Freaks in the City

by Maree Anderson

  She’d never have gotten through the following months without the memory of that night to cling to. And the hope she’d done enough to convince Caine she was dead so that one day soon she might safely reveal herself to Tyler again.

  “I get t-shirts, too,” Nessa was saying. “See?” She held out her arms and did a twirl. “There’re two more in the bag.”

  “Nice,” Tyler said, which so far as Jay was concerned was only the truth. The black t-shirt with the discreet logo on the breast pocket did look very smart paired with Nessa’s tidy denim jeans and the new black and white sneakers she’d chosen while shopping with Jay. “Now you’ve got a job—” the unspoken words ‘and an income’ hung in the air “—what’re your plans?”

  Jay nudged him with her elbow. “Give the girl a chance to cash her first paycheck.”

  “I’ll find a place as soon as I can,” Nessa said. “I don’t want to keep sponging off you.”

  “Don’t worry,” Jay said. “I’m hardly the type to let you take advantage of me.” She stood and brushed down the seat of her jeans. “Who’s hungry?”

  “I could eat,” Tyler said.

  Nessa snickered as she hung her coat on the coat rack by the door. “Apparently you haven’t changed at all.” Her stomach chose that moment to rumble. Loudly.

  Tyler returned the snicker in spades. “Sounds like I’m not the only one who’s hungry.”

  “I didn’t get a chance to eat before I… rushed out the door.”

  Jay watched Nessa’s face. She was flushed. That could be excitement over getting the job. But excitement would not account for the sheen of perspiration on her forehead. Nor the nervous glances toward the stairwell. What had she been up to?

  “It’s time you and Tyler pulled your weight around here,” Jay said. “Your turn to cook.”

  “Nessa doesn’t do cooking,” Tyler said.

  “I really don’t,” Nessa said. “Grilled cheese and instant noodles is about my limit.”

  “Then it’s time you learned. There’s fresh pasta in the fridge. And Tyler can do a pretty mean pasta sauce with canned tomatoes, olive oil and fresh herbs.”

  Tyler stood and stretched. “C’mon. I’ll show you how it’s done.” He wandered toward the kitchen.

  “What are you going to do, Jay?” Nessa asked. “Aren’t you hungry?”

  “Not particularly,” Jay said, carefully watching her face. “I’m gonna go unpack. I’ll be down shortly and you can tell me all about the job.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  If her tone was anything to go by it was so not okay. Jay headed up the stairs, aware of Nessa’s gaze fixed on her back. Whatever Nessa had done, it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. And there was a high probability it centered around Jay’s bedroom.

  She took a couple of steps into the hallway and paused, listening for Nessa’s footsteps heading for the kitchen. When Tyler began relaying instructions for where to find this and that, Jay knew it was safe to proceed without risk of being interrupted.

  She opened the door to her bedroom and paused, taking in the room, cataloging the contents, comparing the placement of everything as it was now to the photo-like memory she extracted from her memory banks.

  She found herself reluctantly impressed. Tyler would never have noticed anything untoward. Nessa had done an excellent job of searching the room and putting everything back the way it was. But she hadn’t reckoned on a cyborg’s ability to note even minute changes. Nor a cyborg’s acute sense of smell, that could detect, for example, even the faintest whiff of the antiperspirant body spray Nessa used. She’d been here. In this room. Searching through Jay’s personal belongings.

  Jay walked into the en suite bathroom. Tyler’s few toiletries. Toothpaste and brushes. Jay’s hairbrush, Tyler’s comb. All were still evident. She checked the medicine cabinet. Tylenol and arnica cream she’d bought for Tyler. Ditto the throat lozenges. Nothing untoward. Unless Nessa had taken samples of hair from the brush and comb for DNA purposes, which might prove problematic.

  A shame Nessa’s cooking lesson was going to be trumped by an interrogation.

  ~~~

  Chapter Twelve

  Nessa scraped the last of the pasta sauce from her plate. Jay decided now was the perfect time to pounce—when the girl was relaxed, and sleepy-eyed, lulled into a false sense of security by a plateful of carbs and Jay’s non-reaction to having her personal space violated.

  “So, did you find what you were looking for?”

  “Huh?” Nessa blinked and screwed up her face, displaying classic symptoms of confusion. Oh, she was good.

  “In my bedroom.”

  Ah. There. Gotcha. Swallowing convulsively, inability to meet the accuser’s gaze, fidgeting with whatever happened to be at hand—in this case, cutlery. Classic symptoms of guilt.

  Tyler halted his forkful of pasta halfway to his mouth. Jay cautioned him to silence with a finger to her lips.

  Nessa opened her mouth, paused, and shut it again. When she did speak it was barely a whisper. “I need a pen and paper.”

  Jay caught a WTF? glance from Tyler.

  “Have you two finished eating?” she asked. “Good. Come with me.” She beckoned Tyler to follow and herded Nessa into the room off the lounge she’d outfitted as an office cum library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. She powered up her laptop, clicked on a playlist and selected a song.

  “What do you think of this one, Tyler? I love this group.” She amped up the volume and then opened up a blank text document. You think someone might be watching? she typed, and pushed back her chair to give Nessa access to the keyboard.

  Nessa knelt on the ground in front of the laptop. yes, she typed.

  Jay heard Tyler’s sharply indrawn breath. He positioned himself against her back, hands gripping the back of the chair, protecting her. Who? she typed.

  name is sixer, Nessa typed. phone rang picked it up in yr bedroom. he knew where I was. told me 2 search yr room.

  Why?

  don’t know.

  Tyler reached overtop Nessa to punch out, BULLSHIT.

  Jay removed his hands from the keyboard and typed, Not helping! Tyler backed off. When Jay glanced over her shoulder at him he had his arms folded across his chest and he was scowling mightily. For Nessa’s benefit Jay typed, Sheesh, Tyler. Still not helping.

  Nessa hiccupped a watery-sounding laugh. so sorry, she typed. met him in snapperton. gave me money 2 spy on u. told me what he’d do 2 me if I told u bout him. HE SCARES ME!!!

  Jay felt a pang of compassion that she quickly shoved aside. She couldn’t afford to be compassionate until she knew who and what she was dealing with.

  What did he want you to do after you’d searched my room?

  tell him if anything strange or out of place. Nessa’s hands shook as she typed.

  Anything else?

  Nessa squeezed her eyelids shut, screwing up her face as she tried to recall. She nodded and opened her eyes and started typing furiously. said he wanted 2 c u thru my eyes. said he was more interested in what I didnt find than what I did whatever that means.

  Tyler pointed to the laptop and waggled his eyebrows. Jay gave him a thumbs up. She’d left the laptop at home. If this mysterious Sixer was after information about her, a laptop was an excellent place to start. Surely he’d have asked Nessa about it, and upon learning it was downstairs in Jay’s study, insist she steal it and bring it to him.

  Nessa had already anticipated her next question. asked him bout laptop. he said u wouldnt store important stuff on it.

  Interesting. What did you tell him? She moved aside again to give Nessa access to the keyboard.

  u like reading, music, cooking. u r in love with Tyler. u r clueless about fashion and girl-stuff. She darted a sideways gaze at Jay as if to gauge her reaction.

  All very true. Anything else?

  u don’t have any condoms.

  Jay’s eyebrows rose to her hairline. Behind her, Tyler inhaled with a hiss.

 
he asked bout personal stuff. told him no tampons or sanitary pads either. sorry.

  “Jeezus,” Tyler muttered beneath his breath. “What kind of a sicko whack-job is this guy?”

  1 more thing, Nessa typed. told him bout u having nightmare & nearly strangling me. & he already knew u r Jay Smith & Jaime Smythson.

  “This is not good,” Tyler said quietly.

  r u into drugs? is he after u coz of drugs?

  No. This has nothing to do with drugs. Jay decided a similar explanation to the one she’d once given Tyler and Caro was her best option. My father was a research scientist. He worked on a top-secret project before he died. I helped him with his research notes. Now some people want to find out what I know.

  Nessa bit her lip, her gaze switching back and forth from the monitor to Jay. not good 4 them to get that info?

  No.

  sorry bout the drug thing

  I don’t blame you. It’s a logical assumption.

  hated not telling u, Nessa typed. glad u know now. but afraid he’ll hurt me. She sank back until her butt hit her heels. Her sniff indicated she was trying her best to hold back tears.

  How did you keep in contact with him? Jay typed.

  gave me cell phone

  A phone rang and Nessa jerked her hands back from the keyboard. Jay muted the song blaring from the laptop. The ringing wasn’t coming from the phone on the desk.

  Nessa stared at Jay. Her pupils dilated, going huge with shock. She reached into her back pocket for a cell phone and stared at it like it’d suddenly morphed into a viper. “It’s him,” she said. “He’s watching us. He knows I’ve told you. Oh God. What am I gonna do?”

  “Answer it,” Jay said. And when Nessa seemed paralyzed, prompted her again. “Answer the phone, Nessa. It’ll be okay. I promise I’ll keep you safe.”

  Nessa nodded slowly. With her gaze still fixed on Jay’s face she answered the call. “H-hello?”

  Jay could easily hear the male voice on the other end of the line saying, “Put her on.”

  She held out her hand for the cell phone and ended up having to pluck it from Nessa’s grasp. The poor girl was shaking so hard her teeth were chattering. This man had truly frightened her. “Hello, Sixer.”

  “Hello Jay. Or should I call you Jaime?”

  “Jay will do. What do you want?”

  “Straight to the point. I approve.”

  Jay remained silent.

  “A female of few words. Again, I approve.”

  “I don’t have the slightest interest in garnering your approval. What do you want?”

  “I simply wanted to speak with you.”

  “I find that very difficult to believe. Why have you threatened Nessa?”

  His attempt at a laugh was more of a wheeze, as though he hadn’t had much practice at laughing. And his voice…. Interesting.

  “She did as I asked. I have no further use for her.”

  “She told us about you. What are the ramifications for her disobedience?”

  Nessa’s quiet sobs become louder. Jay jerked her chin at Tyler, and he hauled the girl upright and led her to the couch by the bookshelves.

  “None. There’s a saying, ‘What’s done is done.’ Or perhaps, ‘No use crying over spilled milk’ would be more apt. I promised her more money, but she said insisted she no longer wanted it. As far as I am concerned, our deal is concluded.”

  “If you hurt her, I will hunt you down and destroy you.”

  “I would expect nothing less.”

  “Are you working for Evan Caine?” From the corner of her eye Jay saw Tyler’s head snap up.

  “Not anymore,” Sixer said, and disconnected.

  Jay swept her gaze over Nessa, huddled in Tyler’s arms, looking like a terrified little girl who’d just discovered the bogeyman was knocking on her door. “He’s not going to hurt you, Nessa,” she said. “You’re not his primary target. He got what he wanted from you and he’s moved on.”

  “A-are you sure?” Nessa’s tear-reddened eyes glittered with hope.

  “I’m sure.”

  “Thank God.” She sagged with relief and Jay felt that unwelcome compassion creeping up on catlike feet. Poor Nessa. She must have been frantic. It was impressive that she’d kept this secret for so long.

  “And what did he want from her, exactly?” Tyler grated the words from between tightly clenched teeth.

  “Exactly what Nessa told us he wanted—her impressions of me.”

  “Why?”

  “That remains to be seen.”

  “Jesus.” Tyler scrubbed his hands over his face.

  “He’s not working for Caine,” Jay told him, and watched as he exhaled some of the tension from his body. Before he could say anything more she said, “Please take Nessa upstairs and put her to bed. I have something I need to do.”

  “The mobile?” Tyler guessed.

  “Yes.”

  The expression in his eyes told her this wasn’t over and he’d be interrogating her later, but he chivvied Nessa from the chair and ushered her upstairs.

  By the time Tyler re-entered the study, Jay had completed her investigations. “Anything?” he asked, indicating the cell phone with a jerk of his chin.

  “Disposable. Pre-pay. Cheap generic brand. He could have picked this up anywhere.”

  “Worth dusting for prints?”

  Jay shook her head. “I don’t believe so. If he doesn’t have a record his prints won’t be in the system. They may be on file at a private company or organization, but that’d be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

  “And he’s too smart to have a record, you reckon?”

  “Yes.”

  “What about tracing the call?”

  “Of course he destroyed his own phone immediately after disconnecting the call.” She didn’t tell Tyler what little she had been able to discover. Best to keep that disturbing piece of news to herself.

  The good news was that Sixer was no longer an agent of Caine’s. The bad news was he’d gone rogue, which meant he had his own agenda. And if he became a problem she would handle him in her own way. Just as she would handle Caine. Again. More permanently this time.

  “Shit.” Tyler plunked his butt on the edge of the desk, his gaze intent. “What are you gonna do?”

  “Nothing for the moment.”

  He flexed his fingers and then clenched them into tight fists. “Nothing?”

  Jay amended her answer slightly to make it more palatable. “When Nessa is feeling up to it I’ll ask her to describe him in detail and mock up a sketch—run him through some systems and see if I get a hit.”

  His fists relaxed. A good sign. “Sounds like a plan. And if you can’t ID him?”

  “I don’t believe I will be able to ID him. The ball is in his court, Tyler. He wants something from me and eventually, when the time is right, he’ll ask for it. In the meantime, all I can do is be vigilant.”

  Tyler chewed his thumbnail—a habit he had when he was thinking hard, searching for inspiration. “You think he’s after money?”

  “No. This was a fact-finding mission.”

  “And what ‘facts’ do you reckon he’s found, then?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Tyler barked a disbelieving laugh. “You don’t know?”

  “It has been known to happen on occasion,” Jay said. “Just because I’m a cyborg doesn’t mean I’m omnipotent.”

  In other circumstances, Tyler would probably have made some smartass comment about this being a “frame it and hang it on the wall” moment. Now he just went back to gnawing on his thumbnail. Eventually he said, “Do we need to get out of Dodge?”

  “Leave and start over? No. I don’t believe so. He’s posed no physical threat, though doubtless he’s had ample opportunities to get physical.”

  “He scared the bejesus out of Nessa. She’s still majorly freaked about the whole thing.”

  “Mind games,” Jay said. “He wanted her scared and compliant. But he didn’t p
hysically harm her and I don’t believe he will do so in the future.”

  Tyler’s eyes darkened with worry. “You willing to bet on that?”

  “Yes,” Jay said. “I’m willing to bet on it. I’m willing to put everything on the line and guarantee that he will not harm her.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “Because he knows I do not make idle threats. If he hurts her I will kill him.”

  Tyler rubbed his arms. “Sure glad you’re on my side.”

  “Me, too.”

  “What about Nessa?”

  Jay arched a brow. “I’m hardly going to insist she leave after what’s happened. If she wants to remain here, then she can do so. If she doesn’t want to, then I’ll help her find a suitable place to stay and give her the cash that Sixer promised her to get her started. Stop worrying, Tyler. There’s nothing more you can do right now, so worrying is a futile exercise.”

  He gave her classic “Doh” eyes. “Worrying is human. It’s what we do. Times like this it’d be darned useful to be a cyborg and switch off my emotions and concentrate on logic and facts.”

  “You should get some sleep. I’ll clean up in the kitchen and be up a little later on.”

  Tyler yawned and glanced at his watch. “Shit. You’re right. Got a class first thing tomorrow, too.” He stood and stared down at her. “Be careful, Jay.”

  “Always.”

  ~~~

  Tyler pummeled a pillow with his fist and tried to get comfortable. No joy. Every time he closed his eyes his brain kicked into overdrive.

  He rolled onto his back and lay staring at the ceiling. He wasn’t happy about the prospect of leaving Jay alone in the house tomorrow but unless he wanted to go the vigilante route and try to track this creepy Sixer dude himself, he had to comply with her wishes. Man, he was tempted except for one small problem. Aside from enlisting his dad’s help—and no way was Tyler getting his dad involved in something like this again—he was clueless where to start. If Jay couldn’t track this guy, Tyler hadn’t got a shit show in hell.