Agent (CENTURIES series: Book #3)

19

I knew something had looked familiar about the Abercrombie guy Vince had showed me in that picture, but I hadn't put much thought into it because I just assumed he had one of those standard model faces.

Now, as I learned, the face of my tech guy and second best friend had been a mask all along.

Standing before me, tall, blond and blue-eyed, he looked... well, he looked exactly like the guy in the picture Vince had given me. Abercrombie & Fitch type. It was freaky to say the least.

How come none of us at the CIA had noticed? Me in particular, who had been working with him closely for months. Why didn't I notice all of that shit was just a cover?

"I... I don't get it," I said, frowning as he threw his things away, unzipped his baggy hoodie and revealed... a toned body? What the hell? Where did he get biceps from?

"That's because I didn't want you to," Zac, or whatever his real name was, said. "It was a necessity that my identity remained a secret to you guys."

"Us?" I was stumbling over my words and thoughts. I didn't know what to ask first. "I... who are you?"

"Oh, my God, I've been waiting for someone to ask me that question!" Zac said and to my surprise broke into a wide grin that brightened up his now golden hair and blue eyes. "Hold on, I've been practicing, I want to get this just right." He cleared his throat and then dramatically straightened himself into a heroic pose. "I... am... Caleb."

I blinked. Was that suppose to mean anything to me? "Who?"

His face fell in disappointment. "Oh crap, I forgot, Vince didn't tell you any names. Goddamn it, that just ruined what would've been an epic superhero reveal moment!" He shook his head and then sighed. "Oh, well. I'm the hottest computer genius you'll ever meet."

"Wait... so you have been working with Vince?" I said, ignoring his ridiculous comment. "You're his partner?"

"No, I'm not working with Vince," Zac—sorry, Caleb snorted. "He's working for me. I'm not his partner, I'm his employer. I sound like a pimp now."

So many more questions formed in my head. "So you're the computer genius who saved all those smart people and made that contract?"

Caleb grinned widely and brushed some invisible dust off his muscular shoulder. "Damn straight. Can I get an amen ple—oh wow, you're really bleeding, woman."

Glancing down at my upper arm where I still had my hand clenched around the wound, I now saw how blood pibbled out through my fingers. "That explains my dizziness. I just thought it was the overload of information."

"Could be a little of both," Caleb noted, then went up behind the wall he had come out from, only to emerge again a second later holding a first-aid kit. "Let's get you patched up in any case. Nothing worse than a woman bleeding."

I rolled my eyes, but then came up to him and sat down on a rusty chair he pulled up for me, before sitting down on one himself. "Fine, but you have to keep talking. I want to get to the bottom of this, and to do that, I need you to start from the top."

"That's what I tell my girl," He remarked with a smug grin. "So what do you want to know? About this, that is, not me and my girl's sex life. Although, I wouldn't mind sharing this one thing she does—"

"Stop," I demanded, glaring harshly at him. He sheepishly grinned. "Tell me about the program and your involvement with Vince. Everything, in fact. How did you come to work for the CIA?"

"Okay, this is going to be a long night," Caleb stated, sighing tiredly as he begun preparing a needle for sutures. "And this is probably going to hurt some."