Nothing existed outside their joined bodies, breath synchronized with breath, thrust with thrust. Heat and an impossible agony of sensation drove them higher, Jordan swallowing the whispered curse on Ali’s lips as her thighs tightened and she bore down on Ali’s fingers. For one sweet, terrifying moment Jordan was sure she would die from this sensation, that she could not possibly survive the climax of this moment. Then Ali arched her back and cried out, and Jordan gloried in the vision of this beautiful woman above her as Ali drove her over the edge. Her orgasm obliterated all thought in a blinding, never-ending wave.
Jordan took a long time to surface. Ali lay sprawled across her body, completely limp, her head tucked into Jordan’s neck. They breathed together and Jordan could feel the steady rise and fall of Ali’s back. She blinked, the only movement she felt capable of in that moment. She felt the urge to tighten her grip, to possess Ali and anchor her to this time and place. To never let her go. But she also accepted the peace of this moment, her certainty that Ali was here with her. She remembered Ali’s earlier words, that she wanted to be in Jordan’s life again. Jordan found the energy to smile, then she closed her eyes and slept.
Chapter Thirteen
“You can’t order room service eggs. It’s an atrocity.”
Jordan laughed at Ali’s declaration and threw the fake leather-bound menu onto the white bedspread. She watched Ali towel-drying her dark blonde hair as she looked out the hotel window.
“An atrocity? That’s a serious accusation. And a serious word before you’ve had coffee.”
Ali threw her damp towel at Jordan, who was already fully dressed after their shared morning shower. The rest of their night and their morning together had been easy laughter and connection, kissing in the shower, returning to the twisted bed sheets. Jordan acknowledged that things were changed. She accepted her happiness, even though a question lodged in her chest. She tried to quiet it, convincing herself there was time to ask and hear the answer. Today she could allow joy.
“Jordan?”
Ali came to sit on the bed, where Jordan was leaning up against the headboard.
“Sorry, what did you say?”
Ali smiled and leaned in for a long, sweet kiss. Jordan thought she could melt, like snow caught on the tip of the tongue.
“Sex always did kind of make you stupid,” Ali murmured against Jordan’s lips.
Jordan answered by sucking Ali’s bottom lip into her mouth and biting down lightly before releasing her. Ali laughed and leaned back.
“I asked if you wanted to go downstairs for breakfast or grab our coats and head out somewhere.”
“Let’s go out, if you don’t mind. There’s a diner across the bridge I want to take you to. And since you woke us up at an ungodly hour, it shouldn’t be busy.”
Ali made a face and Jordan laughed. “You couldn’t possibly be complaining, Jordan McAddie. Your brain isn’t that scrambled, I hope.”
Jordan ran her over Ali’s hips, stroking her fingers up Ali’s ribcage. “No, definitely not complaining.”
Ali smiled but stayed silent. And she didn’t move. Jordan saw a question in Ali’s eyes and wondered if it was the same one in her chest.
“It wasn’t like this before, was it? When we were younger. It wasn’t this…intense.”
So, Ali was still looking back while Jordan was looking forward.
“No, it wasn’t quite like this.”
Ali nodded once, obviously still thinking. Jordan kept running her hand up and down Ali’s side, comforting them both.
“I think even then I knew it could be. But I had to…” Ali trailed off, breaking eye contact and looking down before meeting Jordan’s eyes again. “I had to diminish it, I think. What we had then. I had to make it smaller and less significant. Because that was easier than admitting I’d lost my heart at seventeen.”
“I did the same thing, if it helps at all.” Ali said nothing, and Jordan took a breath and kept going. “I had to pretend your place in my heart was the one everyone keeps for their first love. But it was more than that. I always knew it was more than that.”
Jordan wanted to hold her breath, but she’d been trained to keep breathing. She had enough experience in the ring to know that punches landed harder and hurt more if you held your breath.
Ali held Jordan’s gaze, as if searching for something Jordan couldn’t identify. Maybe she wasn’t meant to. Then Ali leaned in for a quick kiss and stood.
“We need coffee. And food.” Ali ran her hands through her damp hair then looked back at Jordan. “Let’s go, McAddie.”
Jordan grinned at Ali’s commanding tone.
“On it, Clarke.”
Dressed for the cold, Jordan and Ali took the elevator down to the lobby. It seemed busy for the early hour, a buzzing of background noise punctuated with sharp voices. Ali tucked her hand into Jordan’s, and the simplicity of the movement struck a chord in Jordan’s chest.
A harried-looking staff member in the hotel colours of grey and maroon walked up to them, a stack of papers in his hand.
“Ms. Clarke, good morning. We have a bit of a situation developing. If you could see the front desk before you head out, that would be most helpful.”
Ali looked confused but thanked the man as he hurried away.
“I wonder what’s up,” Ali murmured.
None of the hotel staff looked happy, Jordan noted as Ali waited to speak to someone. The manager was on the phone in the corner, typing rapidly into the computer as she asked questions. She hit the keyboard with a final bang and Jordan watched her walk to the printer as it booted to life and began spitting out papers. It looked like a city planning map, from what Jordan could see. Jordan shadowed Ali as a front desk staff called her forward. A knot of unease wound itself tighter in Jordan’s belly.
“Ms. Clarke, hello. We’ve just been informed by Halifax Regional Police that a threat has been made to the city water supply.” Jordan’s stomach bottomed out as her heart rate ratcheted up. “The police have not yet validated the threat, nor are they releasing details, but we are in the process of turning off the water as a precautionary measure. Word is going out to our guests right now.”
“Jesus,” Ali muttered. She looked up at Jordan who could do nothing but stare. “Is it affecting the whole city?”
The manager walked by, cordless phone still tucked between her shoulder and her ear, and handed a stack of the maps to the desk clerk.
“Ah, here. Okay, this is some of the information we’ve been waiting for.” He turned the paper around so Jordan and Ali could see the map. Sections of the city were outlined and covered in grey. The hotel was right in the middle. “Not the whole city. It’s possible we may be able to book you into another hotel once we find out if indeed our water supply is compromised.”
“Okay, thanks. When will you know?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. At this point, I’m really not sure. We just received this information in the last ten minutes.”
Jordan pulled the map closer, tracing the lines with her finger. “My place isn’t affected, according to this. You can stay with me.”
The desk clerk kept silent as Ali looked up at Jordan. “You sure?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Ali turned back to the desk clerk. “You have my cell number and email on file. I’d appreciate an update when you have one.” The clerk nodded gratefully at Ali’s easy tone. Jordan could not imagine any of the hotel staff were going to be having a very good day.
“Can I take this?” Jordan said, indicating the map.
“Yes, please do.”
Jordan picked up the map and inclined her head to the front door. “Let’s go eat, and we’ll make a plan. We can always grab your stuff after.”
They headed out into a city blanketed in snow. It was cold, but the wind was quiet, the light grey sky made lighter by the reflection off the snow. Jordan blinked until her eyes adjusted as they walked through the slush to her car.
Once they were insi
de, the engine warming in the quiet parking lot, Ali finally spoke.
“You think it’s related to the protest group?”
“I’d be shocked if it wasn’t.” She took her phone out of her back pocket but hesitated.
“Calling Rachel?”
“I’m thinking about it. Feels a little like I’m pulling strings to get information just because we’re friends.”
“You were going to call her anyway,” Ali pointed out. “You wanted to talk to her about Madi and the other kids. What you suspect. If things are escalating…”
Ali let the sentence hang, but even without the final words, Jordan felt the knot of anxiety in her stomach. She had a sense of danger, a need to fight back against an unseen opponent.
“Hey, take it easy,” Ali said, slipping a cold hand around the back of Jordan’s neck. The shock of her fingers snapped Jordan out of her spinning thoughts. “One step at a time. Send Rachel a message, be clear about what you know and what you suspect. Then let her make the professional decision as to when and how to follow up.”
“Yes, okay.” But Jordan continued to stare at the screen on her phone. She opened her text app and typed out a message to Rachel. Once that was sent, she sent out a query for Madi to check in when she could. Jordan really didn’t know what to expect. She couldn’t place Madi in space or time or mental mindset. And that scared her.
“When’s the last time you texted with Madi?” Jordan said as she tucked her phone away and put her car in gear.
“Yesterday. Before getting to the gym.”
Neither of them spoke as they drove through slushy side streets. The main roads were clear and wet, and traffic was light as they crossed the bridge. They still hadn’t spoken by the time Jordan pulled into the nearly empty parking lot and killed the engine.
“Sorry,” she said, not entirely sure what she was apologizing for but hating the distance she’d somehow created. She reached across the seats and touched the back of Ali’s hand. Ali turned her palm and joined their hands together.
“Don’t be,” Ali said lightly. “I know there’s a lot on your mind right now.” Jordan squeezed Ali’s fingers in acknowledgement. “Let me carry some of it. If you can.”
Jordan let out a breath into the already cold air of the car. She’d been shouldering burdens on her own for so long, she didn’t know if she was capable of sharing the way Ali was asking her to. “I’ll try.”
Ali smiled. “Good. Now feed me non-atrocious eggs. And buckets of coffee.”
Jordan laughed. “Yes, ma’am.”
They were stuffed, their plates almost clear and the stained beige carafe of coffee on their table nearly empty by the time Jordan’s phone pinged with a response to her earlier queries. Ali was right. With food in her belly and caffeine careening through her synapses, Jordan felt calmer and more able to take on whatever was happening. She looked at her phone. It was a very short message from Rachel.
Jordan turned the phone around so Ali could see the message. All it said was, Can you talk?
“Yes,” Ali said. “You go call Rachel, I’ll take care of the bill.”
Jordan hesitated, but the look in Ali’s eye made her refrain from saying anything. “Okay, thanks.”
“No problem. I’ll be out shortly,” Ali said as Jordan stood and put on her coat. “And points for not arguing.”
Jordan laughed. “There are points?”
“There’s always points.” Ali grinned. “Go. I’m right behind you.”
As Jordan left the now noisy diner, dialing Rachel as she hit the cold, damp air, she tried to stay connected to those words. Ali was right behind her.
“Jordan? Hey.” Rachel sounded harried and was obviously at work, the sound of voices and phones in the background making it hard for Jordan to hear.
“Sorry to bother you, Rach,” Jordan said.
“No, it’s okay. I need to talk to you.” She heard a shuffling sound, and then the phone was muted and Jordan could just hear the low tone of voices before Rachel came back. “Sorry, it’s a zoo around here.”
“The water thing?”
Rachel let out a short, frustrated breath. “You heard about that already, did you? Yes, the water thing. City officials are shitting bricks.”
“I can only imagine. What can I do?”
“Any chance you could meet me at my office? This conversation might be quicker in person, and there’s no way I’m getting away from my desk.”
“Yeah, no problem. We’re just over the bridge. I can be there in twenty or so.”
The passenger door opened just then, and Ali looked in questioningly. Jordan gestured her into the car.
“We? Is Madi with you?”
“No, Ali. Do you mind if she’s there?”
“Not at all, bring her. Police headquarters is a romantic place for a date.”
Jordan heard someone in the background laugh, and then the phone was muted again before Rachel came back on the line.
“I’ve got to go. See you when you get here.”
Jordan ended the call and stared for a moment at her phone before looking back up at Ali. “I have to go meet with Rachel. I can drop you off at my place if you want.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Jordan dropped her phone into the console. “Okay, thanks.”
The snow was melting rapidly across the city. Slush was now water, with shingled roofs and fence lines edged in white. Everything felt a little darker and grittier than it had in the beautiful morning light.
“I’m going to try and remember not to call you JP,” Ali said, seemingly out of nowhere.
“No, don’t. I was mad that night I told you to stop calling me that. I don’t mind. Really.”
“You were mad?”
Jordan waited at the traffic light at the foot of the bridge and glanced at Ali. “At myself and the situation. Not you.”
Ali seemed to be thinking about this as the light changed and Jordan moved into the intersection, pushing the clutch to shift gears up the hill.
“I think you were mad at me. A little. For being there in the middle of it.”
Jordan didn’t know what to say. Admitting she could sometimes be an asshole didn’t seem conducive to pursuing a relationship. Though lying was possibly worse.
“Worried,” Jordan said. She gripped the steering wheel tighter and made herself try again. “Scared. I didn’t like you seeing me scared. And the nickname reminds of a time I was so scared that I ran. Not my proudest moment.”
Ali was silent, and Jordan concentrated on the slick streets. Then she felt Ali slip her hand onto her thigh and rest it there. Jordan covered it briefly with her own before placing her hand back on the stick shift.
The officer at the front desk of Halifax Police Department headquarters was particularly cheerful as she signed Jordan and Ali in with visitors’ badges and called Rachel to let her know they were here. Rachel emerged from a locked metal door and waved them in a few minutes later. She looked alert and focused and stressed. Jordan wished she could do something to make this easier.
“You guys want a coffee?”
“No, thanks. We just came from breakfast.”
Jordan watched a question and a smile surface in Rachel’s eyes then drop away as an officer approached and handed Rachel a piece of paper. Rachel scanned it quickly and looked back up at the officer.
“Really?” She didn’t sound impressed.
The officer shrugged. “They weren’t kidding about ‘all hands on deck,’ apparently.”
Rachel sighed and handed the document back to the officer. “Okay, thanks. I’ll be in the mud room if anyone needs me.”
Jordan glanced at Ali, who gave her an encouraging smile before following Rachel through a maze of desks and doors and short hallways. The smell of coffee grew stronger and stronger until Rachel finally stopped in a tiny nook with a potted fake palm tree underneath a thickly glassed diamond-shaped window. Four stools and a high table with magazines lined the walls.
&n
bsp; “The mud room,” Rachel announced, indicating Jordan and Ali should grab a seat. She threw a thumb over her shoulder at the wall. “Break room is on the other side, perpetual pot of coffee, so this place smells like coffee mud twenty-four seven.”
“You cops are awfully fancy,” Jordan said as she took Ali’s coat and draped it along with hers across the spare chair. Then she pulled out a stool for Ali before taking a seat. Rachel watched the exchange with silent interest.
“What can you tell us?” Jordan said.
“What do you know?” Rachel responded.
“That there’s been a threat made to a section of the city’s water supply. That’s pretty much it.”
“My hotel is affected,” Ali added. “That’s how we heard about it.”
“Ah, I wondered. Well, here’s what’s gone out to the press. At some point after midnight, the Halifax Regional Municipality Facebook page was hacked.” Rachel pulled out her phone and searched briefly before turning the screen so Jordan and Ali could see. The main page had a stamp across it that said “we want clean water” with the stylized sun logo underneath. Rachel scrolled down the page, and the stamp stayed like a warning watermark.
“Nice,” Jordan muttered.
“There’s more,” Rachel continued. “At six a.m., emails were sent out simultaneously to the mayor’s office and the general manager of the Halifax Regional Water Commission. I can’t show you that document, but the threat to the water supply is specific and alarming. Ten minutes later, a break-in was reported at the booster station for the Douglas Water Supply plant, which feeds parts of the city. The station itself was breached, and an empty drum was found inside the building. There are four technicians, two civil engineers, and a chemical engineer—all from different agencies—running tests right now. We’ve got officers and city officials and first responders going door to door in the affected areas.”
“Jesus,” Ali muttered. “Have they turned up anything?”
“Nothing so far. We should have results within an hour from the targeted water systems. But of course we can’t give an all-clear until we check every water system from here to Cow Bay. That could take days.”
Shadowboxer Page 20