The invitation said formal, so G pulled out a long green dress and inspected it in the mirror. Formal, yes, and sexy, but not too much as to cause a situation. The back was open, the straps were thin, and it showed just enough cleavage to barter down a cab fare home, if needed.
G walked into the bathroom and briefly flashed back to the last time she wore this dress. It was a dinner in the capitol, part of the same investigation into an Italian diplomat's increasingly shady deals. The dinner was boring and nothing useful came of it. But tonight, maybe this dress would prove valuable.
Shaking away the memories, G pulled on black lace panties and after some debate, chose a similar black lace strapless bra that clung to her tightly and made sure nothing was out of place.
G brushed her hair and wound it into a twist. She applied some makeup and added earrings before sitting back. On a whim, she pulled out her best red lipstick and put on a thick coat. With the dark green of the dress, G thought, the deep red looked good.
Gathering her coat and purse, G sent a text to her contact for the night. Sherri texted back quickly with directions to meet a block away from the ambassador's villa. G called a cab.
...
Sherri wasn't there when G stepped out of the cab into the night. Well, she didn't come around the corner until a moment later.
Wearing a long black coat and hat, G thought Sherri took herself too seriously as a spy, but Sherri was far too skilled at her job for G to say anything.
"Hey. Did you get instructions earlier today?"
"Yes," G said. "I'm on the lookout for one of the potential dealers or the diplomat. But my money is on the diplomat, he doesn't miss parties like this."
"Don't be so sure," Sherri warned. "He could know we are looking into him, so we need to be careful."
Sherri pulled a phone out of her pocket.
"Thankfully for us, the man we want to track has been photographed with this phone. If you can switch out this phone that we have bugged, tonight will be a success."
She handed the phone to G.
"Text me as soon as you make the switch and I'll activate it to mirror his normal phone."
"Thanks." G made a point to ask her later how this was done when the man in question wasn't known to them.
"And good luck tonight," Sherri smiled. "You look like a knockout."
G smiled as Sherri disappeared into the dark. G tucked the phone into her purse and turned the corner toward the large house ahead.
...
G didn't see the diplomat anywhere. It was disappointing, but not as disappointing as the ambassador's offer to go see his new-first-edition-of-who-knows-what-upstairs-in-his-office as his hand slid slowly down her back. G sipped on a champagne. This was not going well.
Out of the corner of her eye, G saw a tall figure enter the room and greet the ambassador. She stole a glance and immediately wished she hadn't. M didn't look any different from the last time she saw him, or at least, the last time he knew they saw each other.
M made his business on risky trades with arms dealers and those who worked either side of any war. Suspicious, G followed him one night after he left her apartment, and after noting their rendezvous point and recognizing many of the faces present, knew she had to leave him. She hoped she would never see M again, and actively denied their lines of work could very well cause them to cross paths. Wishful thinking.
G turned away from the door and scanned the room. If the Italian guy wasn't here and they had so few details on the dealers... could it be M? She didn't have much time to find out.
So little time, in fact, that as G was scheming, M had come up and placed his hand on the small of her back.
"Hello, this is quite a surprise." M slid his arm around G's waist as he kissed her cheek.
"I had no idea you were in town," G said. His arm felt strong against her body.
"Me neither. I came in for a meeting and stopped by tonight to see some friends. Apparently, I am seeing more than that."
M looked G up and down. "You look incredible."
"As do you."
M reached toward a passing tray for two glasses.
"How have you been?"
"Fine and yourself?" G reached to put her empty glass on the tray, their fingers brushing.
M smiled and said, "I'm doing fine, too."
They drank in silence.
"Have you been traveling?" G asked.
"Some. I was in Algiers last week and went to Frederick's. He finally got that new roof." M grinned at G. It was his favorite restaurant to take G when they had traveled together.
"Good for him, that place was excellent."
G drank deeply. There was also a documented shipment of ammunition from Algiers four days ago. Based on their information and M's story, it could only have been one of M's contacts. M had to be her target for the night, of course! Sherri must have known but wasn't willing to tell her, fearing she'd back out. No wonder she already had his phone programmed. G had turned over the contents of his phone to headquarters a few months ago, before never picking up another one of his calls and pretending she'd never see him again.
"Yes, Frederick was one of the first people I ever did business with and he's a good man. He always spoke very highly of you, even if your Arabic needed some practice." M looked intently at G, smiling and gently teasing her.
Two military captains passed by and one glanced back over his shoulder at G.
