In Irina's Cards (The Variant Conspiracy #1)

by Christine Hart

  “Don’t worry, you’re safe with me. And it’s no trouble to take you around town. Maybe after you see the best parts of the city, you’ll want to stay.”

  We passed under a white-orange streetlight and the glow highlighted a dimple in his cheek when he smiled. Cole grew on me with his calmer, more charming side.

  By the time we got back to the motel, my eyelids felt heavy. I noticed a figure standing at the bottom of the outdoor stairwell. Rubin waved at us and Cole waved back. Exhaustion poured over me. Where had Rubin been last night when I needed protection? What would he say to my hanging out with my co-workers? I didn’t want to share my thoughts with him, so I tried to clear my mind. I thanked Cole for the ride and hopped out. He paused, eying Rubin before he drove away.

  “You’re out a bit late for a work night, aren’t you?” said Rubin lightly.

  “It’s Friday.”

  “No reason you can’t get some work done tomorrow,” he said in his infuriating matter-of-fact tone.

  “The office is closed, so I wasn’t planning to work.” I walked past him up the stairs. I heard his footsteps behind me.

  “I meant work of another sort. It’s time we found you a proper apartment. Particularly because I’m not convinced that your assailant from the other night hasn’t been following you.”

  “So you did know! And you waited a day to come check on me. Thanks, I’m overwhelmed by your concern. But since I haven’t cashed my first pay-check, I kind of hoped I could keep this room a bit longer,” I said. “Then again, I still have enough money to make it back to Prince George and at this point, heading home looks pretty good.”

  “Innoviro prefers that you stay here in Victoria. The company paid for this room and we will cover your apartment as well. We cover room and board for all employees. I’m surprised Melissa hasn’t mentioned this yet. I see your new friends didn’t bring it up either. Discussing inappropriate topics instead from the sounds of it.”

  “Get out of my head! I’m tired as hell and you show up here to . . . what, kick me out?” I felt my fatigue turning into frustration and anger.

  “You’re not being kicked out. And I understand that you’re tired, but I’m afraid this can’t wait.”

  I sighed and invited him in to make arrangements for looking at apartments.

  The next morning, Rubin waited for me again when I came down to the diner for breakfast. I wasn’t surprised to find him eating dry white toast and drinking black coffee. Naturally, he’d ordered me a plate of crepes.

  “Does anyone ever get used to you knowing their every thought?” I asked sarcastically.

  “It goes in phases.” He spread jam on his toast. “Disbelief, awe, fear, and irritation, usually leading to avoidance.”

  I felt gratitude for his honesty and resolved not to do that to him.

  “Yes, eventually, you will avoid me.”

  “We’ll see about that. So what do you have lined up for us to look at?”

  “I’m placing you in one of the company-owned properties, with a focus on our more secure buildings, in light of the circumstances.”

  “Do you know who my attacker was?”

  “I believe you were assaulted by an ex-employee. We cannot be certain, but as I’m sure you’ll realize as you begin to work more closely with Ivan, that we are a very special organization, dealing with some very impressive technology. Unfortunately, not everyone we welcome into our little family is worthy of staying for the long haul.”

  “What do you mean by that? Was he fired? Were you testing on him and something went wrong?”

  Rubin shot me a dark look. “We do nothing reckless, malicious, or irresponsible and I won’t have you making statements that so much as imply we do,” he said in a quiet, yet angry tone. I felt my body tense, like I was about to get in trouble. “But back to your accommodation situation, I have several buildings in mind. You won’t have unlimited freedom. I’m afraid that’s no longer possible. However, these are still some very lovely living spaces.”

  I stared back at him. I stayed frozen in my seat from his veiled threat. I wanted to know why he’d spoken to me like that, but I also wanted to see these security-oriented apartments. After all, the tone of voice was probably just Rubin being his eccentric self. And if Innoviro had the money and would foot the bill, I wanted to see what they offered. Maybe psychics were quite rare and they wanted to make sure I felt content and comfortable.

  “Protecting staff that are in danger is the right thing to do. You must understand that the danger I’m talking about doesn’t come from the company.” He bit off a piece of toast, chewed, and swallowed. “Or from me.”

  “How long has the company been around? How long have you worked there?”

  “If you recall our earlier conversations, I’m not at liberty to answer each and every one of your questions. You’re starting to get a sense of where and how you’ll find all the answers you’re looking for, so I think we’re best served by moving on to today’s appointments.”

  I smiled and nodded. I ate my crepes as Rubin outlined the tour of the city to view three different apartments.

  Our first stop was in a neighborhood near the cemetery Cole showed me. We were still fairly close to the ocean in an upscale neighborhood. I saw a sign for a bus stop ahead where the sidewalk curved into a driveway which led to a gated entrance to underground parking. The tower above us was easily the largest on the street. Rubin said, “I agree that you should familiarize yourself with the city and if Cole wants to take you, I suggest you accept the offer.”

  Damn it, Rubin, I’m going to lose my voice if you never let me say anything out loud. And for god’s sake, give me some privacy! Or at least pretend! Now I get what you meant about people avoiding you.

  “I apologize. However, I am pleased that you’re still within the irritation phase.”

  I glared at him.

  Rubin stopped the car, but the glossy black gate didn’t move. He produced a remote from his coat pocket and pressed the only button. The gate retracted upwards along the parking garage roof.

  “This is the Oak Bay Tower. There are eighteen floors, each containing six two-bedroom apartments. If you select this building, it’s likely you’ll never use the underground parking. Since you don’t have a vehicle, the building’s management will not issue you a remote button.” Rubin pulled into a parking spot marked VISITOR with white stenciled letters.

  I followed him through the dank concrete garage into the stairwell and up to the building’s lobby. He walked briskly to a panel of buttons near the large glass doors by the entrance.

  “You gain access to the building with a key card. Each unique card is programmed for both the main door, and the apartment of the cardholder. Once inside, you enter a security code here. Forget to enter this code and your key card will not open the door to your apartment.”

  I watched as another tenant entered the building using the procedure Rubin described. I felt the crease in my forehead deepen. I couldn’t imagine needing or wanting this level of security.

  “I think this is a bit too intense for me. Are the other buildings this secure?”

  “More so. The next building on our tour has an armed doorman. Not to worry, you’ll never need to tip him.” Rubin entered a code into the panel.

  “Somehow I don’t think tipping would be my first concern in that scenario.”

  We got into the elevator. We reached the top floor and walked along a white corridor with dark slate floors. We looked very out of place in such posh surroundings. Rubin swiped the card at apartment 1806. The suite was simple, but elegant. A regular sized two-bedroom apartment. The dining area had a basic table and chair set. The living room had a microfiber couch. Modern art hung on the wall. I could have brought my backpack and made myself at home with one trip to the grocery store. But a half
-hour bus ride from work? Not ideal.

  For the next apartment, we went back downtown, to a brand new building I recognized from my first day in the city. It wasn’t the largest building, but it had a distinctive atrium connecting two towers. The second apartment was much more beautiful with a leather sofa set, stainless steel appliances, and I felt heat coming from the floor. The square footage was noticeably smaller. Sure enough, the lobby included a doorman, but he didn’t look armed with more than an awful uniform. This building also had a receptionist and a front desk like a hotel. No matter how normal-looking, I couldn’t get past the prospect of someone carrying a gun where I lived every day and Rubin suggested we should see all three apartments regardless.

  For the last building, we drove through downtown and crossed the blue iron girder bridge near The Market Square. We followed the left fork in the road along the coast of Esquimalt. We parked next to a mid-century brown tower with wood siding. The bottom few feet of the exterior had a coating of moss and mildew creeping up from the ground. I wasn’t sure what kind of security it provided, apart from being reasonably far from downtown.

  Rubin pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked a mailbox on the side of the building. He took out two stone pendants hung on leather cords. He placed one around my neck and the other on his own. It wasn’t the weirdest thing I’d seen so far.

  The décor reminded me of a slightly more modern version of my grandmother’s house. A velveteen sofa and chenille chair looked dated, but I sat down on the sofa and felt like Goldilocks on Baby Bear’s bed. Rubin smiled at me and I quickly stood up to continue the tour. At the end of the living room, the floor continued into an enclosed balcony sunroom, already adorned with ferns and a banana plant. I saw the Olympic Mountains in the distance. In the foreground, Victoria’s Inner Harbour lay to the left, slightly distorted by a curve in the thick glass. In front of me stretched a coastline of blue-green trees. A cruise ship came into view on the water.

  “I like this one. Definitely. If it’s up to me, I’ll take this apartment,” I said.

  “The security system here is slightly different, so you’ll need to come downstairs. If Esther isn’t home, we can’t get your ‘key’ to the building.” Rubin held out his runic pendant.

  We went back to the lobby and I followed him down a long hallway with kitschy orange, yellow, and brown geometric carpet. He knocked on the door and asked me to wait outside. I didn’t hear or see anything and a few short minutes later, Rubin emerged with new shiny black stones carved with similar ruins, hung on leather cord.

  “Wear this around your neck at all times while you’re in the building. You have an additional pendant for guest use. I realize this seems ridiculous to you, but take it seriously. I have no interest in having to undo a curse on you or anyone you chose to invite to visit. Needless to say, there are no keys or locks here. And like the other apartments, your accommodation includes a weekly housekeeping visit.”

  Rubin placed the new pendant around my neck before removing the original stone. I held the new pendant and twisted the stone around so I could see the symbol. It looked like a ‘Y’ but the bottom stroke came up through the ‘V’. The shape reminded me of a fork. The polished black stone was cool to the touch like jade, but it didn’t start to warm as I held it.

  “Is there anything else I need to know? I’ll take your word for it if I’m supposed to burn incense in the morning, chant before bed, or anything else,” I said.

  Rubin smiled. “Let’s get your belongings from the motel. Assuming you’re ready to move in tonight?”

  I nodded and followed him back out the front door.

  A short time later, Rubin returned me to the Esquimalt apartment with my backpack and the few extras I’d accumulated at the motel. A bag of snack food. Another bag containing body lotion, shave gel, and foam mouse–all the extras I hadn’t thought to pack when I left home.

  As I waited for the building’s only old elevator, it hit me that I had landed my first apartment. I hadn’t envisioned my first apartment in any great detail. During most of my high school years, I pictured a dorm room at the University of Northern British Columbia. Once I decided to postpone schooling until I had an idea for a career, my plans went as muddy as the Fraser River.

  I’d felt more and more useless after graduation as I watched all my friends, including my best friend Bridget, moved on to exciting and/or impressive things. Everyone I knew had enrolled in, and in many cases, moved far away for colleges, universities, and enriching travels. I had developed a sort of Zen patience for being bored or alone or both. I settled into a routine of going to the car dealership, eating deli sandwiches, watching sitcoms, and trying to convince myself that the right choice would make itself clear soon.

  So while I distributed my belongings throughout my new apartment–a process which took less than ten minutes–I felt like I’d started a new routine. I focused on clearing my mind as to why I had actually come to Victoria in the first place. My new job didn’t need to be the career I had been waiting for, but I would stay open to the possibility. What I really needed to do was learn the root cause and the meanings of my visions. Cole’s offer to take me sightseeing in the city and surrounding area suddenly sounded better. Hopefully more scenes from my visions were out there. Innoviro would help me learn about my gift. And Jonah, I hoped would fit in there somewhere.

  I slipped into the bed with crisp cotton sheets and remembered my apartment came with free housekeeping. I smiled and stretched out, thinking that I’d never have to change my sheets or clean my bathtub. My stomach twisted as I realized that housekeeping could also mean checking up on me. What other forms of surveillance were built into the apartment? It took me almost an hour to fall asleep in spite of the wonderful new bed.

  I left my apartment the next morning at ten after eight even though I wasn’t due at work until nine. Not having a watch or phone to check time made me uneasy. Punctuality was important to me and I’d rather be awkwardly early than even a few minutes late. The bus trip from my building to the cross-street above The Market Square was supposed to take approximately fifteen minutes on a number six bus. According to my schedule booklet, the number six ran every ten minutes during the morning commute. Even if I missed a bus, it shouldn’t take more than half an hour to get to work.

  My new route downtown wasn’t as picturesque as the Oak Bay coastline. A few blocks from my building the bus passed a run-down strip mall with little more than a supermarket, an insurance office, and a liquor store. After that, dated apartment buildings were punctuated by a dingy salon, a check-cashing office, a few low-budget convenience stores, and several boarded-up buildings with lettering peeled off the signage. Traditional notions of safety weren’t quite as meaningful anymore, but I questioned whether or not the atmosphere of the neighborhood was going to wear on me over time.

  I watched the Harbour get larger while the bus rolled down the road towards the bright blue iron bridge marking the entrance to the city’s core. To become a true city girl, I needed a phone and work-appropriate clothes. My first paycheck could handle those purchases. Next, I would invest in a laptop. Not having access to a computer at home bothered me. Since nearly one hundred percent of my income was at my disposal, aside from food and now a bus pass, I thought about what to do with my savings. Why save up for school when I already had the kind of job an education was supposed to deliver? Other than travel, which I couldn’t take on for long periods while keeping my job, what else did I want to buy? I’d never been in a position to consider the question.

  To make sure Ivan’s morning coffee wasn’t cold by the time he arrived, I had to kill some time before stopping at the cafe below Innoviro. I walked around the block and back along the waterfront, Wharf Street before coming back to Johnson. Pedestrian volume had increased. I considered that tourist season, at least for thrifty vacationers, was starting to take hold. Nobody vacationed
in Prince George aside from visiting family or using the city as a launch point for hunting or fishing trips. I wasn’t accustomed to seeing people wander aimlessly.

  I lingered at a few shop windows myself, allowing myself to picture near-future shopping trips. How long could I really work for Innoviro? Was I moving to Victoria for good?

  I thought about Jonah and Cole and Faith being a part of my life. And I remembered the image of my parents. That vision. I couldn’t think about it without a nagging need to know what it meant and how the story ended. Why had my mind’s eye plucked that particular scene out of my personal timeline? I had to figure out whether it was something from the future, and if so, what held significance within some random argument with some unknown third party?

  I pictured myself getting back on the overnight bus and then bursting in the door, panicked and out of breath, frantic to see if they were all right. When they discovered that I left a good job, for nothing more than a dream about their well-being, my mom would frown, concerned and disappointed while Darryl would make some remark about my finding a creative new way to screw up my life. Sure, he’d say it with cheer, trying to be funny to take the edge off, but, I’d still leave the room, dejected from the full force of the words alone, not tempered by his failed attempt at humor.

  I sighed. Okay, I was definitely having a pity party today. Things between my stepdad and me had grown tenser since I graduated from high school, but he wasn’t a monster. He just wasn’t patient with my refusal to make decisions, or grow up, or move onto adulthood. Like he said, there was a time for childish behavior and my time was past. He wanted to see me with a job that challenged my mind, not one that barely tapped my brain like the car dealership. Just because I didn’t appreciate his attempts at humor didn’t mean Darryl was a total jerk.