In the lobby, he stood beside me while I turned in my security fob, and then walked with me out into the hot sun. At my car, he gazed down at me sternly. “Go home. Have a nap. Work in your garden. Play some music. Anything you want as long as you aren’t overtaxing yourself. That’s an order.”
I slithered weakly into the driver’s seat. “Roger that.” I looked up at his concerned face. “Thanks. See you tomorrow.”
“Not until three o’clock,” he warned. “And then, only for a couple of hours.”
“Okay.”
I drove home, feeling as though I’d been beaten from head to toe with a baseball bat, and did my best to follow his orders for the rest of the day.
I had another crummy sleep. I squinted apathetically at the hag in the bathroom mirror before groaning my way to the breakfast table.
After breakfast, I shambled down the hall and contemplated my desk.
“Fuck it.” I spoke aloud before remembering I was bugged.
Well, tough. If you listen in where you’re not wanted, you’re bound to hear something you don’t like. I snickered. Hope my audience had appreciated that resounding fart I’d let go earlier.
That was enough to boost my spirits a bit. I hadn’t remembered the bugs at the time, but it was still nice to know somebody else was suffering, too.
Feeling a little more cheerful, I went out onto the back porch and grabbed a folding chair as I headed out of camera range. I set up the chair in a sheltered corner of the yard and slouched into it, stretching my legs out in the early sun. Listening to the quiet of the country morning, I let my mind clear.
I jerked awake with an aborted snore. Slowly and carefully, I straightened my stiff neck enough to look at my watch. God, ten-thirty. I had just enough time to get changed and get to Blue Eddy’s by eleven.
I levered myself out of the chair and hobbled around for a few minutes, trying to shake out the pins and needles in my legs before making for the house as briskly as I could manage.
When I let myself in the back door at Blue Eddy’s, the piano was disappointingly silent. I felt my shoulders sag. I really could have used some happy music this morning.
I dragged down the hall and into the office to start on the week’s entries. About twenty minutes later, Eddy poked his head around the door frame.
“Oh, you’re here. I didn’t hear you come in.”
I glanced up from my work. “Never trust a sneaky bookkeeper,” I joked.
He laughed, but sobered quickly. “Aydan, are you feeling all right?” He hesitated. “I heard you had a bit of a problem over at the hotel.”
I shrugged. Small town. Probably everybody knew by now.
“Yeah. I’m glad you warned me about Harks earlier.”
He stepped into the room and perched on the edge of the desk. “I didn’t actually expect you this morning. Are you really okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
His mouth quirked up, but his eyes were serious. “Word has it that Bill was down for the count.”
I sighed. I really didn’t want to talk about it. As if reading my mind, Eddy straightened. “I know you probably don’t want to talk about this, but I wanted to give you another heads-up. This isn’t the first time rumours have gone around about Bill assaulting a woman, but nothing ever sticks. The women always seem to change their minds about pressing charges, and it all gets swept under the table. And none of them ever did a number on him like you did. You should watch your back.”
I gazed up at him wearily. “Jesus, Eddy, this is one of the things I hate about small towns. Everybody knows who the bad apples are, and nothing ever gets done about it.”
“I know.” He sighed. “Just... be careful, okay?”
“I will. Thanks, Eddy.”
He turned to go, and I sank my head into my hands.
“Aydan?”
I jerked my head up, startled. He was hovering in the doorway, and his eyes were kind. “Remember, you have friends here. You’re not alone.”
I cleared the sudden huskiness from my throat. “Thanks, Eddy.”
He nodded and vanished, and a few minutes later, the sound of the piano made me smile.
I enjoyed another delicious free meal that had been mysteriously ordered and declined by a customer, and made my way to Up & Coming feeling comforted by Eddy’s care and friendship.
Some off-colour banter with Lola heartened me almost as much as her flagrant approval of what she referred to as ‘a good dose of whup-ass’ for Bill Harks. I arrived at Sirius Dynamics feeling almost human again.
I grudgingly approached the secured door, and gave myself a determined attitude adjustment while I waited for the time delay. I only had to control my thoughts for a few moments until I got into the simulated file room and began my decryptions. Once I was absorbed in the documents, time would pass easily.
I squared my shoulders and marched down to Spider’s lab. My hands were hardly shaking at all.
A couple of hours later, my positive attitude was somewhat frayed around the edges as I held my skull together with both hands and swore. I straightened slowly. Two sets of eyes regarded me uneasily.
“I’m fine.” I answered the unasked question.
“Good,” Kane said with obvious relief. “That’s it for today then. Get out of here.”
“I could probably do another stint. It was a pretty short day today.”
“No.” He plucked the network key out of my hand and passed it to Spider, who secured it in his desk drawer as if afraid I’d arm-wrestle him for it.
“Okay. You don’t have to tell me twice.” I rose with relief and headed for the door. “See you tomorrow morning. Nine o’clock?”
Both men nodded, and I scooted for the stairs. I made it through the time delay with more ease than usual, and patted myself on the back for my progress.
Then I drove home and sat on my hillside for a long, long time.
Chapter 14
Nine o’clock came far too early the next morning. I glowered up at the Sirius Dynamics building as I dragged my reluctant feet up the stairs.
It was another beautiful, sunny day. A sprinkle of rain overnight had washed the sky to a clear translucent blue, and the scent of grass and flowers filled the air. Birds twittered a carefree symphony. Little bastards.
Inside Spider’s lab, the fluorescent lights glared and the flat scent of filtered air filled my nose. It could have been morning, afternoon, or midnight. No sense of time passing. Like a prison.
“Are you okay?” Spider eyed my trembling hands as he passed me the network key.
“Fine.” I flopped into my chair and closed my eyes to step into the network. Even the white void seemed confining. I skipped the corridor simulation entirely and folded sim-space to step directly into the file room.
When noon finally rolled around, I pried myself out of my chair and stumbled for the door, still trying to massage away the pain of exiting the network.
“Aydan, wait!”
“What, Spider?” I did my best not to snarl as I turned to face him.
“You have to leave the network key here.”
“Oh. Right.” I tossed him the box. “See you after lunch.”
He fumbled the catch, frantically juggling the tiny cube. It bounced off his hands and skittered across the desk as he swatted at it.
A shock of fear galvanized me when it popped open, and I pounced for it at the same time as Spider. Our four hands locked over top of the small object, and we stared into each other’s wide eyes from close range.
“Shit,” I breathed. “Shit, shit, shit.”
I carefully removed my hand from the top of the pile, scrutinizing the palm to make sure nothing was stuck to it. Spider did the same, and then I repeated the motion with my other hand.
White-faced, he lifted his hand from the desk, and our breath whooshed out simultaneously when we spotted the tiny circuitry stuck to his thumb. With shaking hands, he poised it over the box and dropped it back in, closing the lid sec
urely.
I sank to the floor, clutching my chest. “Jesus, Spider, I’m sorry! I wasn’t thinking. Jesus, son of a bitch.” I sucked a few deep breaths. My hands shook violently.
Spider collapsed back in his chair and did some deep breathing of his own. “That was close.”
“If I’d lost that, we’d be completely fucked. Jesus.”
He hauled himself out of the chair. “We didn’t lose it. It’s okay. Come on, let’s get out of here. I think we both need a break.” He reached down to give me a hand up, and I tottered down the hallway beside him, my heart still pounding.
When we stepped out of the time-delayed door into the lobby, we came face to face with Stemp. He regarded our ashen faces and my pronounced trembling with his usual expressionless demeanor.
“Is everything all right?”
“Fine,” we chorused. We looked at each other and then looked away again hurriedly.
Stemp’s eyes bored into us, and I turned away to hand in my security fob. “I’m going to the Melted Spoon, Spider, want to come?”
“Okay,” he said faintly, and we made a hasty exit.
A savoury grilled panini and a cup of herbal tea later, I gazed wistfully around us while we walked back to Sirius. The early freshness of the air had gone, and the sun burned down. Another scorcher of a day. Too bad I wouldn’t get to enjoy it.
We signed for our fobs again and made our way back into the dungeon. Spider handed me the tiny box, and I clutched it convulsively. “Can we tape it shut or something?”
“Good plan.” He put a couple of wraps of tape around it, and we both relaxed.
I looked around at the cell-like walls and shuddered.
“Okay, signal me in a couple of hours,” I told him, and stepped into the void.
A barred cage immediately closed around me, and I let out a reflexive squeak of terror before jerking my mind back under my conscious control. My mountain top opened around me, and I breathed carefully.
“Aydan, what was that?” Spider’s voice was tight with alarm.
“Sorry, it’s okay, my mind just wandered for a second. I’m fine now.” I took a few more breaths. I couldn’t smell the spruce anymore. Even in my sim, the air smelled flat and stale.
I sighed, dissolved the mountains, and went back to work.
I stepped out the portal and swore violently and continuously, waiting for the pain to subside. When I finally succeeded in focusing, Spider was wide-eyed.
“Sorry,” I mumbled insincerely. “I really should do something about this potty mouth.”
“It’s okay. I’ve learned a lot since I met you. I didn’t realize what a sheltered life I’d led.”
I snorted. “Too bad you never met my Uncle Roger. He could peel the paint off an aircraft carrier at fifty paces. People’s ears were known to bleed when he really got going.” I smiled in wistful memory. “He was such a nice man.”
Spider laughed. “Only you would say that in the same breath.”
I gave him a half-hearted grin and heaved myself to my feet. “I’m out of here. See you tomorrow.”
Outside, I sagged against my car and tried to force my exhausted brain to make a decision about supper. I’d eaten all the leftovers in the house, and I just couldn’t face the thought of going home and cooking.
Pizza. Thank God for Fiorenza’s fabulous takeout.
At home, I carried the pizza up my hill and ate it straight from the box while I watched the wind sweep in waves across the fields below. I sat for a long time before I trailed into the house to get ready for bed.
I jerked awake, my heart pounding. The insistent ring of the phone bored into my brain. I fumbled a nerveless hand in the general direction of the phone. My eyes wouldn’t focus on the call display, so I jabbed blindly at the talk button.
“Wha...?”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
“Hello?”
Nothing.
“Fuck!” I slammed the phone down and collapsed back onto the bed, waiting for my heart to regain its normal rhythm and squinting at the clock.
Two fifteen. Jesus.
Breathe away the adrenaline. In. Out. Slow like ocean waves. Warm. Comfortable.
I levitated off the bed with a yelp when the phone rang again. This time, I glared at the call display without picking up. Private number. The clock read four thirty-five.
I groaned and shoved the pillow over my head while I waited out the rings so my answering machine could pick up.
No message.
Seconds later, the phone rang again. Private number.
I snatched up the phone. “Listen, you cock-sucking son of a bitch, you’ve got the wrong fucking number! Fuck off, already!”
Silence on the other end.
With the last remnants of my self-control, I resisted the urge to hurl the handset against the wall and watch its little plastic guts spray out across the room. I laid it gently back in the cradle and unplugged the phone.
It took a long time to get back to sleep.
Chapter 15
In the morning, I groaned at the sight of my haggard face in the mirror. I must have managed several hours of sleep, but it sure as hell didn’t feel like it. I plodded out to my car and snivelled my way into Silverside.
The hand tremor seemed to have spread. I wobbled down into the lab and fell into my chair.
Spider regarded me with worried eyes. “Aydan, you look awful. Sorry,” he added quickly. “I didn’t mean you look awful, I just meant...”
“I look like shit. I feel like shit. Hell, I feel worse than shit. I feel like shit after a dog’s eaten it and then shit it out again. Some fucking moron decided to phone me in the middle of the night. Twice. Two hours apart. If I find out who it was, I’m going to rip his fucking nuts off and feed them to him. On crackers.”
Spider blanched.
“Sorry.” I reached over and patted him on the shoulder. “I didn’t mean to take that out on you.”
“It’s okay,” he said faintly.
Kane strode in and gave my face a searching glance. “Are you all right?”
“Fine.”
He held my eyes for a few seconds more. “Okay.” He handed me a red pen as he turned away to sit down. “You dropped this on the way in.”
“Thanks.” I took it from him, faking nonchalance. “I wondered where I’d lost that.” I eyed him for a second. “I was just getting ready to go into the network.”
“Fine,” he said. “We’ll signal you in about an hour and a half, as usual.”
I shrugged and concentrated on the network’s white void. I navigated the virtual corridor without incident and buried myself in the files.
When the blip came, I stepped out into the usual pain. Heat and pressure surrounded my head while I groaned through clenched teeth. The pain subsided, but the pressure continued as I pried my eyes open.
“You can let go now,” I told Kane.
He removed his large hands from around my head. “Just making sure you didn’t try to beat your brains out again.”
“Nah. I only do that at the end of the day.” I dragged myself to my feet. “Pit stop. Back in five.”
The short walk down to the bathroom helped me regain some circulation. When I got back to the lab, I sank into the chair again. “Any special requests?”
“Same old, same old,” Spider said wryly.
“Hmmph.” I slouched down and closed my eyes.
This time, the cage shrank quickly. Wild panic flashed through me as the heavy bars crushed my chest and back. I struggled desperately against the ropes that bound my hands, wailing without thought.
Thought.
I burst out onto the mountain peak again, gasping.
“Aydan!” Spider sounded almost as panicked as I felt.
“Fine. I’m fine.” I breathed deeply. The long mountain vista had lost its depth. It looked more like a painting on a wall. A close wall.
“Aydan, Kane says to come out now.”
“No, I’m in here, I’ll make it worthwhile.” I dissolved the mountains and picked up the next file.
When the signalling blip flashed through the sim, I dragged my gaze up from my tedious reading. The file room was lined with iron bars. As I sucked in a breath, they advanced slowly, eating up the space.
“Back off,” I muttered, and banished them with an effort. I pushed through the virtual door and headed for the portal.
“Okay, I’ll live,” I grated. “You can let go now.”
Kane released me and stooped to look into my face. “Lunch time. Let’s go.”
The three of us trekked back upstairs. When the heavy door finally released, I took a couple of rapid steps into the lobby, staring into middle distance while my heart raced like a frightened gerbil.
I jerked and yelped involuntarily when Kane’s face appeared in my field of view. “Aydan?” he asked cautiously. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah.” I turned toward the security booth, fumbling to unclip my security fob with cold, quivering fingers.
I stepped gratefully out into the blazing sun, squinting in the heat and brightness. My legs twitched with the urge to run.
“Come on, we’ll take the Expedition.” Kane’s voice broke into my reverie, and I tottered behind him and Spider toward the parking lot.
We buckled in without speaking, and Kane put the vehicle in motion. We’d driven for a block or two when Kane gave a brisk nod. “Webb?”
Spider extracted a small device from his pocket and waved it around the interior of the SUV, then up and down close to me.
“Clear.”
I relaxed. “I’d love to have one of those,” I told him.
“Take this one.” He offered it to me.
“I can’t. Too hard to explain if it was found.” I sighed and turned to Kane. “What’s up?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing. You were screaming last night. You almost blew the audio on the bugs. What happened?”
Reach For the Spy Page 8