The wheels pattered against the pebbled driveway approaching the mansion. The car instantly thrown back into the world as the silence of the countryside fell away to dozens of cars depositing their passengers at the foot of grand staircase.

"You could say that." Ana murmured causing Adam to glance over at her. His eyes were searching, hopeful to find an answer to the question that irked him the most but Ana had been playing the game for long enough. She knew how to perform the masquerade.