“You two know each other?” Darren questioned in surprise, the pitch of his voice raising almost an octave higher.
‘Oh, shit,’ Alanna’s mind grumbled. ‘How am I gonna explain this one?’
“Yeah, we went to college together,” Destiny replied, covering up everything.
“Yeah, college. Destiny was my roommate,” Alanna quickly added.
Daniel shook his head as he climbed into the front seat of Darren’s SUV. Alanna and Destiny got in the back and waited for Darren to hop into the driver’s seat before even beginning to speak to each other.
“What are you doing here?” Alanna angrily asked as her eyes narrowed into thin slits.
“I’m Daniel’s fiancé, and I’m here to cheer Darren on for the release of his new album,” Destiny answered.
“Who’s Darren?” Alanna questioned.
Destiny pointed to the guy hopping into the driver’s seat. Alanna’s eyes widened. “Come on, you can’t tell me you didn’t know that was Darren Hayes.”
“Well, he told me his name was Chris,” Alanna said. “And who’s Darren Hayes? Why does that name ring a bell?”
Destiny slapped Alanna in the back of the head. “Savage Garden ring a bell?” she replied.
Alanna’s eyes widened to the point where her eyeballs were nearly popping out of her skull. “That’s Darren Hayes of Savage Garden? No way! He’s got dark hair!” Alanna was in denial almost immediately. She couldn’t believe the one person she had the biggest crush on since she first saw the “I Want You” video was sitting in front of her and letting her stay in his home. Her heart began to pound when she realized why he’d given her an alias. He was only protecting his identity. He might have thought she was a crazy fan.
“He’s changed in the last few years, hasn’t he?” Destiny asked, knocking Alanna out of her daydreams.
“Yes! I didn’t even recognize him!” she replied.
“Does he know who you really are?” Destiny inquired.
Alanna guiltily shook her head. She knew telling Darren her secret would only get them both in trouble. It was far too risky to put a pop star in the line of fire she was in. “I haven’t told him anything. I’m on an assignment, which is failing miserably at the moment,” she answered.
“Thank God I retired last year and moved to Australia. The last thing I needed was another case like that one two years ago,” Destiny said with relief.
“Well, aren’t you lucky. I got stuck with that case,” Alanna retorted.
“You mean you’re tracking Vladimir Bronnikov?” Destiny replied in astonishment. “Are you doing it alone?”
“I wasn’t, the key word being WASN’T. Dmitri and I were tracking him until he found out that the CIA was watching his every move. He then kidnapped Dmitri and stuck us with a pretty hefty ransom,” Alanna almost began to cry.
“Oh, my God! If I knew they would give you the case, I never would have left. I’m so sorry, Alanna,” Destiny immediately apologized.
“And you wonder why I haven’t called you in forever.”
“You mean getting this case is what set you off?”
“No shit, Destiny! You knew I’d get stuck with it, and you still left. I thought you were my best friend. You know what? You turned into the biggest backstabbing bitch I ever knew. That’s why I got so pissed off, and I’m still pissed at you for it,” Alanna nearly yelled.
“What’s going on back there?” Darren asked from the front seat.
“Nothing,” Alanna and Destiny spoke at the same time.
“Sounds like you’re fighting,” Daniel added.
“No, just friendly chitchat,” Destiny answered.
“Yeah, just friendly chitchat, that’s all,” Alanna said.
“Okay,” Darren shrugged as he continued to drive.
“Will you shut up already?” Destiny whispered. “You’re gonna get yourself in trouble then you’re gonna blame me again.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Alanna replied.
“Well, you’re sure as hell blaming me for what happened with this case.” Alanna didn’t know how to answer. “See, you don’t even had a come back. Why don’t you shove your pride aside and see why I really left.”
“Why did you leave?” Alanna asked.
“I left because I needed to get away from everything. I needed to get away from a life that I didn’t want anymore. I hated my life then because I had killed so many people without remorse, without a second thought, without anything. I just didn’t want that anymore. It was too much for me to have that kind of burden. I wanted to be normal again. The CIA just wasn’t me. It was strangling me. And I couldn’t have a relationship with anyone because I was so afraid that I’d lose them in a raid or something. Do you see what I’m saying?” Destiny pleaded.
Alanna looked away, unable to stare her friend straight in the face without thinking about herself and her own life. She felt the same way and had gone through the same things. Her heart was still mending from a loss she experienced when she first became an agent. That encounter had left her jaded since then, and she didn’t know how to react to it. She had never been able to get past that loss, and never wanted to fall in love again.
“I understand,” Alanna choked.
“Then stop being mad at me,” Destiny replied. “Friends?” She stuck her hand out and waited for Alanna to shake it.
“Friends,” Alanna replied. Instead of shaking Destiny’s hand, she hugged her. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Thanks.”
“How did you snag Daniel Jones anyway? I mean, look at you. You’re getting married to one of the hottest guys on the planet! How lucky could you be?”
“Well, I guess my name implies a lot.” The two of them laughed as they began to catch up on things. Unfortunately, their conversation was cut short when Darren pulled up to the hotel and got out of the car to help Daniel take the bags inside.
“We have a lot to talk about,” Alanna said as she and Destiny got out of the car.
“I know, and tomorrow, we’re gonna go out and I’m gonna tell you everything, and I mean EVERYTHING that’s happened to me in Australia since I left up to the day that Dan proposed to me,” Destiny replied.
“Oh, I can’t wait to hear. I’ll see you later.”
“Don’t tell Darren that I told you who he was. He’s gonna freak when he finds out. Keep your mouth shut if you wanna stay with him until your mission is over,” Destiny warned as she walked over to Daniel and wrapped her arm around him.
Darren strode back to Alanna and took her hand. “So, how do you know Destiny again?” he asked.
“We went to school together,” she answered.
“Really, which one?”
“Quantico.”
“Cool,” Darren replied. He had no idea what she was talking about but decided to play it cool so he wouldn’t get caught.
“So, Chris, where are we going now?” Alanna asked as he walked her back to the car.
“I was going to go home and make lunch, but now I don’t know,” he said.
“Why don’t you? I think you already know I hate fast food,” she replied.
“Alright.”
They drove back to Darren’s apartment in silent tension. Darren could feel that she was nervous about something, but he couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Alanna seemed different to him for once. She wasn’t the oddity that her remembered her as the first day they met. She seemed more mature, more grown up, and definitely more mysterious. Why the hell was she on the streets selling drugs if she had gone to college with Destiny? Was she a dropout? Was she hiding something from him? Whatever it was, Darren didn’t want to know at the moment. He was having too much fun with the Alanna he knew at the present time. He didn’t want to see what the future would be like. He wanted to live in the moment.
They arrived at the apartment building a few minutes later. Darren stepped into the kitchen as Alanna searched for the phone. She needed to call Rogers. Her hand reached beneath the couch and she found the cordless where she had left it the night before. Her fingers quickly dialed the number to his cell phone and got an answer almost immediately.
“Alanna,” Rogers said. “Where have you been? I needed to talk to you ever since this morning.”
“In Russian,” she replied. “So, what’s going on? Why did you need to talk to me so bad?”
“I’ve set up a rescue effort for your brother. The only chance we have is tonight. I need you at CIA headquarters within three hours,” he answered.
“What?” Alanna almost shouted in surprise.