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“I know. In the end, it seemed like the right choice for me. I’ve always looked up to her and the people she was able to help.”
At least that part isn’t a lie.
I don’t know if Anna would forgive me for keeping my true job from her. Hell, I don’t know if she would even believe that I work as an undercover agent. She’s more likely to believe that I ran away to join the circus and didn’t tell her.
From the time we met until our senior year of college, Anna was one of the few people I told everything to. I trusted her and she trusted me. It was easy to talk to her about anything and everything. She didn’t judge.
But my job is dangerous now. Keeping her safe means keeping it a secret.
“Anything interesting going on at work?” Anna reaches for her beverage. “After the way you took off the last time we were out together, I figure you’ve been working on a big case.”
Fuck.
“Nothing too interesting. Just arresting criminals and going to trials. That sort of thing. It’s not that exciting.”
The look she gives me cuts right through me, trying to tear down the walls I’ve built around myself in the last several years.
Only those with the proper clearance levels are permitted to know what I’m working on.
Some days, I wish I could call Anna after a long day at work and tell her what some idiot said to me while undercover. Anna would laugh with me or drown the sorrows with a glass of wine. She’s always known what to say when life feels too hard to handle.
“You know that you can talk to me about your work.” Anna grips her cup so tight I’m sure the lid is going to pop off. “It feels like you keep hiding things from me these days.”
Because I am. Because nobody can know what I really do.
“I know. There’s just nothing to talk about. I do a lot of paperwork and drive around in a car most of the day. It’s pretty boring.”
Her lips purse and she sips her coffee. Anna doesn’t meet my gaze as she flips through her book, trying to fill the awkward silence that stretches between us.
The bell chimes above the door and a couple of officers walk in, their dark blue uniforms standing out in a crowd of people in casual clothing. Anna glances between them and me.
“Don’t you work with them?” She smiles at the officers as they pass our table without so much as a peek in my direction.
“Yeah. Different departments though. They do a lot more patrol than I do. It’s a big department.”
Anna sighs and pulls off the top of her cup to lick the whipped cream.
“Look, I’m not hiding anything from you. My job is simply the hardest part of my life, and I don’t like talking about it.”
The shrill ring of my phone cuts through the soft music and the dull whispers. I pull out the phone and get up, the legs of my chair screeching against the tile floor.
Unknown flashes across the screen as the ringing continues.
“Sorry.” I give Anna an apologetic smile as I move away from the table. “It’s work. I must take this.”
I slide my thumb over the screen while I head for the door. The person on the other end of the call is silent as the bell chimes overhead.
The call ends immediately, and a text message comes through. I roll my eyes to the sky, examining the drifting clouds for a moment.
The theatrics never get old.
UNKNOWN: Team meeting, forthwith. You’re needed for an op. Meet at 128 Logine Avenue in twenty minutes.
Forthwith. Our team’s codeword.
Who is calling a meeting?
I read the message over again until I had the address memorized and then deleted it from my phone. Logine Avenue is on the other side of town. If I want to make it there in the next twenty minutes, then I need to leave now.
