Friends In Spy Places

by Diane Henders

  “Yes, that’s what your Department told us,” Ian said patiently. “What was the real reason, and how does it connect to you personally?”

  “Well, she’s my… mother.” I couldn’t quite prevent my lip from curling when I said the m-word. “And she dumped my dad for that treasonous asshole Sam Kraus.”

  And she had abandoned me. I had been seventeen, not exactly a child; but still not ready to lose my mother.

  Ian chuckled softly. “But you still haven’t answered my question. Nora said you had worked with Dr. Kraus. Perhaps ‘worked with’ was a polite euphemism for ‘investigated’, or maybe you were actually working together before he showed his true colours…” He hesitated before going on thoughtfully, “…and something he did made you investigate him and discover he was a spy.” His lips firmed in a satisfied smile. “Yes, that fits.” He widened his eyes at me. “Am I right?”

  “Yes,” I said reluctantly.

  “Oh, very good.” Ian considered for a few more moments. “So Dr. Kraus was involved in classified research and development.”

  “Nora told you that days ago,” I pointed out. “You’re wasting time. Tell me why you think Nora might be dangerous.”

  He ignored the question. “You’re not a researcher, are you?”

  “No.”

  “So if you were working with Dr. Kraus, it was because he was studying you.”

  Shit.

  I hid the uptick of my pulse in a cool tone. “Hardly. I’m just an agent. I was his bodyguard.”

  Ian gave me one of his flirtatious smiles. “It’s always such a pleasure to work with you. You’re an excellent liar. I would have believed you if not for my lie detector here.” He tapped gently on the side of my neck where his fingertips had been caressing the skin over my carotid artery. “Your heart rate spiked when I hit on the truth.”

  Shit, I had known I couldn’t trust him. And I had let him get the better of me anyway. Idiot.

  I batted my eyes and gave my hips a seductive little wiggle against him. “Maybe there was another reason for my pounding pulse.”

  His smile widened. “Oh, lovely. I’d like to continue that conversation when the slightest movement of my head doesn’t make me feel like vomiting.”

  I pulled away a few inches, trying to bring his face into focus. “Good Lord, I’ve never known you to turn down a chance like that. You really are in rough shape.”

  “I feel like death,” he admitted. “But don’t think you’ll be able to distract me. So Dr. Kraus was studying you. Nora said his work was classified. Ergo, you are classified, which makes you very important to someone. Probably several someones; hence Grandin’s attempt to abduct you and sell you to the highest bidder.” He smiled. “I won’t ask if I’m right. I know I am; and you wouldn’t tell me the truth anyway.”

  I shrugged, holding onto my poker face despite the obvious futility. “Nice try; but Grandin’s buyer wanted me because of my cover as an arms dealer. And you’re still wasting my time. Last chance. In ten words or less, why would Nora want to kill you?”

  “She wouldn’t, unless she knew my suspicions.”

  Clenching my teeth, I braced both hands on his chest. “If you don’t tell me what you found out about Nora right now,” I gritted, “I’m going to shove you off this bed and laugh when you hit your head and bust open your stitches and puke your fucking guts out.”

  “All right, all right!” He clutched my arms as if to keep himself from falling in case I carried out my spurious threat. “Howard Coleman might not have died of natural causes.” He eyed me as though that should mean something.

  At the end of my patience, I snapped, “Who the hell is Howard Co-” Realization struck. I finished, “…oh. MI5’s former Weapons Director. The guy Nora replaced.”

  “Yes.”

  “Hang on.” I arched backward in a useless attempt to get far enough away that my aching eyes could focus on his face. “When we talked about him before, you said he had retired.”

  Ian shrugged easily. “Death does tend to enforce one’s retirement.”

  “You lying asshole,” I said without venom. “Okay, so Howard Coleman died. Were you also lying when you said he was in his late seventies?”

  “No, he was nearly seventy-eight; but he was as hale and hearty as you and me when he died of a sudden heart attack.”

  Irritation made me forget to whisper. “Big deal. A heart attack at seventy-eight isn’t exactly a shocker. And I’m sure they did an autopsy and found everything normal, or there would have been an investigation. You’ll have to do better than that.”

  “Shhh. All true,” Ian agreed almost inaudibly, forcing me to lean closer again to hear him. “But you didn’t know Howard Coleman. He was a marathon runner, and he even did ultra-marathons. He always placed first in his age class, and he often beat the times of the winners in the younger classes. The man was indestructible.”

  “Athlete or not, anybody can have an unexpected heart attack,” I argued. “And an elderly man training for an ultra-marathon, well…”

  “That’s what the medical examiner said, but Howard hadn’t been pushing himself when he died. And the timing has been niggling at me. Nora made her annual suggestion to the chain of command that they should put Coleman out to pasture; they disagreed as usual; and then, bang, he died. I didn’t have time to investigate before we left the UK, but when I put it together with what I know now…” He trailed off, frowning.

  I sighed and let my head fall back on the pillow. “So let me get this straight. After pissing around for…” I consulted my wristwatch. “…twenty minutes; lying to me; coaxing me into your bed; kissing and feeling me up… you finally get around to telling me that you fear for your life because an elderly man died of a heart attack. You’re so full of shit.” I disengaged myself from his arms and got off the bed to glare down at him.

  “That’s not it at all,” he protested. “I needed some information from you in order to process my thoughts; and thank you for sharing it, however unintentionally you might have done so…”

  I flipped him my middle finger, but he went on without acknowledging the gesture. “…and with what I know now…” He dropped his voice to a whisper, making me lean close to hear him again, dammit. “I realize that Howard Coleman was almost certainly murdered. Due to his age, the autopsy was likely cursory at best. And I know of at least one undetectable drug that can cause a heart attack a few hours after it’s been administered, when the victim exerts himself only slightly more than usual.”

  A deluge of memories froze me to the spot.

  My second husband’s still-warm body slack in my arms. My frantic call to 911; the desperate efforts of the paramedics to revive a healthy athletic man who’d suffered a sudden fatal heart attack…

  “…Storm? Storm! What is it? What’s wrong?”

  Ian’s urgent voice penetrated my mind and I shook off my paralysis. “Nothing. Just thinking.” My voice came out in a dry croak.

  “You look as though you just saw a ghost.” He peered up at me with concern.

  “I did.” Ignoring his worried expression, I patted him absently on the shoulder. “I have to check on some things. Don’t worry, you’re safe here; and I’ve assigned a guard to your room.”

  I headed for the door.

  “Storm, wait-aagh-oh-Lord!”

  I spun in time to see him half-turned to face me, his head clutched in both hands while sweat sprang out on his bone-white face.

  “Shit!” I sprang toward him shouting, “LINDA! COME QUICK!”

  Chapter 5

  “Not so loud…” Ian moaned. He gulped, his eyes squeezed shut and face contorted.

  The hospital room door burst open. “What happened?” Linda demanded as she hurried to the bed. “Did he have a seizure?”

  “I don’t know; I didn’t see…” I trailed off uselessly.

  Fingers pressed to Ian’s pulse, Linda snapped, “Ian, open your eyes. Don’t move your head, but follow my finger with your eyes.�
�

  Index finger extended, she moved her free hand up and down, then side to side.

  “I’m all right…” Ian ground out between clenched teeth as he obeyed. “Just turned… too fast.” He gasped a couple of quick breaths, his pallor turning greenish. “Oh bugger it, not again…”

  “Close your eyes,” Linda advised. She whisked an empty disposable bowl off the nightstand and pressed it into his hands, then stroked his sweaty forehead, crooning reassurances. “You’ll feel better soon. Just relax and breathe. Nice and slow. In… two… three… four… out… two… three… four…”

  He followed her directions, clutching the bowl in a white-knuckled grip. After several tense moments he gradually relaxed, perspiration trickling down his face and darkening his hospital gown.

  “Better…” he whispered, eyes still closed.

  “Good. Just concentrate on your breathing. I’ll get you a cool cloth.” Linda shot me a meaningful frown. “Aydan has to go now.”

  “No, we’re not finished…” Ian began.

  Linda widened her eyes fiercely at me.

  “Sorry, Ian, I really do have to go,” I said hurriedly. “Don’t worry, you’ll have a guard outside your door and you’ll be safe. I’m going to take care of that thing we talked about, and I’ll come back later.”

  Linda seized my arm and propelled me out into the hallway almost before I had finished speaking. “Wait here,” she snapped, and went back into the room.

  Loitering awkwardly, I listened to the sound of running water and the soft murmur of Linda’s voice as she presumably applied the cool cloth she’d promised.

  A few minutes later she stepped back out into the hallway, swinging Ian’s door shut behind her. “Stay,” she said, pointing to the floor in front of my feet as though I was a disobedient puppy. Then she hurried to collar the security guard who was striding down the hall toward us. As soon as he took his place beside Ian’s door, Linda strode back to me and took my arm again, her face tight.

  She ushered me down the hall without speaking, turning us into a supply room just inside the exit.

  “What were you thinking?” she demanded. “He has a concussion! You were supposed to calm him down, not make out with him!”

  Half amused and half impressed by her fierce protectiveness, I leaned down to speak softly so we wouldn’t be overheard. “We weren’t making out. He had some important classified intel, and even though I’d checked for electronic bugs, he didn’t want to take a chance on being overheard by a passive listening device.”

  “Oh, you… agents!” Linda threw up her hands, her expression lightening. “So you got into bed with him as a cover story?”

  I blinked. “How did you know I was in bed with him? Do you have surveillance in the room?”

  “Yes, but it wasn’t active. I saw a smear of dirt from your boots on the foot of the bed, and two dents in the pillow. And one dent had one of your long red hairs in it.” She grinned. “Never try to fool a nurse.”

  “I would never dare. You had me shaking in my dirty boots.”

  “Good.” Her smile faded. “Are you going to have to do that again? It really isn’t good for him. He shouldn’t be overtaxing himself by trying to think too much; and certainly not by…” Her lips quirked. “…snogging.”

  “That was just his wishful thinking,” I grumbled. “I had nothing to do with it.”

  Linda sighed, her eyes going dreamy. “You live such an exciting life. Handsome agents wanting to kiss you…”

  I cut her off with a loud snort. “I’ll take a boring life any day, thanks. And that handsome agent is just a cheap man-whore looking for his next lay.”

  “Ohmigosh, Aydan.” She laid a hand protectively over her heart, making big sorrowful eyes up at me. “Way to kill my fantasies.” She hesitated. “Is… Is that really true…?”

  I took pity on her. “That’s only what I’ve heard. Ian’s an incorrigible flirt, but I don’t know how often he follows through.” I didn’t mention that the times he’d rounded third base with me, he’d seemed pretty eager to score a home run. “It might be just another cover story. But I wouldn’t get too close to him if I were you.”

  Linda drew back, frowning. “I wouldn’t! I love Spider with all my heart and soul and I’d never cheat. I just… I guess… I know how many sacrifices agents make, and I wanted him to be… you know, a perfect hero.” Her cheeks went pink. “Spider and I both… we think you’re all heroes, every one of you.”

  It was my turn to blush. “Thanks, Linda. That means a lot to me. And I know you’d never cheat on Spider; I was only teasing.”

  “So you really are looking into something for Ian? You weren’t just trying to distract me from the two of you making out?”

  Ian’s words came back to me in sobering rush, and I sighed. “Yeah, I have to do some digging. I’d better get going. If Ian asks, tell him I’m investigating and I’ll let him know if I uncover anything new. And keep that guard on his door.”

  “I will.”

  When I stepped out of the hospital, the glare of sunshine on snow nearly blinded me. Squinting, I hurried to my car and slid in. The temperature sensor reported -15C and I let out a breath of relief. Finally the weather was warming up. Maybe we’d even get a chinook thaw.

  Pulling out a secured phone, I punched the speed dial. As usual, it rang only once before a crisp voice snapped, “Stemp.”

  “Hi, it’s Aydan. Ian suspects Nora might have murdered the Weapons Director she replaced. I put a visitor restriction on Ian’s room and posted a guard outside his door because he’s afraid that if she finds out he suspects her, she might try to kill him, too.”

  “Evidence?”

  “None. Just a hunch.”

  “But you are taking precautions nonetheless?”

  I sighed. “I don’t dare ignore it. Howard Coleman was elderly, but he was an athlete who’d just finished a marathon the previous week. If he’d been due for a heart attack, he should have had it while he was racing. But if Nora slipped him the same drug that Kane used to kill my second husband…” I trailed off, imagining Nora smiling her sweet motherly smile while she trickled the lethal poison into poor Howard Coleman’s food.

  Uncharacteristically, Stemp hesitated before replying, and I wondered if he felt guilty about issuing the kill order for my husband.

  Apparently not. When he spoke again it was with his usual decisiveness. “I will contact Nora and tell her that unforeseen circumstances will prevent you from meeting with her today, and that you will speak with her on the telephone instead. I don’t want to place you in a potentially hazardous situation until Dr. Rawling clears you for full active duty.”

  Despite my relief at avoiding Nora for another day, my pride stung. Holt would never let me hear the end of it if he found out Stemp didn’t think I could hold my own against a petite seventy-two-year-old woman.

  “I’m fine,” I argued. “You don’t need to coddle me; and anyway, Ian’s the one who’s potentially in danger from her, not me. She loves me. She wants to be my darling Mommy.” The last two sentences came out in a bitter snarl despite my effort to maintain a dispassionate tone.

  “I am not coddling you; I am merely acting within the parameters laid out by our chain of command,” Stemp replied coolly. “How much sleep did you get last night?”

  “Uh…”

  A late night at my best friend’s wedding, followed by a brief but extremely satisfying interlude in Hellhound’s bed before I’d finally fallen into a sodden slumber; and Stemp’s text had dragged me rudely awake at six AM…

  “…five hours,” I mumbled, padding the truth by an hour or so. “Give or take.”

  “So you have had inadequate sleep on top of the trauma and fatigue from your previous mission, plus the aftereffects of being drugged with ketamine,” Stemp said. “Until Dr. Rawling clears you for a potentially hazardous mission, you will avoid Nora. He will also evaluate your fitness to head the investigation into Nora. If your objectivity is comprom
ised by your personal feelings, perhaps Holt would be a better choice.”

  Fuck, I was not going to give Holt another chance to play Superman.

  “Holt is a f-” I bit off my incipient epithet and substituted, “…awfully busy. And like you said earlier, I’m Nora’s daughter so I’m the best choice to get close to her.”

  And to send the conniving old bag straight to jail as soon as I discovered what game she was playing.

  Idiot hope raised its head and wagged its tail like a pathetically eager puppy. Maybe I’d discover that Nora had been telling the truth all along. Maybe I’d get my mother back.

  Somehow I managed not to scoff audibly. And maybe pigs would fly.

  Assuming a brisk tone to hide my reluctance, I added, “I’ll make an appointment with Dr. Rawling as soon as he can see me. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

  “Very well. Until then, concentrate on recruiting Kane. There should be no danger involved in that. Keep me posted.”

  He hung up, and I let the phone drift down from my ear as my heart sank at the same pace.

  I wouldn’t be in physical danger with Kane, but there would be more than enough emotional danger.

  Dammit.

  Flopping back in the driver’s seat, I stared at the roof liner. Could I lie? Tell Stemp I’d tried to call Kane but couldn’t reach him and didn’t want to leave a voicemail on such a delicate subject?

  Or would Stemp check my call records and find out I’d lied? I wouldn’t put it past the suspicious bastard to check up on me.

  Then again, if I hadn’t been stupid enough to make a big stink about the assignment, he wouldn’t have had anything to suspect.

  Shit.

  But if I did actually call Kane, even getting his voicemail wouldn’t let me off the hook. As soon as he saw that he’d missed my call, he’d call back. Maybe I could call from one of my burner phones so he wouldn’t recognize my number…

  My waffling was interrupted by the vibration of my cell phone. A glance at the call display made me groan aloud. Kane.

  “Oh, for f-” Biting off my reflexive profanity, I punched the ‘Talk’ button and summoned a cheery tone. “Hi, John!”