Encounter in Atlanta

by Ed Howdershelt

have been because she'd been on them all day. She surreptitiously checked the lay of her clothing, tapped her earrings, and touched her hair to make sure it was in place, then glanced at Cade, who said, "Relax. You look fine, Beth." Leaning on the doorframe, Mandi continued to watch them. Yes, Beth definitely had things other than dinner in mind. Out of all the other men on the teams, she'd decided to consider Cade, but when? Before or after he'd called her beautiful? He was only in his first day of conversion, so if he was very careful... It seemed unlikely that he'd be careless with Beth, especially with two other inadvertent injuries fresh in his mind. Cade's vital signs were normal, as usual. Did he realize at all that he'd been selected for more than dinner? Mandi snorted and wryly wondered if the likely prospect of getting laid later would cause him any more excitement than shooting people. Probably not, she decided. He seemed to deal with things as they happened. One of them would steer the conversation and a suggestion would surface. Would it be Beth or Cade? Or would it be Beth, specifically because Cade had built up her confidence enough to ask him up to her room? Mandi stopped with a sense of startlement and examined that last bit of speculation for a moment. Where the hell had that come from? Was she just projecting her own thoughts about how he should proceed or did she really think that's what Cade would do? Shaking her head at herself, Mandi turned from the door and went to the fridge for a canned drink, then sat on the edge of the bed and lay back to stare at the ceiling. Yes, that was very likely what he'd do if Beth didn't seem able to drop her guard and let him in on her own. He'd find reasons to compliment her and make her realize the truth of them until she decided absolutely about bedding him. And then, Mandi realized, he'd likely suggest a coed shower and do to Beth what he'd done to her. He'd likely do it to her again in bed, then slide himself upward into position and... The can of soda in Mandi's hand abruptly crumpled and her drink seemed to splatter everywhere. Uttering a nasty word, Mandi went to the bathroom for a towel to clean up the mess. She wasn't angry at Cade. His conversion wasn't far enough along; he wasn't capable of making love to her like that yet. Mandi was just angry with herself for allowing her imagination to cause a wet accident on the bed. Taking off her damp dress and washing it in the bathroom sink, Mandi gently wrung it out and hung it in the tiny closet space, then she dried it with her heat vision. When the drying was finished, she lay back on the bed again and sighed at the evening as a whole. A few minutes later she reached for the TV remote and scanned the channels for something interesting, but it was only nine-thirty and she wasn't really in the mood to watch TV. Clicking off the TV, Mandi set the remote on the night table and headed for the shower, realizing as she caught herself marching that she was angry with Cade, after all, and even more so because he was very likely to get laid tonight. She changed course toward the desk, took her uniform out of her purse, and put it on, then slipped her NIA-issue cell phone and the keycard into her right boot-top and let herself out of the room. Flashing down the hall to the stairwell, she flew to the roof and used the keycard to block the door lock while she fetched the flattened can from where she'd dropped it earlier. Swapping the can for the card, she tucked the card back into her boot and launched skyward. If anything came up, John could reach her on the cell and she wasn't about to sit in that room all night.

  Chapter Twenty

  The hotel restaurant was closed when Beth and Cade arrived in the lobby, but the bar and lounge area was still open. Their menu at that hour was rather unimpressive, and Cade politely said so. "Well, sir," said the lone waiter, "There are still a few places open on Peachtree Street," and he named three. Cade thanked him and he and Beth headed for the doors. As they passed the big glass windows by the luggage check-in desk, Cade very deliberately allowed Beth to see his reflection eyeing her reflection's rump and legs. Pretending to have been caught in the act, he said, "Sorry. I wasn't kidding about your legs, you know." Beth gave him an aloof, arched-eyebrow look, but she said nothing and worked hard to conceal a grin as they continued out the doors to the street. At the same bar and grill where he'd shot pool with Mandi, they ordered burger baskets and beer. Beth was more than a little surprised when he ordered two baskets with extra fries. "Wow," she said, "And I thought I was hungry." "I was going to order three, but I didn't want you to think I was some kind of a pig." She thought he was joking, of course. Their conversation ranged over the events of the previous two days, then she asked questions about Mandi, none of which he could answer. With some incredulity, Beth said, "For someone who's bunking with her you don't know a helluva lot about her." "Nope. Guess not." "What do you know about her?" "Not much. Haven't needed to. Besides, she's just crashing with me to avoid being pestered. I'd rather know about you, Beth. How'd you get into this business?" Shrugging, Beth said, "I was a Delaware cop who never got out of the office. I was bored shitless and going nowhere. The NIA said they could use me, so I switched over." "Seems to me I first saw you in -- what? -- 1993?" She nodded. "Right after we busted that colonel at the Watergate in March." "You were impersonating an Air Force captain and I said something about being a sucker for a woman in uniform. If I recall correctly, you rolled your eyes and sighed at me." "I'd heard that line thirty times by then." Doing his best to look hurt, Cade said, "Hey, it wasn't a line. Put on a uniform sometime and try me. I'll fall all over you, ma'am. Putty in your hands, and all that." As their food arrived, she snickered and said, "Sure, I'll do that someday. Pass the salt and pepper." They chatted some more as they ate, and when her food was gone, she began filching his french fries as they talked. Cade pushed the burgerless basket toward her and reached for the second burger. "Mind if I order another one?" he asked. In some startlement, Beth asked, "You got a tapeworm or something?" "Nope. Just hungry tonight for some reason." Shrugging, she said, "Go for it." After the third burger and fries, Cade felt as if he'd make it through the night without quite starving. Beth had occasionally stared at him as he'd put away the third basket of food, but she'd only remarked that he might want to see a doctor sometime about his appetite. It occurred to Cade that he'd made no eliminations of solid or liquid waste since he'd nibbled on Mandi. That pretty much had to mean that anything he ate or drank was being used fairly completely by the conversion process. He wondered if he could take that to mean that any mass would do in a pinch. If so, a phone book would do as well as a steak dinner as a midnight snack. He put that thought on the shelf as he realized water would do, too, and nobody'd miss any amount of water he could possibly drink. "Beth," he said, "How come you were free to make me take you to dinner tonight?" "Make you? I didn't make you... Oh. You want to know why I don't have a boyfriend, huh?" "Yup. May I speak freely?" "Uh... Okay, I guess so." Nodding, Cade said, "Okay, then, I'll run with it. Regardless what you may think of yourself, most men see you as a fine looking woman..." "You've decided that based on your opinion and what Tony said upstairs?" "No, and don't run yourself down around me, okay? He was right and you know it. Men glance at every woman, but they only really eyeball the best ones. You've got great legs and a fine figure and you don't even come close to qualifying as plain or ugly. So, unless you're a closet lesbian, why is there no man in your life?" Before she could answer, he raised a hand and added, "And if you are a lesbian, that's something I don't need to know about while we're both working for the government." Giving him an amused look, Beth asked, "If I were a lesbian, would that bother you?" Shaking his head, Cade said, "Not even a little bit. A couple of my friends back in Florida are lesbians and we get along just fine. They make stuff for my online store and use me as an escort now and then." Beth blinked at him and asked, "An escort?" "Yeah. One works for a company that throws those damned 'one big happy family' employee parties. We go as a group and I pretend to be her boyfriend." With a chuckle, Beth said, "That must be interesting." Shrugging, Cade said, "We usually make an appearance, circulate a bit so she ca
n say she attended, and leave unless there's a reason not to. We also babysit each others' cats." "You have cats?" "Yup. Three." "I thought men preferred dogs." "Not this one. Don't like sports, either, if that's where you're going next." She nodded and said, "Yeah. I was. No football,