Chapter 1
It was very late, or more accurately, early. Special Agent Timothy McGee stepped out of the jazz club and onto the sidewalk, his arm casually draped across the shoulders of his date. Her name was Megan Hearn and she was spectacular, at least in appearance. She tossed him a smile that would stun even the coldest of hearts as she tossed her long, dark hair behind her shoulder. Unfortunately, it hadn't taken Tim long to discover that Megan's beauty was deceptive. Oh, she was kind and not at all emotionally shallow, but that still wasn't enough to make up for the void that was where her intellect should be.
Tim saw confusion and a hint of disappointment in her eyes when he dropped a chaste kiss on her cheek and bid her goodbye at her door. He was so tired of casual relationships. He enjoyed sex as much as the next guy, but what he truly longed for was someone with whom he could truly connect – emotionally and intellectually, as well as physically. He had thought he had a chance to achieve this with his coworker, Abigail Scuito, but that hadn't worked out. She was a business casual kind of gal, and he wasn't built to be a boy-toy. He would always be attracted to her physical beauty, charm, intellect and craftiness; but even that wasn't enough if she didn't want what he did out of a relationship.
So focused was the young man on his thoughts, that he took a wrong turn on the way back to his apartment. McGee shook his head in frustration, and turned down a side road to backtrack to the correct area of town. Before he realized what had happened, he was totally and completely lost in an area of town he normally avoided. "Great," he said to himself. "This is just what I need." He followed a small line of cars down a side street, hoping that the majority of people would be heading back toward a part of town with which he would be familiar. The cars, one by one, pulled into the parking lot of what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. "Fantastic," Tim muttered sarcastically. Loud music practically shook his car and would-be partiers weaved around his car, as he attempted to find a large enough space in the lot to turn around.
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Julie pushed the first assailant from her with a shove, and then quickly dropped to avoid a punch from the second. She rose back up quickly, her right fist connecting with the first man's chin. She ducked out of his grasp, only to be grabbed from behind by a third man. Leaning back against him, she brought up both her long, shapely legs and kicked the first two men simultaneously. Both men fell back, favoring their genitalia in agony. The man who was holding her flipped her around and landed a hard hit to her left cheekbone. She screamed as she felt the blood begin to run down her face.
"Give us the flash drive," he demanded.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" she reiterated as she found her footing. The sound of her roundhouse kick connecting and his subsequent landing on his rear was very satisfying. She may not be a federal agent like her sister, but she could hold her own.
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A high-pitched scream that seemed to come from the lot next to the one he was in captured his attention. "Crap," he said as he drove to the edge of the parking lot only to find it didn't connect to the lot from which the scream seemed to originate. He backed his car slowly, and then winced as he quickly accelerated and drove over the parking blocks at the edge of the lot. As he crossed behind the building next to the warehouse, he got out of the car, leaving it running, and drew his SIG Sauer. He rounded the building quickly but quietly, to find three men advancing on a beautiful, young lady.
"Federal Agent!" he shouted, brandishing his weapon.
With one final blow the apparent leader of the group took off. McGee ordered them to halt, and fired a shot when the men refused to comply. More concerned with helping the young woman than catching the men who were assaulting her, he turned his attention back to her. She was lovely, excepting the blood and wounds from the attack that were marring her flawless complexion. She was sitting on the ground, her arms resting on her knees. Her long auburn hair fell over her shoulder and hid part of her face, strands of it mixing with her blood.
"Are you okay?" Tim asked, taking a knee beside her.
"Fornell," she whispered between breaths. "They took my cell phone," she explained.
"FBI Special Agent Fornell?" Tim asked for clarification. Julie smiled.
"You know him," she stated.
"I'll call him on the way to the hospital," McGee said as he helped her rise to her feet. He took most of her weight on his side as he ushered her to his car.
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