The Spies That Bind

by Diane Henders

  “Non-Newtonian…” I stared at him for a moment before comprehension dawned. “Oh, you mean like cornstarch and water. You can mix up a pourable solution, but if you slam your finger into it, it goes solid.”

  “Yeah. And it’s got steel nanothreads woven into it, too, so an edged weapon can’t cut it.” He shrugged. “You’ll still feel the impact, but it’ll distribute the force over a larger area.”

  “But… um…” I whisked the sleeve experimentally through the air a couple of times. “If it reacts like cornstarch, wouldn’t it stiffen up if you tried to move fast?”

  “Ah…” Chow’s eye contact wavered. “Well, we’re working on that. It does stiffen up a bit, but a human being can’t really move fast enough to activate its top resistance level. We’ve tested it in the lab and it seemed okay to us, but we need somebody to field-test it.”

  “So it’s not quite ready for production yet,” I said dryly.

  “Not quite. But we know the protection is good, and with the long sleeves and hood it’s ‘way better coverage than a vest.”

  “I’ll take that,” I agreed. “I was lucky the one time I got shot wearing a vest, but a couple of inches over would have been a whole different story.”

  Amusement glinted in his eye. “Well, then take your fugly jacket and shut up about it. Speaking of nanothreads, do you have the new hand restraints yet?”

  “Um… what new hand restraints?”

  “Jesus, Kelly.” He shot me a disgusted scowl. “Don’t you read your interoffice memos? The next-gen restraints with nanothread reinforcement are available for everybody from Stores. Pick some up on your way out, and make sure you get the special cutter for them, too.”

  “That’ll be good,” I said, trying to cover my embarrassment. “I wasn’t feeling too confident about nylon hand restraints after I broke out of them a few months ago.”

  Chow’s eyebrow went up. “You broke out of law-enforcement hand restraints? That’s pretty tough to do.”

  “Oh.” Shit, now I was even more embarrassed. “Um, no, they were just ordinary nylon zip-ties,” I mumbled.

  “Well, duh.” He gave me a look as if rethinking his decision to trust me with his high-tech toys. “Come and get the crowd-control weapons and then you can get going.”

  Face flaming, I followed him. A few minutes later I slunk out of the lab wearing the ugly jacket, with the fancy sunglasses perched on top of my head and the ultrasound weapons safely stowed in my backpack.

  Chapter 38

  I had just emerged from the time-delay chamber and was standing in the lobby drawing a few deep breaths to dispel the claustrophobia when Stemp arrived from the direction of the offices.

  “Ah, Kelly, you haven’t left yet. Good.” He inclined his head toward the direction he’d come, and I followed him back up to his office. When we were safely inside with the door closed, he said, “There are no large-scale weapons-detection units available on such short notice. However, we could lend you one of the small portable units.”

  I sat forward in my chair, my heart lifting. “That would be great, but I’ve never used one before. How big are they, and how do they work?”

  “They’re about the size of a laptop computer; and they detect both concealed weapons and explosives. Their imaging works on a similar principle to ultrasound, detecting the difference between rigid dense materials and human tissue. It works through clothing, from a distance of up to six feet, and it will find everything from a firearm to a ceramic knife to an explosive vest…” He trailed off with a rueful grimace. “Also leg braces, lingerie stiffeners, and whatever other dense material is on the body. It’s programmed to alarm if it detects the outline of a knife or gun, but its output needs to be monitored for other potential threats and to eliminate false positives. And it detects explosive residue using a wireless wand.”

  “Oh.” My elation ebbed. “So all the gifts would have to be swabbed, and each guest would have to be checked over. I suppose its detection system is line-of-sight.”

  Stemp nodded. “Yes, you’d have to walk around each guest or get them to turn three hundred and sixty degrees.”

  “Shit. I can’t do that and watch for threats at the same time. And I don’t want to turn Spider and Linda’s wedding into an airport-security experience for all their guests. But…” I frowned. “Is there…”

  “No techs are available,” Stemp answered my question before I’d asked it.

  “Shit. And we’ll need somebody with a high enough security clearance to use it.” I pondered for a moment. “Could you…?”

  “No.” His expression was completely unreadable. “I won’t be attending the wedding. And in any case, I wouldn’t risk compromising my cover, especially with my parents there.”

  My heart sank. Moonbeam and Karma would be leaving after the wedding. This might be my last chance to arrange a reconciliation.

  “But… Spider invited you. He’ll be hurt if you don’t come,” I argued.

  “I promised Webb I would attend the reception,” Stemp said stiffly. “And I shall. But I will not be present for the wedding ceremony.”

  “God, don’t tell me you’ve got a wedding phobia, too.”

  He blinked, his hand twitching up to adjust his tie. “Not… exactly a phobia, no…” When I stared at him, he actually squirmed and dropped his gaze. “I’m simply not comfortable with…” he mumbled, then apparently got a grip on the situation and donned his usual impenetrable façade. “Irrelevant. I will not be attending the wedding.”

  “Okay.” I tamped down an involuntary grin and concentrated on the issue at hand. “So who has clearance to operate the detector?”

  “The techs, any agent in active service, top-level analysts, Dr. Chow, and I.”

  I opened my mouth, but he beat me to the question.

  “All active agents are currently deployed. Webb and Brock are the only analysts with sufficient clearance.”

  “Shit.” I slumped in the chair. “Reggie is running a 5K race this weekend. Spider’s going to be a little busy getting married. John’s not in active service…”

  “No, and he needs to come in today,” Stemp interrupted. “Or he’ll never be in active service again.”

  I swallowed hard. “I’ll bring him back with me from Calgary. Tranked, if necessary. You said ‘end of day’? So technically that’s midnight, right?”

  Stemp gave me a severe look. “Technically that’s seventeen hundred hours.”

  “But it’s already after ten…” I began frantically.

  He made a ‘calm down’ gesture. “I think I can successfully argue the technicality with the chain of command. I will make myself available until midnight.”

  My relief whooshed out on a long breath. “Thank you.” New hope rose as a thought occurred to me. “How about Arnie? Could he operate the weapons detection system?”

  “No. He’s not an agent.”

  “But he’s a weapons specialist…” I began, but gave it up at the look on Stemp’s face. “Shit. So that leaves me again.”

  Stemp’s mouth twitched. “Or Brock.”

  I didn’t dignify that with a reply. “Okay. When can I pick up the unit?”

  “It will be available from Stores tomorrow morning by zero nine hundred.”

  “Thanks.” I rose. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow at the reception, then.”

  After a quick stop at Stores to pick up a few sets of the new hand restraints and the special cutter, I signed out, then walked slowly toward the exit doors. The laser flashlight and ultrasound baton dragged down my backpack far beyond their actual weight, and the sunglasses felt heavy on my forehead. The faint buzzing in my ears might have been the flies in my backpack, but more likely it was sheer nerves.

  What if Labelle had just been biding his time? What if he had somehow discovered I’d be making this courier run today? If he ambushed me on a desolate stretch of the highway, he could walk away with all my classified technology and sell it to the highest bidder.

&n
bsp; My leaden feet moved closer to the doors. My Glock weighed down one ankle; a trank pistol the other. God, I was carrying so much hardware that Labelle could just drop me in the nearest lake and I’d sink like a stone.

  The urge to draw my Glock was strong, but I couldn’t exactly burst out onto the sidewalk waving a firearm.

  Get it together, chickenshit. You’ve been through these doors hundreds of times and never been ambushed yet.

  Okay; only once…

  Maybe I should go down through the secured area and come out the secret bowling alley exit.

  I trailed to a halt, staring out the glass doors.

  No, dammit, if Labelle was watching and he’d seen me go in the front doors with my backpack, he’d expect me to come out the front doors with my backpack. Showing up from the opposite direction would arouse far too much suspicion.

  Just act like everything’s normal…

  “Aydan?” The security guard’s voice made me jump. “Everything okay?”

  “Oh… um, yeah.” I smacked my forehead lightly and tried for a grin. “Zoned out for a second there. Too much on my mind.”

  So much for acting normal. Way to go, Jane Bond.

  I gave the security guard a cheery salute and stepped out the doors, holding my breath.

  Nobody gave me a second glance. I slid the sunglasses into place and attempted a casual stroll over to the parking lot. The sun blazed onto the black jacket like a branding iron. Perspiration dampened my brow and prickled my back and armpits.

  Yeah, it was the heat making me sweat, not fear…

  Swinging my backpack off my shoulder, I slid into my oven-like car and cranked on the air conditioning. After one more suspicious survey of my surroundings, I hit the road.

  For the first thirty miles I remained hyperaware of all the vehicles around me, but after half an hour with no sign of pursuit I relaxed unless I was approaching a blind corner or hill.

  Driving gave me entirely too much time to think. My mind circled anxiously through all the things that could go wrong in the next twenty-four hours.

  I hadn’t asked Spider about his progress, but since he hadn’t woken me last night or called me today, I assumed he had nothing to report. Was that good or bad? If he eliminated all the names on the list without finding a connection, would Kane admit defeat long enough to come to Silverside for the lie detector test?

  Dammit, I didn’t care whether he admitted defeat or not. I’d drag him back to Silverside myself, even if I had to trank him and get Arnie to load his unconscious body into my car. I did a rapid mental calculation. I was carrying two magazines of ten trank darts each. At about twenty minutes of sedation per dart…

  No problem. One way or another, he was coming back to Silverside tonight. He’d be angry, but he’d be alive.

  But would he ever forgive me for taking precious time away from his search?

  A memory-flash of Daniel’s smiling face made my chest ache. Please let him be dead, killed quickly and mercifully nearly a week ago. If he was still alive in the hands of a monster, finding him would be the worst thing that could happen to Kane. My throat tightened with nausea and emotion. With an effort, I blinked away the burning behind my eyes and wrenched my attention back to the road and my other worries.

  I hadn’t considered all the ramifications of being Chow’s guinea pig, either. I had been looking forward to the relief of completing my delivery of the ultrasound baton, but as long as I was carrying the rest of the classified technology I’d have to be constantly on guard.

  And shit, how was I going to scan for weapons and bombs at the wedding tomorrow? There was no way I could scan each of a hundred or so guests along with the wedding gifts, all while dealing with the myriad distractions and complications of playing both hostess and bodyguard.

  I briefly considered handing the scanning duties over to Moonbeam and Karma. Since we’d discussed a weapons detection system, I’d have to tell them about it.

  But telling them about it and actually handing it over to them were two different things. If Stemp showed up unexpectedly, he’d instantly recognize the unit and know I’d given it to them, and I’d be in jail so fast it’d make my head spin. And if I tried to save myself by revealing that Moonbeam and Karma were active agents, their cover would be blown all to hell and so would our friendship.

  Dammit.

  As the miles slipped by outside my car, the revolting truth became clearer and clearer.

  I was going to have to ask a favour of Tyler Brock.

  It took another half an hour of driving before I could bring myself to pull over and dial his number. I could have used the hands-free, but being behind the wheel while infuriated would probably break the distracted-driving laws.

  After a few deep breaths, I hit Talk.

  “Brock.” His unpleasant nasal voice made my teeth clench.

  With an effort I unclenched them and said, “Hi, Tyler. It’s Aydan Kelly calling.”

  “What do you want this time?” he snapped.

  Breathe. Count to three.

  “Actually, I’m not calling for myself. I was hoping you might be able to help Spider out.”

  “If he wants help, he can ask me himself.” The line went dead in my ear.

  After some loud swearing followed by a couple of minutes of deep breathing, I dialled again.

  “Don’t hang up,” I said hurriedly as soon as he answered. “This is important.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yeah, life-or-death.”

  “Oh.” He didn’t sound quite so snotty, and I drew a breath of hope when he asked, “What is it?”

  “Well, you know Spider and Linda are getting married tomorrow…”

  “Yeah, so what?”

  “So they invited you…”

  He interrupted with a sharp braying laugh. “Like I’d go. Weddings are so fin.”

  I didn’t bother asking for a translation. “Maybe, but they could really use your help, and you’re the only one that can do it.”

  “My help? For what?”

  “Well, I told you earlier that somebody had spiked Spider’s drink and he had a bad allergic reaction, and since then somebody’s been leaving them creepy presents like dead birds and black-painted roses, and Spider’s brakes failed and the community hall where they were going to have the reception burned down. I’m worried about them, and Linda is beside herself.”

  “Oh.”

  I couldn’t quite interpret his intonation, but at least he hadn’t hung up yet. I went on, “They’re going to have their wedding and reception at my place so we’ll have perimeter security, but I want to run weapons and bomb checks on everybody as they come in.”

  “Uh…” He hesitated, and when he spoke again his voice had a wheedling quality that set my teeth on edge. “Listen, Kelly, it’s probably not as bad as you think. Um…”

  He hesitated again, and I waited him out in silence.

  A moment later he blew out a short breath. “I spiked Webb’s drink. It was an accident.”

  “An accident?”

  I didn’t quite manage to keep the incredulous note out of my voice, and he blew out another huffy breath. “The groom’s supposed to get shellacked at his party. How was I supposed to know he had some stupid allergy?”

  Teeth clamped hard on my tongue, I waited until the urge to yell subsided enough that I could speak normally again. “Okay, but did you have anything to do with the other things?”

  “No! Jeez, you’re such a bitch! Why would you automatically assume it was me?”

  I drew a deep breath and prayed for patience before answering, “I wasn’t assuming, I was just asking. A spiked drink isn’t really a big deal, but the other stuff is downright threatening.”

  “So what are you calling me for?” he demanded, snotty attitude firmly back in place.

  I drew another deep breath, willing my blood pressure down. Cut to the chase before you lose your temper…

  “I was hoping you’d be able to discreetly scan
the guests with a portable weapons scanner and check the wedding gifts for explosives,” I said levelly. “Nobody else is available except me, and I need to be ready to react in case something happens.”

  “Oh, so you want me to risk my life,” he snapped. “I don’t think so.”

  “You wouldn’t be risking your life, but you might be saving theirs,” I retorted. “Or are you too much of a selfish coward?”

  “Listen, you bitch-”

  “Wait, I’m sorry,” I blurted. “Look, I’m worried sick about them and I can’t do it alone. I know you wouldn’t give me a sack of rotting shit even if I begged for it, and that’s okay, but will you please help Spider? And Linda?”

  His silence spurred me to desperation. “Look, Brock, I’ll pay you. Whatever your day’s salary is, I’ll pay it.”

  “Overtime pay,” he sniffed. “Time and a half.”

  “Bullshit! Salaried workers don’t get overtime.”

  “I do now. If you want me to do this you’ll pay me time and a half.” The supercilious sneer in his voice made my fist clench involuntarily, searching for his throat.

  “Fine,” I growled. “I’ll pay you time and a half. You can pick up the detector from Stores tomorrow morning at nine-”

  “Hang on, I didn’t say I’d do it yet,” he taunted.

  “What now?” I barked, at the extremities of my patience. “What else do you want? Peeled grapes? A trailer with a star on the door? An autograph from the master of the fucking universe?”

  “Language, Kelly.” He sniffed. “You certainly couldn’t get any autograph I’d want-”

  “What? What autograph do you want?” I demanded. I didn’t care if he wanted Shakespeare’s autograph from beyond the grave; I’d find somebody to forge it.

  “Never mind,” he drawled as if he were a nobleman granting a boon to a particularly unprepossessing peasant. “I’ll be at your farm at one o’clock tomorrow with the detector. Have my cheque ready. And you’re going to owe me a favour. Whatever I want, whenever I want it.”