Free Spy Thriller: The Fourteenth Protocol: A Story of Espionage and Counter-terrorism (The Special Agent Jana Baker Book Series 1) by Nathan Goodman Page A

guy on the guitar wasn’t half bad. The soft sounds were familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. He shut his eyes and tried to concentrate.
    The Indigo Girls. Cade sometimes caught hell from his guy friends over how much he loved their music, but he always made it to their outdoor shows when they were in Atlanta. Sometimes it was at Chastain Park and other times at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. It was always a good time though.
    “Never heard a guy sing this song before,” said a soft voice as a hand touched his shoulder. He was startled out of his fog as he looked down at the cute girl in glasses whose hand was withdrawing now. Her face was vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t place her. She smiled and his mind raced, trying to place her before the embarrassment set in that he didn’t know her name.
    She grinned. “You always talk to yourself?”
    “What? Oh, that . . .”
    “Don’t you work at Thoughtstorm?” she said. “You look so familiar.” Relief washed over him. She didn’t know his name either.
    “Yeah. Yeah, hey, ah, I’m Cade, Cade Williams.”
    “I’m Alyssa, Alyssa McTee. I work down on six.”
    “Wow, how cool. What are you doing all the way up here?”
    “Oh, I’m taking some time off.” Alyssa beamed. It was like she was looking at an old friend she hadn’t seen in a long time.
    “You have family up here? I mean, you’re on vacation. You didn’t want to head down to the beach or something? Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean this wouldn’t be a good place to vacation or anything . . .” Cade backtracked.
    “Oh no, no, it’s okay. No, I’m not exactly vacationing here. I’m cruising all over the place. I’m just out seeing the country. I move from place to place each day.” Alyssa oozed a newly found confidence. “The truth is, I took a leave of absence from work.”
    “Really? A leave of absence? And you’re cruising around and just seeing the sights? And you’re alone?” Cade secretly prayed that she was alone. “Hey, you want to join me?” he said as the bisque and coffee were handed through the window. “I was going to hang out for a little while with two things that go great together, bisque and coffee.” He hoped his attempt at humor would come out sounding funnier than it was. He really sucked at talking to girls.
    “Oh, no. I wouldn’t want to join you,” she said with a straight face.
    Cade was a little taken aback. She looked at him, trying to stifle an outburst of laughter. “Why don’t you join me instead,” she said, pointing to her table, grinning ear to ear. Alyssa was rather pleased with herself next to Cade who looked like a lost pup.
    “Oh,” he laughed, “yeah, good one. Sure, I’ll join you.” Cade slid into the sturdy oak chair. His sleeve stuck to the stapled vinyl tablecloth that had played host to thousands of locals over the years.
    Alyssa slid her wax-paper-lined plastic basket aside. “So how about you? What are you doing up here? You’re not down at the beach or something?” she said, mocking through a toothy smile. “Is that where all the cool people go?”
    “Okay, all right, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you. No, I’m not at the beach or something either. I’m just off for a long weekend. A friend of mine is graduating from the FBI Academy up here. It was something I couldn’t miss.”
    “Very cool,” said Alyssa, looking genuinely impressed. “Man, I bet he’s excited. Or, well, or she’s excited. Which is it?”
    “No, it’s a he. He and I went to undergrad together. He’s a great guy.” Cade glanced out the window but saw nothing. “It’s kind of funny thinking about it actually. I mean, he and I were in this fraternity together. He was kind of like a big brother to me. We had some fun times. And to think about him in the FBI . . .” There was something about Alyssa that was disarming. Cade was carrying on a perfectly normal conversation. And she was a girl. He wasn’t stuttering and hadn’t