Fatigue dragged at me, jumbling my thoughts into a paranoid mess.
To hell with it.
I told her the truth.
Ritter’s only reaction was a tightening around her eyes. I had a momentary flash of the overstressed skin splitting, pulling apart into gory crevices like the trail of a screwdriver tearing through flesh…
“Agent Kelly!”
I started violently, my heart hammering. “Sorry.” My voice came out in a weak quaver and I cleared my throat. “What did you say?”
“I said…”
The pissy emphasis was back, and I huddled thankfully around the rush of irritation that warmed the chill at my heart.
“…please describe any personal feelings you may have for Charles Stemp.”
“What exactly does that mean?” I inquired warily.
She glared across the table. “Are you enemies?”
I was pretty sure that wasn’t one of the standard questions on her list, but I answered as civilly as I could manage. “No, of course not.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Are you lovers?”
I recoiled. “Christ, no! We’re co-workers, nothing more. Sometimes we butt heads, but there’s nobody I’d trust more as a director. Stemp is excellent at his job.”
“So you would like him to continue as director?”
“Absolutely.” I leaned forward, willing her to understand. “He’s brilliant. He’s a manipulative sonofa-” I bit off the end of that and substituted, “He knows how to convince people to do things his way, and sometimes that causes conflict. But he’s always thinking ahead, always on top of things. Even if I call him at three o’clock in the morning in the middle of a fucked-up mission…”
She twitched at the f-bomb and I added, “…sorry, a messed-up mission, he always answers on the first ring, and he always knows exactly what’s going on. I don’t even want to think about what it would be like trying to do my job without him.”
“But yet you threatened to kill him.”
I managed not to grind my teeth. “I just explained to you that there were mitigating factors.”
Ritter gave me another glare. “Perhaps he’s always available for your calls because he gives you preferential treatment.”
“Fuck, he just suspended me for something that wasn’t even my fault. How the hell is that preferential treatment?” The words sprang out before I could stop them.
Dammit, I was too tired. Losing it.
Her eyes narrowed again, and I wondered how she could even see out of those tiny slits. “Everyone knows you’re the only agent with 24/7 surveillance on her personal dwelling,” she said icily. “That smacks of favouritism.”
I held onto my temper for all I was worth. “No,” I ground out. “That’s not favouritism. That’s protecting an asset. Up until a few months ago…” I stopped before I could spill any details. She probably didn’t have the security clearance. “…I was the only option for one of our highly-classified projects. If Stemp hadn’t protected me adequately, his chain of command would have handed him his head.”
“But you say that changed a few months ago,” she repeated silkily. “And yet, you’re still consuming valuable hours of our analysts’ surveillance time.”
“I haven’t consumed any of their time,” I said shortly. “I’ve been away on a mission for the past four months. And the surveillance program is being discontinued this week.”
I’d managed to surprise her. Her eyebrows rose, stretching her face into a tight mask. “Stemp didn’t mention that to me,” she said.
“He had no reason to,” I snapped. “He doesn’t care about popularity contests and he doesn’t have to justify his decisions to every little pissant who questions him. He’s too busy doing his job the best he can, and that’s a hell of a lot better than anybody else could do it.”
I rose. “We’re done. I need to talk to Stemp again. Are you going to escort me to his office or do you want to stay here and watch while I walk the ten feet?”
She flushed and stood. A loud squeak emanated from behind her and I nearly choked myself trying not to laugh.
It was the chair, not her ass. I knew it was the chair. Dammit, don’t laugh. Don’t laugh…
“Go,” she snapped, her face turning dusky purple under the makeup.
I fled before I could guffaw and make things worse.
Tapping on Stemp’s open door, I could feel Ritter’s glower burning holes in my back. When Stemp called, “Come in”, I couldn’t help turning to give her a silly little finger-wave and a sugary-sweet smile before walking into Stemp’s office.
He frowned. “Kelly?”
“Hi again.” I swung the door shut behind me and reached automatically for my absent waist pouch. “Shit.”
Stemp’s frown deepened, and I gestured around the room before cupping a hand behind my ear.
His gaze sharpened and he withdrew a bug detector from his desk. At the sight of its steady green light, I let out a breath and walked over to stand in front of his desk.
“That wasn’t the best interview ever,” I said quietly. “I told her exactly how important you were to the program, but she took a major dislike to me so I’m not sure how valuable my reference will be.”
Stemp’s shoulder rose and fell in a tiny shrug. “Thank you for your recommendation, nonetheless. But why the precautions?”
“You’re welcome. And the precautions are because I told a truth that isn’t quite true yet. I wanted to make sure you knew about it before anybody asked you.”
“A truth that isn’t quite true yet.” Stemp’s lips quirked. “Do tell.”
“I told her you’re cancelling the surveillance on my house.”
He frowned. “I’m not, nor do I intend to. That surveillance is crucial.”
“Actually, it hasn’t been working too well, and Spider and I have a better and cheaper solution.” I took his raised eyebrow as an invitation to continue, and laid out our plan in a few sentences.
By the time I finished, he was nodding. “You’re right, that will be superior to the current system.”
I let out a breath of relief. “Good. So plug it to your chain of command as a cost-cutting measure, or whatever makes you look good. And that’ll spoil Ritter’s accusations of favouritism, too.”
Stemp’s expression froze over. “She accused me of playing favourites?”
“Not… really…” I grimaced. “I think she was just trying to rattle my cage.”
“I see.” His immobility reminded me of a snake about to strike, and I hid a sudden shiver. “Perhaps…” he said in clinical tones, “Perhaps it’s time to do a little cage-rattling of my own.”
“Well, then, I guess I’ll leave you to it,” I chirped in a falsely cheerful voice. “I can find my own way out.”
I scuttled for the door, abjectly grateful that I wasn’t Ursula Ritter. Having Stemp as an ally was scary enough. I didn’t even want to think about what he’d be like as an enemy.
“No, I’ll escort you, of course,” Stemp said pleasantly, and followed me out.
We strode down the hall and navigated the stairs in silence. As we emerged into the lobby Jack glanced over from the security wicket, pen in hand.
“Aydan!” she exclaimed. Her gaze darted from me to Stemp and back again. “Just the person I wanted to see! Do you want to go for an early lunch?”
Anything that kept me far away from the impending clash between Stemp and Ritter.
“Sure!” I pulled on a grin. “That sounds great!” One last glance at Stemp’s composed face and cold snake eyes sent a shiver down my spine. “I’ll just wait for you outside,” I added, and fled for the sidewalk.
Chapter 37
As I shot out the front door of Sirius Dynamics a skinny hoodie-clad figure spun to hurry away across the parking lot, but not before I glimpsed a straggly beard and facial piercings.
Adrenaline exploded into my veins. My hand dove for my holster and I nearly dislocated my neck whipping my head around to be sur
e I wasn’t in anybody’s sights.
Nothing.
No bullets thudded into the building beside me. No knife-wielding thugs tried to grab me. In fact, the street was deserted except for the rapidly-receding Tyler Brock lookalike and an elderly pedestrian who was eyeing me with askance while she toddled nearer.
I offered her a reassuring smile and tried to pretend I hadn’t just jumped as though somebody had jammed a cattle prod up my ass. Apparently I wasn’t as reassuring as I’d hoped, because she crossed the street and continued on her way, sneaking wary glances over her shoulder at me.
“All set?”
I yelped and my feet left the sidewalk entirely as I corkscrewed around to face Jack’s alarmed expression.
She threw a fearful look around us, falling back a step as her hand flew to her lips. “What’s wrong?”
“Shit… Sorry… Nothing.” I sagged against the handrail, trying to convince my trembling knees to hold my weight. “I just… I forgot… I went out the door without looking and there was this guy…”
My flustered babbling wasn’t helping. Jack went even paler.
I sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “Everything’s fine. I’m just an idiot. Let’s go get lunch.”
“There was a guy?” she quavered. “Should I call security?”
“No!” I thudded the heel of my hand against my forehead. “No, I just meant I came out the door too fast and got startled by this guy, that’s all. And then you scared me again when you came up behind me. Everything’s fine.”
At least I hoped it was.
“Oh.” Her pallor eased. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”
I waved away her apology and we fell into step toward the Melted Spoon.
“I guess you must be a little on edge these days,” she said tentatively. “Have you found out anything more about the man who attacked you?”
“No, there hasn’t been enough time, but Stemp put some analysts on it this morning.”
Jack frowned. “That was last Thursday. Today is Wednesday. Why is Charles only getting around to assigning analysts now?”
“Oh.” I hesitated. “I thought you meant the guy who attacked me last night.”
“What?” Jack stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk, staring wide-eyed. “Another man attacked you last night?”
“Shhh.” I shot a worried look around us, but fortunately the only other pedestrians were a block away. “Yeah.”
A sudden thought occurred to me, kicking my heart rate into overdrive all over again. If I was a target, Jack could be in danger just standing beside me. Shit, shit, shit!
I kept my tone calm as I backed away. “Jack, why don’t you tell me what you want for lunch? I’ll go and pick it up, and then we can eat at Sirius.”
She obviously wasn’t fooled. Her cheeks blanched again. “Do you think…” She cast a frightened glance around us. “…somebody might…?”
“I doubt it.” I summoned my most reassuring tone. “They’ve been targeting me when I’m isolated. This is just a precaution. What can I get you… Aw, shit.” Embarrassment heated my cheeks. “Jack, I’m sorry, we’ll have to do it another time. I forgot my waist pouch today and I don’t have-”
“Oh, no problem, I’ll buy,” Jack interrupted.
“No, that’s-”
“No, really, I insist.” Jack pushed a couple of bills into my hand, glancing nervously around us while she stammered out an order. She retreated hurriedly into the building, and I squared my shoulders and did my best confident stride down the sidewalk.
They wouldn’t attack me in broad daylight in public.
Surely not…
When a panel van pulled to a stop at the curb beside me, I sprang to the far side of the sidewalk.
The skinny bearded driver swung out, giving me a quizzical glance from under pierced eyebrows as he strode into the building beside me, parcel under one arm and clipboard under the other.
Just a courier. Jeez, I was getting paranoid.
Easing out a shaky breath, I headed for the Melted Spoon.
Inside, the skinny bearded barista took my order, a silver ring gleaming in his nose. Two thin young men with beards and facial piercings slouched at a table in the corner, engrossed in their phones.
“Okay, now you’re just messing with me,” I muttered to the gods of paranoia.
The barista was familiar, but I kept a wary eye on the pair in the corner while I waited for my order. Maybe they were Brock’s buddies from Blue Eddy’s Friday night. They looked the same to me, but who knew? My attention had been so drawn to their piercings that I hadn’t really noticed their facial features earlier. Perfect disguise, dammit.
They made no move to follow me when I left, but that didn’t prevent me from hurrying along trying to watch in all directions at once.
I made it back to Sirius Dynamics unscathed, but when I stepped into the lobby with my burden of sandwiches I came face-to-face with Tyler Brock himself.
“Fuck, really?” I snapped before I could stop myself. I almost apologized, but gave up the effort before I began. Explaining that I’d been talking aloud to nonexistent gods probably wasn’t going to make the situation any better.
“What are you doing here, Kelly?” Brock sneered.
“Stemp called me in. What are you doing here?”
“So you’re buying Stemp lunch?” He twisted his face into a suggestive leer. “Isn’t that… thoughtful?”
“Fuck off, you little prick,” I growled. “It’s not for Stemp.” I pushed past, accidentally-on-purpose jostling him and striding over to where Jack stood watching us anxiously.
“Let’s have lunch in my office,” she suggested with a glance at Brock. “Come on, I’ll sign you in.”
We headed for the security wicket, but Leo was already shaking his head when we arrived. “Sorry,” he said with an apologetic look. “If you’re suspended, only someone in your chain of command can…”
He trailed off and I followed the direction of his gaze. Stemp strode across the lobby, giving Brock a nod in passing. He took in the situation at a glance.
“Dr. Travers, you will recall that Agent Kelly is suspended,” he said.
I slid between them. “She knows. But…” I lowered my voice so only he could hear. “We were going for lunch and as long as I’m a target I thought it would be safer for her if we stayed in the building.”
He hesitated, and Jack spoke up.
“Director, I need to consult with Aydan on a… personal matter. If you would allow her to have lunch with me in my office, I’d be very grateful.”
With her sultry voice and stunning blonde beauty, she could have infused her words with a suggestive note that would bring any man to his knees in a puddle of drool. But she didn’t. She said the words with simple dignity, her chin high and her blue gaze direct.
Stemp glanced at his watch with the tight-lipped expression of a man late for a meeting. Then he met my eyes with his flat emotionless stare. “Kelly, I require your word that you won’t access any data or in any way violate the conditions of your suspension.”
“You have my word,” I agreed. “We’re just going to eat lunch.”
“See that you do.” His usual cool tone chilled into something considerably frostier. “I don’t play favourites. If you violate your suspension both you and Dr. Travers will be disciplined.”
Even though I had no intention of breaking my word, I gulped anyway. Jeez, the man could make me feel guilty even when I was completely innocent. Jack paled, too.
“Understood,” I croaked.
“Very well.” Stemp turned to Leo. “Sign her in on my authority. Half an hour.” He turned back to me. “You’re authorized to travel between here and Dr. Travers’s office in the upper building only. Not her office in the secured area.” His reptilian gaze slid to Jack. “Dr. Travers, Agent Kelly is not to leave your direct visual supervision at any time, for any reason. Understood?”
We both nodded silently and h
e turned away, striding over to collect Brock. As they moved toward the security wicket, Jack and I hurried toward the stairs.
“He certainly seems to have a bee in his bonnet today,” Jack whispered.
“Yeah,” I muttered. “Ursula Ritter accused him of playing favourites and giving me special treatment. And she implied that Stemp and I were…” I trailed off, not even wanting to say the words. Instead, I fisted both hands and bumped the knuckles together a couple of times.
Jack’s brow furrowed. “Butting heads?”
“Screwing,” I hissed.
“Ew!” Jack recoiled. Then her expression of revulsion faded into uncertainty. “I mean, not that I… Um, I mean… I have a great deal of respect for both of you, and certainly you’re entitled to…” She gave me a beseeching look. “You’re not, are you?”
“Hell, no!”
She let out a breath, her shoulders relaxing. “Well, that’s a relief.” We turned the corner into her office and she swung the door shut behind us before asking, “Do you think she’ll make trouble for Charles?”
“She’d be incredibly stupid to try. He’d eat her alive.” I sank into a chair with a sigh. “Unfortunately, she didn’t strike me as particularly bright. But to be honest, that could just be my bad attitude. We started off on the wrong foot and things went downhill from there.”
“Oh.” Jack perched on the edge of her chair, frowning and toying with her sandwich wrapper. “Brock complained to Charles’s chain of command that Charles is treating him unfairly.” Her fingers clenched on the wrapper, crushing it into a ball. “He’s such a troublemaker! Everywhere he goes, he stirs up new problems. Did you know he’s bullied the social committee into letting his band play on the Sirius Dynamics float? The Ballistic Rutabagas; what kind of name is that? And have you heard their so-called songs? They’re horrible. Brendan and Ivy are riding in the Little Clowns Bicycle Rally right behind our float and I don’t want my children hearing that misogynistic filth!”
She took a savage bite of her sandwich.
“Mm,” I mumbled around a mouthful of my own. “Can you ask him to do a clean version? Even the big-time rappers do that.”
Spy Away Home (The Never Say Spy Series Book 10) Page 28