Mission: Undercover

Chapter 11

After spending most of the night in Matt's apartment, Vanessa managed to sleep only two hours. But the morning had come with the tension of what was about to happen next.

Cole had fired her yesterday. Although his words were a result of the situation, Vanessa was still not sure what would happen today.

It was time to find out, so after drinking her coffee with a few cigarettes, she got dressed for work. The outfit she chose consisted of black high-waisted trousers and a black top with a lace-up neckline. She put on her hated-heeled shoes and a formal jacket.

It wasn't long before she was in front of the office. The situation in the building seemed normal.

"Hey, Mike." Vanessa greeted him as soon as she saw him leaving Cole's office, where she was headed.

"Good morning, Nessa," Mike replied to her.

"The boss is busy," Marissa, who was standing at her desk, said, though no one even looked at her.

Vanessa patted Mike on the shoulder. "Have a nice day." Then she turned to Marissa. "Do I look like I care?"

As always, Vanessa did not wait for an answer but went directly to Cole's office. Before closing the door, she heard the secretary's squeaky voice behind her. "Mike! She can't act like that!"

"No, Marissa, you can't act like that. She—obviously, can."

Vanessa smiled and closed the door behind her.

"You're late," Cole said a moment later, in his typical tone, without even looking at Vanessa.

"I came to pack up and vacate the office."

Cole closed his laptop, leaned his hands on it, and crossed his fingers. "Look, Vanessa..." He looked as if he didn't know exactly what to say or how to say it. "About what I said yesterday... I was angry. And you have this audacity not to respect my orders. But you just tried to help, and hell, you did. I appreciate that."

A small smile appeared on Vanessa's face while listening to Cole.

"What I'm trying to say—" He continued, but Vanessa interrupted him.

"That you still want to be my boss?"

Cole looked Vanessa in the eye seriously, answering nothing.

"Thank you, Cole." Vanessa continued, looking him in the eye, too. "How is Rebecca? I wanted to call her, but I didn't know if she would want to talk to someone."

"She's doing well, given the circumstances."

"What happened?"

A typical spark of anger appeared in Cole's eyes for a moment. He didn't like being asked personal questions, much less explaining something to anyone.

Yet he did. "It was Tom. You were right."

"It was logical. Love, lies, hurt. People always do that. Pathetic."

Cole raised an eyebrow slightly, once again impressed by Vanessa's thinking.

"Did the police arrest him?" she asked.

"He wasn't there when we found Rebecca. Perhaps he had regretted what he did because he sent me a location to find her. He's on the wanted list right now. But I don't count on the police to catch him."

"What do you mean?"

"I have much better resources to look for a man. Before he goes to prison, he will deal with me first." And the little spark of anger turned into a big fire as Cole spoke.