Warming the IcePrincess Pt. 04

"Hey Sue, its Jane," I said giving her a moment to get over being pestered with work on the weekend.

"Well hi there boss, I was Just thinking about you," her voice brightened. "I was just trying to figure out where to go shop for some new duds for work, can't really go to any of the places I usually shop."

"No I suppose not," I chuckled into the phone and a thought struck me, "Hey how would you like some company?"

"Yeah sure, in fact now that I think about who would be better to have along than the cruel taskmistress that decided 'I'm with stupid' wasn't good enough for the office anymore."

Caught a bit off-guard by her jibe I took a second to respond, "Well...you don't have to Sue dear...I could offer your job to somebody else and this troublesome promotion business would all go away. Hmm I wonder how...Walter would like his own office."

"Oh god Jane don't even think it," she groaned, "If you gave the job to him you'd need to have every door in the building widened at head level."

The image of a pair of contractors comparing that pompous asses swollen head to a reconfigured doorway sprang into my cartoon bubble and I cracked up telling Sue, "Yeah I see your point."

"Not to worry Sue I wouldn't subject that 'tyrant in a teapot' on the rest of the department. That would be evil, so I guess I'm gonna have to stick with you after all."

She was laughing too now and could only get out, "I guess," between giggles.

That's when I told her, "This an official Job offer now," I paused to let that sink in. "It was approved at the highest level yesterday and I wanted to give you a little extra time to think it over before you have to give me your answer."

When she didn't respond immediately, I filled the silence telling her, "I'm increasing the salary for that position a full 20% from what I was making which would still only make it...$47,500 to start with but it should be a decent raise for you."

She whistled then said, "Damn boss they were sure getting you cheap all these years."

I chuckled and answered her, "Tell me about it, but they are kind of making it up to me now."

"O.K. I've thought it over," she paused for just a second then asked, "When do I start?"

Smiling privately at her eagerness I told her, "Well there is a bit of paper work that needs to be handled in H.R. but I can show you your new office in the morning say about nine o'clock."

Her voice had a patronizing edge to it when she said, "Uh, Jane I kinda know what the office looks like."

"Don't be so sure Suzy-baby," I teased her.

"Get the fuck out," her excitement burst through the earpiece, "Adams old office?" she asked.

Damn she was quick. That's another reason she was the only one I ever considered for my replacement. "I'll show you tomorrow. What do you say we go and get some shopping done now? How about you pick me up in half an hour, I still have to get dressed."

She let out a whoop and said don't hurry she'd be would be right over, before asking me where the hell I was.

"Do you know where the Tourelle lumineuse condominiums are," I asked her.

She answered quickly, "Yeah, it's on the east side off Riverview parkway, I know where it is."

"Good when you get here check in with security I'll let them know you're coming, I'm in suite 1114 see you in a bit," I told her and hung up and scurried off to find something to wear.

In precisely eighteen minutes security called, telling me that I had a guest waiting in the lobby. I asked them to send her up, while I finished getting dressed and brushing my hair. Sue was suitably dazzled by Claire's condo and all of its accoutrements.

"Whoa boss nice place you have here," she said as her eyes took in the spacious rooms elegant furnishings.

I grinned and shrugged say to her, "Yeah well, when you're secretly pulling down a V.P.'s salary while running a clandestine operation as an executive assistant you can afford digs like these."

She laughed and asked me, "Speaking of clandestine operations what's with the two goons parked outside watching the building?"

"Goons?" I answered her question with one of my own.

She smiled wider and told me, "Yeah boss they're out front sitting in a grey Crown Vic, I'm parked right across from them. From what I heard downstairs, they've been there all night. One of the guards is all in a lather because one of them smokes and has been flipping his butts on the lawn."

I quickly assembled a picture from what she was telling me and it fit right together with the car that I saw following me home the night before. "God Damn that guy, I told him someone's been following me," I said in an angry outburst.

"Who boss?" she asked her brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Oh I called that fucking Gibbons guy from the FBI this morning and he blew me off. Told me I was just being paranoid."

"What are you gonna do boss, you can't just let them get away with this shit," she said with some real heat in her voice.

I smiled pleased that she was so concerned for me and said, "I have an idea but I'll need your help with it."

She asked with a nasty leer on her face, "We gonna go down there and bust 'em up? I'm in boss, I'll take ol' smokey."

I laughed at her enthusiasm but said, "No hon I had something a little more subtle in mind, take off your clothes."

Her face went instantly slack as she froze in absolute stunned silence.

"C'mon hustle up girlie," I barked as I quickly shed my own shirt draping it over the back of a chair.

"Whatever you say boss, but I fail to see how two naked angry women will have any advantage kicking someone's ass over two angry women with their clothes on."

I laughed so hard at her erroneous description I had to grab at the chair to keep from falling over. "No silly," I choked out, "we're gonna switch. You take off in my car and they'll follow you, and then I can tail them. I'll get their plates and maybe even a picture or something. Then tomorrow when I see special agent Gibbons again I'll shove that info so far down his throat he'll have paper cuts on his hemorrhoids."

She started pulling off her clothes rapidly understanding exactly what I had in mind now. When the transformation was complete, I looked her over in my clothes. My khakis were a bit snug on her especially in the hips and thighs but long and loose everywhere else. I have to say the tank top I swapped with her had never been filled out quite so well when I was wearing it. Her baggy outfit worked on my longer slimmer frame, though her hair was definitely going to be a problem. An idea struck me and I told her to stay put while I dashed for the bedroom and swung into the closet. Jumping a few times to reach it, I finally plucked a dusty old baseball cap from the top shelf. Next, I extracted the hair extensions from the box that held my schoolgirl outfit. I stuffed them through the hole in the back of the cap and pinned them securely to the hat. When Sue donned the contraption and stood across the room I decided we just might pull it off as long as they didn't look too close, or figure out that I had developed a real nice round little ass overnight.

I tossed her the keys for the Beemer and told her, "Keep the top up and haul ass out of the neighborhood so they don't get a good look at you. Slow-up a little when you get out on the freeway to make sure they could follow along."

"Sounds good boss, where will you be?" she asked.

"I'll be behind them in my old Chevy, a big rusty blue one. With any luck you'll never see me and neither will they."

Smiling mischievously she high-fived me and asked, "Where do you want me to start my shopping trip?"

I thought for a few seconds searching my memory and said, "Do you know Philbin's menswear it's on sixth street downtown?"

"Sure," she answered with a little laugh and nodded.

Go look at their belts and neckties they're way in the back. That'll make them hang around out front and maybe I can capture them on this." I pulled my little credit card sized digital camera from my pocket to show her.

"Way to go boss, let's do it," her excitement was starting to infect me so much that we almost forgot to lock the door in our rush to leave.

My hasty little plan was working better than I expected. When Sue whizzed past them on the street in a fiery red blur and they obediently followed her maintaining a safe distance. I fell in behind them easily in the late morning traffic. I moved in close enough to snap several pictures of their car hoping to get a nice clear image of the plate number. I could tell Gibbons in the morning that whoever they were their education in counter-surveillance was as poor as the FBI's combat training. I watched as Sue ducked inside Philbin's while 'Crew-cut and 'Smokey' parked about a block away from the storefront. I tucked into a spot a block behind them and started casually making my way down the sidewalk toward their car. 'Smokey' sauntered down the sidewalk and hung around out front, peeking inside the store from time to time. From the mouth of a nearby alley, I snapped several decent shots of him as he waited for her to emerge.

I was about to head back to my Chevy when a meaty hand clamped down on my shoulder and began forcing me to turn around. Grabbing at the fingers and twisting them savagely, I spun to face the owner of the offending paw. The angle of my shoulders helped me develop some power and I completed my rotation driving my fist as hard as I could into the notch on his chest where his ribs met. His loud explosive gasp told me my blow had its intended effect. His eyes were wide in stunned surprise as he struggled to catch his next breath. Recognizing his blonde crew cut, I knew immediately he was the Smokey's partner. I was instantly pissed at myself for letting him get around me. It was too late to worry about it now so I took out my frustration on 'Crew-cut', the poor fucker. Using the fingers I was still twisting backwards, I jerked him forward off balance and drove my knee into his groin, hard. His legs went rubbery and I stepped around him still wrenching on his now mangled hand. Before he crumbled to the ground completely I rotated using my hips to generate some torque and fired a spinning side-kick into his sternum driving him over backward. As he fell, his head clanged with a hollow thud off a dumpster in the alley behind him. He dropped to the ground in an unconscious heap.

I knelt quickly and checked him over just a little afraid I might have killed the sorry bastard. There was no blood and he was already starting to moan and breathe a bit easier. I searched him quickly finding a leather case in his breast pocket. When I cracked it open, I spotted a small gold badge, and groaned knowing exactly what it was. I'd seen several just like it recently but continued searching him anyway. I located both his gun and handcuffs and quickly snapped one end of the cuffs around one of his wrists. I fastened the other end to the lifting lug welded halfway up the side of the dumpster. Next, I released the fully loaded clip from his automatic and threw it into the dumpster. Remembering to rack the slide back to eject the round from inside the chamber, I picked it up and it joined its mates in the trash. Extracting his I.D. card out of the badge case, I dropped it and his now useless Glock onto his chest muttering "asshole." Before turning to leave the alley I gave him one more wickedly satisfying kick on his thigh. It wouldn't do any more damage than maybe give him a nice livid bruise to remember me by. With any luck he'd also have a limp for the next few days. I smiled picturing him having to hobble around the office and explain to all his FBI buddies how he got the limp and the knot on his melon from a girl.

I walked boldly up the sidewalk to go find Sue and tell her the game was up. As I sauntered past old 'Smokey' waiting outside on the curb I told him, "Hey somebody fucked up your pal in that alley back there, you'd better go check on him."

His eyes widened with a start when he recognized me but he turned quickly away rushing up the street in the direction I'd come from. Before I stepped into the store to find Sue I had an odd flash of déjà vu as I watched him scramble down the sidewalk and into the alley. We stood inside watching them through the front window as their car zipped by on the street I told Sue what happened and showed her the card I pulled from 'Crew-cuts' wallet and she whistled in surprise.

"Jeeze boss do think it's smart to beat the shit out of the feds. that way?" she asked with a chuckle.

Glancing at the card in my hand, I told her, "From what I can see here this asshole is supposed to be working in the Hoover building in D.C. If I'm right, our local boys don't know a thing about it. They're going to be plenty pissed that these two clods were even here."

I put the card back into my pocket, threw my arm over her shoulder, and said, "I'll worry about that tomorrow when I'm screaming at Agent Gibbons, then it'll be his problem. Now let's get out of here and head over to the mall, we still have some shopping to do."

Chapter 17

(Following Orders)

Having to drive separately in the two cars turned out to be a bit of a boon for Sue, but raised hell with my credit card balances. The Beemer had such a tiny trunk and no back seat that it wouldn't hold shit, but the trunk and back seat of my Chevy were enormous and damn near full when we finally left the mall. Back at Claire's as we transferred her many bags into her trunk and back seat I began regretting my insistence that the trip to the mall was "my treat." I did have to admit that Sue had been instrumental in figuring out who had been following me. Since she was also updating her wardrobe at my suggestion, I guess it's a little late to start griping now. We put the cars away in the garage feeling pretty good about the way things had worked out and I invited her upstairs for coffee and to finish swapping back into our own clothes.

I went straight into the bedroom to put away the new clothes that I bought when the phone started ringing and I hollered, "Hey Sue to grab that would ya."

Finished hanging all my new pretty things I stepped up onto the corner of a box to put the stupid baseball hat away where I found it. Just as I was reaching to put the hat where I'd found it the damn box flipped underneath my foot. My arms flailed as I clutched at anything within reach trying to regain my balance. I ended up falling in a graceless heap to the floor pulling down all of my gorgeous new clothes that I'd just hung with great care.

Sue appeared at the door with the phone to her ear laughing and said, "No she's right here in the bedroom rolling around on the closet floor."

"What?" she asked with a smile then answered, "Hell I don't know, it looks like she's wrestling with the new outfits she bought today, it's kinda funny because I think the clothes are winning!"

"Is she always this clumsy?" She giggled into the receiver then said, "Ya know when she gets a little older like next year or something and falls like this she could break a hip and then she'll be nothing but trouble."

"So I fell, who the hell is that anyway?" I groused at her thoroughly embarrassed.

She mouthed China to me and winked I was only slightly relieved, thankful it wasn't an important call the way she was carrying on. I decided I could look on her teasing a little more charitably since it was Claire and she was already well aware of my unfortunate tendency to tip over.

"Oh yeah she's had a busy day shopping with me, beating the shit out of an FBI guy in an alley, but right now she looks like a whipped puppy rolling around on the floor the way she is," Sue was enjoying this immensely and I couldn't help but to start laugh with her.

Her expression turned more serious for a second as she listened intently. When her eyes moved back to me, she was beaming. "Sure, Damn right, I'd love to as long as you're good with it. What did you have in mind?"

Now I was perplexed at what the two of them might be discussing. Hearing only one side of a conversation can sometimes be unbelievably maddening.

Sue kept looking at me then grinning while she listened only occasionally averting her eyes to add an occasional remark like, "yep" "O.K." "Won't work" "No problem" or "I gotcha."

She started laughing again, really hard this time and then suddenly snapped off a very military response saying, "Yes mam! I'll give it my best effort, you can count on me."

Sue reached out the phone handing it over to me and left the room chuckling. I was still all tangled up with my wardrobe only barely able to achieve a sitting position. I put the phone to my ear and said, "Hi babe she's lying her ass off, the clothes were not winning! Now just what are you two cooking up?"

Claire's warm throaty laugh made me forget all of the nasty retorts I'd dreamed up for the pair of them while I lay sprawled on the floor. They were having so much fun talking about me I had a few juicy ones saved and ready but all was forgiven the instant I heard her voice.

"Jane honey I love you, but it sounds to me like your last few days have been pretty stressful, am I right?" She asked me the concern in her tone was genuine.

"Yeah," I said with a sigh, "I can't argue with you there hon, I have been awful...busy."

"See babe that's what I'm talking about," she said decisively and continued, "Since I'm not there to tell you to knock it off when you need it, and I'm guessing you need it right bloody now! I've asked the lovely Miss McKenzie to make sure you relax tonight. That way I won't have to worry that you're over doing it, at least until I'm back there to take care you myself. Now be a good girl and do as she says."

"Aw damn Claire, do I have to? She gets so damn bossy when she's left in charge." I raised my voice so that Sue was sure to hear that last bit.

"Yes, I won't have you running yourself down baby. You've had an awful lot thrown on your plate lately. I just know you'll work yourself to death trying to get it all done. It worries me. I'm not there to help you through any of it, so tonight Sue is."

I was really touched by her concern but I wasn't so sure I wanted Sue to "make me" relax at all.

"Don't fight me on this honey, you mean too much to me to have you working yourself sick," she told me her voice becoming thick with emotion.

Oh god, that did it I would have crawled across broken glass for her if she'd asked.

"Okay you win," I told her softly, "I'll do what I'm told. You shouldn't have to worry about me you have an important job to do too."

I sighed in defeat then asked her, "How's that going by the way?"

"Good," she said, "We gave them the proposal a few hours ago, and we'll probably hear from them again sometime in the morning."

"So how'd ya do?" I asked her impatiently.

"Hard to tell the seemed pleased but they had their own stop loss analyst along who turned out to be a total pain in the ass. Overall I'd say we gave them pretty much what they were looking for," she said with a satisfied tone.

"That's good to hear, and how are you doing? You've' been working pretty hard too sweetness. Maybe you should follow your own advice and relax," I ribbed her just a little.

She snickered and answered, "Point taken, I was just thinking about curling up for a nap. The time change has me all screwed up."

"Well I should let you go and go find what Sue is up to. I hate to leave her running around unsupervised ya know what I mean?"

I could almost feel her smiling and she told me in a lighter tone, "I told Sue to give a call later to let me know how you guys are doing."

"Sure, checking up on me now, making sure I not being a naughty girl," I taunted. "Don't you trust me?"

"Honey you know I do, I just want to make sure you're having a nice evening and Sue's helping you relax. I can't wait to finish up here and get back to take care of you myself baby."