He’d screwed up big time breaking cover with Kait. But he knew, he knew, she wasn’t involved. By the end of the meeting everyone agreed with him, if not one hundred percent agreement then at least close to it. Even Neil withdrew his concerns before patting Ryu on the head and sending him off to meet with her.
Ryu hoped like hell Kait had found something good, because he wanted to enjoy every moment of shoving it in Neil’s face. The only positive of the meeting was the chance to talk to Adrian face-to-face. The other man was clearly surprised Neil had chosen the meeting over following up with Kait, and he expressed his total support for Ryu. Knowing Adrian was on his side made a big difference.
The Fantasia Alive door banged closed behind him.
“Someone got out of bed on the wrong side this afternoon,” Carol smiled sympathetically. “I put fresh coffee on about half an hour ago, why don’t you grab yourself a cup.”
Ryu made a concerted effort to control his mood and smile pleasantly. “Thanks, Carol, I might do that. Hey, do you know if Kait is in?”
“She was a real early bird this morning. I think she’s still in her office.”
“Who else is here?” Ryu asked.
“Everything is pretty empty, usually is after a late event. Performers take the time to recover so it’s office staff only. Even Kait usually sleeps in, that’s why I was surprised to see her this morning.”
The phone rang and Carol picked it up, giving him a quick smile before speaking. Ryu mouthed a thank-you and went into the main room. Carol was right, the place was deserted. Although light came from Kait’s office, Edward’s and Victor’s offices were dark. Ryu hurried directly to Kait’s door.
She was hunched over her keyboard typing furiously when he knocked and, without waiting for a reply, walked in. She looked up with a start and stared at him as if, for a moment, she couldn’t remember who he was. Then reaction kicked in and she gestured for him to sit.
That commanding gesture told him a lot. She felt threatened by everything going on and would do her best to maintain control of this meeting. For now he didn’t have a problem with that. Anything that made her feel more secure worked in his favour.
“Sorry I’m late. Sometimes my boss has more control over my life than I do.” Okay, he hoped she hadn’t heard the bitterness in that comment, he’d thought he had himself under better control.
“That’s all right, I got your message.” Kait stretched out the kinks in her shoulders, her breasts thrusting distractingly against her thin blouse.
Ryu dragged his eyes away with difficulty. “Why did you call me? You said you found something?”
Kait fidgeted with a pen. “Yes. This morning I arrived early and searched Johnny’s locker.”
His eyebrows sprang up. “You searched his locker?” And had clearly found something, something that hadn’t been there when Ryu searched.
Kait didn’t meet his eyes as she nodded. He could see she felt guilty about breaking into her friend’s locker. Wait…“Wasn’t it locked?”
“Um…Yes.” She glanced up through her lashes. “I guessed the code and opened it.”
“Wow, nice work.” Ryu smiled to put her at ease. Actually, it really was nice work. “What was the code?”
“My birthday.” She spun the pen again.
Was that a blush? Ryu narrowed his eyes. He knew she and Johnny were friends, was there more to their relationship than that? He looked at the betraying pink flush across her cheekbones. A tearing pain in his chest made his fists clench. It felt as if the dragon was clawing the inside of his heart. Was he…jealous?
Abruptly angry, with her for that telltale blush, and with himself for his response, his next words came out unnecessarily harsh. “Why your birthday?”
Startled, she dropped the pen and stared at him wide-eyed. “I…I don’t know. We’re just friends.”
The obvious honesty in her expression quieted the beast within. “Do you think his feelings for you might go beyond friendship?”
She picked up her pen and looked at him warily. “I don’t know, I never thought so before now.”
He leaned back in the chair and considered the information, then shook his head, nothing he could do with it right now. “What did you find in his locker?”
She opened her drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper and a flash drive. She handed him the flash drive. “I tried to look at the files on the drive but they’re encrypted.”
Ryu glanced at the drive, then shoved it into the back pocket of his jeans. Spock would no doubt make quick work of it. “I’ll get someone on our team to have a look. Anything else?”
“Yes, I got an email from him this morning.” She handed over the printout. “It doesn’t say anything very interesting but I thought you should have a copy.”
“Thanks.” He gave her a surprised smile. “Good thinking. Johnny didn’t go home last night and we haven’t been able to locate him yet, so this might be more useful than you think.”
A little of her previous blush returned to her cheeks and his smiled widened. He loved that she was a redhead. Not only did the colour drive him wild, but her skin was almost as expressive as her face.
“I hope he’s not in too much trouble.” White teeth nibbled on her full lower lip. Concern for her friend written clearly on her face.
Ryu chose not to answer because Johnny was in a truckload of trouble. “Anything else in his locker?”
“Not that I saw.” She paused. “Did you want to have a look.”
“Might be a good idea.”
She led him down to the lockers. “If anyone asks could you say Johnny asked me to get something for him? I don’t want people to worry.”
Ryu nodded. “I’m surprised you found anything. When I checked the lockers the other night I never found anything.”
“You what?!” Kait stopped so suddenly he almost crashed into the back of her.
“I was doing my job. Would you rather I lied?”
She stared at him, then mutely shook her head. Turning away, she hurried over to the lockers, stopping in front of Johnny’s.
“Do you want me to do the combination?” she asked.
“If you would.”
“I’m sure you know my birthday, after all you investigated me.” He could hear a note of resentment in her voice and hated knowing he was the cause.
“I know your birthday, but look on the bright side, that means I have no excuse for not getting you a birthday present.”
Kait snorted in reluctant laughter. “I guess. After all this I deserve a present.”
Ryu smiled. She might not believe it, but he fully intended to get her one.
She spun the lock and the door fell open. The locker was empty.
Chapter 16
Kait stared in shock at the empty locker. “It wasn’t like this earlier.”
“What else was in there?” Ryu voice was cold.
She shivered. “Just spare clothes, CDs, a couple of books, not much really.”
If she could put everything back the way it was this morning she would, anything to make his arctic tone go away.
“What books?”
“I…I don’t know. A biography of a high-profile club DJ and a couple of thrillers, I’m not sure which ones.”
“Any idea when he came in and cleared his things out?”
“No. I’ve been here since early this morning but I’ve been in my office most of the time. Carol might have seen him.” Not waiting for Ryu, she hurried toward reception.
“No, I haven’t seen him.” Carol’s gaze darted between them. “He could have come in when I was on my lunch break, or he might have used the side door.”
“I thought the side door stayed locked from the outside,” said Ryu.
“Johnny used to smoke, he got a key cut so he could smoke out there and not get locked out.”
“I didn’t know he had a key.” Kait tried to keep a smile on her face. It was her responsibility to know things like that. Why had no one told her?
“I guess no one thought it was important. Did you want him for something, I can let him know next time he comes in,” said Carol helpfully.
“That’s okay, I’ll give him a call,” said Kait, then she and Ryu walked back to her office.
“Now what?” she asked, leaning against her desk.
“Now you leave things to us. These are dangerous people.” Ryu’s face was implacable.
She should object to his tone, but she didn’t. She was glad to hand this over to someone else. Johnny had been her friend for years and it was impossible to change her feelings overnight.
“If you hear from Johnny, let me know.” Ryu gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze as if he understood how torn she felt.
“What’ll happen to him?” she asked, as his hand dropped away.
Ryu stared unblinking at her for a moment then shrugged. “He’ll be arrested and, if there’s sufficient evidence, sent to prison. This information black market scheme hit some big, powerful companies, they’re not going to let those involved off with a slap on the wrist.”
Prison. She rubbed her arms. Poor Johnny. “Could he do a deal, like on TV?”
“I’m not sure what kind of deal you mean. If he turned himself in now and told us everything he knows, he could argue for a lighter sentence.”
“But he hasn’t hurt anyone, couldn’t they let him go if he told everything.”
Ryu sighed and stepped closer. His eyes gentle, he rubbed his hands over her upper arms soothingly. “They’re not going to let him go. I won’t lie to you, Johnny is in deep trouble.”
“But if he turned himself in…”
“If he turned himself in things would go a lot easier for him.”
After Ryu left, taking the flash drive with him, she moved around her desk and sat stiffly in her chair, staring at her blotter, wishing things were different.
Wishing Jonny were her true friend and not neck deep in trouble. Wishing Ryu wasn’t some super-spy and she wasn’t just part of his mission. She rubbed her finger over a doodle on the blotter. Of course, She didn’t wish him back to being her employee, but she did wish they’d met under other circumstances. Circumstances that allowed them to investigate the chemistry between them instead of crime.
She rubbed the doodle harder, as if her frustration had the power to erase it. Who was she kidding? If she’d met Ryu under other circumstances he wouldn’t have looked twice at her. Worse, she wouldn’t have had the courage to do anything about their chemistry. Just like she didn’t have the courage now. Her frustration boiled over. She threw her pen across the room.
The plastic bounced off the wall and fell to the floor. As suddenly as her anger bloomed, it was gone. She slumped in her chair.
Dropping her face into her hands, she closed her eyes. Oh, Johnny, why? Her throat was thick with sorrow and her body ached deep to the bones. Denial faded and bitter acceptance crept in. Johnny wasn’t one of the good guys. Johnny was one of the bad guys.
The man who had been her friend for years, who helped her move into her house, who cooked for her when she was sick, whose shoulder she cried on, was one of the bad guys. The man she trusted most after her father was one of the bad guys.
Wrapping her arms around her middle, she rested her head on her desk, her eyes still closed. Tears threatened behind her eyelids and she sniffed as her nose blocked. How? How did such a sweet guy end up doing something like this? She squeezed her arms tighter as tears leaked and dried in sticky patches on her cheeks.
For several heartbeats she sat in tear damp darkness, but no answers came. At last, unable to shut out the world any longer, she opened her eyes. Sitting up with a final sniff, she wiped her face with her fingers and blew her nose.
Opening a water bottle she took a drink, then dampened a tissue and wiped her face. Dampening another tissue, she blotted her eyelids. She didn’t want to leave her office in case someone saw her. Once her eyes weren’t so red, she’d sneak down to the bathroom. Throwing the tissues in the bin, she straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath, praying for calm.
Ignoring her pen lying on the floor, she turned back to her computer. Her email alert was flashing. Work would distract her. She switched to her mail, and saw a new email from Johnny waiting.
She bit her lip and looked at the empty doorway—Ryu was gone.
She would see what Johnny wanted before she called Ryu. It might be nothing.
—
From: [email protected]
To: Kait Jones
Subject: My locker
Kait, I stopped in to check my locker this morning (sorry I didn’t say hi, I didn’t want to give you my flu) and there’s something missing. Has anyone gone through my locker this morning?
—J
—
It was clear Johnny hadn’t seen her last night, but he knew something was up. Should she tell him she’d seen him? She rubbed her fingers together anxiously then clicked reply.
—
From: [email protected]
To: Johnny Blake
Subject: RE: My Locker
Johnny—What’s going on?
I saw you upstairs last night. I care about you and want to help. I hoped looking in your locker might give me a clue about what’s going on. Please let me help you.
Kait.
—
There, that sounded okay. She wouldn’t let on about Ryu, but maybe she could talk Johnny into turning himself in. Johnny’s reply flicked into her inbox almost instantly.
—
From: [email protected]
To: Kait Jones
Subject: RE: My locker
Kait, WTF??!!
—J
—
From: [email protected]
To: Johnny Blake
Subject: RE: My Locker
You tell me. I saw you creeping around and you’ve got encrypted files in your locker. Are you in some kind of trouble?
—K
—
From: [email protected]
To: Kait Jones
Subject: RE: My Locker
Did you take the files? Do you still have them?
HAVE YOU TOLD ANYONE???
—J
—
From: [email protected]
To: Johnny Blake
Subject: RE: My Locker
Yes, I still have the flash drive.
I haven’t told anyone.
Are you okay, J? What’s going on?
—K
—
Kait thought of Ryu and looked guiltily at her handbag with its duplicate drive. She wasn’t sure she wanted to give it to Johnny.
—
From: [email protected]
To: Kait Jones
Subject: RE: My Locker
I need those files, Kait, I’ll come by your house tonight and pick them up.
Whatever you do, don’t tell anyone.
—J
—
That didn’t sound good. She massaged her shoulder, she didn’t want to see Johnny alone. However much she longed to trust him, she wasn’t sure she knew him anymore.
—
From: [email protected]
To: Johnny Blake
Subject: RE: My Locker
What’s on those files, why are they so important?
—K
—
From: [email protected]
To: Kait Jones
Subject: RE: My Locker
I can’t tell you, but if I don’t get them back my life’s in danger.
Please, Kait, I need that flash drive.
—J
—
She looked again at her handbag, she’d give him the copy. There was no way she could live with herself if something happened to him.
—
From: [email protected]
To: Johnny Blake
Subject: RE: My Locker
>
If things are that bad, don’t come to my house. We’ll be safer in a public place. I’ll meet you in the park tomorrow morning at ten.
—K
—
There was a longer pause before his reply arrived, as if he were thinking about her suggestion. She shifted on her chair, wishing things were different.
—
From: [email protected]
To: Kait Jones
Subject: RE: My Locker
9am at the park. Bring the flash drive.
—J
—
From: [email protected]
To: Johnny Blake
Subject: RE: My Locker
Okay, 9:00. See you then.
Be careful.
—K
—
Kait’s finger hesitated, then she pressed send. It was done.
She hoped she hadn’t screwed things up horribly, but she wanted a chance to talk to Johnny face-to-face. Maybe she could convince him to turn himself in. She nibbled her fingernail. She wasn’t going to tell Ryu until it was over. Hopefully he’d forgive her the deception.
Closing her email, she got up and put on the cardigan she kept behind the door. Despite the sun pouring in her window, she felt cold.
Chapter 17
A clinking of cups accompanied Ryu as he put the tray down on the table. “I don’t know why I didn’t make you guys get your own coffee.”
“Because you’re too sweet for words, Mac.” Delilah patted his cheek and picked up one of the black coffees.
Derek made a choking sound. “Sweet, don’t make me barf. Lizard-boy got them because there are more of us and we’d kick his ass.” He added milk while dodging Ryu’s mock punch. “See, what kind of punch was that? A three-year-old could do better.”
Ryu rescued Derek’s coffee before smoothly hooking a leg behind other man’s knees and tripping him. Derek landed on his ass with a loud grunt
“If I fight like a three-year-old, what does that make you?” Ryu looked down at his prone friend. “And that’s Dragon-man to you, Bear-breath.”
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