Defender(82)

"Yeah, I heard that the Chief of SIS 1s your mentor. An Oxford connection, right?"

She nodded on his chest. "I still have no idea why this is happening to me. People have been killed. And Johnson. Is he really involved in all this?" Morgan squeezed her shoulder lightly. He stayed silent. "I know it's over for me in the Foreign Office, without doubt. Probably anywhere in Government. I knew that the moment I got on the plane to come out here. I've been played, used. I'm finished. I feel so stupid. And now there's you. How can this be? It's all so unexpected. You're here, lying beside m.e. I told you before, I feel like I've known you forever."

"Ari..."

She moved herself to rest her chin on his chest and looked at him, pressing her finger to his lips to keep him quiet. He obeyed. Her eyes were wet with tears, wrestling between tenderness, happiness and sadness. "I know what you're going to say, but I don't want you to say it," she said. "I know it's ridiculous, but it is how I feel. Our time together in Spain meant a lot to me, and I know it meant a lot to you, too. But I also know that this is impossible timing for us. There's too much going on in our lives for any of this to make sense. That's what you want to say, and I know that's right. So..." - she smiled that magnificent smile - "...I don't intend to make sense of any of it. I'm just going to let life takes its course and leave it in the hands of destiny."

"Destiny?" he scoffed lightly, flicking her fringe from her eyes. "I didn't think you were the typ ."

'I'm afraid so, Mister. As far as you're concerned, anyway."

Morgan held her tight and guided her closer. Ari slid along the length of Morgan's body, feeling the muscle and tone of his broad frame, entwining her legs around his. Her lips were open and her breath was warm across his face. Morgan slid his hand through the fine tresses of her hair and pulled her to him, kissing her slowly at first, brushing her lips with his, responding instantly to the urgent swirl of her tongue. She groaned in his ear and pushed herself even closer against him. Morgan's hand slid to the small of her back and pressed into her body. He turned and Arena rolled in beside him, her mouth open, her face tilted up towards his.





It was dark outside, the first violet shades of night had been drawn.



Morgan's phone rang.

"Shit!" he said as he checked his watch, rushing to retrieve the phone from his trousers. Arena laughed as he untangled himself from crumpled sheets, stumbled naked from the bed, and plundered through his pockets. "Alex Morgan," he answered.

"Didyou still want to head downfor a drink and talk over thingsfor tomorrow?

I have news." It was Sutherland. "Or are you busy?"

"No, that would be great, Dave. Just give me a few minutes and I'll be right down." Morgan hung up, and looked back across to Arena, smiling at him from the bed, a sheet barely covering her tanned, supine body. "I have to go."

"Just as well. You do what you have to do and I'll see what's on the menu for dinner."

"Sounds perfect."

"Oh, and by the way, Mister." Arena's pointed finger held him in place. "Don't think your little subject change about why you're in INTERPOL worked either. I haven't finished with you yet."

"Yes, Ma'am," he said and threw a cushion at her.





* * *





Downstairs Morgan met Sutherland and they walked down Elizabeth Street, Sutherland hobbling, to a local pub called The Crown. The two pulled up a high table and Morgan bought the beers.

"Cornell had a call from Lundt, which I have the audio from," Sutherland began. "Cornell's pretty rattled by the prospect of actually having to meet Lundt face-to-face. He let slip the RV and timings. It's happening tomorrow afternoon across the road from our hotel at Hyde Park."

"No doubt why Johnson got Arena to book in there."

"You got it. Cornell's shaky now that things are coming to a head. He's got a sleepless night ahead. Cops will keep him under wraps. Bastard wouldn't last five minutes if he was really in this business."

"Any idea if Lundt is in Sydney yet?"

"Nope," replied Sutherland, annoyed. "But it's only a matter of hours before he is."

"Nothing in his life became him like leaving it," said Morgan.

"But you'll extract no atonement from Victor Lundt," replied Sutherland.

"What support can we expect from the locals if things ramp up without notice?"

"We've got pretty much the whole counter-terrorism crew m our corner, including a chopper on stand-by if we need one. The Australian Federal Police have agreed to stay at arm's length. They'll get involved at the frontiers if any of these bastards try to skip the country."