Previous chapters:
Chapter One: Present ImperfectChapter Two: SubjunctiveChapter Three: Part ParticipleChapter 4 teaser:
“
Accept it?!” Pete snapped. “I’m not
accepting anything of the kind!” He reached for his cane, rose from his chair, turned his head as if he wasn’t sure where Sam was sitting, although he knew precisely enough that he could have tapped Sam’s ear with the extended white cane. “Sam? Come on. I think it’s time we left Señor Pacheco to – whatever he spends his time doing.”
Pacheco’s flustered excuses and empty reassurances followed after them as Sam hurried to take Pete’s arm and guide him across the opulent office, through the door that led into the corridor and ultimately to the slender freedom of the street. Mindful of the sharp ears of their driver, neither spoke until they had reached their hotel suite and Sam had begun checking the carefully planted tells to see if another search had been made of the rooms in their absence.
“All clear,” Sam reported after a few minutes. “Did I do any better that time? During your meeting, I mean?”
Pete didn’t actually crack a smile, but the softened lines around his mouth told a loud enough tale. “You did great, Sam. I almost forgot you were there myself. Pacheco probably thought you were part of the wallpaper.”
Sam grinned. He had lost track of how many government officials they’d run through so far; they had yet to make any progress at all in their mission, but at least he was getting a lot smoother at playing Pete’s assistant.
“I used to be pretty good at disappearing, ‘cept I never even thought about it. Then you and Dad had to point it out, damn you. That really messed me up for a while.”
“It isn’t good enough to be able to do it by instinct. You have to be able to turn invisible deliberately. Your father’s one of the best at it, you know.”
“Yeah, I know.”
A good trick for a journalist. An even better one for a spy.Follow the link for the full chapter:
Chapter Four: Elliptical Phrase 
