"Where have you been? I was worried sick." Kelly interrogated once Alex had returned to the ball room and was situated comfortably on the floor.
"You were snoozing away. You've still got the sleep lines all over your face. Don't lie to me, man." Alex retorted, turning to face Kelly and motioning him to move closer.
"I know that look. You've met a girl. Man, can you keep the focus for one second? Why is it in intense and potentially harmful situations you manage to let your libido take over your thinking. These guys are playing for real Alex. They're not Rachel. There won't be an offer for a stake out, or if there is, you won't want to take it." Kelly muttered, his voice growing louder by the moment. Alex rolled his eyes.
"Spare me the melodrama. She's not that kind of girl. She's kind of like Rachel though." Alex explained to Kelly, hoping he would understand the meaning.
"I know that already. Your look said it all. Here's what you looked like." Kelly said, twisting his face into an awestruck look with his tongue hanging to one side.
"No. No. Focus. Think about that statement Kelly. Tell you what, we'll play a game. It's called twenty questions ok? She's like Rachel…" Alex emphasized the words slowly and in a low voice. Kelly pondered for a moment before the glimmer of enlightenment shone in his face.
"Oh, she's an a-g-e-n-t." Kelly spelled out. Alex clapped his hand over Kelly's mouth.
"They can spell you halfwit. Where's your head today? Geez, will you focus?" Alex muttered, releasing Kelly's face and gazed across the room to see if anyone had heard. None seemed to have noticed.
"Y-e-s she is. Your brilliance never ceases to amaze me. Now, we have a job to do while she's working on getting everyone out. We've got to see how many of them there are, what there routine is. You know, general reconnaissance." Alex clarified. Kelly tugged nervously on his bow tie and let it fall loosely around his neck.

"Yeah, we have the hard job. In case you haven't noticed the options for exploring this room are limited." Kelly pointed out and Alex concurred.
"I know that. But look at them. They've been standing for almost two days now. They're starting to get tired. The one closest to the door is almost asleep. When that happens, we'll sneak out." Alex whispered faintly, keeping his eyes riveted to the men surrounding them.
"Maybe we should wait, at least until they're really tired. If we wake one of them up one of us is going to get killed, and I don't know if I can break that to my grandmother." Kelly jested, though his words fell flat.
"Good point." Alex croaked. "Ok, new plan then. We'll at least observe their movements. Listen around. We need to know how many of them are bilingual." Alex ordered more confidently.
"Man, that's disgusting. I don't want to get that personal with them." Kelly said, his nose wrinkling in distain. Alex rolled his eyes.
"Bilingual. I don't even want to know what you're thinking that means. It means speak more than one language. In our case, we need to know how many understand English. That way, we can all converse a little more freely." Kelly bobbed his head. With an exchanged look, they separated, moving stealthily around the dimly lit room at a crawl, pausing when they heard movement to listen for snippets of conversation. Alex lay flat against the thickly carpeted room, avoiding the urge to sneeze by thinking about Rachel. It was an odd train of thought, and he felt the temptation to laugh at his mindset. The one thing that kept his thoughts in order was the memory of her betrayal. Even still, he could remember the shock of seeing her alive, the shock of her treachery and the way she had turned against them all. His solace was the look of shock on Carlos' face when he had learned of Rachel's duplicity.
With as much dignity as he could manage, he continued to slide on his stomach like a slug around the room, stopping when he heard conversations. He could translate most of it in his head. None of it had been in English. Satisfied with his half of the room, he slid steadily back to the center of the room where he met Kelly to discuss their findings.
"They all speak Spanish on my side." Alex said first, brushing off the lint that had collected at his once clean and pressed tux. Kelly agreed, wrapping his arms around his legs and bringing them into his chest with a release of air.
"It's the same on my side." Kelly added. Alex felt relief flood through his body.
"Except for one guy. He stands alone in the corner, just watching. It's creepy." Kelly shivered. Alex stiffened.
"Did you see which one he is?" He asked in a low voice while Kelly shook his head.
"He stood in the shadows. I think he saw me. It was like he was hiding on purpose. Watching and waiting. I'm telling you, that ain't right." Alex stopped listening to Kelly and cast a searching glance over his shoulder. His eye site could see nothing it what seemed to be growing darkness.
"I don't like it. But all the same it's good to know. Keep your eye on him Kelly." Alex said nervously. Kelly snorted.
"Oh sure, why do I get the hard job? The guy could be nuts, and I'm the first person you volunteer for the mission? That's whacked." Kelly folded his arms across his chest, and then relented.
"Alright, but if I do this, I don't want a parade this time. I want a vacation." Kelly started to smile and Alex fought the corners of his mouth for a moment before joining him.
"Done. I've heard Mexico is nice this time of year. Tahiti." Alex leaned his back against the floor and heard his back crack. He winced and settled down further, letting his eyes shut into a light sleep.

Chapter Five:


Alex felt cold metal prodding his face. He opened one sleepy lid in a questioning manner to the perpetrator. Seeing a man in fatigues brought reality back to him more quickly and he sat up with a groan, gingerly rubbing knot in his neck as he did and followed the man out again into the lobby.
On his way out into the ostentatiously decorated maroon hallways, he observed the large air vents and openings, making a mental note to mention them to Julianne. The scene the lobby presented was in sharp contrast to the day before. The division that had greeted her yesterday was nowhere to be found. The two men who escorted Alex from the ballroom acted as the only guards and seemed interested in the goods Julianne had brought with her.
"Food for a week, cots, pillows, shaving cream and oh yes Vaseline as requested." She reported to him, watching as he tiredly ran his hands over the stubble on his face.
"You look awful." She commented mildly and he offered a tired smile.
"And you look rested. Somehow I suspect it has something to do with the lack of armored guards." He replied. Julianne agreed with a grin.
"No I like the look. I especially like the fuzz with the suit." She said, picking off a ball of red fuzz collecting on his jacket. "Clearly you had a busy night. I don't dare ask why. Can you give me hand with these boxes? Though it might be wise to ask your harem." She advised. Alex raised his eyebrows.
"Harem?" He asked confused, then followed the direction her pointing. He laughed in spite of himself.
"Here I thought you'd brought a harem a long with the other supplies. I was going to congratulate you on your foresight and planning." He said, trotting over to the guards and explaining his plans. They ignored him, pawing through a card board box containing various bags of snack foods.
Alex returned and observed her through the glass doors of the lobby. He trotted outside unmolested.
"Here, let me help you." He offered, joining her in lifting the box. They grunted together.
"What's in here?" He asked her after they had set it down.
"Vaseline." She replied, heading outside again and motioning for him to follow.
"What did you find out?" She asked, pretending to sit on the boxes to rest for a moment. He stooped in front of her and appeared as though he were fanning her in her heat exhaustion.
"Next to nothing. They're all starting to get tired though. When they do, Kelly and I will do a more thorough job of exploring our options. So far as I can tell, the only way we're able to escape without notice is through the air vents. The ducts are large from what I can tell." Julianne nodded thoughtfully. "None of them speak English though. Except possibly for one and from what we can tell, he doesn't either." Alex added, sensing her disappointment. Her face brightened and he felt a smile creep to his lips.
"You've done well. For that you receive a reward." She teased and Alex felt him mood lift.
"A harem?" He asked hopefully and Julianne laughed merrily. The joyful sound echoed against the walls of the hotel.
"Not quite. I'll be sure to put that on the list for later though." She added, taking something out of her pocket and taking her hands behind her back.
"Pick a hand." She commanded and Alex eyed her suspiciously.
"What?" He questioned.
"Pick a hand." She repeated firmly. Alex appeared to think seriously for a moment; his eyes twinkling in amusement. He tapped her left shoulder and she pulled her hand out from behind her back and moved it swiftly forward, revealing nothing. He tapped the other shoulder. She repeated her action, this time so quickly he didn't see what was in her hand until she was reaching inside his tux pants pocket and dropping something heavy inside. Alex looked surprise at the sudden action.
"Can we play that game again?" He teased and Julianne shook her head, swatting him playfully on the shoulder as she did.
"Don't get any ideas. They were watching. If they had seen I had given you a watch, they would have asked to see it." She explained to him, a small amount of color rising to her cheeks. Alex reached thoughtfully into his pocket and pulled out the watch he recognized contained the "eyes and ears".
"Now, in return, I ask a favor of you." She murmured quietly, pulling up another box and bringing it into the lobby and then returning. "I need you to pretend to translate. The government has given me a week to negotiate and or extract the hostages before they send in their swat teams. If I should fail, the results would be disastrous." Alex nodded in agreement. "This brings me to the question of the day. Where are you keeping the information?" She asked him, in a voice hardly above a whisper. Alex checked his sight lines over both shoulders before answering.
"It's underneath the floorboards underneath the dresser in my room." He replied, hardly moving his lips.
"Can you get to it?" She asked him seriously. He studied her face for a moment.
"It's a possibility. It's risky though. But I understand the need for it. BNS will want to process this immediately. I'll get it for you tonight. Can you meet me somewhere tonight?" Alex asked her. Julianne looked for a moment in conflict.
"I'm watched at night by the local police. They suspect something. But I think I can manage if you can. Meet me at two o'clock. You tell me the location." She said to him.
"Meet me in my room. It's 201. I'll leave the door unlocked." He said decisively and Julianne committed the room number to memory. She changed the subject
"I want to negotiate for the release of the women in children. This would be advantageous to us because it makes the numbers we have to extract less." She explained as they approached the two soldiers, who were still contented to snack and rummage through a majority of the boxes. Alex addressed them as politely as he could, requesting the general's presence. The two appeared reluctant to abandon their booty, but one eventually complied and returned with the general.
"The Red Cross requests you release just the women and children hostages. It would be beneficial to all for you to do so. It would be less work for your men, who are clearly in need of rest. Should they become ill, your command would be severely weakened. It would also improve your chances of receiving your demands." Julianne explained clearly to Alex, who in turn then translated. The general listened, appearing to be deep in thought, turning his back to them, revealing his proud military bearing. He threw a sentence over his shoulder.
"He is going to present your requests to his superior." Alex explained as the man strode away. They stood in tense silence, Alex sending supportive looks toward Julianne; the only sounds were emitted by the soldiers crunching steadily away through a bag of potato chips.
The general returned a moment later, looking pleased and not alone. Another man followed, staying only in the shadowy corners of the lobby. Julianne frowned and Alex kept his attention riveted on this man. The general growled orders unpleasantly to the two young soldiers and sent them running. They returned moments later, a group of terrified women and children following behind them. Julianne melted in relief and urged the group forward and out the door, ordering their hands on their heads. Her glance darted to the man in the corner uneasily. She nodded to the general gratefully and the man ordered the two soldiers forward with a flick of a finger and they ordered Alex back into ballroom. His unease grew as he was pushed further around the corner and the man in the shadows seemed to be shifting. He disobeyed their orders long enough to ensure Julianne's safe departure before rounding the corner.

Chapter Six:

"Look, all I'm saying is that you need to be careful. How do we know she's a BNS agent after all? For all we know, she's one of you-know-who's forces looking to steal back the information I worked so hard for those three months." Kelly objected gently to Alex after he had explained his plans for the evening. "She could want you dead and that's a sure fire way to achieve that." Kelly added, resting his hand in his chin and thinking. Alex sighed.
"You're probably right Kelly. But don't get used to that. I'm going to trust my gut on this one." He confided, watching as anxious husbands paced around the room, looking at their watches and counting the seconds before they were rejoined with their families.
"I'm not asking you to trust your gut, I'm asking you to trust your brain." Kelly mumbled under his breath.
"How could she have gotten the watch if she were a member? That's all I'm saying Kelly. You don't even have to come along." Alex added, dropping his voice down a note to lead Kelly into joining him.
"You're not going alone. Why am I always the chaperone to you? I'm telling you know I ain't using the watch to help you with another conquest. The days of the secret weapon are over." Kelly told him, seizing Alex's wrist and revealing the contents of the watch. He took out the brown contact lens and subtly placed it in his eye before scratching behind his ear and securely placing to the lobe. Alex repeated his actions, having trouble with the contact lens, but managing to cover with it with a cough.
"Look, they're falling asleep already. This is good. Now, when the guard at the door falls asleep, it's your job to tie him up drag him where he won't cause trouble." Alex said, a plan formulating in his mind. Kelly frowned noticeably.
"What? Do you have a better idea?" Alex asked in frustration and Kelly nodded.
"Yeah, we could just step over him like the other guys do." He pointed to the direction of the door, where two of the guards exited the room by stepping over him nosily.
"Ok, good call. That's why you're here." Alex replied, slapping Kelly on the shoulder.
"Once we're out in the hallway, we're going to accomplish two missions at once. The first is to retrieve the information and give it to Julianne, and the second is to find escape routes and to mark down the routines of the guards. We'll go to the room first." Kelly nodded in agreement.
The activity in the room came to an eventual standstill as the men slowly grew tired and their burdensome worries came down heavily upon their shoulders. Many lay sleeping where they had paced, others, fretfully turned from one side to the other. Alex and Kelly lay silently, listening, watching and waiting until the room was pitch black and nearly empty with the exception of the inept guard at the door.
Discreetly, they rose to their feet and tip-toed around the sleeping figures; each carrying their shoes in their hands to soften the sound of their tread. They paused on either side of the door, engaging in a silent argument over who would step over the snoring sentinel first. They waved their hands back in forth and mouthed imperceptible words in anger before Alex bravely stepped over the man and into the hallway leading to the lobby. He paused, listening for any footsteps or sounds that their mission had been betrayed. Kelly bumped into him head first and gasped in surprise. Alex turned around and frowned at him harshly.
"Man, I have a bad feeling about this." He whispered. Alex could hear it in his ear from the transmitter. This reminded him to twist the face of the watch, activating the eyes and ears.
"Did I say I wanted a vacation in Tahiti? Now I want the whole island!" Kelly added, putting his shoes to the carpet and slipping them on. Alex slipped his shoes on and continued to edge along the wall to the stair case.
"Come on Kelly, we don't have much time, it's nearly two." Alex snapped as Kelly did a dive roll across the intersection of two hallways and came to his feet.
"You're just jealous because you can't do that." Kelly muttered in a phrase he forgot Alex was privy to as well. Alex bit his tongue and continued to climb up the stairs, pausing to stop Kelly and scout ahead before motioning him forward.
"Watch out for the top stair." Alex whispered to Kelly.
"Why?" Kelly asked him. A loud creak followed the question, Alex sighed and Kelly made an effort to jump the last stair onto the first floor hallway. They started up the next stair case when hushed voices assailed their ears. Both men froze and listened. The phrases were in Spanish, the gait of the walkers clearly military and heading up the next flight of stairs to the third floor.
"Ok Kelly. Remember that. At one-fifty five they were making the rounds to the third floor." Alex whispered before continuing up to the next floor. Seeing the hallway was empty, he motioned Kelly forward then proceeded to his room. In the dim light from the window at the end of the hallway, he was able to distinguish the lock from the door and inserted the key noiselessly. The door swung open and Alex pulled Kelly in as the guards made their decent from the third floor.
The room smelled of freshly laundered sheets and the breadth of the mattress made Alex's back ache for a comfortable bed and pillow. Sighing, he leaned his head against the door and listened for further commotion. When he heard none, he motioned to Kelly to help him move the chest of drawers over their secret information location. Stooping, Alex counted to three and the inched the solid oak drawers over until they could make out a change in the floor boards. He dug through the armoire before gloating in triumph. He flicked open his silver pocket knife and knelt to push up the floor boards with the sharp edge.
He stuck his tongue out in concentration, prying the boards with all his might while Kelly listened at the door. Hearing motion outside the door, Kelly snapped once and Alex immediately stopped what he was doing. Both men dove out of sight, Kelly to the opposite side of the door, Alex behind the curtains. The door knob twisted and the door was slowly pushed open. Kelly sprung into action, attacking the intruder and placing a firm grip over the mouth and around the neck.
"Don't move or my partner will tear you to shreds." Kelly whispered ominously. Alex revealed himself from behind the curtain and walked over to the person attired entirely in black, pulling off the mask and sighing with relief.
"Kelly Robinson, meet Julianne Johnson." Alex introduced quietly. Kelly released his grip around her mouth and took a step backwards.
"I told you she was sneaky." Kelly said with a grin, scrutinizing her face and giving Alex a nod of approval and a wolfish wink behind her back.
"It's nice to meet you. I've heard so much about you from the department." She said to Kelly, slipping off one glove and shaking his hand. He brought his lips to the top of her hand and smiled suavely.
"Good things?" He asked hopefully and Julianne fought back a smile.
"More or less; they were the best of the worst sort." She uttered cryptically. Alex snickered, Kelly appeared to be puzzled.
"I'm sorry I'm late. There were a few snags in the weaving." She explained to Alex, kneeling beside him and watching as he pried the floorboards up. They snapped and groaned at the pressure before relenting and revealing the space.
"Hey! I just realized what she just said." Kelly interjected loudly, causing Alex to wince at the volume. He put his hand to his ear and pointed to it irritably, reminding him of the ear piece.
"She's smart. Oh I like her." Kelly said with a growing smile. Alex thought to add to the sentence, but found himself momentarily inarticulate. He concentrated instead on lifting the small lockbox the gaping hole in the floor exposed. He entered a complicated sequence of numbers into the key pad and the box opened with a little snap. Alex flipped opened the lid and came suddenly to a sitting position taken a back.
"It's gone." He wheezed. Julianne and Kelly both looked up sharply, Kelly's gaze darting suspiciously around the room, crouching lower and listening to the door. Alex's glance narrowed.
"Were you really late?" He asked her abruptly. Julianne frowned at the tone of his question.
"What do you mean, Alex? I came in just now. You saw me." She said to him, seeing the mistrustful glint in his eyes.
"You're the only one who knew where this was located Julianne. Where is the information?" Alex questioned holding his hand out to her and moving toward her at a slow crawl.
"Why, if I had stolen it, would I come back?" She asked him, moving back as he moved forward.
"I don't know Julianne, why did you come back? Perhaps to finish the job for El Cid?" Alex questioned in a low voice. Julianne shook her head and looked to Kelly for his intervention.
"Alex man, don't jump to conclusions. But for that matter, it does seem odd. You did come down the day after the shoe beacon went off. How would BNS have been to react so quickly?" Kelly questioned and Julianne gaped at the two of them.
"They gave me the file. They chartered a jet." She managed nervously, seeing both men were creeping toward her now.
"No one has to get hurt Julianne. If you give us the information, Kelly and I will let you go. Your leader will deal with you far better than we ever could." Alex threatened and Julianne shook her head. "Where are you hiding it Julianne?" Alex questioned again.
"Yes, Julianne, where are you hiding it?" A slithering voice called from the corner of the inky black darkness. All three froze in fear.
"Why don't you tell them who you really work for?" The voice asked Julianne, taking step forward. Julianne edged backwards.
"I don't know what you're talking about." She managed to say bravely, putting her hands up as the glint of a metallic gun became clear in the moonlight. The voice laughed.
"Who are you?" Alex called to the voice suspiciously, seeing the way the gun shifted its position between Kelly and himself. Wisely, he backed toward Kelly, stepping in front of him to shield him from harm.
"Hey man, I can't see." Kelly objected.
"Come come Alex. I'm surprised you don't remember. How quick you are to forget how much we shared." The voice chided, taking another step forward. The figure was clear in the moonlight now. Alex frowned at the words.
"I think I would remember if we'd shared anything before." Alex said haughtily and the man shook his head, sweeping his hand up to his head and throwing off his hat, unleashing a flurry of mocha hair.
"Rachel." Alex and Kelly breathed at the same time.
"Man I told you that girl was no good." Kelly spat.
"You just said how much you liked her. Shut up Kelly." Alex ordered sternly, and Rachel let out a low laugh.
"It's of no importance. But I do want that information." She said, turning her gun back to Julianne.
"Do you think it's going to be that easy?" Julianne asked heatedly.
"I think you're going to need some persuasion." Rachel returned, pressing the muzzle of her gun underneath Julianne's jaw bone. "We can't all be his right hand woman now can we?" Rachel said, cocking the gun at ready. Julianne didn't flinch.
"You're a little more than right hand I suspect." Julianne shot back. Rachel pushed the gun harshly underneath her chin.
"Where is it?" Rachel questioned. Julianne remained still in stony silence.
"I'll try a different approach then." Rachel said with a sigh, releasing Julianne and striding up to Alex. She kneed him unexpectedly, causing Alex to hunch over in pain and drop to his knees.
"For old times sake Alex. That's how I say hello." Rachel sneered, pushing the gun to his temple and staring pointedly at Julianne.
"Now the stakes are higher. Where did you put the information?" Rachel growled lowly. Julianne laughed.
"Go ahead, shoot him. See what I care. He means nothing. But you'll be killing the only man with all the information at this point." Julianne stated casually with a carefree shrug.
"You're crazy!" Kelly said, surging forward.
"Shut up Kelly!" Alex and Julianne ordered darkly. Rachel snarled angrily at Julianne.
"You destroyed it all?" Rachel nearly screeched in frustration.
"Except for him." Julianne said testily.
"You little fool." Rachel retorted.
"Perhaps, but then again, I didn't sell my soul to a devil. That contract is starting to burn a little now, isn't it Rachel?" Julianne shot back, dropping her hands at her sides.
Angry foot steps raced through the apprehensive silent night and pounded on the door. Kelly jumped away and Rachel ordered Alex to his feet. Soldiers burst through the door, splintering it at the hinges.
"Release the other prisoners; these are the ones I want to keep. Take them to the attic and lock them in. I have to make a report." Rachel regulated loudly. Julianne was seized by the arms again and led up to Rachel. The taller woman stared her adversary down before reaching in one of the pouches she carried and pulling out a handgun and pointing it at Alex.
"Think about it Rachel. If you kill him, El Cid will still be captured, and you will have every BNS agent on the planet searching for you until you are hunted like a beast." Julianne cautioned.
"I didn't kill Alex Scott." She said coldly, firing one shot at Alex as the soldiers held him still. Julianne surged forward.
"You did." Rachel finished, wiping the gun off with the edge of her shirt and tossing it to the ground.
"Put them in the attic."

Chapter Seven:

The soldiers led them higher into the center of the hotel, stopping at the fifth floor and kicking open an unassuming brown door and leading them upstairs into a dark and dusty attic. They threw each of the prisoners down harshly, including the bleeding man before laughing as the exited.
Kelly crawled forward, suppressing a sneeze as the dust was kicked up.
"Alex. Alex!" Kelly called urgently. Alex groaned.
"Stay with me man. Don't leave me with the psychotic bitches." Kelly joked. Alex chuckled and then groaned with pain. Julianne stirred from the floor and crawled unassumingly over to Alex and Kelly.
"You just stay in that corner of the ring. I ain't ever hit a woman before but I'm really close." Kelly warned her, but she continued forward.
"I'm trying to help." Julianne protested gently taking out of black cargo pants a roll of bandages.
"We've got to stop the bleeding. It's the only chance he has." Julianne explained to Kelly and moved her hand forward to the crisp buttons of a once unstained dress shirt.
"You got him shot in the first place. You want him dead." Kelly objected, pushing her hand away.
"No Kelly. She saved our lives. If she hadn't said anything we would have been dead." Alex wheezed gratefully. Kelly let his jaw drop.
"You're delirious. You must have forgotten you just got shot." Kelly objected and Alex shook his head.
"I haven't forgotten." Alex added with a groan. Julianne began working at Alex's buttons again, this time unimpeded by Kelly.
"You're going to have to lift him up." She told Kelly, starting the roll of bandages and wrapping it with slow progress around Alex's chest.
"He's lucky she was angry. An inch or two lower and we would have been in serious trouble." She mused, taking out her canteen and letting Kelly pour it into Alex's parched mouth. Alex smiled weakly.
"That's good to know." He said with a laugh.
"But then you're not the bad guy?" Kelly asked confused. Julianne shook her head slowly.
"Not per say. I did take the information out of the box before hand, but only because I feared a trap. When Alex and I planned the meeting, I suspected we were being watched. I was right to a certain extent. What I didn't tell you earlier was that my room had been searched and ransacked. I thought nothing of it until tonight. I realized I had been bugged, and someone had been listening to the full gamma of our conversations." She told Alex, stooping in the low ceiling of the attic and searching through the trunks and boxes. She gave a cry of triumph and returned with a blanket. She folded it several times and slipped it underneath his head.
"So you retrieved the information earlier and hid it from the person." Alex said in comprehension. Julianne nodded.
"I would have told you, except I suspected the person was already in the room. I didn't know the person's identity until she revealed herself. I realized the only way to keep you alive was to make her believe the information had been destroyed and that you two were the only ones who knew. She would never murder either of you because of the consequences. Not to mention her prior connection to you." Julianne finished her narrative and tucked the end of the bandage. Blood already was beginning to seep through, causing Julianne to frown in concern but say nothing.
"What do you mean?" Alex asked confused wincing when Julianne tightened the bandage.
"She's obsessed with loosing and to a certain extent with you I would imagine. She mentioned in work place soirees her desire to work with you even though she had captured Carlos' fascination." Julianne told Alex with a slight smile. Alex puffed proudly for a moment.
"Did you mean it?" He asked her and Julianne paused, not understanding his question.
"Mean what?" She asked dumbly.
"What you said about shooting me and my meaning nothing." Alex offered shyly. Julianne chuckled.
"Of course I did. Every word of it." She said with a shake of her head. "Actually, I saw that in a movie once. I thought I would try it. I think it worked really well." She confided and Alex laughed.
" So you do care." Alex joked and Julianne shook her head.
"I don't care. It's just that I'm used to you, that's all. That and I want the Vaseline and watch back undamaged." She corrected and Alex smiled genuinely, resting his hand on top of hers as she re-buttoned his shirt. She blushed lightly and moved her hand when Kelly shot them both a skeptical look. Alex's eye lids began to droop.
"Keep him awake. Don't let him sleep. That could be bad." She ordered Kelly in his ear. I'm going to see if there is a way we can get him out of here."