"Well it's about time. b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l woman; how the h.e.l.l do you wake up in the morning? Does your alarm clock have a built in fog horn?" Addison unbuckled Skyler's seat belt. She held her thumb and index finger close together. "I was this close to checking for a bleeding pulse."

"I'm a heavy sleeper," Skyler replied. She followed Addison as the ebony haired woman exited the Forester.

An early afternoon chill greeted them. Addison looked around the service station. There were two buildings; the largest was to the left. A new, red brick establishment offered cooked foods and a selection of coffee. To the right was a smaller, narrow building. It was the petrol station offering a limited selection of travel snack foods, maps, magazines and only three petrol pumps. The colours were clear, indicating one of each fuel: unleaded, diesel, and four-star. Addison and Skyler headed towards the diner.

"Heavy sleeper?" Addison laughed as they pa.s.sed a dark green tractor. "The only other person I know who can sleep like that was my uncle Benny and he was in a coma for two years."

"Funny!" Skyler replied in a droll voice. "So, is that the wit you say you rely on in tight situations? If it is then I think any response you get is nothing more than sympathy at your lame sense of humour."

Addison grinned widely. "Believe me... I am quite capable of causing many reactions in people!" She pulled open the single swing door. "Ladies first."

Skyler walked into the cafe, Addison by her side. The fragrant aroma of home cooked foods and fresh coffee was a welcome invasion to the senses. Although the cafe was quite large, with ten circular tables and several, more private, booths, only six people inhabited the establishment. Two sat at the counter, Addison could tell they were locals. A young couple sat in the middle of the room. By their dress she could easily surmise they were from a larger city. Two heavy goods drivers sat devouring hearty lunches. Addison headed towards the corner booth and sat in a vinyl chair opposite Skyler. A laminated menu stood in the centre of the table beside empty salt and pepper pots. Picking up the menu, Skyler browsed the diner's offerings. "Oh my G.o.d, they have black pudding. I know what that stuff is." She grimaced and placed the menu down, sliding it over to Addison.

"No, you order," Addison replied. She brought out her wallet and placed a twenty-pound note upon the table. She had plenty of money. In Addison's ever-constant need to be prepared for any situation, on every mission she carried a certain amount of cash and several credit cards, provided by Special Operations, of course. It was important that each agent had an unlimited expense account on each mission because they could never know if and when they would need the cash... even if it were to be used as a bribe. She slid the note over to Skyler. "Get me a tuna sandwich, four of them, two bottles of mineral water and a black coffee. Get yourself whatever you want as well. I'm just heading to the bathroom. I'll be less than a minute."

"Why do I have to go?" Skyler sat back in her chair. "And what was it you said about wanting to give me something? You never did."

"One, because they love Americans up here... and two, when I get back I will tell you." Saying that, Addison headed off towards a wide blue door.

As promised, Addison returned within a minute to find Skyler still at the counter, ordering their food. She sat back at the booth and waited. Addison watched as Skyler spoke to a very handsome Scotsman. She would have thought there was interplay of serious flirting occurring between them, but on catching a glimpse of Skyler's expression, she could see the interest was only one way. Just as she was about to go over and innocently intervene, Skyler headed back to their table.

"So how long will it take?"

Skyler sat back down. "Conner says about fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen? There is hardly anybody here!" Addison adopted a curious expression. "I bet it wouldn't have taken so long if you hadn't been flirting with chef boy over there." She knew she was goading Skyler, but couldn't seem to help it. There was a fire in her eyes that Addison found both daring and exciting.

"I was not. I was only giving our order."

"Then why is he looking over here like a lovesick school boy?"

Skyler turned and sure enough Connor was looking over in her direction. She smiled innocently, gave him a slight wave and turned back to Addison. "He's just being friendly. I didn't give him any encouragement."

Addison nodded. "Good," then added rather swiftly, "We can do without the attention." She traced her fingers over the table absently. "Listen... what I wanted to give you was this." Cautiously, she pulled an item from her pocket, an item that had previously resided on her boot, and placed it on the table. Addison kept her hand upon the gun and holster, s.h.i.+elding it from prying eyes.

"What it is?" Skyler tried to peer under Addison's hand.

"It's a pistol."

"What? Green eyes grew wide. "No way."

"Look," Addison leaned closer, lowering her voice. "I am in a position to give you this and you must take it."

Skyler shook her head. She was adamant. "No... I can't... I could never shoot somebody."

"That's not what I am asking." Addison took a deep breath as she began explaining herself. She kept her hand covering the Browning pistol. "I don't want you to use it on anybody, I would never ever ask that of you. Think about this logically... if you were to fire a gun in the vicinity of a flock of birds, what would they do?"

"I guess they would fly away," Skyler answered, still not positive where Addison was heading with her reasoning.

"Exactly." Addison looked down at her hand. "Remember, it's the person holding the weapon that bears the responsibility. All I'm asking is that you take it for insurance. If you are confronted, sometimes just to point one of these things in a person's direction is enough to scare them away. If not then fire a round near them as a warning. Just like the birds, it can be enough to scare somebody away."

Skyler appeared to think for a moment. "And what if it isn't?"

Taking Skyler's hand Addison placed the pistol upon her palm. The gun lay in-between their hands. "Then I would have heard the shot, I would recognise the sound, and will be there for you. It's a worst case scenario issue, but I like to be prepared."

With a sigh, Skyler nodded her head. "Okay... but I hope to G.o.d I never have to use it." She took the pistol and attached it to the back of her jeans, imitating the way Addison wore both of hers.

"I do too." The agent pulled out two spare clips. "These go with it. Just put them in your pocket."

Skyler took them silently, slipping them into Addison's coat pocket, which she still wore.

Just then, Connor appeared at their table holding a fully loaded tray. "Ladies," he said, filling their table.

Addison watched as a large plate was placed in front of Skyler. She frowned at Skyler's choice but waited for the waiter to leave before she made comment. Eventually he did.

"You turn your nose up at black pudding, yet you are prepared to eat haggis?"

"It's supposed to be the owner's special, secret recipe," Skyler defended as she poked a fork into her meal.

"Yeah? Well so was my aunt's 'broiled pigs head stew' but that didn't appeal to me either."

In the background, soft tones from a radio floated through the air. Addison looked over to where Connor had turned on the small wireless. He twisted the dial to a station playing love songs and looked over at her table.

"Ugh..." Addison groaned in annoyance.

Skyler carried on obliviously. "And you're the one who's supposed to have the adventurous spirit."

Addison picked up her sandwich. "I know my limits."

"Pigs' heads?"

"And sheep stomachs." Addison bit into her sandwich. She chewed thoughtfully. Something had suddenly occurred to Skyler and Addison could tell it seemed to trouble her. She didn't need to second-guess what Skyler was thinking. "You're worried about your mother."

Skyler placed down her fork. "How can I sit here like this, knowing there's a high probability my mother could be suffering at the hands of the same person I did? She pushed her plate away, losing her appet.i.te. "I want to keep moving, Addison. I don't want her to suffer a second more than she has to."

"Okay." Addison rose to her feet, swallowing. "We keep moving. I'll fill the car, you grab us some snacks for travel and we'll get on our way."

Skyler smiled. "Thank you."

Guided by an onboard satellite navigation system, Addison had agreed for Skyler to take the wheel. It gave the agent time to rest her tired eyes. Though she had gone much longer without sleep, she indulged Skyler's request to drive. She knew the blonde didn't want to feel useless.

Looking out of the pa.s.senger's window, Addison watched as they pa.s.sed tall telephone pylons. Cables stretched out between each thick pole, occasionally connecting to a farmhouse or solitary dwelling scattered over the Scottish highlands. Looking at the lone buildings, Addison was reminded of her own home. Her lighthouse, standing alone on the Cornish coastal cliff-tops. Sometimes Addison yearned for that solitude. It was her only escape.

Turning from the view, Addison loosened her jacket. Skyler had increased the car's heating and the agent was beginning to sweat. Unhooking the last b.u.t.ton of her jacket, Addison unclipped her seatbelt. She shrugged out of her outer layer, chucking it onto the back seat.

"I wonder what goodies Quinton left for us." She twisted in her seat to where a black backpack, similar to the one destroyed in the explosion, sat behind them. She unb.u.t.toned the carrier and began to root inside. She had left the Uzi she took from Myers with Quinton. They would be able to run a weapons search to a.s.sess where Brodie, or the organisation she worked for, obtained their arms. For that reason Addison looked with curiosity for what Quinton would have left for her in return. Finding nothing, Addison made a mental note to check the boot of the Forester later.

Through her rummaging, Addison found a new pair of binoculars. She also found a small device that looked like the handle of a kite. It was a solid metal object with two b.u.t.tons, one red and one green. On pressing the green b.u.t.ton it would shoot out a cable for climbing high walls. The red b.u.t.ton would re-coil the cable after use. It was another of Perkins' inventions and one of Addison's favourites. She attached its handy pouch to a free s.p.a.ce upon her belt.

"Oh great, a clean s.h.i.+rt." Addison pulled the black garment out of her new backpack. She turned to Skyler. "Do you want it?"

The doctor smiled. "I think on the grimy scale you rank the highest. You should take it."

Addison began to undo her dirt encrusted, slightly torn, s.h.i.+rt. She had no reservation about undressing in front of an audience but she was wearing a tank top under her s.h.i.+rt. Slipping her arms from the garment, Addison threw it onto the back seat beside her jacket. She could see Skyler observe her briefly from the corner of her eye.

"You were in the Marines." Skyler didn't seem at all surprised.

"Pardon?" Addison looked to her arm where the fact was clearly tattooed onto her flesh. "Oh yes, yes I was."

"Must have been rough," Skyler observed. "I bet you saw it as a challenge though, right? I mean... you are obviously the kind of person who thrives on..."

"Hey..." Addison interrupted. "What do you mean, 'kind of person'? Are you psychoa.n.a.lysing me now?" She slipped into the clean s.h.i.+rt. "I suppose that's another letter or two you have after your name."

"And what does that mean? Is that a dig?"

Fastening her b.u.t.tons Addison shrugged. "I just noticed you have an awful lot of letters there, Doc. What's your aim, to out-letter the alphabet? I think you are almost there with the Greek one. It is a hobby?"

The question seemed to catch Skyler by surprise. Addison wondered whether she, in fact, knew the answer to that herself. Skyler thought for a moment. "It's what I do. It's what I enjoy."

"I suppose." Addison drummed her fingers in thought. "I am sure there must be more exciting hobbies though? I mean... some people knit, okay not so thrilling to everybody. Others build models out of matchsticks or go bowling. There are even a few crazy folks out there who watch trains or collect watches or coins. I suppose it is a case of whatever floats your boat."

"Precisely," Skyler smiled with a nod. "Everybody finds something interesting. It doesn't have to fit into other people's view of entertainment."

Addison lifted her body slightly and tucked the slim fitting s.h.i.+rt into her combat trousers. She wasn't finished, however. "I just happen to be of the point of view that there are a lot more fun and interesting things you can lock yourself in a room with than a pile of old, musty books."

Skyler pondered Addison's words. Her reply was something Addison never expected. "You never did so well at school, did you? You're obviously better educated now, with the work you do, but at school, you weren't really interested, were you?"

"Touche," was the agent's only reply. "But I do stick to my point. I have logged many hours on this subject." The lascivious undertone was anything but.

"Okay." Skyler turned the Forester left towards an approaching harbour. The Atlantic Ocean began to emerge ahead of them. "Maybe that will be my next course of study then."

Addison winked. "Fine, but after you graduate I want you to report back to Professor Black and tell me how right I was!" She held her hand out and Skyler shook it.

"It's a deal, Professor."

They maintained eye contact and grinned slyly.

Addison gave a self-satisfied nod, and then looked as a ma.s.s of fis.h.i.+ng boats appeared before them. "Keep us out of view. We're here."

Chapter 10.

"I know I drove, but where is 'here' exactly?" Skyler asked as she manoeuvred the car slowly through the narrow streets.

"This is Kyle of Lochalsh," Addison informed her. "It's just a Scottish coastal village, but it's the place where we're going to meet our contact. Hopefully by now Quinton and his staff have arranged a boat over to the Isle of Skye.

"To find my mom and get her the h.e.l.l out of danger. I can testify how nasty those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds can be." The American's voice was strained with tension.

Addison didn't reply to Skyler's comments. She knew the mission and knew the brutality Skyler had suffered. Without looking at the scholar she asked, "You're okay?" Although the question was simple and the agent's demeanor seemed offhand, the tone was sympathetic and it touched Skyler.

"I've been better, but considering what Brodie had in mind, I could have been a lot worse. Addison?"

The agent drew her gaze back into the car from the homes and businesses that they were pa.s.sing. Like Skyler, she had noticed several closed shops and didn't wonder at the reason locals might cooperate with strangers. Money was a potent motivator.

"Yeah?"

Skyler hesitated a moment, the verbal bantering and occasional b.u.t.ting of heads making her a little embarra.s.sed. "I...well, I guess what I wanted to say was thank you. It just occurred to me that I never did tell you that. So...thanks. I appreciated you getting me out of that mess."

Addison smiled. It was a soft smile and unlike the c.o.c.ky grin she had sported at other times. "You're entirely welcome, Miss Tidwell. I'm glad to have been of service." Skyler returned the smile and there seemed to be a flash of true camaraderie between the women. It appeared to Skyler that at that point Addison realized she was dropping her guard and she watched with a pang of dismay as the s.h.i.+eld of indifference was raised again. "That's what they pay me for. Foil a plot, rescue a Yank...it's all in a day's work." She resumed viewing their surroundings and Skyler thought how beautiful the already attractive agent had looked in that brief interlude. The momentary lapse by the English enigma was precisely that... momentary. Now Skyler could almost see her mask slip back into place.

"Pull in here," Addison directed. The Forester slid smoothly into a place in front of a weather worn gray building, its faded paint and beaten facade a testament to the storms off the North Atlantic that battered the Scottish coast. A carved sign in the window read, "Fairworth Antiques, F. Fairworth, Proprietor".

Skyler turned the key and the engine stilled. "What are we doing here?"

"Fairworth is the name of our contact. There was a note along with an address in the bottom of the bag Quinton gave me. Apparently we'll be able to get a boat from him. I imagine he's a retired fisherman or something like that who lets his boat out on occasion. That would seem likely in a village like this."

Easing from the car, they made their way to the front door. A small white sign beneath the name of the establishment read, "Gone to tea. Haddock's Head Pub, directly behind you."

"He's gone, but not far," Addison observed as she turned to spy the pub across the road from where they stood. "We don't have time to wait, let's go find him." The pair crossed the cobblestone road and entered an equally weather worn building on the opposite side.

The interior of the Haddock's Head was at odds with its exterior. The room was warm and cheerful and the bar was immaculate right down to the polished wood and gleaming bra.s.s rail. A plethora of bottles lined the shelves behind it. Cozy tables were set for tea and patrons enjoying a steaming pot of tea or a pint of ale with their afternoon food occupied several of them.

Skyler observed as Addison scanned the customers. Nodding her head, she moved decisively toward a gray bearded gentleman seated alone enjoying a crustless sandwich and a small gla.s.s of amber liquid. A navy colored pea coat hung over the back of the chair next to him and a gnarled cane, resembling a corkscrew more than a walking stick, leaned against the table.

Straight off a fis.h.i.+ng boat Skyler thought. d.a.m.n, Addison's good she admitted to herself. The agent approached the older gentleman and asked, "Fairworth?"

The man seemed to ignore them, but a soft voice behind them said, "Yes?" The women turned to be confronted with a very attractive brunette somewhere in her mid-thirties holding a half-filled pint of lager. "I'm Fiona Fairworth, can I help you?" she asked in a pleasant burr.

"You own Fairworth Antiques?" Skyler questioned and received a look from Addison that said, "I'll do the talking".

"Oh, an American," Fiona gushed, "I love Americans! Come looking for a bargain have you?"

"Actually, " Addison interrupted, "We're here to arrange transportation to the Isle of Skye. I believe my Uncle Tony made the arrangements."

Fiona's face gave away nothing, but her eyes reflected understanding. "Surely now I remember. Transportation for two, correct?" At Addison's nod the brunette smiled. "Won't you come right this way? We can transact our business in the shop." The Scottish woman gave a short wave to the bartender and turned toward the door. She drained her lager and set the gla.s.s on a nearby table. Looking at Addison, she winked and said, "Liquid suns.h.i.+ne, most excellent for fighting off this bra.s.s monkey weather." Fiona's laugh was as smooth as the whiskey her country was famous for and she led them out the door and back across the street.

"Your Uncle Tony?" Skyler whispered as they moved.

"Blair," Addison explained in a low voice as they entered the shop behind the Scotswoman.

As soon as they were inside, Fiona said to Skyler, "You're the American, so that makes you..." her attention turned to Addison.

"Anxious to be on our way," Addison finished for her.

"Of course," the brunette a.s.sured her. "I must say, Agent Black, I wasn't expecting..."

"A woman?" Addison challenged.