Chasing The Rogue - Chapter Two
Air Force One arrived safely in Prague and the next day the Lehnsherrs’ proceed to attend several different functions as representatives of the United States. As promised, Marie cooperated and put on a happy face - smiling and waving to the crowds gathered at each event. She only had to make it through the formal reception at the Embassy and then she’d be free to go out with Kitty.
Even though the dinner seemed to drag on forever, by 10 p.m. she and Kitty finally managed to get away. They changed into jeans and crystal-encrusted tops more appropriate for a nightclub and slipped out a side door - accompanied by only two Secret Service agents.
“Where are we heading?” Scott Summers inquired as they piled into a black SUV.
“A club,” Kitty informed him. “You may want to lose the jacket and tie and unbutton your shirt.”
“We’re on duty,” the other agent, Jean Grey, reminded them. She was dressed just as severely in a dark suit and white blouse.
“You’re not actually coming into the club with us?” Marie asked - blanching at the prospect of the two bodyguards trailing after them.
“Of course. It’s our jobs to shadow you,” Jean replied - a bit more sharply than was probably necessary. Unlike some of the other agents, she wasn’t amused by Marie’s constant antics. She took her job very seriously and didn’t appreciate what she felt was disrespect for their duties. Initially she’d been assigned to the First Lady’s security detail and was happy guarding such an elegant and classy woman. Being transferred to her current position felt like a demotion and her resentment tended to leak through when dealing with Marie - especially when the teenager was acting petulant.
Kitty shrugged in resignation while Marie slumped further down into her seat and folded her arms in frustration. Meanwhile she was already formulating a plan to ditch the two agents.
Once they were in the club and Jean was distracted getting them drinks at the bar - stubbornly insisting on non-alcoholic versions, despite the drinking age in Europe being eighteen - Marie pulled Kitty toward the ladies’ room. When it seemed as if Scott was going to follow them in, she had to place her hand against his chest and give him a gentle shove.
“Oh … sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I’ll just wait out here.”
Five minutes later he was still standing in the hallway where Jean found him leaning against the wall.
“You do realize there’s always a line at the ladies’ because you girls take so damn long in there,” he told her with a smile. As one of the newest and youngest agents, he wasn’t quiet as stiff and formal as some of the others guarding the First Family.
Jean shoved the four drinks at him and charged into the restroom. Less than a minute later she was back out. “They went out the window. Nice job watching them,” she snapped as she headed toward the main exit. She was mentally chastising herself for not keeping a psychic ‘ear’ on Marie and monitoring her thoughts. Even though the President had made it clear that Jean’s gift was one of the reasons he’d assigned her to his daughter, she still had a hard time prying into people’s heads without their permission. And now this respect for Marie’s privacy was going to cause her a major problem with their boss.
After handing the drinks off to a random club patron, Scott chased after her.
“What was I supposed to do … follow them in there?” he asked as he caught up to his partner.
Jean knew he couldn’t have done that and wanted to kick herself for not sending him to get the drinks so that she could’ve stayed with the girls. Now they had a head start and could be lord knows where by now. They had to find them and quickly - before anyone else discovered they’d let themselves be fooled so easily. She was cursing under her breath as she looked down the street in both directions and failed to see their assignment anywhere in sight.
Just then Scott announced, “There they are!”
Jean turned and saw Marie jump on the back of a motorcycle that had stopped at a traffic light. When the signal changed to green, the bike took off and she waved good-bye to Kitty. By the time Scott and Jean made it down to that end of the street the bike and its extra passenger were too far away for them to pursue any further on foot.
“Damn it!” Jean exclaimed as she watched the bike - and Marie disappear from view.
“Now what?” Scott asked - even though he already knew the answer.
Reluctantly, Jean pulled her cell phone out of her jacket pocket, dialed a number and using Marie’s code name, reported to the person who answered, “We’ve lost Rogue.”
~*~*~*
A few miles away the motorcycle came to a stop at another traffic light and Marie climbed off.
”Thanks,” she told the driver as she finally saw his face which was whiskered with more than just a few days stubble, but wasn’t quite a full beard either. Even in the diminished light of the low-wattage street lamp she could see that his eyes were hazel. And despite the general wildness of his appearance - or maybe even because of it - he was probably the best-looking man she’d ever seen.
Running his hand through his dark, windblown hair, he fixed her with a glare that should’ve frightened her, but somehow didn’t. “So, you wanna tell me what that was about?” he asked - referring to the two people who were apparently in pursuit of his brazen hitchhiker.
“Kidnappers,” she replied.
She was gorgeous and he didn’t want to scare her, but he couldn’t resist teasing her just a little. “Really? And how do you know I’m not even worse?” he asked - trying to hide his amusement.
Marie’s face dropped as it hit her that she hadn’t considered the possible consequences of jumping onto the back of a stranger’s bike. Noticing the dog tag around his neck, she decided to change the subject and pointing a finger at the sliver of metal - asked, “Does that mean you’re in the army?”
He responded slowly, “I was … a long time ago.”
“What kind of name is Wolverine?”
“My name’s Logan,” he answered.
“Marie.”
