Smoke (Smoke Series Book 1)

by Mariah Esterly

  The bartender greeted Kay in a way that made Gertie suspect that she knew her intimately and gave them their first round free. Gertie asked for a water and for the first thirty minutes her alcoholic drink remained untouched. She needed to keep her wits about her and didn’t want to run the risk of getting drunk.

  Gertie edged Kay toward a circular booth that had a camera in the corner pointing directly at it. She felt jumpy not having Vail with her and wanted to stay as visible as possible for Dicie.

  Kay sat across from her sipping her drink and flipping through the song book. Kay’s eyes slid toward the door frequently like she was expecting someone, but she’d specifically said that she wanted a night out with just the two of them. Gertie chalked it up to Kay needing to see who was entering the bar, in case she did recognize someone.

  After a half hour of being there, Kay mumbled something about needing another drink and slipped out of the booth. Gertie tilted her wrist to get the time to flash on her bracelet. They hadn’t left her apartment that long ago, but she already wanted to leave.

  She glanced up as a body slid into the booth across from her and her body went still.

  It wasn’t Kay that joined her. Without a word, she gathered her things and stood from the table.

  “Gertie, don’t leave,” Liam pleaded. Her black eyes found his face in the gloom of the bar. He looked so distraught, so concerned for her that she hesitated then dropped back to the seat.

  But not before she threw a glare over her shoulder at Kay, who was lingering by the bar. Kay kept her gaze pointedly away from her and Gertie knew that her friend had helped plan this. She should have known something was up. Kay never wanted to go out just the two of them.

  “Really, Liam? Asking my friend to help ambush me?” She hissed at him, her eyes narrowed.

  He held up his hands, palms out. “Look, I just want to talk. I’m worried about you. Kay is too, which is why she agreed to help me.”

  “Why? Why are you so worried about me? I’m fine. I’m more than fine.”

  But he did look concerned, and exhausted, like he hadn’t slept in a week. He was normally so put together, the result of his guardsman training. But now he had the shadow of a beard on his cheeks and his civilian clothes, jeans and a t-shirt, looked rumpled.

  If she was being honest, it really worked on him. Made him not more attractive, but more approachable then he was in his uniform. His good looks didn’t dull the anger that was bubbling up in Gertie’s chest, making her jaw tighten.

  She leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. “Okay, tell me why you’re worried.”

  He leaned forward. “You disappeared all last weekend. You said you were with Kay, but you weren’t. She told me. Sometime during the course of the weekend, you had an accident that left you with a bruise the size of a fist on your face.”

  Gertie raised her chin an inch. “I told you I fe-”

  “Fell.” He finished with her. “Yeah, I heard that the first time you said it.” He ran a hand down his face. “Tell me what you know about the guy I saw you with at the bar.”

  Gertie’s lips compressed into a thin line. “We’ve been over this, Liam. I hardly know him. I don’t know why you’re so worried about him.”

  He leaned over the table, his palms flat on the faux wood surface. “Gertie, please, just tell me the truth. What do you know about him?”

  She tilted her head. Why he wouldn’t let the subject of Vail drop she had no idea. He’d only ever seen them together the one time. Unless the Chancellor had put a camera in her bathroom and Liam had somehow gotten access to the feed from her apartment.

  She shuddered at the thought. They were careful. Vail was never visible unless he was in her bathroom or at the Office.

  He’s trying to get information from you. He wants you to confirm something he suspects or already knows. That had to be it.

  She leaned forward, rested her forearms on the table. “What do you know about him? What are you trying to get me to tell you? Maybe if I had some idea I could help you, Liam, but I can’t tell you what I don’t know.” Liam narrowed his eyes but didn’t respond.

  Gertie threw up her hands. “Fine. Do you want me to go over what I do know about him? He told me his name and his age. He rescued me from an uncomfortable situation with my boss. He didn’t even tell me where he works or what he does. That is what I know about him. I haven’t seen him since that night. And honestly if he was standing in front of me I probably wouldn’t even know it. That is how little I have seen him since that night.”

  As she spoke, Liam’s face fell. He looked hurt and Gertie didn’t know why. “Why won’t you just drop it?” she asked her voice hardly louder than a whisper.

  He still heard her. He scooted from his side of the table to hers, his shoulder pressing against her, his fingers laced through hers. “Because I think you know more then you are telling me. Because that guy is dangerous and I think you may be in over your head. I can’t help you- I can’t protect you- if you aren’t honest with me. Please, Gertie, let me help you.”

  Gertie shook her head, pulling her hand from his. “I don’t need help, Liam.” She reached out and brushed her fingers across his brow, trying to smooth away the worry lines there. “I am fine. I’m not in over my head, because I am not in anything. I promise.”

  He took her hand in a warm grip and moved it from his forehead to his lips, where he pressed a kiss against her palm. “Why are you lying to me?” His voice was a whisper, pleading, begging her to tell him the truth.

  She stared at him for a moment, hating that she had to lie to him in order to keep Vail safe. She cared about them both, deeply. Liam had been her first friend in 3rd, before Kay had forced her friendship on her. He’d been nothing but kind and caring to her, protective.

  But Vail… Vail was different. He’d saved her in more ways than one. Helped her after… She closed her eyes seeing her living room covered in blood and bodies. He’d seen her at her worst and had still decided that she was worthy of protection and care. The least she could do was return the favor.

  She pulled her hand from Liam’s and scooted away from him, around the other side of the booth, pulling her jacket and bag with her. She stood, and shrugged into her coat. “I think you should get some rest, Liam. You’re seeing monsters where there are none. Please, take care of yourself.”

  She turned to go, striding past Kay, who reached out a hand as though to stop her. Gertie ignored her, pushed open the door and stepped out into the night.

  24

  Vail

  Dicie didn’t wake him before Gertie left the bar. In fact, she didn’t wake him until early the next morning, misty grey light illuminated the room from his wall of fake windows.

  “Why didn’t you get me sooner?” He snarled at Dicie after she prodded him awake.

  She shook her head, unconcerned at the ferociousness of the question. “She left the bar after you’d only been here for an hour and you needed sleep. I sent Winston out to follow her and make sure she got home okay, and then I watched her all night... While she slept. And did nothing else.”

  Vail was hurriedly brushing his teeth. “Why did she leave so early?”

  “Well, it seems the Kay decided to help Liam corner Gertie for what looked like a heated conversation. Gertie didn’t look pleased. Not long after he sat down, she left.”

  He spat in the sink and rinsed his mouth. “No idea what it was about?”

  Dicie shook her head again. “Nope. I’m good at many things, but reading lips is not one of them.” She pushed away from the door jamb of the bathroom. “Make sure you eat something before you run to Gertie. You won’t be any use to her if you die from hunger.”

  Vail followed her back into the main room, pulling off the shirt he’d slept in. As he donned a clean shirt, Dicie opened the door to the hall. “Oh, and Vail, Lanie is coming back this week. I’ll try to get an appointment with her for Gertie.”

  Any animosity that he had been feeling toward
his friend melted in an instant. He wrapped her in a hug before she could leave. “Thank you, Dice.” He said against her curly hair. She pulled back and smiled up at him.

  “I’m not making any promises. You know how she can be.”

  Vail laughed and nodded. “Yeah, I know. But the fact that you are even willing to try means a lot. Thank you.”

  As he made his way through the city, he felt light, like a weight he hadn’t even known he’d been carrying was lifted. He flew through the empty streets, eager to get to Gertie and tell her the good news. He slowed as he reached her building, glancing around to see if there was anyone in the vicinity. Dicie had said she would alter the feed of the building while he got into Gertie’s apartment, but it wouldn’t do any good if someone saw him go in.

  As he rode the elevator up to the seventh floor, he thought maybe he wouldn’t mention Lanie to Gertie. There was no point in getting her hopes up that they might get answers if Lanie decided not to help them.

  The doors to the elevator slid open and Vail stepped into the hall. He could let himself into the apartment, but instead he paused outside of her door and knocked softly. No answer. He knocked again a bit louder, seconds later the door slid open. Gertie blinked up at him for a moment, before pulling him into her apartment and throwing her arms around his neck and pressing against him. He wrapped himself around her, enjoying the feel of her in his arms, inhaling the familiar sweet vanilla and citrus scent of her.

  “Where were you last night? I thought you said you were going to meet me outside.” Her voice reverberated through his chest, warming him. The door slid shut. Before he had a chance to answer, she continued. “It’s okay, I left early anyway, but I waited up, I kept expecting you to knock.” A purple blanket was piled on one side of the couch, obviously, she’d fallen asleep waiting for him.

  “I’m sorry,” he said gently, his fingers curling in the grey fabric of her loose t-shirt. “Dicie thought it would be a good idea to let me sleep in a bed for a while. She woke me up just a bit ago.”

  Gertie pulled back slightly and ran a hand down her face, trying to rub some of the sleep from her eyes. After a moment, her gaze focused on his face. “Hang on. Vail! What are you doing? Why can I see you?”

  He grinned down at her. “Dicie is running some old footage to the feed to 1st.”

  She looked dazed. Her hand braced against his chest. “You don’t have to be invisible?”

  He shook his head, his arms still wrapped around her back, still holding her to him. Her brow furrowed. Vail felt his stomach drop. She didn’t look excited, not like he had expected. “Gertie, this is good news.”

  “Are you sure it’s safe?” She was staring at his chest, not meeting his eyes.

  Frowning, he ducked his head trying to catch her eyes. “Did something happen last night? Did Liam say something?” She nodded but didn’t elaborate. “Freckles?” He prompted.

  She dropped her hands from him, and stepped away, moving toward the kitchen. Vail followed, fear pooling in his stomach. Dicie hadn’t mentioned anything to him before he’d left, but Gertie was obviously shaken. “Gertie, tell me what happened.”

  She shook her head as she began filling the coffee pot with water. “It was just Liam, Captain McDonagh,” She clarified as if he might not know her would-be-boyfriend’s name, as if he didn’t already want to smash his fist into his face. She glanced at him before continuing. “He sort of ambushed me last night, with Kay’s help, I might add. I am going to kill her, but that’s a different matter. He kept pressuring me to tell him the truth about you. It felt like he knew more than he was saying, and he was trying to get me to confirm it for him. It worried me.” She pressed the power button on the coffee maker and before long the aroma of fresh brewed coffee filled the air.

  Vail leaned against the counter, watching as she began pulling out eggs, bacon, hash browns and bread. “I don’t know what he could possibly know. I’ve been with the Office long enough that the government could have a dossier on me. Though I doubt it. I don’t get seen all that often.” He watched her place bacon on a sheet pan and toss it in the oven. “Can I help?”

  She shook her head. “No, thanks. It sort of freaked me out, and I don’t know if now is the best time for us to test our luck by having you…” She trailed off, but her black eyes turned to him, and motioned to the whole of his body with her hand. “As much as I like having a conversation with you without the radio on and being able to actually see you, maybe it's not worth the risk. What is someone notices what they’re watching is old?”

  He pushed away from the counter took her by the shoulders and gently turned her toward him. “They won’t. There is no risk. Dicie is the only person seeing us right now. I’ll still be invisible when we go to your work or even outside, but when we’re here, there is no risk.”

  Her fingers wrapped around his forearms, concern in her dark eyes. “Are you sure?”

  He grinned. “As sure as I can be. You better be careful, Freckles, keep talking like that and I might start to think you care about me.” He wanted her to laugh, to make some quick retort, about how that was impossible, but instead her brows drew together and her lips compressed into a tight line.

  “I do care about you,” She whispered. “I don’t want to see you get hurt because of me. That would be awful.”

  “But you’re okay seeing me get hurt if it’s not because of you? Freckles, I’m shocked!”

  Her scowl deepened but this time she balled up her fist and punched him on the shoulder. “That’s not what I meant!”

  He laughed. “I know. Trust me Dicie isn’t going to let anything slip by her, no one in the government will even know I’m here.”

  The look on Gertie’s face remained unconvinced. But she nodded anyway and went about making breakfast.

  25

  Gertie

  Gertie’s dreams were littered with images of blood, pain and, strangely enough, smoke. She woke, shaking and sweating, to find Vail next to her. Each night he climbed into the bed, pulled her into his arms and cradled her against his chest. Gertie was able to sleep again with his heartbeat echoing in her ears.

  The first few nights he’d started on the couch, but on the third night, Gertie folded up the spare blanket and stuffed it in the closet, along with the pillow he’d been using. It seemed silly to keep up the pretense when they both knew by morning he’d be beside her. If she was being honest, she slept better with him there and enjoyed waking up next to him. Probably a little too much.

  They figured out that the camera would go invisible if they tucked it into the breast pocket of his t-shirt. So, Gertie cut a tiny hole into the fabric, and used a ton of tape to keep it in place. They did a few test shots while judging how close he would need to be to be able to actually see the numbers on the pages.

  On Thursday morning, Gertie watched as Vail flickered in and out of visibility a few times, making sure the that the camera remained unseen. After the sixth time, she nodded. “Okay, I think it’s safe.”

  He became visible again and grinned, picking up his coffee. “I thought that we had decided it was safe two days ago.”

  She narrowed her eyes. He was teasing her, but she couldn’t help that she was worried. The idea of someone noticing him was terrifying to her, and she felt slightly sick at the thought of Vail being captured by the government. The stories of what the government did to Extras were far from pleasant. And the idea of those things happening to Vail… She suppressed a shiver. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea.”

  He shook his head and set down his mug before reaching over to squeeze her hand. “It’s fine. I’ll be fine.” An argument lingered on the tip of Gertie’s tongue, but she knew Vail, knew he wouldn’t listen, so she swallowed the words and lifted her cup to her lips.

  “Tell me the plan,” he prompted.

  Gertie took a sip of her coffee before responding. They’d gone over it multiple times. “Go to work as normal. Get the pages. Hold up the first page for 3 seconds befo
re starting to type do the same for all subsequent pages. Hope that no one notices that I’m doing that.” She tucked their empty cups into the dishwasher, while Vail chuckled. “After I’ve finished my first stack, behave as normal. Print the pages. Give them to Mr. Lott. When we leave, you are going to head directly to the Office to give them the camera and I am going to go home, and I will meet you in the gym two hours later.” Overall, its wasn’t a terribly complicated plan, but nerves lingered, making Gertie feel anxious and raw.

  What if they were caught? What if someone noticed that Gertie was holding up the pages like some sort of weirdo?

  Vail had brushed aside her concerns and Gertie knew he was right to. They were going to do it regardless of if she was nervous about it or not. The Office demanded it.

  Gertie pulled on her coat and slipped her feet into flats. She’d been leaving earlier than normal this week to avoid walking to work with Kay. She was hurt more then she would have thought at her friend’s deception, and didn’t really have the energy to deal with it.

  No, that wasn’t right. She just didn’t want to deal with it. She had a million other things going on, and she really just couldn’t be bothered.

  So, she’d been avoiding the leggy blond, walking to work alone, her earbuds already in her ears when Kay entered the office, working through lunch and not waiting for Kay to turn in her pages.

  Mr. Lott had been surprisingly pleasant this week. He’d kept his hands to himself mostly, not giving her anything more than a pat on her hand. Gertie wondered if Mr. Saunders had anything to do with it. She’d seen the grey haired man enter the office several times during the week, but he never asked to speak to her again.

  Vail took that as a good sign.

  Gertie did not.

  Having the grey haired man in the office made her agitated, and hesitant to move forward with their plan. There was no way around it.