"Isn't it obvious?" she said, kissing his cheek. "I'm trying to seduce my fiancé."
Lance gave a startled laugh. "So that's what this is. Honey, I appreciate the effort you've gone through, really I do, but I'm very tired."
Strike Three.
Jamie frowned as Lance set her aside to put on his shoes. The credits were rolling on the second movie and Jamie began to get disheartened.
You can't give up yet. You can't! Time to pull out all the stops.
"You don't want me!" she cried, standing up to rush into the bathroom and slam the door behind her. She then began a great imitation of sobbing, waiting to hear her fiancé’s knock.
It only took a few moments for him to react. "Aw, honey, calm down. Of course I want you."
"No...you...don't" she cried, throwing a hitch into her voice for effect.
"I do, it's just...I've been working a lot. And...well, I don't have a lot of experience with women, and I'd just feel more comfortable if we got to know each other a little better. That's all."
Jamie didn't stop her eyes from rolling this time. It was clear that seduction was out as a viable option. She'd have to think of another way to get his badge off him, and fast.
She looked around her, trying to think of another method. Her eyes bounced around the bathroom as she struggled for inspiration. She noticed that she was low on toilet paper, and that she'd missed some dust behind the toilet last time she'd swept. Then her eyes lit on a spider web high in the corner of the room.
That's it!
"Oh my God!" she yelled, throwing the door open and running back down the hall and into the living room.
"What is it?" Lance asked, following behind her. "What's wrong?"
"There's a spider in the bathroom! A huge one! It crawled out of the drain and it's in the sink! You have to get it!"
Lance stood there, confused. "A spider?"
"Yes," she said, grabbing his shirt with shaking hands. "Please! You have to deal with it for me. I'm terrified of spiders!"
Lance gave a small grin and headed back down the hall to do battle with the spider. "I don't see anything," he yelled.
"Keep looking! I won't be able to sleep tonight if I know that beast is crawling around my apartment."
Jamie grabbed his jacket, unfolded it, and snatched the badge off it. She slid it under a stack of magazines on the coffee table then moved back down the hall, his jacket over her arm.
"I'm sorry," Lance said, coming out of the bathroom. "I can't find it."
"Oh well," she said with a large sigh. "I'll just pretend you did." She passed him his jacket. "It's getting late, and you have an early meeting. You should probably get going." She handed him his jacket.
Lance gave her a confused glance but then nodded. "Right." He took the jacket and slipped it on, not noticing it was missing his badge.
Jamie walked him to the door, opening it and stepping back to allow him through.
"Good night, my dear," he said, bending to place another dutiful kiss on her forehead.
"Good night," she replied.
He moved to leave, then stopped, turning back. "Oh, I forgot to mention, the team has meetings off sight tomorrow, so I won't be in my office. I expect them to run late, so I probably won't see you at all. I hope that's all right."
"I understand," she said solemnly, inside shouting with delight.Perfect!
She closed the door behind him, then leaned against it to catch her breath. Things hadn't gone exactly according to plan, but she'd gotten what she needed. And even better, he probably wouldn't notice the badge was missing until later, if he wasn't going to need it to check in tomorrow.
The team would be out of the office tomorrow, meaning it would give her and Drake the opportunity they needed to search the secure areas without raising suspicion.
Jamie was elated. She finally felt like she was one step closer to getting her sister back. She hadn't felt this good in months.
There was a sudden knock at the door.
Jamie swallowed hard, praying that Lance hadn't already noticed his missing badge and come back for it. Putting on a brave face, she opened the door.
