by Maggie Thom
Guy hid behind the book shelves, watching Bailey. Seeing her so distressed was almost enough to make him jump out of his hiding place and go to her aid. That, however, was not going to help him figure out what was going on. Instead, he made his way to another computer desk, keeping an eye on her from behind the high walls of the cubby. He had to find out what she was up to and why she felt the need to ditch him. He watched her for twenty minutes. Every few minutes she would shift. She'd lean forward then back, sit up and then slouch. Put her leg under her and then set both feet flat on the floor. No matter what she did though, her shoulders were sagging more and more. She was fighting the exhaustion that was pulling her down. Her elbow found the desk and her chin found her hand. After the third time of her head bobbing sideways, jerking to keep herself upright, she finally gave up. She stood up and left.
Tempted to follow her and make sure she was okay, he first needed to see what she'd been up to. He sat down at her computer. The search bar showed that she'd been trying to find some newspapers from a long time ago, twenty-nine years to be exact. She'd either never spent much time on the internet or had never really searched anything on the web before. She didn't seem to know what she was doing. He conceded that exhaustion might have played a part in it. Not wanting to spend too much time as he wasn't sure she'd make it back alone, he was about to log off when he noticed the Jump Drive sticking out of the computer. He quickly scanned the folders on. Clicking on several of them, he found that they were encrypted. Something told him this had been what she'd been looking at, or at least trying to.
There were some answers there but first he had to check on his roomy. He logged off, took out the USB drive and hurried out the door, following Bailey back to the room. He made sure he stayed far enough behind to keep an eye on her but not too obviously. At the hotel he gave her ten minutes to play out her ruse of being in the hot tub, before he showed up.
Entering the room, he realized immediately he hadn't needed to wait. She was zonked out, lying across the bed fully clothed. Being a gentleman warred with his knowing she would be pissed. It was going to get him in trouble but he knew that she would be much more comfortable out of her clothes. He reached for her pants and undid them. The slight tremor in his hands surprised him as he slid the jeans down her long, slim legs. He tossed them aside. Reaching for the hem of her shirt he slid it up slowly, trying not to jar her or awaken her. Or look at the soft smooth skin he was uncovering. He tried to keep his eyes averted or at least his mind but it was a losing battle. His hands shook; his pulse pounded as he slid the blankets out from under her and covered her up. It was difficult to not notice the sexy cut of her underwear nor the fact that it wasn't silk. Something she should have been wearing all her life. Guilt was eating at him. He knew he wasn't responsible for her being taken, yet he got to live in luxury while she hadn't. Even though she'd been the one on the streets, everything about her reminded him that those were really his roots. They weren't really meant to be hers.
With a last look at her, he slipped out to the hallway. He called Graham.
"Hey, good to hear from you. Where are you?"
"Edmonton. Is Stanson done with that sketch?"
"Yup. Check your email. Since I hadn't heard from you in twenty some hours I went ahead and ran the sketch. No hits yet so it might be off. What else have you got?"
Guy quickly ran through what had occurred since they'd last talked.
"Holy Christ, man. This isn't fun and games any more. Time to bring in the police."
Guy's hand scrubbed down over his face. He shook his head to try to erase the tiredness that was wrapped around him like a weighted cloak. "I know but?"
"I know you don't know what to tell them right? Let me call Bean."
"He's still on the police force?"
"He might be old but he's a good detective. I'll fill him in and see what he wants to do."
He wasn't the person Guy would have chosen but he knew that he was good friends with Graham's family. Detective Holstein felt he owed them for Graham's dad having saved his life a couple of times. The man had been looking for a way to redeem himself. "Have him call me before he includes anyone else in this circus. I don't know who I can trust."
"Will do. Check the email. Keep in touch every couple of hours. Okay?"
"Yeah. I've got something else I have to do right now too, I'll call you later." Clicking off the phone, he wasn't sure why he hadn't shared about the jump drive. Holding it tightly in his hand, he crossed the street and entered the library.
An hour later he was yawning so much that he felt like his face was permanently going to be deformed and he couldn't figure out how the guy had encrypted the information. None of it was making sense. He was about to go back and get some sleep when a moment of clarity hit him. Within ten minutes he'd broken the code. Flipping through files, his eyes widened, as he skimmed through them. Yawning like he was never going to stop, he realized he wouldn't be able to get through all the folders. Copying and pasting, he sent several to Graham to look over, along with how to break the code, knowing full well Graham probably would have gotten in faster than he had but he wanted to save some time. He then sent all the ones he'd read and reviewed in an email to himself.
If it was all true, which he feared it was, many people were going to be embarrassed, some charged and maybe even lynched if this information fell into certain hands. The one thing it didn't do was tell him how this all tied in with Bailey.
As he sent the last email to Graham he realized he hadn't looked over the artist's drawings of his suspect. As he scrolled through the five he'd received in his email, he picked out what he thought was the right picture and where he needed to make changes. He cc'd Graham to start searching when he got the new sketching back.
It was time for bed. He'd put it off too long. He had one more phone call to make. After leaving a message for Graham to find him one bit more of information, he propped his elbows on the desk and rested his chin on his palm. He just needed to close his eyes for a moment?
"Excuse me. Excuse me." Someone's hand was on his shoulder, shaking him. Annoyed but still in that really groggy state of sleep, he jerked away.
"Excuse me!"
He snapped upright as that was screamed in his ear. Startled, he jerked around. A middle-aged woman holding a book, like she knew how to swing it, was staring at him in disgust. Heat instantly infused his face.
"No sleeping here."
"I'm sorry. I was?"
"Just get out. We don't allow bums in here."
What? Guy shook his head but stood up and moved away from the crazy lady and headed outside. He placed his hands on his back and arched backwards. His spine realigned itself with a ddrrrrrr-ddrrrr sound. As he straightened, a woman and a man walked by, smiled at him indulgently and slipped something into his hand. Confused he watched them leave and then looked down as they moved away. They'd given him a five dollar bill. He looked at them and then he looked down. His attention was snagged by the dirt and grime ground into his jeans. He burst out laughing. He hadn't gone shopping and it was now a must. People were mistaking him for a homeless guy or someone really down on his luck. He took a deep breath in, his nose wrinkling as he did. He even smelled like one. No time like the present to go and get some clean clothes, if they'd let him in the store.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE