Free For His Eyes Only by T C Archer

“What they didn’t count on was that I’d see you in action. The person who sent Green Team into that village to be murdered wouldn’t have gone into that alley.”
    Jesse stared in disbelief. “You’re saying my going into that alley proves I’m innocent?” She snorted. “For all you know last night was a performance.”
    Cole studied her. “Was it?”
    Jesse considered a glib remark, but answered, “No.”
    The bell on the door tinkled again and a man entered.
    “ You say Lanton is our mole, but he let you get away,” Cole said. “What have you got to prove that Jess? What does he want from you?”
    Here was the defining moment. The moment Lanton discovered the most damning evidence she had was his membership in DC’s exclusive Submissions BDSM club and a two million dollar account she had yet to connect to her or Perez, he would send every available assassin after her.
    “ You’re asking a lot,” she told Cole.
    “ Maybe,” he replied, his drawl pronounced. “But if you’re right about Lanton, then he’s wondering the same thing I am.”
    “ What I’ve got?”
    Cole shook his head. “Why you’ve kept quiet.”
    He was right, Lanton would wonder, which she prayed kept him terrified.
    Cole scooted to the edge of his seat. “I’ll be back.”
    He stood, then strode across the diner and down the short hallway leading to the restroom. The men’s room was at the end of the hall, directly in her line of sight. He opened the door and stepped inside. The little girl sitting at the counter squealed in delight. Jesse twisted to see the kid behind the counter placing a large banana split in front of the girl. Jesse started to turn back around then realized the man who entered a moment ago was gone, and she hadn’t seen him exit. She glanced down the hall toward the men’s room door where Cole had just disappeared.
    Jesse rose and started for the front door. “My boyfriend’s in the bathroom,” she called to the waitress, who stood a couple tables away. “I’m just going out to the car for my purse.”
    The waitress nodded as Jesse pushed open the door. She strolled nonchalantly past the diner window, then hurried along the wall to the end of the building. She stopped and looked back. Twenty feet of gravel and a battered chain-link fence divided the diner’s property from a dense thicket. Two cars were parked along the fence. Probably employees’. Jesse scanned the side of the building. Past the closed kitchen door, about halfway down the length of the building rested a large trash bin next to a window where the men’s room should be. She hurried past the door and trash bin and heard Cole’s voice.
    “ This is my mission,” he said. “Get out.”
    Jesse crept forward. Loose gravel crunched under her shoes. She halted.
    “ Cool your jets,” a male voice responded. “She looked at me when I came in, then went back to talking to you. She doesn’t know me.”
    Jesse’s heart skipped a beat. The diner was a setup?
    “ What do you want?” Cole demanded.
    “ Hey, we’re looking out for you, man.”
    “ I don’t like being watched,” Cole said.
    “ That’s the way it works,” the man replied.
    “ That’s not the way it works anymore.”
    The man laughed. “You’re not in charge.”
    “ Green Leader doesn’t own me,” Cole said.
    A door squeaked and Jesse realized Cole was leaving. She started to turn, but stopped when the man said, “Hold on there. I’ll make it worth your while.” The door squeaked again, and Jesse held her breath, praying Cole had closed the door while still inside the men’s room. If he glanced back and saw she wasn’t there he’d be out the door in a flash.
    The man gave a low laugh. “Get me Lanton.”
    Jesse tensed in the few seconds of silence before the man spoke again.
    “ It’s like you said.” He paused, then, “Take this number down. Seven, nine, three, six, two, two, seven. Catatonic , the secure code. Got it.”
    Jesse committed the