Innocence by Lee Savino Page A

Cora a weighing look of his own. In her seat, Cora shifted and tightened her arms around her body. Closing her eyes, she hummed until everything went away—the agent’s voices fading into dull, electronic bleeps, one with their equipment. Marcus’ face rose up before her, handsome and shadowed. He was telling her it would all be okay.
    “We’re almost ready.” Agent #1 touched Cora’s arm, jolting her out of reverie. She stared up at the bland face, mediocre features swimming together to make the personality of a plain, white wall. In the van’s electronic glow, the agent’s face seemed more sinister than Marcus’, and just as shadowed. “Lift your shirt a little.”
    Cora blinked in shock as Agent #2 approached with device in his hand.
    “I’m not wearing that,” she said.
    Agent #1 was still looking down at her, willing her to speak again.
    Cora shook her head. “Marcus trusts me. I…I can’t do this to him.”
    There was a pause, to test her. “Ma’am…” Agent #1 sighed, glancing back at his partner.
    Agent #2, to Cora: “We’ll get him anyway.”
    Agent #1: “You must know this is the right thing to do. We need your help.”
    “I’ll help you anyway I can, but I’m not going to wear that—”
    “A wiretap is our best chance,” Agent #1 said, as Agent #2 held up the thin, black thread.
    “I said no.” Cora’s arms were crossed, but her lip trembled.
    A pause. Then #1 turned to his partner. “Looks like we just lost our best in. We’ll have to get him another way.”
    Agent #2 made a frustrated sound. “Listen. I’ve watched this guy go on the hook for things before with no way of knowing what we were going to ask him. He’s tight. He has a reason, every single time. Every single time.” In his passion, he slipped into street talk, and, switching the gadgets to one hand, slammed the side of the van.
    “Cora,” said Agent #1, ignoring his partner’s fury and squatting down to meet her downcast eyes, “You can trust us with this. We’re not sending you into any danger, not more than you already are whether you believe it or not. We want to help you.”
    “You said I could see my aunt,” Cora’s voice was small, a child’s.
    “We will get you to her straight away. Just do this one thing for us. For her.”
    “Just this once. Part of the deal,” Agent #2 echoed.
    “What do I have to do?” Cora asked.
    “Go to him to dinner, get him relaxed. Then ask him about the guy who disappeared.”
    “I don’t know.” The green light of the equipment cast shadows under Cora’s eyes as she whispered, “What if I really do love him?”
    Agent #1 straightened, looked at his partner, who shrugged back at him. The electronic wire was strung between his fingers like the single strand of a spider web.
    “Then, kid, you have to make a choice. Do you want to help us or not?”
    *
    The penthouse was dark when Cora entered. Go to the place he lives, works. Look for anything telling—papers, accounts, files. Anything. She could still hear the van’s beeping equipment, the sharp rip of the tape in the agent’s hands.
    Eyes wide in the dark, Cora ventured further. The long room was grand, even set in grey shadow. She went to the sunken area, passing the bar and Greek statue on the way. Through the blinds came the city light, a galaxy of buildings and streets.
    Start in his penthouse. Wait until he’s gone, then search his rooms.
    The other agent had said, Do you know when he’ll be gone next?
    She had nodded. Tonight.             
    When the two men had smiled at each other, Cora knew her future was decided.
    Marcus had given her a key to his penthouse months ago, telling her she had access to his private lair. She had never used it.
    You must understand, the agents had said, lives hang in the balance. Cora you must help…
    It all happened so fast . They spoke to her much longer, their words overlapping and weaving one giant net. Now, in the silence of the dark, the words were