Free Finding North by Claudia Hall Christian Page A

started.
    “ Suicidal?” Alex asked.
“No. My life is wonderful. You, our babies, our friends, this
home . . . No. I’m not ready to go.”
    “ Then, what is it?” John
asked in a low tone.
    “ I’ve been so alone,” Alex
whispered. “Since Mom gave me the book. It’s just been me and that
stupid language. Just me. I barely see you; I barely see anybody. I
haven’t had twin time with Max in . . . months. I
miss you. And if I’d died, I would miss you so much, so much, much
more.”
    He leaned over and kissed
her cheek.
    “ The cricket said that I
do better when I collaborate,” Alex said. “‘You do better work when
you collaborate.’ That’s what he said. And I wondered if there are
people who can help me, but . . .”
    “ You’ll have to travel
more,” John said.
    “ I miss you,” Alex said.
“I miss Joey. I miss Máire.”
    John chuckled and pulled
Alex close.
    “ I don’t want to sleep
even a wink and miss my time with you,” Alex said.
    “ Then, let’s not sleep,”
John said. “I’m scheduled off work tomorrow to cover Quince’s
holiday.”
    “ I can sleep on the
plane,” Alex nodded.
    “ But let’s not mope,
either,” John said. “I’ll miss you, too, but the moping
is . . . a waste. We’ve done this before, and it
only ends . . .”
    “ In big fights,” Alex
finished his statement.
    “ Exactly,” he
said.
    “ What would you like to
do?” Alex asked.
    “ I can think of a few
things,” he said in a throaty whisper.
    Alex smiled and sat up to
face him. Leaning forward, he kissed her.
    “ We need to feed the
babies around two,” Alex said.
    “ Do you think we’ll have
enough time?” John asked.
    “ Probably not,” Alex
laughed. “But we can always start again when they go back to
sleep.”
    “ I like the way you
think,” he said.
    F

Chapter Seven

    Monday morning
    May 16 — 11:24 a.m. EDT
(9:24 a.m. MDT)
    New York City, New
York
     
    “ Here we are,” said
Orchid, the young female Homeland Security agent, as the limousine
pulled into the loading zone in front of a building.
    She waved to the building
on their right. Anxious to prove herself, Orchid had met Alex, Raz,
and Colin at the airport. Orchid had Asian features and
hipster-short, purple hair, a nose ring, and skintight black
clothing. Alex guessed she was first-generation Chinese. When she
smiled, she looked like one of those Disney fairies. Of course, one look
at Raz, and she became all giggles and batting
eyelashes.
    “ I’ll show you up.” Orchid
gave a big, sparkling-white smile.
    “ That won’t be necessary,”
Raz said.
    “ Oh,” Orchid said. “You’d
like me to brief you here? In the car?”
    Sitting on the other side
of Raz, Alex took his hand and squeezed it. He gave a slight
nod.
    “ Why don’t you bring us up
to speed, Orchid?” Alex asked.
    “ Here?” Orchid
asked.
    “ We’re just in from
Denver,” Alex said. “What would you recommend?”
    “ Gosh, I know what that’s
like.” The woman’s shoulders shifted back, and she sat up
straighter. “Travel is so tough. Especially from the west. It took
me forever to get used to being here in New York.”
    Orchid looked at Colin and
then at Alex. She carefully avoided looking at Raz.
    “ I’ll show you up,” Orchid
said, and stepped out of the limousine.
    Raz gave a soft groan.
Colin chuckled. The driver got their bags, and they went inside the
building. The CIA had picked up this converted warehouse for a song
when the economy had crashed. The inside of the building had been
demolished and the foundation secured. The agency had converted the
warehouse into civilian apartments. The sale of the apartments
easily paid for the care and maintenance of three floors of secure
apartments, including a secure elevator. Completely self-funded,
the building was off the budget and away from Congressional
oversight. With an unobstructed view of the river, the “Warehouse,”
as it was called by intelligence agents, was