Actual Stop (Agent O’Connor #1)(77)

Anna’s expression turned thoughtful. “Good question. Kyle didn’t say. Do you want me to ask him?”

“Nah. That’s okay. I’ll do it. Thanks, Anna.”

“No problem. Have fun. I have to get back up to the security room.”

“Okay. Let me know if you need me to bring you anything.”

Anna held up a white plastic bag. “I just grabbed some food. I’m all set, thanks.”

She turned to go and almost ran into a middle-aged gentleman approaching my car with some sort of purpose. He seemed determined, and his posture radiated focused intent.

Anna stiffened and took a step back, creating distance between her and the man. She shifted her right arm so her forearm brushed the butt of her weapon and put her little bag on the ground, which freed her hands. I presumed this was in case he broke bad on us and started a brawl right here on the street. I’d always found her to be serious and intense, but this was taking it to a whole new level.

“Can I help you?” I asked the man, flashing him a smile.

His gray eyes flicked from Anna to me, and he appeared angry, though I couldn’t imagine what could’ve set him off.

“Who’s here?” he demanded, his voice gruff, his words clipped.

Ah. Now I understood the problem. But I played dumb. “I’m sorry?”

I could see the man’s demeanor made Anna bristle, but I kept my tone pleasant and light. We were trained to establish rapport with the public, and I took that training to heart. It was an especially good idea when you considered how readily people called the office to tattle on us if they thought we’d treated them with anything less than total professionalism and respect.

He gestured to the police checkpoints and officers scattered all over the nearby corner, as if to emphasize his point. “I want to know who’s here.”

“You mean besides us?” I asked. I didn’t often play the bimbo, but occasionally I found it necessary. It tended to put guys like this off guard.

The man rolled his eyes, clearly exasperated, but his apparent anger seemed to have ebbed. Chalking up his small change to my acting skills, I turned up the wattage on my smile and ran my hands through my hair, brushing it back off my shoulders.

“Yeah, besides us. This whole mess is seriously screwing with my commute. You and your checkpoints and road closures. I work my ass off. My taxes pay your salary! I have a right to know what you’re doing here.”

I wanted to laugh aloud but was careful not to. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard that take on my chosen career. The notion never failed to amuse me. “Well, I pay taxes, too, so does that make me self-employed?”

The man frowned, but before the discussion could go even further south, I made a show of looking around and motioned him closer. He leaned in toward my window, forcing Anna to take another step back in order to maintain a safe distance between them.

“Have you ever heard of the Marshall Islands?” I asked him.

He blinked and eyed me almost suspiciously. I merely continued to smile up at him. Finally, he shook his head. “No, I haven’t.”

I spread my hands out in front of me and shrugged, allowing my smile to grow.

“Lot of pomp and circumstance for nothing,” the man muttered to himself as he abruptly turned his back on me and stalked away.

“Why did you tell him that?” Anna wanted to know.

“Tell him what?”

“That we were working the Marshall Islands.”

“I didn’t actually tell him anything. I asked him a question. It’s not my fault he assumed it was the answer he was looking for.”

“Okay, so why’d you ask him that?”

“Why not?”

“It’s none of his business who we’re protecting. You shouldn’t have to answer him at all.”

“No, of course it isn’t his business. But he was looking for some sort of answer, and I didn’t think he’d go away until he got one. I merely killed two birds with one stone. I preserved OpSec by not actually telling him who was here, and I got him to leave, which was my ultimate goal.”

Anna’s expression turned thoughtful. “Is the Marshall Islands a real place?”

“Yeah, it’s a chain of islands in the Pacific between Hawaii and Australia. They were my first lead when I got out of the academy.”

“What if you’re actually guarding the Marshall Islands? What will you say then?”

I paused in my reply to pay attention to the radio traffic, which was announcing that the delegation was moving to the elevators. “I’ll pick another country I don’t think anyone has ever heard of. Mauritius or something.”

Anna waved good-bye as she hustled back toward the Waldorf. I hopped out of the car and stretched a little. Slowly, I ambled to the corner of four-nine, gazing around, checking out the foot traffic on the street. I’d made the executive decision to wait for the delegation right there, smack in the middle of the walking route. The president had his entire shift with him. I didn’t need to jump into the middle of all that chaos. I’d serve the detail better by remaining where I was and warning them if anything nefarious cropped up.

A minute or two later, Kyle Taggert, the lead advance agent for the visit, popped out of the Waldorf and started heading toward the corner of 49th and Lex where I was lingering. He was scowling darkly and shook his head when he saw me.