by Liz Wolfe
Crap. She knew the man at the end of the bar.
Donnie Conroy. One of her dad’s old cronies, a low life con man. He squinted his watery, blue eyes in her direction as if he was trying to remember her. Shelby had known Donnie since she was ten years old and her dad had first involved her in some of his milder scams. The last time she’d seen him had been at her father’s funeral seven years ago. Shelby figured she probably hadn’t changed much since then, but she also hadn’t been wearing a spandex dress, blond wig, and a quarter inch of makeup.
She stood at the bar and sipped her drink for a few minutes, hoping he’d give up. No dice. He picked up his drink and cigarettes and moved to a stool next to her. A hard shot of adrenalin poured through her, and she felt her heart rate and breathing increase in response.
No way was she going to let a two-bit con man interrupt her op. Figuring the best defense was a strong offense, Shelby turned and looked at him.
“What’re youse looking at, Gramps?” Her Jersey accent sounded pretty good, even to herself, and must have passed with him.
“I just thought I’d seen you somewhere before.”
“You wish, old timer!”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that your face really looks familiar.”
“Yeah, like I never heard that before.”
“Can I buy you a drink?”
“Fuggedaboutit. Go find a nice old lady your own age at the bingo hall. Sheesh!”
“You got no class. You know that?” Donnie scowled and slurped his drink.
“Whatever.” Shelby rolled her eyes, flipped a hand up to his face, and turned away. She could feel him staring at her back for a few more minutes.
“Shelby?”
Crap. He’d made her. Shelby sipped her drink acting as if he hadn’t said anything, until she felt his hand on her shoulder.
“Shelby.”
She jerked reflexively when she felt his hand. “What is your problem, old man?” She batted his hand off her shoulder. “Do I have to get one of the bouncers or what?”
Donnie shook his head, then turned, and toddled back to his bar stool, mumbling under his breath. He seemed to be convinced that he didn’t really know her, and she breathed a silent sigh of relief when he finished his drink and headed for the door.
Shelby sauntered off in the direction of her quarry and leaned against a faux-painted column within a few feet of Ted Ryan and his friends. The music continued to throb, and she let her hips and shoulders pick up the rhythm, moving slightly in time to the pulsating beat. She gave it a few minutes, letting them thoroughly check her out, then glanced over and flashed them a casual smile. Just a isn’t-this-fun kind of smile. Nothing too personal, nothing too aggressive.
After a few more minutes, she caught Ted’s eye, smiled again, and turned back to the dance floor, tugging at the hem of her extremely short dress. Shelby sipped the club soda and made sure to smile a little too brightly, a little too eagerly at everyone who passed by. The hip, cool crowd pointedly ignored her. Her dress was too short, her makeup too heavy, and her hair too big and way too blond. No one wanted to even catch her eye. Perfect. Shelby shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot for a moment, and then walked over to Ted’s table with a stilted gait, mentally dropping the Jersey accent in favor of a soft, sexy purr.
“Do you guys mind if I take this chair?” She braced her hands on the back of the chair.
For a moment, the three men just looked at her, mouths gaping. Then they all scrambled up from their seats. Shelby smiled at each of them. “I just really have to get off my feet for a few minutes.”
“You’re welcome to join us.” Ted pulled the extra chair out for her.
“Oh, that would be so nice.” She sank into the seat next to Ted and lifted a leg. “These heels are just killing me.” She pointed to the four-inch, spike heeled sandal on her foot and wiggled her freshly painted toes.
“You mean those aren’t your dancing shoes?” Ted grinned.
“I don’t know what I was thinking, wearing these shoes.” Shelby affected a giggle and slurped a little more club soda. “My name’s Carla.”
“I’m Ted, this is Matt, and Bob.”
Shelby knew more about Ted than his friends probably knew. He was twenty-six, had a BA in Computer Science from the University of Arizona, and worked at The Center for Bio-Psychological Research. He smoked pot every day and drank a few beers on the weekends. Computers were his job, his hobby, and his life. He was heavily involved in several role-playing games over the Internet. Ted stood about five feet ten inches and, while not fat, had that softness of body that comes from too much desk time and not enough physical activity. His brown hair was already thinning a bit, but he had a nice face. Big, trusting brown eyes and a quick smile.
“You guys must be regulars here, huh?”
“Not exactly,” Ted said. His friends snorted and laughed. “We just come here every few months. Just to check it out, you know? I haven’t seen you around though.”
“I just moved here a couple of weeks ago. Still living in a motel room.”
“You get transferred here?”
“Yeah. It meant a promotion, so I figured why not?” Shelby lifted a shoulder in a delicate shrug and let her tongue slide around the straw in her drink. “You guys all work together?”
“We all belong to a users’ group. Online.”
“Oh, yeah? I do some chat rooms online. Well, I did until my computer bombed.” She twisted a strand of her platinum wig and gazed at the dance floor.
“Took a dump, huh?” Ted grinned and shook his head.
Shelby leaned over, giving him a glimpse of miracle-bra enhanced cleavage, and placed her lips close to his ear so he could feel her breath. “What did you say?”
He swallowed hard. “Your computer. What happened to it?”
“Oh, I have no idea.” She waved a negligent hand. “It just stopped working.”
“Any error messages?” Ted grinned at her, and she could see his friends nudging each other.
“Oh, sure, lots. But I couldn’t understand them.”
“What operating system are you using?” Ted leaned forward, elbows on the table.
“Windows.” She watched Ted glance over at her legs again, and then she crossed them, causing the blue spandex to ride up her thighs a bit more.
“What version?” His eyes were glued to her legs.
“Version? What does that mean?”
“XP, ME?” Ted’s eyes returned to her face.
“Got me.” Shelby shook her head, tossing the blond hair around and pouting just a bit. “Pisses me off, though. I’d like to get it fixed, but that’s so much money.”
“I could probably fix it.”
“Really?” Shelby put her hand on Ted’s arm and widened her eyes. “You can do that kind of thing?”
“Sure. That’s what I do for a living.”
“Man, that is so cool!” She leaned toward him, letting the spandex brush against his arm. “But how much would it cost? I really don’t have a lot of money to spend on it.”
“Just parts, if it needs anything.” Ted’s gaze moved to her low neckline. “And it probably doesn’t even need any. Besides, I have lots of extra parts. So, really, it won’t cost you anything.”
“I would be so incredibly grateful,” she gushed. “I’m just in awe of anyone who can work with computers. Fix them and stuff, you know?”
“Well, I’ve been doing this for a long time.” Ted puffed up his chest a bit. “When do you want me to look at it?”
“The sooner the better.”
“How about tonight? Unless, you want to stay here. I mean, I can do it anytime, actually.”
“Now is good. If you don’t mind leaving.” Laying it on a little thick, but Shelby thought it appropriate, given Ted’s mentality.
“No problem.” Ted turned and grinned at his friends.
“Oh, that’d be great. I really miss my email, you know.” She slurped the last of her club
soda through the straw, threw the strap of her tiny purse over a shoulder, and stood on wobbly legs. “Man, that last drink kind of got to me. Do you mind driving?”
At that point, she had to turn away because she absolutely did not want to see the stupid grins the men would be exchanging. If they high-fived each other she was going to deck them. Ten more minutes—fifteen tops. She wobbled out of the club and followed Ted to his car, giving him directions to the studio motel unit, keeping up the inane chatter until they got to the door.
Crap. She really hated this part. Ted seemed like really a nice guy. Here he thought he was about to get lucky, and in a few minutes his whole life would change. She pushed a twinge of remorse down.
She had a job to do. Find Shannon Masterson and her son. This was part of it. It was necessary, and in the end it would be better for him. Better for a lot of people. She unlocked the door to her studio suite, stepped inside, and pulled him in after her.
“It’s right over here.” She pushed him a few steps into the room, threw the deadbolt on the door, and flipped on the light switch. Ben and Rick stood on either side of the small dinette table at the end of the room. They each held a Glock 9MM trained on Ted.
Crap!
Hadn’t she told them to stay outside? Hadn’t she made it clear that they were only here to do as she asked? Hadn’t she explained to Ethan that she didn’t want them here? Fat lot of good any of that did her.
“What the hell—?” Ted’s head whipped from the men back to Shelby, his eyes wide with fear and confusion. She put her hand on Ted’s arm and gave him a look that was meant to be calming and encouraging.
“Stay back!” Ted shouted. His hand fumbled in his jacket pocket and came out with a gun. A small gun, but Shelby didn’t want even a twenty-two piercing her flesh. His hand shook and he backed up, waving the gun from Ben and Rick to Shelby.
“What the hell is this?” he demanded.
“It’s not what it looks like, Ted. You aren’t in any danger here. Just give me the gun.” Shelby held her hand out.
“Sure, then what? You take everything I have on me?”
“No, Ted, it’s not like that. Just put the gun down so we can talk.”
“You get over there with them.” Ted waved the gun at her, and she resisted the urge to cringe. He didn’t appear to be really adept with the thing. His hand was still shaking, sweat had popped out on his forehead, and his voice was an octave higher.
Likely as not, he’d end up shooting one of them. Nothing against Ben or Rick, but she was really hoping it wouldn’t be her.
Shelby turned slightly sideways to Ted and shifted her weight to her right leg. He waved the gun around in one hand. Shelby prayed that he still had the safety on. Her left leg snapped out, hitting Ted’s hand before he realized she’d moved. The gun flew out of his hand and skittered across the hardwood floor, stopping under the dinette table. Ted blinked and looked like he might cry. Or scream.
“It’s all right, Ted. We aren’t here to hurt you.” Shelby glared at the men dressed in black cargo pants and black tee shirts. “Out. Now.” She jerked her head toward the door.
“Have a seat, Ted. We need to talk about a few things.” She pulled a chair out and motioned Ted to sit. Ted slumped into the chair, staring at her.
Ted’s expression was bordering on shock, and Shelby knew it would be a few minutes before she could get him to really understand anything she said. Ben and Rick were still standing by the door. She unbuckled the straps of her sandals, kicked them off, and padded over to Ben and Rick.
“What part of my orders did you not understand?”
“Sorry, Ms. Parker, but Mr. Calder told us—
“I don’t care what Ethan told you. I work alone. Always.” Shelby jerked the door open and glared at them until they left, closing the door behind them. She looked at the clock. After midnight and this was likely to take several hours.
“You want some coffee or tea?”
Ted shook his head, glancing nervously about the room. He looked like he was about to wet himself. She measured coffee into the tiny coffeemaker the motel provided and flipped the brew switch.
“Relax, Ted. You’re not in any danger here.”
He looked really nervous.
“You OK, Ted? Your breathing’s a little funny. You need a paper bag?”
Ted shook his head.
“Just do this.” Shelby put her hands over her nose and mouth and took a deep breath. Ted followed her example for a few breaths.
“Better?” Shelby asked.
Ted nodded, but his eyes were still huge.
“OK, here’s the deal. I’m from the FSA. Ever heard of us?” She kept smiling at Ted, trying to put him at ease. Ted shook his head.
“Not surprising. Not a lot of people have. It’s the Federal Security Agency. Kind of like the CIA or the FBI, but different.” She pushed a plastic coated card across the table to him. “Here’s my ID, just so you can be sure.”
Ted picked up the card and looked at it closely. He then carefully put it down on the table, sliding it back to her.
“You sure you don’t want some coffee?” Ted shook his head, still slack jawed and apparently speechless. “How about a beer?”
Ted nodded. Shelby got up and poured herself a cup of coffee, and then snagged a beer for Ted from the mini-fridge.
“Anyway, I’m investigating The Center for Bio-Psychological Research.” She waited, but Ted only nodded.
“Ted, relax. You haven’t done anything wrong, and you aren’t in any trouble. Really.” She pulled out a chair and sat in front of him, leaning forward to pat his knee. His head jerked up at the touch.
“I’m not?” His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed. “I’ve only been working at The Center for a year. I don’t really know anything about them.”
“I know and that’s all right.” She nodded and gave him a smile she hoped was both kind and encouraging. “It’s just that they seem to be up to some things that aren’t quite legal, you know?”
Ted nodded, and then immediately shook his head.
“No, I don’t know. I don’t know anything about them.” He took a pull on the beer and set it down. His thumbnail picked at the label, slowly peeling it away from the bottle.
“Don’t worry about it. I just need some information from you, and then you’re going to go away for a while.”
Crap! She sounded like a gangster that was going to do away with him.
“Ben and Rick will take you somewhere really nice and see that you have everything you need.” Ted still didn’t look like he believed her. Who could blame him?
“I’ll even get you some really good weed. Some of the good stuff from Oregon or Michigan. I know a guy in Michigan. Mike. He grows some really good stuff.” Mike had been a gun dealer who sold a little too far south of the border. Shelby had convinced him to give up some information in exchange for a reduced sentence. With his gun business ruined, Mike had decided to go into small-scale agriculture.
“What do you need to know?” Ted asked. His fingers continued to pick at the label, adding to the pile of wet fuzzy paper on the table.
“You’ll like Mike’s stuff. It’s really good. Not like this desert crap from Mexico.”
Ted smiled tremulously and nodded. She’d figured him right. Just the mention of marijuana seemed to have relaxed him.
Shelby spent the next few hours asking him questions about The Center for Bio-Psychological Research. How he’d set up the computer systems and what the passwords were. Who he knew. Who knew what he actually did there. What his relationship was with Dr. Jonah Thomas and Dr. Ruth Carlson.
“Well, that’s all I need.” She drained her third cup of coffee. “I’ll take it from here.” She patted Ted’s knee again. “You did really good, Ted.” She opened the door and motioned Ben and Rick back in. “Now, these guys will take you somewhere you’ll be safe until this is all over.”
Ted nodded, still looking a little spooked. Hours of
questioning hadn’t really calmed his nerves all that much.
“But what will The Center think when I don’t show up at work?” he asked.
“They’ll be told you were in a auto accident tonight. They’ll think you’re dead.”
“Dead? But what about—?”
“Oh, your parents? Your family?” Shelby couldn’t remember anything about his parents from the intelligence file on him. “Ben, has Ethan taken care of his parents?”
“No need, his parents are dead.”
“Oh, good.” She winced as the words left her lips. “I don’t mean that it’s good that your parents are—I mean it’s good for us that—”
Shelby stopped and took a breath. She was really good at her job, but when it came to dealing with regular people, she was the first to admit that she sucked.
“I’m really sorry about your parents.” Shelby reached out and squeezed his arm.
“That’s okay, it’s been a long time.”
His voice sounded so sad, it made her chest hurt. The poor kid had to be terrified.
“Ted, it’s really going to be all right. The FSA will take care of you until we have this resolved.” She patted his hand. “OK, I think we’re done here.”
“And the stuff from Michigan?” Ted whispered.
“Oh, yeah, no problem. Ben, we need to get some weed from Mike. Tell him I owe him one.”
The men each took one of Ted’s arms and walked him to the door. Just as they walked out, Ted turned back to her.
“So, after this is all over, you think we could get together sometime?” Ted looked so hopeful that she didn’t have the heart to refuse him flat out.
“We’ll see. I’m pretty busy, but maybe.” Pretty gutsy of him to ask her out after what he’d just been through. “Ben, you’re taking care of the car I left at the club?”
“Consider it done, Ms. Parker.”
Shelby closed the door after them and threw the deadbolt. She picked up the discarded sandals and dropped them on the dresser on her way to the bathroom. The small clock next to the bed showed three in the morning. Her eyes were gritty with fatigue, and she wanted nothing more than to fall into a deep sleep until mid -morning. But first she had to wash Carla off.