Broken Heart 1

"Agents Smith and Kogan, I'd like you to meet our latest recruit, May Walker," Andrew Williams told Nathaniel and Levi. "I know she'll be a valuable asset to our organization."

Levi felt an immediate distaste when he looked at May. The woman had light brown hair that was cut very short, like a man's, and piercing blue eyes that surveyed him suspiciously.

She seemed so totally the opposite of his beloved Trina, who to him had always seemed the epitome of femininity. Levi smiled fondly as he returned home that evening. Trina had been out of town helping to care for her sick father, and she was due home in only a couple of days. Levi couldn't wait to hold her in his arms again and tell her how much he loved her.

"You've been so much help, Trina," Julie Adams told her daughter. "I don't know how I ever could have made it without you. I know Lydia and Dominic will be so happy to see their mother again."

"I can't wait to see them again...and their father."

"Well, good-bye, dear, and I hope you have a safe trip home," Julie told her daughter. "Be sure and let me know when you get there."

"I will, Mom," Trina promised.

Reinhardt Gutmann felt smug and self-assured as he boarded the airplane. In the attache case he carried were secrets, documents he planned to sell in New York City. After years of working and never having received the promotions, glory and accolades he felt he deserved, he'd decided that the organization had been taking him for granted the entire time he'd been with them, that they'd never truly appreciated him, that it was time he switched sides, for a price, of course.

After finding his seat, Reinhardt noticed that he was seated beside an attractive brunette. A quick glance at her left hand revealed that she was wearing a wedding ring, not that that fact had ever deterred Reinhardt in the least in similar encounters in the past. He turned to the young woman and gave her his most charming smile.

"How do you do?" he asked her. "My name is Franz."

"It's nice to meet you," she replied. "I'm Trina."

"You have such a lovely voice," Reinhardt replied. "I hope to enjoy listening to it on our way to New York."

"Thank you." Trina blushed.

"So what does your husband do?" asked Reinhardt.

"He works for an international news agency. He's a photographer. Are you married?"

Reinhardt shook his head. "Too many women, too little time." He chuckled. "Any kids?"

"I have a five-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son. Lydia and Dominic."

Reinhardt nodded silently. Trina, Lydia, and Dominic. Yes, he'd heard those names before.

"No! Want Mama!" Dominic screamed, pushing Levi away.

The flustered father gave a weary sigh. Almost two weeks of being the one to put his son to bed every night had strained his patience. "I want her too, but until she gets back from visiting your grandparents, you are stuck with me," he told his son. "Would you like for me to sing the song about the little grey wolf to you again?"

"No!" the toddler howled, throwing his teddy bear out of his crib. Levi shook his head helplessly as he bent to retrieve it. It was going to be a long night.

"Good morning," Nathaniel greeted Levi as he entered the office the following morning. "Another sleepless night, I take it."

"You are correct," Levi replied. "I cannot wait for Trina to return. Dominic misses his Mama so."

"I'd imagine someone else misses her just as much, if not more." Nathaniel winked at his partner.

"I have never met anyone with as much of a one-track mind as you have," Levi retorted. Yet he had to admit that his bed had been very cold and lonely since Trina had left. Sometimes he went to sleep hugging her pillow, as her lingering scent brought him comfort, but it was only a poor substitute for actually having her warm body there to cuddle with.

"Speaking of which, I can't wait for this weekend," Nathaniel bragged.

"Say what you will, but I know you still miss Ellen," Levi replied. The pressures of Nathaniel's career had sadly proven to be too much for his budding relationship with Ellen White to handle.

Nathaniel didn't answer, instead pretending to be busy with paperwork on his desk.