Dangerous Love

Five

"Patch me up with the Leader" growled Ahmed. He had been having a sense of unease ever since they went to the Doctor's house and found nothing. The Leader's Intel was always on point. So he was unsure how reliable, the Intel was. Not that he had ever doubted the Leader, but he won't want these infidels to grab him alive, he was better off dead. This cell had been built by his sweat and blood and he wasn't going to allow one bloody American snitch to mess it all up for him, so he made a mental note of eliminating the snitch after the attack was carried out. No loose ends!!!!!

 "Here Ahmed, the Leader is on now," said Salif, handing over the satellite phone then immediately heading out of the room. "Asalamalekun Leader," Ahmed said as he unconsciously bowed a little 

"walaikum assallam Ahmed" a low hoarse voice just above a whisper replied.

"I heard you ran into a little snag,” the Leader said. Always straight to the point, thought Ahmed, he didn't waste time for pleasantries until critical issues had been discussed.

"Very correct Leader, the Intel didn't pan out, we came up short" replied Ahmed. 

"The apartment was devoid of any trace of her work" he finished. This was followed by a lengthy silence, which made Ahmed think the leader had hung upon him. But then he spoke up and said "continue as planned, I'll make inquiries and get back to you". 

" Understood my Leader, I'll await your orders" replied Ahmed. 

He continued to have that feeling of unease and ran through the mission over in his head again…just to think of anything they might have missed or glossed over subconsciously.

----_------++++++++±++++++++++++++++

  As soon as Dr. Mary Allen got home, she called the colonel and skipped all pleasantries "sir please why do I have a 'sentry' following me around saying its orders from you...that is clearly not what we agreed when we decided to work on this project" she fumed. 

"Listen, Dr. Allen, things have spiraled out of control and we are trying to manage the situation as best as we can. We are…." 

"This means I'm in clear and immediate danger???" she interrupted him.

"What if my assistant, is he being given protection too?" She continued, Colonel Bingham could sense her anger but she was a national asset now and that alone trumped her rights in a sort of way. 

He hated being in this position of breaking his words, those who knew him could attest to the fact that his words were his bonds, it was even an in-office joke, which they thought he hadn't caught on, that "its best not to allow the colonel talk, because he was gonna stick to them like glue.

Sighing he calmly told the doc "I won't mince words doc, yes we've noticed some people following you, but we've not been able to apprehend them or ascertain their motive, we tend to follow protocols and activate protective measures as soon as we notice things like this. Rest assured no harm will come to you. And for your assistant, he has his own 'sentry' so he'll be fine" he chuckled at his attempt at humor. 

Dr. Allen exhaled deeply...she hadn't known she had been holding her breath that long. She had thought the colonel was going to lie to her. She had grown fond of him so the thought that he would knowingly put her in danger or use her as bait would have been disheartening. She said 

"Thanks for telling me how it is, Colonel, I know it must have been difficult for you to divulge sensitive info like this, but I just had to know". She continued "you have trained me to some extent for situations like this and I being in the know helps me deal with this both mentally and physically". Colonel Bingham smiles, this woman never ceases to amaze him.

 The majority of women in her field would have panicked and opted out. And who could blame them, what with the nature of the job and being told things on a 'need to know basis' knowing that she was coming from an educational background that had not prepared her or even most people for scenarios like this?

"I'm so sorry Doc, my main concern was making sure you were safe and that your work with us was too," he said. 

"Like I've said, please come to me with whatever reservations you have about anything, anything at all". She felt so reassured that a pang of remorse came over her, making her feel guilty about being mad at him in the first place. Interrupting her thoughts.

She heard the colonel say "you still there doc? Meant to ask how you're getting along with your 'sentry'".

Was that a chuckle she heard from the colonel? She wasn't sure but she replied "we are getting along fine, he's a charmer. the First day he's taken me out for lunch".

"Well I was just about to remind you that he's going to be putting up in your apartment full time, we can't be taking chances now can we?"

"Whatttttttt!!!!!!!, I'm definitely not agreeing to this, I'm not allowing any agent of yours in my house…" and the line went dead. She couldn't believe the colonel had hung up on her. Could it be the reason she had thought she heard him chuckle?....

      Meanwhile, in his office, the colonel slammed down the receiver and roared with uncontrollable laughter. He laughed so hard that Dorothy had to hook her head in his door to check what was happening. He shook his head and waved her in.

 "They're gonna be a perfect match Doth, you just wait and see, just you wait!!!" he said, still chuckling.

"Well, all I know is at the end of this project I'm going to be a $100 richer, Randy ain't allowing no hooks on him" she replied,

"I liken him to mosquitoes, all they do is suck and fly away" she finished, shaking her head as she left, the colonel still scheming his "other" mission.