Licensed to Kill

Chapter 12

Dallas sat beside me at the rickety old table in his German safe house, which was more like a tiny apartment than anything else. Everything was confined to three rooms. In the main living area were the sad excuse for a kitchen, a card table, a broken down loveseat, and a small bed in the corner. Like Alana's London safe house, there was a thick layer of dust on everything and cobwebs in the corners near the ceiling. I half expected to see a cockroach scurry by. The safe house was filthy, though it was ideal for an agent on the run needing a temporary home.

It was mid-morning. We'd been looking over the file that A.R.T. had provided me on Agent Lindsey's disappearance, as well as the notes I'd made to myself since my investigation began, while we tried to devise a plan of action.

"How long have you had this place?" I asked him when he took a quick break to make some more coffee and toast.

Still shirtless, Dallas was what every woman dreamt of waking up to in the morning. He stood at the counter in just his jeans, refilling my mug and stirring in granulated creamer. His tousled sex hair was sexy in all the best ways, and the sun shining through the window over the sink bathed his frame in a warm golden glow that practically made him look like a Greek god.

I realized I was zoned out, staring, admiring his features when he snapped his fingers at me, startling me out of my trance.

"You ever think of taking a picture?" Dallas teased, handing me my coffee and going back to fetch the toast that had just popped up.

His joke reminded me that we'd actually never taken a photo together, having been hell bent on keeping our relationship a secret. There'd been many occasions over the last four years that I'd wished so much for the ability to just look at a picture where we were together, me in his arms, and hold it close to my heart. I made a mental note to take a photo together before my time with him had a chance to be up again, though I fully intended to prevent that from happening.

"Back when I'd lived here, I had a friend who was a former intel agent for Germany. I partnered with him on a job in Hamburg once," Dallas explained, bringing a small plate of toast to the table. "He was a genius in terms of avoiding the enemy. We got along like brothers. Long story short, this was one of his safe houses. He said I could stay here whenever I needed."

"That's nice of him," I said, munching on a slice of toast.

"Yeah. If we go to Munich, there's another one there. So at least we've got that covered."

Dallas and I had been discussing my intended journey across Germany, following Agent Lindsey's cell tower pings. We were studying the notes I'd made the day before with regards to Lindsey's possible destinations near each ping.

There were several pings, which would make our job extremely frustrating if we were to investigate each one. Besides, with A.R.T. and my unknown enemies chasing me, and likely I.D.A. on the hunt for Dallas, too, we didn't have the time to devote to such a detailed endeavor; and we were sure that not every cell tower ping meant something. Just because her phone made contact with a cell tower didn't mean she was in that particular area to meet someone or conduct any suspicious activity. She may have simply been getting lunch or a latte. Not every ping equaled a stop to do something connected to her solo mission. Therefore, we'd decided to go ahead and rule out numerous locations in which the surroundings didn't fit what we assumed to be her agenda.

After another hour had passed and we'd checked off every location that we seriously doubted was pertinent, Dallas and I ended up with a map that had a trail leading from Berlin to the outskirts of Munich, a suburb called Dachau, where Agent Lindsey was thought to have been kidnapped. We'd marked red X's over each ping that we planned to investigate. There were five that stood out to us and we intended to get started before the day ended.