“Nothing.” I squirmed in embarrassment. “Shit. I was dreaming. That’s all. Sorry.”
“It’s all right.” He shot a glance over at me. “I got a frantic call from the analyst who was monitoring. I called you, but of course I couldn’t say anything. Your phone’s tapped, too, did I mention that?”
“I figured.” I put two and two together. “Oh!” I felt a flush rising on my cheeks. “I’m sorry I was so rude.”
He gave me a puzzled frown. “You weren’t particularly, considering.”
“Then you’ve got an amazingly high tolerance for rudeness.”
Spider gulped. “Actually. That was probably me you were talking to. I made the second call.”
“Oh, Spider, I’m sorry! I was just so tired, and I thought it was a crank call.”
“It’s okay,” he assured me hesitantly. “So what you said this morning in the lab...”
“No, no, I’m sorry! If I’d known it was you, I never would have said that.”
“Said what?” Kane asked.
“I said if I caught the fucking moron who’d phoned me, I was going to rip his nuts off and feed them to him,” I told him sheepishly.
“On crackers,” Spider added with obvious dismay.
Kane burst out laughing. After a few seconds, Spider and I joined in, and I laughed until tears came. Finally, I clutched my aching stomach. “That bit about the crackers really got to you, didn’t it,” I wheezed.
“Yeah,” Spider gasped. “Please don’t ever say that to me again.”
“I promise.”
Kane sobered as we parked in front of Fiorenza’s. “I’m sorry it has to be this way, Aydan, but we’ll have to respond the same way if you keep screaming at night. We need to make sure you’re all right. That means that you have to answer the phone and say something.”
I sighed. “It’s okay. If I’m screaming, you’ll be doing me a favour by waking me up anyway. I’ll try not to be so obscene in the future.”
Back in the lab after lunch, I breathed deeply in my chair while I clutched the network key.
“Just stay focused,” Kane encouraged.
I nodded and stepped carefully into the void. It wavered, ghostly bars drifting toward me, but I marched forward and they parted along my path. I made my way to the file room and grabbed the next file.
Letters and numbers swam on the page in random combinations. I shook my head and peered at it, willing it to settle down. The text stabilized, but it was still incomprehensible. I frowned and laid the paper down, rubbing my eyes. Then I slapped my cheeks gently and tried again.
“Aydan? What’s wrong?” Spider inquired through the network interface.
“I’m not sure. Hold on.” I squinted at the page again. The groups of numbers and letters remained adamantly cryptic. My tired brain seized on the joke, and I giggled before I could stop myself. Cryptic. No shit.
“Aydan...?”
“Hang on.” I laid aside the troublesome file and picked up the one I’d finished before lunch. It was still clear and understandable. I grabbed the next one off the pile. Equally easy to decipher.
“What the hell?” I muttered, and picked up the page again. Still random letters and numbers.
“Okay, this is weird,” I told them. “This one is just a bunch of random letters and numbers. I’m not sure whether I can’t decrypt it, or whether it’s really just numbers and letters.”
“Just a second,” Spider said. There was a short pause before he continued, “Kane says to get started and give us what you’re seeing. It might mean something to us.”
“Okay.”
I frowned at the document and started to transcribe. It was laborious work as I double-checked each line, getting lost and starting over again in frustration. I finished the first page and sat back with a groan. “What do you think?”
“Hold on again.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and rolled my shoulders. When I opened my eyes again, the sim wavered and vibrated around me. Something moved in my peripheral vision and I whipped my head around, but nothing was there.
I groaned and rubbed my eyes. A surreptitious movement to my left made me jerk around again, staring at the wall of the file room. A wraith-like body slipped through the wall away from me, its skeletal limbs rippling the surface of the wall like water.
I blinked and stared as more apparitions began to drift through the room. One swooped at my head, and I ducked.
They gained form and substance. They had teeth...
“Aydan.”
I started, and the file room solidified around me. I shook my head. Jeez. I must be more tired than I realized.
“Aydan!”
“Sorry, what?” I refocused on the task at hand.
“Aydan, this is gold! Keep going!”
“Okay.” I bent to my task.
My eyes burned. A small flame licked across the page, and I snatched my hand away before realizing I’d created the fire out of my own metaphor. I sighed and visualized cool water.
I swore and put down the dripping document to shake myself like a dog.
“Aydan? Is everything okay? What was that?”
“Fine. I’m just getting tired, I guess.” A tire rolled toward me, and I snickered in spite of myself. Puns. The lowest form of humour.
“Maybe you’d better come out now.”
“I think you’re right.” I stood up and stretched, and then shook my head at my own idiocy. Stretch in the real world, dummy.
I shoved the mannequin aside and headed for the portal. Mannequin. Dummy. Got it. Very funny.
A board hurtled toward my head, and I ducked in the nick of time.
Yeah, yeah, subtle as a two-by-four to the head.
I tried to clear my mind while I skirted the pink hippopotamus twirling in its tutu and ballet slippers. Flying pigs fluttered gracefully overhead.
Don’t look up. Don’t look...
I dodged the plummeting clumps of pig shit.
“Fuck this,” I muttered. “Yikes!”
I hurriedly folded sim-space and stepped out the portal to avoid the truly impressive construct that had been created by my unfortunate choice of obscenities.
By the time I straightened, clutching my raging headache, Spider was still scarlet. Kane’s impassive cop face showed signs of cracking.
“Sorry about that,” I said. “Next time I’ll be more careful with my language.”
Spider blushed even more furiously. “No big deal,” he said with a heavy attempt at nonchalance. He turned away, and I carefully avoided looking at Kane while I scrubbed my hand over my face to wipe away my smile.
A few seconds later, I thought I had it under control. I caught Kane’s eye. An explosive snicker burst out of me. He quickly turned away, his broad shoulders quaking with suppressed laughter.
“Bless you,” Spider said without turning.
“Thanks,” I choked. “Back in a flash.” I scurried out of the lab and down the hall to the ladies’ room before I lost it completely. Inside, I propped myself against the counter and wheezed silent laughter until tears poured down my cheeks.
It took longer than it should have to regain my composure. Every time I stopped laughing, I glanced at my flushed, tear-stained reflection in the mirror and started all over again. Poor Spider. I really wasn’t laughing at him. I just couldn’t seem to pull myself together.
Finally the pain in my sides made me sober up. A few last giggles escaped me while I dabbed at my eyes and patted cool water on my face. I took some deep breaths and avoided looking in the mirror as I left the bathroom.
When I returned to the lab, Kane’s eyes were still dancing, but his face showed nothing but his usual calm composure. I managed a straight face with an effort.
Spider met my eyes and turned pink all over again. “This document is going to be really valuable,” he said quickly. “How much more of it is there?”
My urge to laugh vanished without a trace. “Lots. Probably another five pages.” I sighed. “I guess I’d be
tter get started.”
“No, I don’t think so,” Kane countered. His eyes were serious again, too. “You need a rest. You weren’t controlling the sim at all at the end.”
As he spoke, the weight of fatigue settled on my shoulders, and I staggered back a step to drop into my chair. I realized my hands were still trembling, and my overworked core muscles vibrated finely.
“Okay,” I agreed. My eyes drifted shut.
“Aydan!”
“What?” I mumbled.
I cracked an eyelid open when Kane took the network key from my hand and pulled me to my feet. “Let’s get you upstairs.”
I let him tow me down the corridor. He half-carried me up the stairs, and I leaned heavily on him in the time-delay chamber, too exhausted to react to the cramped space. Then there was another flight of stairs, and a blessedly soft horizontal surface.
My eyes snapped open.
Kane halted in the doorway. “Oh, I didn’t think you were awake.”
I sat up groggily from the sofa in my office. “Just woke up.” I squinted at my watch. “Crap! It’s five o’clock!” I stood and stretched, yawning. “I’ll get back on that document now. If it’s important, I want to get it done today.”
“It’s not important enough for you to drive yourself into the ground.”
I read his tone behind the words. “It’s really important, isn’t it?” I asked.
He sighed. “Yes.”
“Let’s go.”
Chapter 16
“Wait.” Kane laid a restraining hand on my arm as we passed the small employee lounge at the end of the hall. He ducked into the room and returned momentarily, carrying a bottle of orange juice and a couple of cereal bars.
I gazed up him, touched. “Thanks!” He’d even gotten the brands that I usually bought.
“You’re welcome.”
I followed him down the stairs, smiling.
At the entrance to the secured area, my smile drained from my face while I stood still for the retinal scan. By the time we reached the bottom of the stairs my heart was pounding, and I strode forward briskly to hide my shaking knees.
In the lab, I gulped down a cereal bar and half the juice before propping myself in the chair once more.
I stepped into the white void and determinedly shoved my way through the constricting bars. They refused to vanish, so I clamped my hands on them and bent them apart as I stepped through, shoving and kicking my way to the file room. In the doorway, I braced my hands on my knees, gasping with exertion.
Stupid. It was just a sim. I slapped my forehead and held the image of the file room hard. Guttural laughter growled behind me as I closed the door.
“Aydan, is everything okay?”
I shook my head vigorously and picked up the file. “Fine.”
I concentrated fiercely on the contents of the file, refusing the urge to look around. After an endless time, I laid the document down. “That’s it.”
The sickening smell of burning hair filled the room.
“Aydan! Your back’s on fire!”
I sighed. “Yeah. I know.” I flopped backward into the convenient plastic wading pool. A theatrical sizzle and cloud of steam arose. A cartoon coyote sauntered over and gazed down at me as I lay on my back.
“Yeah, right.”
I didn’t waste any time folding the sim-space to get to the portal. I really didn’t want to know what my subconscious mind was planning to serve up this time.
It took a long time for the pain to subside. Kane’s strong hands slowly crushed out the tiny fires at the ends of my nerves while I groaned and whimpered.
Finally I shut up and straightened. “Thanks.” I clutched at my head with both hands when it attempted to float away.
“Here.” Kane handed me the other cereal bar.
I squinted at my watch. Eight o’clock. My exhausted brain responded wearily. I peered up at Kane. “It’s Thursday, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” He returned my gaze with concern. “You knew that, didn’t you? It was just a rhetorical question?”
“Yeah. I was just checking.” I hauled myself out of the chair. “Forget cereal bars. I’m going over to Eddy’s to get a decent meal and listen to some blues. Tonight’s open jam. Anybody else interested?”
Kane shook his head regretfully. “I’d love to, but this document that you just decrypted is vital. We have to deal with it tonight.”
I goggled at them. “You mean you guys have to stay here even longer?”
Kane shrugged. “You know how it goes.”
I shuddered. “You have my undying respect. But sadly, my loyalty is all used up for tonight. I’m out of here.”
“Good, because I was going to order you out anyway,” Kane joked. “Good night. Have a beer for me.”
“Can’t, I’m driving.”
We exchanged a shrug, and I made a beeline for the exit.
Blue Eddy’s was packed as usual on a Thursday night. I hovered at the edge of the room, hoping against hope I’d find a vacant table where I could put my back against the wall.
The musicians were just finishing a song, and I spotted Hellhound with his beloved guitar up on stage. A few seconds later, he caught sight of me at the edge of the crowd. The corner of his mouth quirked up, and he cocked his chin at my usual table.
I grinned and made my way over to find his lurid jacket slung over a chair. The slavering black beast glared up at me from the leather, and I patted it affectionately as I sat down. I stretched out my legs with a sigh of pure contentment and let the superb blues music wash over me.
The waitress hurried by. “You want your usual?”
“Yeah, thanks, Darlene.”
“Beer?”
“Love to, but I’m driving.”
She raised an understanding shoulder and wove her way back to the bar. As she punched my order into the computer, Eddy looked up from his frenetic bartending and tossed me a cheerful wave and a smile.
I moved happily to the beat, watching Hellhound’s gifted hands on his guitar and shivering privately at his sexy, raspy voice while he sang.
When my meal arrived, I tore into the delicious food. As I was finishing, the musicians took a break.
I watched Hellhound obliquely while he wandered down from the stage. He took his time meandering through the crowd, stopping to greet people as he went. He paused by another table and shook hands with its occupants, laughing and joking for a few minutes before he turned toward our table.
When he arrived, he nodded casually in my direction and swigged from the beer bottle that had occupied the table when I arrived. His eyes roved over the crowd, and he tossed a rakish salute across the room when he apparently spotted someone else he knew. He turned back to me as he replaced his bottle on the table, and clasped my hand in a friendly handshake.
“See ya later,” he rasped, and strode away.
I sipped my drink for a few moments before I opened my hand. The note was scribbled on a scrap of paper wrapped around a room key. “Come see my new tattoo.” I slipped the key into my pocket with a secret smile.
A couple of sets later, he stepped down from the stage and made his way through the crowd again. He smiled, picked up his jacket, and disappeared out the door.
I slouched in my chair and tried to hide my impatience until the next set began. When the musicians struck up again, I unhurriedly signalled Darlene for my bill. A few minutes later, I was on my way.
My hands clenched on the steering wheel. Dammit, there was only one hotel in town. I sincerely hoped Bill Harks wouldn’t be working tonight. That was a confrontation I could do without.
Heart thumping, I sneaked into the lobby, wishing for invisibility. I sighed relief at the sight of the young man on duty behind the reception desk, and hurried across the open space to the stairs. On the second floor, I tapped on the door to 218 and turned the key.
The door closed behind me, and I smiled.
Hellhound was shirtless. The light from the single lamp emphasized
his bulky, tattooed muscles. He pulled me close, his lean musician’s fingers stroking through my hair as he found my lips. The kiss lingered, and the touch of his tongue sent heat rolling through me.
I pressed closer and ran hungry hands down his chest. “What’s this about a new tattoo?” I mumbled against his lips. “Should I go looking?” I unfastened the button on his jeans and started to slowly slide the zipper down.
He chuckled. “Ya can look down there any time, darlin’. But ya ain’t gonna find my new ink if ya do.”
“Mmmm.” I trailed my lips over his chest. “Where should I look?”
“Down an’ to the left.”
I kissed my way south. “Am I getting warmer?”
“Aaah... Darlin’... Yeah... You’re gettin’ warmer for sure. But ya ain’t gettin’ any closer to this.” He held up his left arm, and I studied the new artwork on the inside of his bulging bicep.
He leaned down to kiss me. “D’ya like it?”
I smiled at the shapely black-clad woman crouched on the footpegs of a black motorcycle, long red hair billowing behind her. “I like it. I’m flattered. But I think your tattoo artist got a little carried away with the boob size.”
“I know what I saw, darlin’.” He grinned. “I get a hard-on every time I remember ya ridin’ over that hill.”
I let my hand drift down. “Well, anything that gives you a hard-on makes me happy.”
He growled and locked his hands on my ass as he pulled me against him.
“Ow!”
He let go instantly. “What, Aydan? Are ya okay?” He gazed down at me worriedly.
“Fine, I just caught my hand on your zipper.” I showed him the small scratch.
He kissed the spot tenderly. “Sorry, darlin’. I didn’t mean to hurt ya.”
“You didn’t. Didn’t even break the skin.”
He looked into my face seriously. “I thought I might’ve hurt ya when I grabbed ya on Sunday, the way ya yelled out.”
“No, you just startled me. Definitely didn’t hurt me.” I grinned and linked my arms around his neck. “Turned me on like a gas barbeque, if you want to know the truth.”
“Ya always turn on like a gas barbeque.” He ran strong hands down my back and pulled me closer.
Reach For the Spy Page 9