Dangerous Love

Four

The shrill ringing of the hotel phone woke Dodd up at exactly 6:48 am, he had a throbbing headache from the night out he had in the city. He didn't much care for Washington DC, he always felt the people were too stiff and formal. Everyone was trying to impress somebody. He loved being carefree.

Picking up the phone, he barked "who is it?”.

"You better get your ass off that bed and come in, you getting old or sentimental on me boy???" the colonel barked back.

"Now where's that coming from sir?" asked Dodd, knowing the answer to his question already.

"The Doc noticed you in her apartment yesterday"

"That's impossible sir," he said, he tried making a case for himself, knowing too well he had lingered too long. Also, because it was urgent, he never had time to shower before going inside her apartment yesterday.

"Well, she called and 'noticed' a different cologne from hers, how do you explain that Randy boy. Are you getting sloppy???"

"No sir, sorry it won't happen again" replied Dodd

"You bet it won't, as of right now, you are going to be her personal detail for the next two weeks" Dodd was starting a protest but the colonel cut him short, " its a direct order boy, we are in the final stages, don't want her getting snatched this late in the game".

"Understood sir, I guess I'll be moving in with her?" asked Dodd.

"Yes you are, smoothen it out with her. say that your hands are tied..." the colonel paused fot a minute before he continued

"....hell!!!! Sleep at her doorstep if you gotta. just make sure she's safe" the colonel said curtly and ended the call.

  Getting outta bed, Dodd knew the colonel had ulterior motives shrouded in official color, but his hands were tied. He went into the bathroom to shower and get ready to meet the beautiful Dr. Mary Allen. This time, she'll be awake.

           --------------------

   At five pm, feeling exhausted and a little uptight, Dr. Allen gathered up her belongings and made for her home.

"Heading home doc?" asked Munroe.

"Yes Mark, I'm feeling a bit exhausted and I don't think I'll be of much use anymore around here today," she said as she shoved her remaining stuff inside a paper bag.

 "Everything okay doc?" Munroe asked, knowing that it took something important for her to leave the office this early.

"I'm perfectly fine Mark, just had a lot on my mind these past couple of days, I just need to rest and I'll be fresh and brand new tomorrow".

"Okay, if you say so" replied Munroe, not wanting to press the issue!!!

    -------------------------------+++++++++++

 At that exact moment, Dodd was about to alight from his ML 350 SUV, a car he had grown fond of. It had been given to him by Colonel Bingham, when he suddenly said he felt too old to be driving around, what with these "kids" driving like they were possessed these days. Dodd was grateful for the gesture, but he also remembered that he was trying to fend off the colonel's questions about not finding a wife and having a family to go home to, “they keep us sane and human in our line of work" he had said. But Dodd had offhandedly said women in his generation didn't fancy dudes without rides.

"And by rides u mean cars?" asked the colonel.

"Of course sir, with what I'm being paid I should be able to afford one of my tastes in 2years" Dodd replied with a sly grin on his face. The next day, the ML 350 was delivered to him!!!!!

 The thought always brought a smile to his face. 

Looking up and far ahead, he saw Dr. Allen is struggling with some of her stuff. The heavy wind was threatening to blow all over the car lot. He looked up and knew it would rain in a few minutes, so he shrugged and went on a slight jog to catch up with the doc.

"Hi doc," Dodd said when he caught up with her, "Can see you are having a tough time with your load".

Looking up, Dr. Allen turned towards the voice and was about to say something, but her throat immediately felt patchy and she had to moisten her lips and swallow hard.

"Sorry, do I know you?" She said, a little above a whisper. ‘Pull yourself together Mary,’ she told herself, wondering why she felt this weird fluttering in her stomach.

But by God he was a hunk of a man….blue eyes, low cut hair and he looked like he had been soaking up the sun. She managed to tear her eyes away from his gaze and tried fixing her gaze on her load.

"The name's Dodd, Randy Dodd," Dodd said, extending his hand before he realized again she had her hands full. “sorry ma'am, where are my manners?" he apologized, making sure to take the load in the paper bag from her.

"I'm Dr. Mary Allen" she replied, holding on to her belongings a tad tighter.  "Knowing your name still doesn't make me "know" you, if you understand me" she insisted.

"Ohh!!! my bad," said Dodd as he stood up straight and brought out his wallet then showed her his ID.

"You work with the colonel?" she asked.

"As it says right there" he replied with a smile on his lips and Dr. Allen could swear his eyes danced as he spoke. ‘Get a grip on your thoughts’ she quickly admonished herself and then said "it's kinda surprising you walking up to me and identifying yourself like this, my understanding was you guys were supposed to keep your distance".

“Yeah we are but me being here is the colonel taking extra measures to guarantee your safety," Dodd said.

"Safety!!??? what, am I in any present danger that I wasn't informed of?" Dr. Allen said, starting to look alarmed.

Dodd knew he had to get her off the streets and give her the full list. But how to go about it was currently a Herculean task as he was quite smitten with her. She was maybe 5'11 and the way she had her hair in a ponytail made her face more noticeable, her lips more inviting. Also, she had her lab coat unbuttoned all the way down, giving him a full view of her figure that would otherwise have been hidden by the coat. She was one helluva woman and he was trying all his best to keep from saying dumb s**t to her.

 "Look, Dr. Allen, these are the colonel's orders, my hands are tied, if we could just grab a late lunch, I'll brief you on all that's happened in the last 48 hours. Deal?"

    Dr. Allen looked at him and decided to give him a listening ear. What really sealed it for her was the promise "to brief" her of the latest happenings, which she had complained to the colonel was never done.

     They settled in at Jeffery's, a diner that also doubled as a bar of some sort. It had a corner for those who wanted their food with booze or some liquor. Some folks complained but Jefferey the owner had seen a surge in his profits since the idea was introduced to him by a friend.

Dodd ordered light, some veggies, and steak while Dr. Allen who had not really had anything to eat all day ordered spaghetti n sauce.

 Dodd said, "a girl with a huge appetite is always after my heart". Not wanting to talk with her mouth full, she mumbled 

"Momma said not to talk while eating". This left Dodd roaring with laughter which also earned him some furtive glances from the other diners.

 "Momma must've had an iron fist," he said, still laughing. 

"Actually she didn't" replied Dr. Allen, "mom was always the one with words, she could talk you out of those teenage rebellions and make you feel bad about them" she continued with a hint of laughter in her eyes.

 "So Mr. Dodd, I'm all ears, fill me in". Dodd took one look into her eyes and his instincts, which was almost never wrong and had kept him alive so far, was telling him he could trust her.

And so he did, starting from the part where she was recruited for the cure, which was surprising to her the amount of work put in. Something she would have willingly done. Then to the part where he had been brought in, about the three Arabs that had been tailing her. How they were so good with tech and recon that they have evaded the CIA thrice now.

"So you're telling me that you guys do not have a clue as to where they are right now?" asked Dr. Allen "how then are you gonna keep me safe?" She really was getting scared now. What with the intruder that had been in her apartment.

  Just as if he read her mind, he said "the boss told me about your complaints, apologies, it was me in your apartment” he stopped to look at her and observe how she took that info in.

"But how" she mused, "my apartment is way up". 

"We are the agency, Dr. Allen, having worked some time with us, you should have a minute understanding of how capable we are".

 Was that pride and honor she was detecting from his tone? She pushed the thought aside and said, "so it was your cologne assailing my nostrils and making me pray, something I had not done in a while" she finished, chuckling. Dodd heaved a sigh of relief, she was a beauty and had a sense of humor. So far so good, the colonel won't be disappointed.

     -----------------------------------------

    Walking towards their cars, Dr. Allen asked "so Mr. Dodd".

“Call me Randy please," he interrupted her, "I think we should drop the formalities if we are going to work together". 

She looked at him and said, "that was fast, well then you go ahead and call me Mary".

They walked in silence a little while then Dodd broke the news he had been dreading, "I should have told you earlier but I wanted to… how do you say this, 'thaw' the ice before telling you about it". 

"Tell me what" she inquired. 

"That henceforth I have been ordered to be your personal detail." Dr. Allen stopped and looked at him, she could feel the anger already rising inside her. 

"That wasn't the deal I had with the colonel and I won't stand for any ground shifting this late in the game" she flared. Collecting her stuff from him, she tried storming off, but he held onto her hands lightly.

 "Hear me out please Mary, it's because of the extraneous circumstances that the colonel made this decision, he wants you as safe as possible," he said. 

"I've been doing quite alright these past months, we've never had any single attack, not one," she said again through clenched teeth, not wanting to attract attention from passers-by. "I guess I gotta have a word with the colonel" she finished and turned to leave.

Dodd stood and wondered what next to say,  she was clearly not happy and told her that it was worse than he had already said, that he was going to be following her around like a lap dog was another thing he dreaded. She was a woman with fire that he gave her. The fact that she looked vulnerable and stunning at the same time left him in a huge dilemma, how was he gonna be firm with her, he mused. He watched her get into her car and drive off before he got into his and followed behind.