She drove into the parking lot of a large pet store that allowed pets inside. Coaxing the kitten out from under the passenger seat, she carried her small friend into the store. Shelby selected a small teal colored carrier and immediately placed the animal inside before quickly adding litter, food, a collar and some toys to her cart. Glad for the distraction after the harrowing events of the evening, she spoke softly to the complaining kitten as she maneuvered the cart through the store.



*  *  *

Shelby parked her car and carried her temporary companion inside before going back to retrieve her other purchases. She decided to put an ad in the paper to find a home for the tiny stray. It would be two days before it was listed, allowing her time to take the animal to the vet and get its shots. It was too young to spay or neuter. Shelby chuckled when she realized she hadn't even looked to see if the kitten was male or female.

The refugee just about inhaled the small can of food she'd put down, and Shelby wondered where it had come from, knowing the kitten couldn't have been born on the streets, it was too friendly. A half-hour later, she finally settled into her chair and watched the kitten explore her small apartment.

Shelby heard a noise and jumped before realizing that it had come from an adjoining apartment. Oh, I'm in rare form tonight. Just get over it, already. But doubts still roamed the darker corridors of her mind. The shooting could be random coincidence, but why now? Why on my first day working a case involving field operatives?

She suddenly noticed the light was blinking on her answering machine and pressed the playback button. "Hi, Shelby. It's Mom. Call me later."

"Sorry, Mom, but not tonight," Shelby decided as she hit the delete button. Her mother let her know in no uncertain terms what she thought of her daughter working at the CIA, and none of it was good. She knew her mother was just worried about her, but no matter how many times she'd explained that she was not a spy, it hadn't made any difference. Her mother firmly believed that you are whom you run with and in her mind, that included work, too. And Shelby knew if her mother ever found out about the shooting, she would hound her relentlessly with "I told you so's" and exert even more pressure on her to find "more suitable work."

Instead, she picked up the phone and called Kim. "Hey."

"Hiya. What's going on? Kinda late for you to be calling isn't it?"

"Sorry, Kim. I never even looked at the clock."

Kim's voice changed from teasing to concerned. "You know me better than that. I'm always up late. I was just surprised that you are." She paused. "You sound kind of funny. You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. I had an interesting evening at the mall."

"You went shopping and didn't tell me? Did I ever tell you paybacks are a bitch? What was so interesting?"

Shelby began to relax at the sound of her friend's teasing, nonstop chatter. "Well, if you'd quit asking so many questions, I could tell you."

Kim chuckled, pleased that Shelby was sounding more like herself. "Okay, I'm all ears."

Unable to think of any way to break her news gently, Shelby said simply, "Someone shot at me in the mall parking lot."

"What!" Kim's voice was incredulous, but not disbelieving. "Are you okay? I'm coming right over."

"No, Kim. Wait. I'm fine. It's too late to come over. We've both got to work tomorrow. I just wanted to talk to someone about it."

"But, Shelby, I think I should come over. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Kim, please calm down. There's no need, really. I'm fine.

"Calm down!! My best friend gets shot at, and you want me to calm down. How can you be calm?"

"I'm not. That's why I called you. You're supposed to be calm and make me feel better."

"God, woman, not asking much, are you? Okay, tell me what happened. And don't leave out anything, okay?"

Shelby got off the phone a half hour later feeling much better until, mulling over the police officer's suggestion that it might be someone she knew, she suddenly remembered thinking that she'd seen Kris at the mall. Her mind refused to explore that line of reasoning. I don't want it to be her. The implications were too unthinkable. She wouldn't do that.

Upset that the idea had even crossed her mind, Shelby knew it was just an indication of just how shaken she'd been and thrust the thoughts from her mind. The incident was purely coincidental, just as she'd conveyed to Kim, and it wasn't the least bit fair to Kris to suspect her of having anything to do with it.

Shelby went to bed a short time later, but her sleep was fitful as she was awakened repeatedly by odd sounds. She knew that the kitten was responsible for the noises, but Shelby could normally sleep through anything, and knew the underlying cause of her restlessness was the shooting.



*  *  *

Kris arrived back in her hotel room after eleven. Her business had taken longer than she'd anticipated because she'd been followed. That in itself irked her, but what was even more troubling was that she wasn't sure who it had been and could only speculate. She could think of two possibilities, but Kris had been in the business too long to limit the possibilities to only the obvious.

Actually, she mused, it had been a good exercise. Her tail had been driving a black Honda Accord and had picked her up as she left the Avis car rental place. Since one of her errands was more immediate than the other, Kris set out to quickly lose her pursuer, and was satisfied that it had taken only a few minutes to do so. She smiled, pleased that she hadn't lost any of her evasive driving skills while ensconced in the Middle Eastern desert.

He had appeared again as she was driving down Wisconsin Avenue, and Kris had led him on a leisurely sight seeing tour through Northern Virginia and Washington D.C while at the same time familiarizing herself with the layout of the streets. It was her first trip back to the area since she'd graduated with top honors from her training course, and the operative didn't intend to be caught short by not having escape routes planned. When it was time for her meet, she'd simply lost him again.

Kris quickly showered, settled onto the bed, and flicked on the TV, but was unable to concentrate, her thoughts focusing instead on a set of friendly, but wary green eyes. Just forget about her. She is no different than any of the others. Closing her eyes tightly, she tried to force the image of the attractive woman from her mind. She's nothing but danger wrapped up in a pretty package. Besides, she'd hate me if she knew what I did tonight. Her last thought finally caused the image to fade away and, exhausted from the mentally draining activities of the past few days, she fell asleep.



*  *  *

For the second morning in a row, Shelby was up early, only this time, the cause was a small kitten sitting on the pillow playing with her hair. "Ouch." She lifted the kitten up, set it on her chest and gently stroked its soft fur. "Just what is wrong with the toys I bought for you?"

Shelby chuckled when the kitten looked right at her and meowed. "Whatsa matter? You hungry?" When her companion meowed a second response, she laughed. "Okay, already. I'm getting up."

She fed the kitten, and then played with it for a while, before looking through her closet trying to decide what to wear. Shelby was feeling considerably better than she had the night before, practicality exerting itself in the light of day. I probably was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just hope I never am again. She selected a rust-colored blouse that contrasted nicely with her light complexion and paired it with a white skirt. Unaware that she was doing it, Shelby took a little extra care with her hair and makeup before turning away from the mirror.

Shelby bent to pick up the kitten one last time. "I'm gonna find you a great home." She turned the kitten around and looked at its backside. "So you're a girl. I gotta go now, little one. You be good." Smiling at the purr that answered her, Shelby set her down before opening the door just enough to squeeze through sans kitten.



*  *  *

Kris rose early, as she always did, and ordered a pot of coffee. Her mind rapidly explored avenues that would accelerate the elimination of most of the twenty-seven operatives under suspicion. She hadn't been pleased to discover she was included on the list, but wasn't particularly bothered by the fact that her own name would not be among those quickly eliminated. She doubted the case would ever be solved conclusively, anyway. Her main priority right now was to get out of this assignment at headquarters, and to do that she had to produce a short list of names.

Try as she might, Kris was unable to stop her thoughts from turning to Shelby. She was unlike anyone the operative had worked with before and Kris tried to analyze what was so different. When she was unable to isolate the difference logically, her emotions took over and descriptive words began appearing in her mind. Refreshing, friendly, open, honest, warm, feisty, attractive...

Kris snorted. "And I need to get focused on the case, not the scenery." But even as she spoke the harsh words, she felt a fleeting sense of loss for what could never be. Deep down, Kris knew Shelby was different in a good way, and cursed fate for dealing her the harsh lonely hand it had.

Consciously casting aside those thoughts, Kris cleared her mind as she continued to sip the strong black coffee. She knew "uncle" wasn't going to wait too long before getting impatient, so she needed to decide how to proceed on that front.