My Nanny is a Spy

Donna stood her body shaking, a small marble statue she had grabbed from the end table by the door still held in her hand. Her husband wasn't moving on the floor, and blood poured from the wound she had inflicted.

"Oh my God...Oh, Jesus" muttered Donna as the statue slipped from her fingers and dropped with a heavy thud to the floor.

"Donna, it's o.k.," said Crystal in a soothing voice.

"He was hurting you. I was trying to stop him from hurting you," Donna's voice sounded far away as if she was in shock.

"It's going to be alright, but we need to call for an ambulance. Can you do that Donna?" said Crystal, in the tone one would use when talking to a lost child.

"Ambulance? Yes...I...Yes, an ambulance for Jeff...O.K." she mumbled as Crystal led her to the door.

"Hurry, Donna, make the call," she prodded, and Donna left the room.

Crystal turned back and stood over Jeff's unmoving body.

"Dammit, Jeff, you have made a real mess for me."

EPILOGUE -

Crystal stood still before the large oak desk as Kyle Bainbridge slowly read through the file in front of him. She was careful not to move or speak until he was ready.

"Messy, very messy," he mumbled under his breath.

He finally looked up at her putting the folder carefully aside.

"This was not at all what I expected from you, Crystal, and our client is quite displeased with the outcome," said Bainbridge.

"They got what they wanted. I was able to retrieve the files. Jeff was a bit heavy but not more than I could manage," observed Crystal.

"You made a mess of what was essentially a crime scene, but yes you did manage to procure the item in question," said Bainbridge as he stood from his desk and started to pace around the room.

"I loathe violence, Crystal. You know that. We are in the information gathering business, not assassination."

"Ferris isn't..." started Crystal.

"Dead? No, not yet at any rate, but the doctors are not confident he will ever come out of the coma he is in."

Bainbridge stopped in front of a painting on one wall running a finger across the side of the frame and frowning at the dust he saw there.

"Messy, just like this operation. You're suspended Crystal, pending a review by myself and the board."

Crystal knew better than to argue and she stood and walked to the door. Her hand rested lightly on the door handle, but before she turned it to leave she voice one last comment.

"I'm sorry, Dad."

Looking up from the desk where he had sat back down Bainbridge's face remained impassive, "We will talk...later."

Dismissed, Crystal left the office walking toward the elevator. As she arrived, she pressed the down button and waited patiently. The doors opened to reveal a pretty dark-haired woman about Crystal's age who stepped off the lift but turned to hold the door open.

"Crystal," said the woman, acknowledging her in a cold voice with just a hint of contempt in her tone.

"Alex," replied Crystal, just as coolly.

"I hear you fell on your ass on the Ferris thing. Guess you're not so perfect after all," commented Alex, as she let the doors begin to shut.

Crystal gritted her teeth, refusing to rise to the bait. She was confident she would bounce back from this setback and be on top again.

"Have a nice day, Alex," she replied as the doors closed.

Bainbridge tapped his fingers absently on his desk until the ringing of his phone caught his attention.

"Hello? Yes, Lindsay, it's good to hear your voice. So, were you able to ascertain whether Mr. Stephenson informed anyone else about Crystal's identity? He did not. That's good. You know what to do next," he broke the connection. He hated violence, but he hated the possible compromise of his company even more. He had invested too many years building it.

He returned to drumming his fingers on the desk. The wife would be a problem as well, but once Stephenson was out of the way it would be her and Crystal's word as to what happened in that office. Things should play out alright. Crystal was a valuable asset, she had bungled this operation it was true, but her kind of talent was not to be wasted. He already another operation in mind and he smiled at the thought of the rewards that could be reaped.