Alone in her room, Eva pulled the halter of her dress back up over her head, then pulled a tee shirt on over it. It made her look and feel like a victim. She needed to feel like a victim, not like someone who had just tricked another person into his death.
The bruise on her left eye and temple deepened, which helped her feel victim-like. Shay had been a pig and had gotten what he deserved.
Really? a voice inside herself asked. He really deserved to die for the things he did? Or did he die to protect your cover, just like Jim died to bring you the microrecorder.
The microrecorder. She focused on that so she didn’t have to answer the uncomfortable questions she asked herself. She needed to get it out of the dress and she needed to record a bunch of stuff on it and get it back to Juan and Mark. But she didn’t want to sit and pick it out of the hem where she had sewed it in just yet, in case someone like the Lord Admiral came to console her. And she didn’t want to take her dress off just yet, also in case someone came and “cleaned it up for her” before she could get the recorder out.
The Lord Admiral ratified her paranoia when he showed up a few minutes later.
“My dear, I’m going to have to ask you to stay in your room for a little while. And I have some questions. Just tell me the truth. I’m not mad or upset. I understand the terrible ordeal you’ve been through.” He put his arm around her and she buried his face in his chest.
He held her and she cried a little. Not for the reasons he probably assumed, but for the things she had done. A dog and a person had now died for the mission she was on. No matter why or what they had done, that was the fact. Would more die? Would Eva die?
What idiot notion had made her want to become an agent in the first place?
Being good at something didn’t force you to have to do that something, did it?
“Okay now, my dear. Keep it together.”
She laughed a little through her tears. “Where did you learn that idiom?”
He chuckled back. “It came through on a download to my tablet a day or two ago. It’s similar to a saying we have in Est that would translate to something like ‘spin it all in a circle’.”
“Like a dog herding sheep?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied. “Like that.” He held Eva a little away from himself. “What did this individual say to you?”
Time for Eva to out lie the Lord Admiral.
“I don’t know,” she replied, struggling not for a memory but for a plausible story. “Something about wanting to talk to me, I guess.” She held her arms up a little like she was clueless. “He didn’t say what. Then he just attacked me.”
“We think he was a spy.”
Alarms rang in Eva’s head. She had to diffuse this quickly.
“Why would he attack me if he were a spy?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I hoped you could explain that.”
“Why do you think he was a spy?”
“Technicians detected a recording device in operation in his vicinity during the banquet. I believe you call them ‘bugs’. It followed him and you out to the lobby, but ended abruptly there. It hasn’t been found on his body yet, so he may have hidden it somewhere in the room. Did you see him do anything like that?”
“No,” she answered truthfully.
Eva felt pride at keeping her composure. Her face betrayed none of her actual emotions. The fear at learning that if she had turned the microrecorder on in her room, for even a brief period of time, she and the Lord Admiral would be having a completely different conversation now, gripped her soul. She’d come so close to giving herself away. Her heart pounded, but her voice, her eyes, her mouth, all held strong. The Lord Admiral wouldn’t suspect her.
But the device had become a serious liability. She had to get rid of it tonight.
“One more thing, my dear,” the Lord Admiral said as he stood to leave. “I’ll have to ask you to stay in your quarters for the rest of the night until we can locate the device. Someone will let you know when we find it.”
“Sure,” Eva lied. “I can’t go back to that party anyway.”
“I understand,” he replied and hugged her again, kissing her paternally on the top of her head. “Good night. I can post a guard on your door if it will help you feel safer.”
“No, the one at the end of the corridor is enough.”
“Are you sure, my dear?”
“Yes. I’ll be fine, Lord Admiral.”
“Okay.” He stood and kissed the top of her head again. “You’re such a dear thing. I’m glad you were saved in time.”
“Me, too,” Eva whispered, hoping she’d kept the pain and fear out of her voice. How was she going to get rid of the microrecorder?
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