Unauthorized Access

by Andrew McAllister

  Tim had no idea what needs she was talking about, but if she let him know he would certainly do everything in his power to satisfy them.

  Lesley reached over for her beer and took a drink. Tim gratefully used the opportunity to drain his can.

  She offered him a weak smile.

  “I guess what I need right now,” she said, “is a new can of beer.”

  “Now that I can do,” Tim said, bouncing up off the couch.

  Once he got moving he found he needed to pee quite badly. When he was finished and emerged from the bathroom, he was surprised to see that Lesley had folded the couch out into a bed and was lying on her side.

  Tim grabbed two cans from the fridge and walked over to the couch. Leo was lying on the bare mattress next to Lesley, busily licking his paws and washing his face. Tim stood there awkwardly for a moment, not knowing what to do.

  Lesley settled the matter when she lifted the kitten out of the way and patted the mattress. “Could you just hold me?” she said.

  * * *

  Rob stopped the Pathfinder in the middle of the dirt track and sat there with his engine idling. With no clouds to get in the way, the half moon provided plenty of light. He could see one corner of the cabin through the trees ahead. Lights were on in the windows and Tim’s car was parked out front. Now that he was this close, however, Rob suddenly had a full-blown case of the guilts.

  Sheila’s words kept playing in his mind: Are you sure you want to barrel into the middle of that?

  It had seemed like such a good idea back in Boston. He would go straighten everything out. But now he could imagine any number of disastrous consequences. Lesley wanted some breathing room to set her world upright. How much would she hate him for barging in and dumping all her problems right back into her lap?

  He could give her some time, but what if later was too late? What if Lesley arrived back in Boston with a new boyfriend and her mind made up? Rob would never forgive himself for not trying at least. But what if he found nothing going on between Tim and Lesley, and Lesley thought he was a jerk for not trusting her?

  Rob sighed as he stared unseeingly out the windshield. What a total lose-lose situation. He could drive up to the cabin and risk losing her. Or he could go home and risk losing her.

  Stated like that there seemed to be only one way to go. At least by going forward he had some control over how things turned out.

  The cautious side of Rob, however, was not quite ready to commit all the torpedoes to a frontal attack. Having options still sounded like a good idea. So, instead of announcing his presence by driving up to the cabin, he pulled ahead to the edge of the clearing and parked the car in the deep shadows. Rob cracked open his door and listened. Nothing stirred but the crickets. He kept his focus on the cabin as he got out and eased the car door shut with a soft click.

  He gritted his teeth and grunted softly when he straightened his left leg and tried to walk. A sharp pain knifed through his knee. Keeping his leg bent in the same position all the way from Boston had not agreed with it.

  His aches and pains faded to the back of his mind, however, when he approached the Camaro. His stomach churned as he reached the top of a hillock that allowed him to see in the cabin’s front window. A quick glimpse of Tim and Lesley entwined on the pull-out sofa bed was all he needed—in fact, considerably more than he needed. Rob felt as though someone had yanked sharply downwards on a rope tied to his insides. With a physical effort he tore his gaze away from the sight and stumbled back in the direction he had come. The image burned in his mind.

  How could they? I’ll kill them!

  After a few steps he stopped and bent over, hands on knees, trying to fight the gagging feeling. His breath came in ragged gulps of air. He felt like a combination peeping Tom and jilted lover, and didn’t know which was worse.

  What was he supposed to do now? It was bad enough to fear the worst, but to actually see it in living color made him want to explode.

  A part of him—a big part of him—wanted to burst into the cabin and tear a strip off both of them.

  The rest of him knew what an ass he would make of himself if he did so.

  Rob straightened up and walked dejectedly back toward his car.

  * * *

  Ray Landry drove slowly along Route 31, keeping one eye on the GPS unit while guiding the car through the two-lane road’s twists and turns. His eyes flicked back and forth from the device’s display to the pools of light thrown by his headlights. Dysart had only been able to tell him that Donovan was headed for some cabin out in the woods, so Landry was dependent on the tracking device to guide him in when he got close. Because of the device’s range, Landry had been able to determine easily that his quarry was not in Worcester. The problem was that the area west of the city seemed to be little else but woods.

  A number of secondary roads crisscrossed this area. He had tried half a dozen of them so far. Throughout these meanderings the display insisted stubbornly there was No Signal from the radio in Rob’s car. Landry wondered if he was going to have to go further afield. He could, for instance, try some of the many dirt roads that meandered off in various directions.

  Landry was also starting to second-guess his decision to leave Gourley back in Boston. He could have tuned a second tracking unit to the same frequency as the first, and two searchers would be faster than one. Landry had good reasons, though, for going it alone. He didn’t completely trust Dysart’s information. What if Rob was still back in Boston? If so, Landry wanted his watchers to remain in place.

  More importantly, he hated having witnesses when he worked, even an old confidante like Gourley. Landry still intended to make Rob disappear—permanently. Dysart would be furious, but losing a client was a small price to pay for eliminating someone who could pick Landry’s face out of a lineup.

  Landry was confident he could make Rob talk this time, especially since Rob was on his way to meet a friend. Dysart would get his precious keyword and the bank could go back to making their shareholders happy. When stacked against such gains, what was the loss of one junior employee?

  And the friend.

  And whoever else happened to be with them.

  Bright headlights stabbed at Landry’s eyes as a dump truck lumbered toward him from around a bend in the road. The truck hogged the center line as they met in the middle of the curve, which forced Landry to concentrate on hugging the outer edge of the paved surface. Rob’s location flashed briefly on the tracking device while Landry was doing so. By the time the truck was past and he looked down again, the display was back to No Signal.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  TIM WHITLOCK FLOATED on a tranquil river of limitless happiness, inexorably drifting toward the culmination of all his needs as he lay on the pull-out bed with his arms around Lesley. Each time she moved, the contact between them had the effect of slowing the passage of time and sharpening his perception. Every nuance of her touch, her scent—her self—became etched in his memory.

  His entire body ached with physical longing. He felt like the film of a soap bubble, attuned to the slightest touch, yet at the same time strong enough to hold Lesley as she needed to be held, as powerful as a raging torrent. This passion was eclipsed many times over, however, by the needs of his soul, which howled to him: Heal me! Innumerable long-festering scars were about to be smoothed away as if they had never existed. This night would make up for every girl who had ever laughed at him when he asked her to dance. Lesley’s acceptance would obliterate the memories of the jeering teenaged faces that took such delight in his humiliation. Best of all, the years of waiting and watching while Rob intruded where he had no right to … well, Mr. Donovan would simply disappear as a factor in Tim’s life.

  He luxuriated in the warmth of her. His breath caught each time she moved against him, whenever she created contact of her own volition. He wanted more, and more still.

  Tim was aware that Lesley spoke to him from time to time, but he didn’t hear much of what she said. His h
ead buzzed and swirled with the booze and the passion. He was fully occupied with the promise of skin and hair and warmth and not much else, except his overwhelming need to be accepted by her completely. He had waited for such a long time, hoping against hope this day would eventually arrive, and now it was worth every moment. Oh, so worth it.

  “… out here.”

  Tim opened his eyes and struggled to pay attention to the sound of her voice. She had one leg draped over his, which made it next to impossible for him to concentrate.

  “Huh?”

  Lesley grinned and moved her face even closer to his.

  “I said this was a good idea,” she said, “coming out here.”

  She had amazing eyes. Tim wanted to kiss them so badly.

  “Definitely,” he said. His tongue felt sluggish.

  Lesley ran one hand up the front of his t-shirt and ended up with her index finger on his lips. Tim’s pulse raced even faster. He gave the finger a clumsy kiss.

  She smiled at him. “Are you glad we’re here?”

  Oh God yes.

  “You have no idea,” he breathed, and then leaned in to kiss her neck.

  Lesley drew in a sharp breath at the touch of his lips. Her leg came up so her hip was resting squarely on his. If only she would move that hip over just a few more inches.

  She brought her face directly in front of his.

  “Me too,” she said in a husky whisper.

  Tim’s world shrank to the few inches that separated her smiling face from his own. The line that separated reality from his hopes blurred. Of course she was glad. He had been right. They were going to be great together. Happiness flooded through his body once more. Tim and Lesley against the world. He had never felt such oneness with another human being.

  “That’s why,” she said, “isn’t it?”

  Tim had no idea what she was talking about. He was going to ignore her and press his face into her neck again, but Lesley planted both of her elbows on his chest and looked down at him with her chin in her hands.

  “Come on,” she said playfully, “that’s why you did it, right?”

  Tim blinked in confusion. He had no idea what she was talking about, but he wanted more than anything to keep her happy.

  “Did what?”

  She grinned and moved fully on top of him, giving him a little hip wiggle that made him moan.

  “You know,” she said, “like you were telling me before, what you did to the bank’s computer.”

  Her eyes twinkled as she looked at him expectantly. Tim couldn’t remember talking about this earlier, but then again he wasn’t exactly thinking straight at the moment. All he knew was that she seemed plenty happy about it, and he was definitely up for anything that would put Lesley in a more agreeable mood.

  She put one hand on his cheek and said, “You made it so we could be together.”

  A warm feeling of acceptance flushed through Tim.

  “Of course,” he said.

  “Was it hard to do?”

  He rubbed his stubbly cheek against the palm of her hand, luxuriating in the feel of her skin on his. “Hard to do what?”

  “You know, coming up with the keyword and everything.”

  Tim’s longstanding secretive instincts tried to bust through his internal buzz, but Lesley quieted them by leaning her forehead down to his and saying, “Hmmm?”

  A sloppy grin appeared on his face.

  “It’s you,” he said, “your name.”

  A look of pure delight came over her face.

  “You used my name for the keyword?”

  “Yeah,” he said happily. “Lesley89. You know, the year you were born.”

  Lesley blinked. Suddenly she pushed herself up and away. The warmth of her was gone, replaced by cooler air. Tim was disoriented for a moment, then lifted his head and saw her sitting at the foot of the pull-out bed.

  * * *

  Lesley’s lips felt numb. Her brain threatened to shut down from the shock.

  “My God,” she whispered.

  She had never thought about what to do if Rob’s accusations turned out to be true. She was simply doing everything possible to give her relationship with Rob a chance, and that meant testing what he had said about Tim. In truth, Lesley had been almost totally convinced Rob was lying, trying to save face. She figured she would end up apologizing to Tim for deceiving him and then she would move on. Rob would be out of her life, but at least she would have no regrets about not trying.

  But now? How could Tim betray his friends like this? The treachery was beyond astounding, so huge she couldn’t wrap her mind around it.

  Tim scuttled over and sat on the edge of the mattress next to her.

  “Hey,” he said, “are you okay?”

  Lesley stared at him. She tried to speak but words failed her. She just shook her head in disbelief.

  Then it hit her. What must the past few days have been like for Rob? What must he think of her? A solid lump formed in her gut, a lump that was growing, spinning, churning.

  She rushed to the bathroom and was violently sick. Afterward she remained kneeling in front of the toilet, too dejected to even get up and rinse out her mouth.

  Tim appeared in the doorway. “Do you need some water or something?”

  “Go away.”

  “I just want to help.”

  Lesley turned her head and glared up at him. She was looking at a monster. Before she knew what she was doing, she sprang to her feet and tried to slap him. He jerked back so only two of her fingernails grazed the side of his face, then he backed up a couple of steps. Lesley stayed right in his face, matching him step for step.

  * * *

  Tim’s muddled mind reeled in complete shock, trying desperately to catch up with how suddenly his night had disintegrated. Every fiber of the woman in front of him quivered with fury.

  “Help?” Lesley said through clenched teeth. “You want to help?”

  “Well yeah, but—”

  “Don’t you think you’ve done enough?”

  She practically spat the words at him. “You do your best to put my uncle’s bank out of business and send my fiancé to prison, and now you want to help?”

  Tim’s mouth had gone completely dry. He had to think, find a way to fix this, figure out how to make her happy again.

  “No, it’s like you said. I wanted us to be together.”

  He hated the pleading tone of his voice but he couldn’t help it.

  Lesley wrinkled her nose in disgust.

  “How could you?” she said.

  “But … you were happy. You know, about the keyword and everything.”

  “I was lying you stupid ass,” she screamed. “You manipulating son of a bitch!”

  Tim’s face went white. That’s when it sunk in. The dream was over. Finally and totally gone. He and Lesley would never be together. A feeling of utter despair washed through him, cutting through much of the alcoholic haze and helping him look back on the evening with more clarity than he really wanted.

  This was the same old story all over again, one more girl rejecting him, telling him he wasn’t good enough. Anger lines appeared between his eyes and his mouth curled into a sneer.

  “You tricked me,” he said.

  Lesley’s eyes widened in disbelief.

  “You hypocritical bastard,” she shouted, and took another swing at him.

  This time Tim caught her wrist and held on. When she tried to hit him with her other hand, he grabbed that as well.

  Lesley yanked frantically, trying to free her wrists from his grasp. “Let … me … GO!”

  Suddenly all the frustration Tim had been holding in for years welled up inside him, begging for an excuse to come pouring out. A snarl of rage transformed his face.

  * * *

  Rob stood looking at his Pathfinder’s damaged fender. Dim light from across the field reflected in the peaks and valleys of crumpled metal. The headlight on that side was smashed. He supposed in the daylight he would be able
to see flecks of paint from the car he had pushed aside.

  Damaged goods, just like his life. Except his car could be repaired. Order a few new parts, a little bodywork, and there you go, good as new. If only the rest of his problems were so easy to fix.

  Rob’s face hardened in the darkness. Since when did he need things to be easy? He looked back at the cabin and something deep down inside clicked into place. He shoved his car keys in his pocket and lurched his way back across the field. The view in the window wasn’t as traumatic this time. The foldout couch was unoccupied. Or perhaps that was worse. Maybe they had finished what they had started.

  As he neared the cabin, Rob wondered how to make his entrance. Was the door likely to be locked? They would hardly be expecting—

  “Let … me … GO!”

  Rob felt a surge of adrenaline when he heard the distress in Lesley’s voice. He hobbled the last few steps as quickly as he could and found the door unlocked. Bursting in, he saw Tim struggling to hold Lesley. Her eyes widened when she saw him.

  “Rob, help me,” she screamed.

  Tim barely had time to half-turn his head before Rob grabbed him by one arm and threw him backwards. Tim struck the kitchen table with the back of his thighs.

  The crazed rage on Tim’s face was unlike anything Rob had ever seen. The sight galvanized Rob. At last he had a target for his pent-up fury. He started toward Tim, who pushed off the table and met him halfway. They came together in a frenzy of clutching and swinging, each of them trying to rain as much mayhem as possible on the other. Tim’s open hand clawed its way across Rob’s face. Rob managed to get his elbow up and block the second swipe before countering with a punch of his own. Tim’s head snapped back and Rob felt the satisfaction of solid contact with Tim’s nose.

  Seizing the advantage, Rob drove forward and the two of them toppled to the floor. Rob straddled Tim’s chest and started pummeling Tim’s head. Tim did his best to protect himself, but one of his hands was caught beneath Rob’s knee. The lower half of Tim’s face quickly became slick with blood from his lips and nose.

  Lesley was suddenly at Rob’s shoulder, trying to pull him away.