Friends In Spy Places

by Diane Henders

  “Well, that’s great,” I said too heartily. “I’m glad you’re both feeling better.”

  What were we doing here? What did he want?

  “Would you like a drink?” Kane inquired.

  “No, thanks, I’m driving.” I shifted uncomfortably, wondering how soon I could leave without looking rude. “And I’m actually supposed to be picking up Nora in a few minutes,” I added. “It won’t be a big deal if I’m a bit late, but I can’t stay too long. Sorry.”

  “That’s all right; I know how busy you are, and I’m glad you could drop in even for a few minutes.” Kane smiled, but he looked uncomfortable, too. “Actually…” He hesitated. “I have something to tell you.”

  Uh-oh.

  Leaning forward, I faked a smile. “Well, don’t keep us in suspense. What’s up?”

  “I’ve made…” Kane hesitated again. “…a major decision.”

  My belly went cold. If it was good news, he’d have just said it.

  Shit, shit, shit…

  “I’m going to sell this house,” Kane said. “And give up the office space I’ve been sharing with Webb here in Silverside. I’ve been watching the housing market in Calgary for a couple of months, and this latest episode with Alicia has made up my mind. My realtor called me yesterday about a house that came up for sale on the same block as Alicia’s.” He squared his shoulders. “I put in an offer this morning, and the seller has to respond by six o’clock. I’m hoping to close the deal tonight.”

  My throat froze shut.

  Fortunately Hellhound spoke. “That’s a helluva big decision, Cap. What’s the story?”

  “I’ve done a lot of soul-searching in the past four months.” Kane smiled down at Daniel, who leaned his head against Kane’s knee. Kane’s hand drifted down to caress the boy’s hair as he went on, “Alicia and I both agree that Daniel is the most important thing in the world to us, but we also agree that we can’t live together. And I’m not willing to be a part-time dad. I’ve missed nearly seven years of Daniel’s life, and I refuse to miss any more.”

  “I wish you could keep living with us, Daddy,” Daniel said, his lip quivering.

  “I wish I could live with you fulltime, too,” Kane said. “But your Mommy and I both have our own lives; and you remember that when I moved in a few months ago, I told you it wouldn’t be forever. I’ll live a few houses away, and we can see each other anytime we want. Sometimes you’ll live with me, and sometimes you’ll live with Mommy.”

  Daniel buried his face in Kane’s pant leg, but didn’t raise an outcry. Which was good, because I was freaking out enough for both of us.

  With a supreme effort I kept my expression neutral. “So I guess that job offer we discussed is a no-go.”

  “I’m afraid so.” Kane gave me a bittersweet smile. “At least I know that’s no surprise to you.”

  “No, it’s not.” I was proud that my voice came out dead level.

  No surprise. No good news, either. His choice might cost my freedom.

  “I’m sorry for the timing,” he added. “If the house in Calgary had come up for sale just a few days sooner, the whole thing could have been a non-issue. As it is, you’ll just have to tell Stemp that I had already made this decision before you had a chance to talk to me about the Department’s offer.”

  “It’s no big deal,” I lied. “If it’s the right decision for you and Daniel, that’s all that matters. Will you be selling your condo in Calgary, too?”

  “I never owned it in the first place. The Department has given me three months’ notice to vacate, so the timing for this move is good all around.”

  “Well, that’s great, then.” Somehow I managed to keep my voice from cracking. “Congratulations on your decision. It’s a big step, but I’m sure it’s the right choice for you.”

  God, I had to get out of here.

  I stood, forcing a smile onto my face. “I’m sorry I can’t stay any longer. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for your house deal. Let me know if you get it, okay?”

  “I will.” Kane rose, too, and trailed me to the door. “You’ll be invited to the housewarming party.”

  Somehow my chuckle came out sounding normal. “I’d better be! Have a safe trip home.”

  “Thank you. Oh, and before you go… will you be near Calgary in the next few days? Dad is flying in tonight and I know he’ll want to see you. You’re welcome to stay at my condo, and we’d all…” He included Arnie in his gesture of inclusion. “…be delighted if you could join us for Christmas dinner.”

  “Um… I… don’t have a clue what’s going to happen in the next few days…”

  Except potential death in Holt’s sting and incarceration if Dermott found out I’d failed here.

  “…so I’ll have to give you a call,” I finished, keeping my tone carefully casual. “I hope I’ll be able to get down to Calgary for a short visit at least.”

  “Don’t stress over it,” Kane said. “We all understand that you can’t control your schedule.” He gave me an uncertain look and held out his arms. “Do you dare risk a hug with a former germ factory?”

  “Sure.” I stepped in and hugged him, but I kept my face from touching his T-shirt just in case. The stomach flu would be the final shitty touch to this thoroughly craptastic week.

  And it was only Tuesday. The worst part of my week was still to come.

  Fuck.

  Chapter 36

  When I pulled up in front of the Silverside Hotel, there was no sign of Nora. After waiting a few minutes, I blew out a breath and drove around to park in their lot.

  She wasn’t waiting in the lobby, either. Poking my head into the restaurant and sports bar awarded me nothing more than an instant headache as the too-loud commentator bellowed hockey play-by-plays from the big screen.

  Irritation and anxiety nibbled at the edges of my mind. Was she playing head games, punishing me for being ten minutes late? Or had something happened to her?

  I’d been seen with her frequently. What if my unknown enemy had decided to abduct her? What if this was the culmination of his threats?

  My heart thudded faster than necessary as I hurried down the hall toward Room 106. Shit, even though she’d tied my emotions in a knot, she was still my mother.

  And double-shit, she was still MI5’s Weapons Director. And Ian was stuck in the hospital. If she was harmed on my watch, I’d be in deep shit.

  My knock on her door was more like urgent pounding.

  “Just wait a moment!”

  Her testy response relieved one set of my worries only to supplant them with another. She was angry because I was late, and now I’d have to suffer through her punishment.

  I sighed. I had been hoping we could just have a normal pleasant conversation.

  Hell, I’d settle for a weird stilted conversation as long as it was non-confrontational…

  The door jerked open and Nora frowned at me, her phone held to her ear. “Come in,” she snapped, and turned her back on me to hurry over to the small writing desk near the window.

  Mentally bracing myself, I came in and sat down.

  “And that’s the best you can do?” Nora said to her caller. “There’s absolutely nothing else?” She listened for a moment, then hissed out a breath. “That’s simply too much. Surely under the circumstances you can find it in your heart to reduce the price. She’s my daughter, for heaven’s sake!”

  What the hell?

  Nora’s chin came up, her jaw clenching in the familiar posture that said she’d had enough. “As I explained to you earlier,” she said icily, “That is not possible. I have-”

  Apparently the person on the other end of the call had had enough, too. Nora listened for a few more moments, an angry flush rising on her cheeks.

  “Oh, fine, then!” she snapped. “I’ll take the flight that leaves at two PM. You have my information.” She slapped the receiver back into the cradle and glared out the window for a moment, her shoulders rigid.

  I was pretty sure I woul
dn’t like the answer, but…

  “What was that about?” I asked cautiously.

  Nora blew an angry breath through her nose and turned to face me, arms crossed. “I’m going home tomorrow. My flight leaves at two PM so I’ll need to be at the Calgary airport by eleven. I suppose you’ll be too busy to drive me, so tell your Director to arrange my transportation.”

  I had thought I’d prepared myself for anything, but her words hit me like that long-ago slap in the face. For a frozen second I could only blink at her through the shock of pain.

  I’m ten lousy minutes late, and she stomps out of my life like a toddler in a tantrum.

  The fear struck a moment later. If she left now, Dermott would bury me.

  She’d shattered my life thirty years ago, and now she was destroying the rest of it.

  I lunged to my feet. Too enraged to form words, my mouth opened, closed, then opened again soundlessly.

  Nora’s eyes widened. “Oh, Dani-dear, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean that the way it came out. It’s just that I’ve had some terrible news from home and I wasn’t…” She laid a gentle hand on my fist. “I’m sorry.”

  I dropped back into the chair. “Wh- What happened?” I croaked.

  Nora sat on the bed across from me. “I’ve just found out that a young woman who works for Sirius UK has fallen into a coma.”

  “Your daughter?” I demanded. “Do I have a half-sister? When were you planning to drop that on me?”

  “What? Oh. No, of course not.” Nora waved that away with an impatient hand. “She’s not really my daughter. I was only trying to get them to reduce the price of the ticket. They want a thousand dollars more than what I’d already paid for my return ticket, can you imagine it? But they wouldn’t give me the compassionate fare reduction unless I could produce a birth certificate…” She frowned into space for a moment. “…well, that should be easy enough. I’ll make up some documents and apply for the discount after I get home.”

  “You’re going to forge a birth certificate?” I eyed her with disgust.

  “Oh, don’t be so self-righteous. I’m sure you have several fake IDs.”

  I couldn’t argue with that. I changed the subject. “So if she’s just somebody who works for Sirius, why are you rushing home? If she’s in a coma there’s nothing you can do anyway.”

  Her face softened. “Dani-dear, are you jealous?”

  I bit off my instinctive denial. This could work for me.

  Letting my gaze waver, I mumbled, “A bit, I guess. You’ve been telling me how much you love me and how important I am to you, and then you rush off to be with some stranger instead.”

  “Oh, my dearest. I do love you and you are important to me. But she’s not a stranger. She’s…” Nora hesitated. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but she’s… Rebecca was a surrogate daughter to me at a time when I was missing you so terribly. She’s a wonderful girl… well, a grown woman, of course; she’s the same age as you…”

  She fell silent, her eyes going distant as though gazing back in time. Then she smiled and leaned forward to touch my hand. “She was never a substitute for you, of course; but she was far away from her parents for the first time in her life, and I was missing you so much. We eased each other’s loneliness, and we’ve grown quite close over the years.”

  “Nearly thirty years,” I pointed out, my heart aching despite my effort to stay detached. “Almost twice as long as you were my mother.”

  “Oh, Dani-dear, I’ve always been your mother. I always will be.”

  And that wasn’t necessarily a blessing.

  I didn’t say that out loud.

  “So you said she’s in a coma,” I prompted. “What happened? Was she in an accident?”

  “No, that’s what makes it so awful. She seemed perfectly well, and then she collapsed. I only found out today because I had asked her to send me some financial archives to prove to the courts that all of the income from Sirius Canada was legitimate. Rebecca is usually so prompt, so when I hadn’t heard from her I called the office and found out…” Her voice choked off. “This is terrible. I must get back.”

  I hesitated. Had Sam told Nora that I sometimes lapsed into a coma when I was spying in the internet? Had Nora’s momentary gaze into space been a memory of good times with Rebecca, or a realization that Rebecca was actually a mage like me?

  If Nora was only cultivating me in the hope of profiting from my abilities, right about now she’d be realizing that her sweet pseudo-daughter Rebecca would be a whole lot easier to manipulate than stubborn, bitter me.

  Shit, I had less than a day to make her talk. If she went back to the UK, I was doomed.

  “I’m sorry about Rebecca,” I said with more sincerity than she’d ever know. “You said she worked for Sirius. Is she a scientist?”

  “No, she was Sam’s personal assistant. He hired her when she was only eighteen on a very generous contract…” Another hesitation.

  Right there. If Nora hadn’t known the truth before, she realized it now.

  She gave me a small self-deprecating smile. “Of course, you can imagine what I thought at first. I had moved to the UK while Sam stayed here; and I waited and waited, wondering whether I’d made a terrible mistake in trusting him. And then he finally arrived months later, bringing this beautiful young protégé with him. It took a long time before I truly believed that there was nothing between them but a business relationship.” She sighed. “But that’s all it was. Sam was an honourable man.”

  Except when he was trading international secrets or seducing another man’s wife.

  I didn’t say that out loud, either.

  “That must have been a terrible time for you,” I said instead. “Stuck out in the sticks, alone in a strange country. Is that when you decided to start your own career?”

  “Yes. And when Sam finally arrived, he encouraged me.” Nora’s smile was fond. “He could have insisted that I work with Sirius, but he wanted me to fly as high as my heart desired. He’s the one who suggested that I apply to MI5.”

  That made sense. Having Nora planted in MI5 would have provided him with another source of secrets. But had she known his intentions at the time?

  “I still can’t believe you made it all the way to the top,” I said admiringly. “What an achievement! You were only a few years younger than I am now when you started. To me, the thought of starting a whole new career at my age is just… revolting.”

  “But yet, that’s what you’ve done,” Nora countered. “You only became an agent last year.”

  I didn’t bother to point out that it hadn’t been my choice.

  “I guess you’re right,” I agreed. “But I’m hoping I won’t have to do it for long. You must really love your work to stick with it past the usual retirement age.”

  “I do love it, but I would have liked to have retired by now.” Nora sighed. “Just a couple more years, and I can finally get my pension and quit.”

  Aha.

  “Why do you have to keep working?” I asked innocently. “I thought there was some kind of magic number for pensions; your years of service plus your age or something. If you’ve been working for MI5 for nearly thirty years, surely you must qualify for a pension by now.”

  “Yes, I qualified years ago; but the benefit calculation considers your salary at the time of retirement. And you have to be employed at that salary level for at least two years.” She grimaced. “It’s to prevent people from getting a promotion and then quitting immediately. In order to get the pension amount I need, I have to keep working. Damn Howard Coleman! Without him, I could have retired years ago.”

  Play dumb. Keep her talking.

  “Who’s Howard Coleman?”

  Nora scowled. “The former Weapons Director. He was only six years older than I, and if he’d retired at sixty-five like a normal person, I could have taken over the Directorship at age fifty-nine and retired at sixty-five myself. Instead, he stayed on, and on, and ON! Thank heaven he’s dead.” She r
ecovered herself with a small headshake. “I know that’s a terrible thing to say; but that old goat singlehandedly blocked my career for nearly thirteen years!”

  “I’d have been ready to kill him myself,” I said.

  She gave a short laugh but didn’t fall into my trap. “With your temper? You would have done him in after thirteen months.”

  I had heard Coleman described as a curmudgeon, but Reggie had liked him. And he had been a dedicated man who hadn’t deserved to be murdered.

  Especially not by a self-centred bitch like my mother.

  “So how did you do it?” I asked flatly.

  Nora gave me a blank look. “Do what?”

  “Kill Howard Coleman.”

  Her back stiffened. “Young lady, did you just accuse me of murder?”

  I let out an incredulous laugh. “Jeez, I was only joking! Now that I’m an agent, everybody else seems to have lost their sense of humour.” I sighed. “Remember the days when you could say, ‘I could just kill him’ and nobody thought twice about it?”

  Nora’s laughter sounded forced. “I suppose you’re right. But things were different then.”

  I was right. If she didn’t have a guilty conscience, why had she taken me so seriously? Wouldn’t an innocent person just laugh it off?

  Nora stood decisively. “Let’s go to the Melted Spoon. I need caffeine, and I’ve had enough of this hotel room.”

  Enough of our conversation, more likely.

  “Okay.” I was rising from the chair when my cell phone rang. “Sorry, I have to take this,” I added, and accepted the call.

  Lola’s hesitant voice made my stomach plunge. “Hi, Aydan. I got another phone call. It wasn’t really threatening, but you said you wanted to know.”

  “The same guy? What did he say?” I demanded.

  “I don’t know if it was the same man. He just said to be careful.”

  “What were his exact words?”

  “He said ‘Be careful. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.’ I’m still not convinced he’s threatening me-”

  “Stay in the shop,” I snapped. “Put up the ‘closed’ sign, lock the doors, and draw the blinds. I’ll be there in a few minutes. And call Tom.”