SECRET AGENT DAWSON
Chapter Twenty-Three

Paola woke up the next morning. She had to confess her feelings. No more lies. Even if he rejected her, she would still be his friend, no matter what.

Paola knocked on Jack’s door.

He answered it.

"Hey, Paola. What’s up?" Jack eyes had still not adjusted to the light.

"Jack, can we talk?" Paola looked at him. He was more handsome than ever.

"Sure. What’s on your mind?" Jack rubbed his eyes, still feeling sleepy.

"Can we talk in private? Since Rose is in there, come with me."

She led him toward her room. He followed her inside, and Christian, who was just coming out, saw that he had followed her. He frowned.

"Paola, what’s so urgent that you came to me?" he asked.

"Jack, I don’t know how to say this, but over time we have done many things together, and over that time, something changed. I don’t know how, but Christian made me realize that I had to do it, even if you rejected me."

"Paola, what is it?" He turned her toward him.

"I am in love with you, Jack." She lowered her head.

"Oh, Paola." He hugged her against him.

"I know, Jack. I am so sorry. I know you’re married, but I had to tell you. I never meant for you to know, but I had to tell you so I could try and move on." She laid her head on his chest.

"Paola, I love you, too. No matter who I am with, I will always love you as a friend," he told her.

She held her pain, but that was all she could ask for--his friendship.

"Thanks. You can go now," she told him, wanting to be alone.

"All right. Take care, Paola." He left and went back to his room, feeling totally weird about what Paola had told him.

Jack opened his door to wake up Rose.

"Rose, darling. I need some loving." He wanted sex. He needed it badly.

"I thought you’d never ask," Rose said, half-asleep.

Jack made love to Rose, but during this he looked at Rose and saw Paola’s face. He stopped.

"What’s wrong, Jack?" Rose asked.

"Nothing," he said, and continued until he had satisfied Rose and himself.

What was happening? First Tobey and Lisa, then Jack and Paola. Things for the agents of Omega 3 were getting complicated. What would happen when they intercepted George?

Someone was going to die for sure, but who?

The Berlin Mission

Jack and the guys got their surveillance equipment on. Everyone was in position for the trade. George had not been spotted as of yet. But they were on the lookout.

Jack waited, and when he saw the smuggler who was going to trade the codes for some other unknown merchandise, he followed him.

Jack took out a smoke. He went up to the guy and asked him for a light.

"Hey, man, got a light?" Jack asked.

"No. I am sorry. I do not smoke." He was an Asian, short with dark hair.

"Ah…it’s okay. I should stop anyway." Jack put the cigarette into his pocket and tapped the guy on the back with a small tracer. "So, new in town?" Jack asked.

"Sorry. Can’t talk now. I need to get this letter to someone," the man said, wanting to get rid of Jack.

"Sure. Need some assistance?" Jack asked.

"Yes. I am looking for a man who calls himself Alex," the man said.

"You mean Alex Smith?" Jack went and took the man aside.

"No. Alex Kaufman," the man replied.

"Aw…then you have found him," Jack lied.

"I am so sorry. I heard about you and I didn't mean to offend you in any way." The man was scared of him.

"Not to worry, friend. Give me the letter. Then you can go," Jack told him.

"Not to be mean, sir, but what's the password?" the man asked.

"Password? I think George and I are beyond passwords." Jack laughed.

"Yes. George asked me to ask you for the password. Said he didn't trust anyone because of someone agent named Dawson."

"Dawson?" Jack asked.

"Yes. Secret Agent Dawson. He's been following him since the beginning. The guy has no life, or so George told me."

"Really? Then I will have to find this Dawson character and teach him a lesson." Jack played his role.

"So, the password?" the man asked, and waited.

"Ah…yes, the password." Jack tried to think of all the passwords that George used over time. Then, one word came to his mind. Veritas.

"The password is veritas," Jack said confidently.

"Good. You can have the letter, then. Good-bye, sir." The man gave him the letter and walked away.

Jack held the letter in his pocket, called his men, and they retreated to their hotel room.

When they met inside Jack's room, they opened the contents of the mysterious letter.

Dear Mr. Kaufman,

All is arranged. The warheads are on a cargo ship headed to Lake Wissota, Wisconsin. I didn't trust putting warheads in Germany, especially in Berlin, since security is so tight. So I will see you there. Eight AM sharp Thursday.

Sincerely,

George

"I guess our work here is done, then," Bill said.

"Pretty much, but we need someone to hand over this letter to Mr. Kaufman. We need him to be there, too," Jack said.

"How will we find him?" Tobey asked.

"Someway, somehow, we will," Jack told him.

They used Christian as the delivery boy, since he had hardly done anything other than hacking into things.

He ran into some tough men.

"Excuse me. I am looking for Alex Kaufman."

"Is he expecting you?" they asked him.

"Sure is. I got his letter," Christian said.

"All right. Go on through." They let him pass without a password even.

When he entered Mr. Kaufman’s office, it was quiet. No one seemed to be around. Then someone appeared. Alex.

"Ah…you the delivery boy from George?" he asked as he smoked his cigar.

"Sure am. He said to give this to you." Christian handed over the letter.

"Thank you. You can go," Alex said.

Christian got out of there as fast as he could, not wanting to be noticed by anyone.

*****

When he got back to his hotel room, Paola was inside, waiting for him.

"Paola? Am I in the wrong room?" he asked, wondering what was going on.

"No. This is still your room," she told him, just sitting on his bed.

"So why are you here?" he asked, taking off his jacket.

"I was waiting for you. I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I told Jack the truth and I wanted to thank you." She walked over to him and kissed him deeply. He fell back against the wall. He had not expected that. When she pulled away, she said, "Thank you," and left.

Christian couldn't believe it. The way she had kissed him was telling him that they were becoming more than friends.

*****

The team headed over to Wisconsin the next day. They wanted to get there before and check out what was going on. They weren't nervous about anything, but this was a change for sure. Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin was a quiet town. There was not a lot of stuff there but little towns, unlike the city where George always showed up. Maybe he had family there. Who knew, but Jack intended to find out.

Chapter Twenty-Four
Stories