The Spy Is Cast

by Diane Henders

  I snuggled closer. “Lawrence, if we’re going to a fancy restaurant, I want to look nice for you. Can we stop at my house so I can change my clothes?”

  His hand slid farther up my thigh, and his fingertips brushed across my crotch. “I like the way you look now.”

  I grabbed the offending hand and clasped it in both of my own as I leaned closer to whisper in his ear. “But I have something really special. It’s red leather, and it’s scented like cherries. And the warmer it gets…” I brushed my lips across his ear, “…the better it smells.”

  He gulped. “All right,” he said hoarsely. He leaned forward and spoke to the driver through an intercom. “We’re going to make a stop before we go to the restaurant.” He gave me a questioning glance, and I supplied the address of the house that I’d recently sold.

  The transaction had closed in June, and I’d discovered a spare set of keys a couple of weeks ago. I’d put them on my key ring, planning to drop them off to the new owners the next time I was in Calgary.

  Please let this work.

  I spent the rest of the drive trying to squirm away from Harchman’s moist hands as unobtrusively as possible. When we pulled up in front of the house, I hid a sigh of relief.

  The driver opened the car door, and Harchman got out with me. I turned to him. “I’ll just be a minute. Why don’t you wait in the car?”

  “No,” he purred. “I want to see your special outfit. In private.”

  Shit.

  He followed me up the driveway to the front door. At least I was reasonably certain the new owners wouldn’t be home. I knew they both worked, and it was the middle of the day.

  At the front door, I fumbled with my keys, dropping them. As I knelt to pick them up, I reached for my waist pouch. “Oh, that’s my phone! Lawrence, would you open the door?” I handed him the key and pulled out my phone. “I’m just going to turn it off.”

  I fumbled at the tiny button with trembling hands and surreptitiously turned it on instead. Kane and I had missed our check-in time. By now, Germain would be on high alert. They’d tracked me through my smartphone before. I hoped they could do it this time, too. I prayed Harchman wouldn’t recognize my ploy, but he seemed oblivious.

  The door swung open, and I swallowed a sigh of relief. People are so trusting. I couldn’t believe they hadn’t changed the locks yet.

  The alarm system triggered its warning tone, and Harchman turned to me. I stepped inside and used my knuckle to punch in the master code. The system didn’t disarm.

  Shit!

  I quickly punched in one of the secondary codes. The happy sound of the acceptance chime made my knees weak. They’d updated the master code, but they hadn’t purged the secondary codes from the system. Fools. Thank God for fools.

  I took my keys back from Harchman and walked him around the corner into the living room. I pressed him down onto their sofa, leaning over him to show as much of my boobs as possible. “Wait here,” I breathed. “I’ll be right down.”

  He reached for me, but I pulled away. “Hurry,” he said huskily.

  I didn’t need any encouragement. I resisted the urge to go up the stairs two at a time, and closed myself into the master bedroom. When I had replaced that door a few months ago, I’d installed a privacy lock. I breathed fervent thanks as I locked it carefully, using the tail of my tank top to cover my fingers. My fingerprints would still be all over the house, but I didn’t want my prints on top of the current owners’ prints when they discovered the break-in.

  I crossed immediately to the window, opened it, and removed the screen, still covering my fingers.

  If I hadn’t been so scared I would have laughed. Same old, same old. This was an exact replay of what I’d done in March.

  I stepped out onto the roof segment of the bay window below and slid over the edge on my stomach. I managed to catch the eavestrough with both hands as I went over, and it creaked ominously but actually held my weight this time. I’d done a good job on that repair.

  I swung wildly for a couple of seconds before dropping the last foot or so as lightly as possible to land on the deck below.

  Heart hammering, I tiptoed rapidly across the deck and hopped over the railing onto the shed roof. From there, it was an easy step onto the top of the fence, and down into the neighbours’ heavily treed back yard.

  I stared wildly around, praying nobody had seen me. A black-leather-clad figure sneaking out a window in this quiet neighbourhood would be sure to draw some 911 calls.

  I scuttled across the neighbour’s yard and hauled myself over their fence and into the community park. Then I ran like hell.

  Chapter 35

  My biking boots weren’t exactly designed for sprinting. I dodged off the asphalt path onto the grass to quiet the pounding of my footsteps and reduce the impact on my complaining feet and knees.

  Realizing that a fleeing black-leather-clad figure was probably even more suspicious than a walking one, I slowed, gasping for air, and pulled off my hot jacket. The sun beat down on my sweaty shoulders, and I lifted sticky hair off the back of my neck.

  I couldn’t believe I had actually gotten away, but I was still far from safe. As soon as Harchman realized I was gone, he’d be after me with the car. And with the armed driver.

  As I approached the street, the distinctive sound of a transit bus labouring uphill made me break into a run again. The bus was just pulling away from its stop as I pelted alongside it. The driver mercifully stopped.

  “Thanks,” I gasped as I scrounged in my waist pouch for change. I dropped the fare into the box and wobbled into the nearest seat to slump against the side of the bus while I sucked air. Sweat streamed from every pore, and the leather pants felt as hot and sticky as a plastic bag. But I’d done it. I’d escaped.

  As the urgency faded, reaction rushed in to take its place. I trembled helplessly and fought back tears. Kane was surely dead by now. Or suffering horribly. I wasn’t sure which was worse. Our last words to each other were an ugly memory. I struggled to control my uneven breathing. I would not cry in public.

  I stumbled off the bus at a busy downtown stop, trying to hide myself in the small group of other passengers as we disembarked. My numbed mind dragged itself into action again. Stay focused. Call Spider. Find a pay phone.

  I tottered toward the nearest building, but trailed to a halt when I realized I might as well use my cellphone. I’d turned it on anyway. Using it wouldn’t make a difference.

  Even as I pulled it out, my brain served up a sluggish reminder. A land line was more secure.

  I was turning witlessly back in the direction of the building when iron-hard arms grabbed me from behind and jerked me into a gap between the buildings.

  I was sucking in a frantic breath to scream when the grip suddenly released. I spun around and came face to face with Kane himself.

  The shock was so profound that the air left me in a tiny squeak and my knees wobbled, nearly dropping me to the pavement. In an instant, his arms were around me again, holding me up.

  My strength came back in a rush. I launched myself at him, crushing him in my arms. He staggered back against the side of the building, and I pulled him into a fierce kiss as I pinned him against the wall.

  I ran unbelieving hands over his living, breathing, uninjured body while I devoured his lips. His arms tightened around me, and he returned the kiss hungrily. His hands slid down my back, hard and demanding, pulling me against him. Relief blazed into hot lust as I opened my lips to his tongue. His hands slid lower, and I moaned with sheer need under his ravenous mouth.

  Suddenly his hands were on my shoulders, pushing me away.

  “Aydan,” he gasped. “This can’t happen.”

  I panted desperately as he held me at arms’ length. “Why the hell not?”

  “It’s too dangerous. You’re distracting me. Driving me crazy. Tight leather. Those black panties…” He swallowed audibly and drew a ragged breath. “If I don’t concentrate on this mission, more people
could die. You could die. I can’t take the risk.”

  “But…”

  “Aydan, I can’t. I’m sorry.”

  I stood silently, getting myself under control. “John, I could die anyway,” I said finally. “We both could have died this afternoon. I’d rather live while I can. I’ve spent my entire life doing the safe thing.”

  “And it’s my job to make sure you keep doing the safe thing,” he said quietly.

  I blew out a long breath. “Duty.”

  “Yes.”

  I sighed again, trying to slow my heartbeat and breathing. I squelched frustration and hurt and anger, rolled them into a ball, and stuffed them down as deep as they would go while I stared at the ground.

  “Okay.” I looked up at him. “You can let go of me now. I won’t try to molest you again.”

  “Aydan…”

  “It’s okay.” I stepped back and stuck out my hand. “I’m really glad you’re still alive. Friends?”

  I might have imagined the spasm of pain in his eyes. He smiled, and his face was composed as he took my outstretched hand in a gentle grip. “I’m really glad you’re alive, too. Friends.”

  He released my hand and reached into his pocket for his phone. He punched a speed dial button. “Got her. Pick us up.”

  Chapter 36

  “How did you get away?” I demanded. “How did you get here?”

  “First I need to know you’re all right.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I said impatiently. “It was just pawing and groping. Jeez, why did you grab me like that? You scared the shit out of me.”

  “I’m sorry I scared you. I didn’t know if you were being followed, and I wanted to get you out of plain view.” He frowned down at me. “You aren’t being followed, are you?”

  “No. I’m almost positive nobody’s following me.” A battered blue Suburban pulled over at the curb in front of our hiding place. I smiled. “Except the good guys.”

  We stepped across the sidewalk, and Kane opened the passenger door. “Aydan, this is Mark Richardson. He’ll take you down to our rendezvous point.”

  He addressed the driver. “Sorry, I’d take her myself, but I’m on my bike, and I don’t have a spare helmet.”

  “No problem.”

  I hauled my shaking self into the passenger seat. The brown-haired, blue-eyed driver gave me a quick handshake and a smile. A fleeting dimple appeared in his cheek, incongruous with the thin scar that slashed across his cheekbone. “Good to have you aboard,” he said.

  He pulled out into traffic as I sagged into the seat with a long sigh. “I am so glad to be aboard.”

  As we drove south on Macleod Trail, I recovered enough to sit up straight again. “Where are we going?”

  “The big-box mall down by 22x.”

  My stomach growled, and I glanced at my watch. Two o’clock. God, I was starving. My entire body trembled with hollow weakness. “Can we stop at Wendy’s?”

  His dimple reappeared. “Webb warned me I’d better feed you as soon as I picked you up.”

  He swung into the drive-through, and a few minutes later, I was gobbling my favourite salad, barely breathing so I could stuff it in as quickly as possible.

  By the time we arrived at the mall, I’d finished the salad and started my chocolate ice cream. Richardson headed for the south end of the mall, and I pointed with the spoon. “Over there. That’s the RV.”

  He nodded and parked beside it. Kane pulled up and dismounted from his bike on the other side. As I got out of the truck, the RV door swung open, and Germain stepped out, his face creased in a grin. He gave me a quick one-armed hug. “Glad to have you back.”

  I returned his grin. “Glad to be back.”

  Kane joined us, scanning the parking lot. “Let’s go inside.” He lifted a hand to Richardson. “Thanks for the safe delivery.”

  “You’re welcome.” Richardson waved out the window. “Nice to meet you, Aydan. Take care.”

  “Thanks. You, too.”

  We trooped up the steps, and I slid into the dinette bench. Kane wedged himself in beside me, and Germain sat across from us in his usual spot. I felt as though I’d been doing this for weeks, not days.

  “So what happened?” I demanded as soon as we were settled.

  “First, you. Harchman didn’t try to harm you in any way?”

  “No. Other than the severe nausea caused by his proximity,” I joked.

  “You didn’t hurt him, did you?” Kane regarded me seriously.

  “No, of course not.” I met Kane’s dubious gaze and realized he was thinking of my run-in with the campground neighbours.

  “I wouldn’t hurt anybody unless they were threatening me,” I explained. “And I wouldn’t have taken on both him and his big bodyguard anyway, unless I had absolutely no other options. I just tricked him and ran away. Why the tender concern?”

  “Because we’re almost certain now that he’s not connected to any of Fuzzy Bunny’s activities on his property.”

  “What?” I stared at him open-mouthed. “Two innocent people dead? Not to mention the three bodies that you left behind? Sickos torturing people in the sim? And he doesn’t know? How could he miss the sim records? They’re all there, right in the network.”

  Kane shrugged. “I know it sounds crazy, but I really don’t think he knows. Because he called the police, not the torturers. After the guards marched me out, they held me in the security office until the RCMP arrived.”

  “What?” I squeezed my eyes shut and tugged a couple of handfuls of hair, trying to get my brain to encompass the new information. “So all this time, we’ve been thinking Harchman is the evil mastermind, and he’s completely clueless?”

  I thought about it a little longer. “Well, that explains a lot.”

  “But what happened to you in the network?” Kane asked. “All of a sudden you started screaming and thrashing around. Did you leave the portal too fast?”

  I stared at him in puzzlement. “No. I was just sitting there reading, and the next thing I knew I was on the ground. I thought something had happened at your end.”

  “No.”

  I rubbed the frown lines out of my forehead. “So the signal was broken somehow. Maybe a blip in the transmission?”

  “I don’t know. We were right at the limit of the transmission range, so maybe.” He ran his hand over his face. “It couldn’t have been worse timing, though. Those guards were there in seconds. I barely had time to get the watch off your wrist.”

  He looked disgusted. “For all the good it did. Nice acting job, by the way,” he added. “I’m sorry about the offensive language.”

  “It’s okay. It was a smart way to tell me what you wanted me to do.”

  “It was the only thing I could think of,” Kane admitted. “What happened to you? How did you get Harchman out the door so fast?”

  I felt my lips curl back involuntarily. “Suffice it to say I convinced him we needed to go to Calgary right away,” I said. “He was… motivated.”

  There was a short pause, during which Kane eyed me expressionlessly, but he apparently decided to let it go. “How did you escape?” he asked.

  “I still had keys to my old place. I told him I needed to change my clothes, and got him to take me there. Lucky for me, the new owners hadn’t changed the locks, and one of my old security codes still worked. I left him sitting in the living room and went out the bedroom window the same as I did in March.”

  Kane leaned back in the bench and laughed. “You’re kidding.”

  “Old habits die hard.”

  Germain eyed our grins, his eyes crinkling. “Share the joke,” he demanded.

  “That’s right, you didn’t get involved until later. Long story,” Kane told him. “The short version is that the first day I met Aydan, she escaped a gunman, jumped out of a moving vehicle, hurdled over the Suburban even though she’d been shot in the leg, mowed down Webb…”

  “I heard about that part from Webb,” Germain interrupted.


  “Jumped out of a third-story window, beat the crap out of Hellhound, and was all set to beat the crap out of me, too,” Kane finished.

  “It wasn’t like that,” I protested. “He’s exaggerating. I didn’t hurdle over the Suburban, I just kind of rolled off the hood. The bullet wound was barely a scratch, and I didn’t jump three storeys, I just got out on the third storey and dropped down to the second. And I didn’t beat the crap out of Hellhound. I just… got away from him.”

  “Leaving him incapacitated,” Kane chuckled.

  “Only for a minute or two.”

  Germain laughed. “I always knew you were a dangerous woman. So you went out the same window today. From three storeys up.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I knew it,” Germain joked. “All this time, you’ve been a spy. That bookkeeping business is just a cover. Admit it.”

  “I’m just a civilian,” I said.

  A faint line appeared between his brows as his sharp eyes darted from Kane’s suddenly serious face to mine. “Okay,” he said.

  Kane shifted in his seat and changed the subject. “I saw you and Harchman leaving in the limo. I told the police the unclassified parts of the story and then called Webb and headed for Calgary as fast as I could. Webb got a fix on your cellphone. He said you’d turned it on at your old place.”

  “Yeah, I was hoping you’d be looking for it.”

  “I caught up with the signal about halfway to downtown. Richardson was converging on it from the other side of town. It took me a few blocks to figure out you were on the bus. Then I had to figure out a way to get to you. Lucky you got off where you did.”

  I shook my head. “All that fear and effort for nothing. Harchman was never a threat at all. Shit. I wondered why he was so easy to manipulate. I couldn’t imagine getting away with that with any of the real Fuzzy Bunny guys.”

  “You wouldn’t want to count on it,” Kane agreed.

  I sighed and slouched into the corner. “So where does that leave us?”

  “That depends. What did you find in the network?”

  I hesitated. “Well, I went through the sim records.”

  Kane’s brows snapped together suspiciously. “But…”