by Susannah Nix
“Anytime,” she told him, hoping he knew what she meant.
When he got to the doorway he paused and half turned back. “You want to get some breakfast while we wait for the car?”
“Sure. Sounds great.”
Adam stepped into his room and started to close the door.
“Do you mind leaving the door open a little?” she called out.
His eyebrows drew together in confused surprise. “Why?”
“This’ll sound dumb, but that guy at the desk creeped me out the way he stared at me when we asked for separate rooms. I just—I’d feel better if the door were cracked a little. Just in case—you know—so you’d be able to hear if anything…”
Adam’s face went all hard and protective, like she’d inadvertently engaged some sort of alpha male Terminator mode. “You think he’s going to try to come into your room or something?”
“No, not really. I’m just being paranoid, probably.”
“Did you do the extra latch on the door?” He walked over to her door and double-checked all the locks. Then he went to the window and checked that too. “I’ll make sure my room’s secure too, just in case.”
“I know it’s weird that I'm worried about it.”
“It's not weird,” he assured her.
What was weird was that she trusted Adam so much without really knowing him. If you'd told her yesterday that tonight she'd be asking him to leave the door between their rooms open, she'd have called you a raging nutbar.
What was she doing trusting him this much? Giving him access to her room while she slept? That wasn’t something you did on a regular business trip with a regular coworker.
But she did trust him. Because of the way he’d held her hand on the airplane during the turbulence, and the hesitant way he’d touched her face in the car after their flat tire, checking to see if she was okay. How he’d taken the middle seat in the wrecker, and made sure her door was secure just now, without mocking her or making her feel stupid for being frightened of a motel desk clerk.
Her gut told her she was safer with the door between them open than with it closed.
“Is a few inches all right?” Adam asked, moving back to the doorway.
“Yeah, that’s great. Thanks.”
“Just scream or something if you need me.”
“You better believe it.”
His mouth twisted into a smile. “Goodnight, Olivia.”
“Night.”
When he was gone, she went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. By the time she came out, the light was already off in Adam’s room. She tried not to look at the crack in the door as she padded across the room, or think about him lying there just a few feet away as she turned out her own light and crawled into bed.
It was a long time before she fell asleep.
Chapter Ten
Olivia’s alarm woke her at six thirty in the morning. Adam’s room was still dark and quiet, so she slipped out of bed to shower.
She dressed for a day working at the plant: long-sleeved plaid shirt over a white tank top, comfortable jeans, and a pair of battered Doc Martens she’d had since college. When she came out of the bathroom, the light was on in Adam’s room, and she could hear him talking on the phone to someone. Rather than eavesdrop, she dug her makeup bag out of her suitcase and went back into the bathroom, leaving the door open to let the steam out.
A few minutes later, there was a rap on the door between their rooms. “Hey,” Adam called out.
“Morning,” Olivia said, leaning out of the bathroom.
He was still wearing the sweatpants and T-shirt from last night, and his hair was all sleep-mussed and unbearably attractive. It was so unfair that he could roll out of bed looking like a snack, when she looked like the Bride of Frankenstein’s homely cousin before she’d brushed her hair and put on makeup.
“I just talked to the guy at the auto shop. Car will be ready in an hour.” He was typing on his phone as he spoke. “I’m updating Gavin and Brad on the situation. Anything you want me to add?”
Olivia chewed on her thumbnail. “Make it sound even worse than it is. Be sure they know we could have died when that tire blew on the highway last night.”
He nodded without looking up. “Don’t worry. I’ve got your back.”
The funny thing was, she believed him. What a difference twenty-four hours could make.
Adam finished what he was typing and reached up to scratch his head. “Anyway, we’ve got plenty of time if you want to walk somewhere for breakfast.”
“Sounds good.”
He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “Lemme just shower and get dressed.”
When Adam was ready, they set out for the Whataburger just down the highway. It was only a five-minute walk, but it was already as hot as the asscrack of hell outside. Two minutes after stepping out the door, Olivia took off her plaid shirt and tied it around her waist. She looked like a background extra from an old episode of My So-Called Life and she didn’t care.
Adam had changed into a faded denim shirt, Dickies work pants, and well-worn Wolverine boots, and he fit right in with the truckers and blue-collar workers grabbing breakfast at the Whataburger. The coffee tasted like it had been made in the iced tea urn, but Olivia’s honey butter chicken biscuits were as delicious as she remembered.
Adam’s lip curled as he unwrapped one of the tacos he’d ordered. “There’s American cheese on these.”
“It’s a burger place, not a taco truck.” She pushed one of her chicken biscuits over to him and claimed a taco. “Trade me. I like their tacos.”
Things felt different between them this morning. After everything they’d lived through yesterday, topped off by Adam’s late night motel room confession about his ex, it was impossible to look at him the same way she had before.
They were…maybe not quite friends, exactly, but somewhere on the way to becoming friends. Now that she understood him a little better, she felt a new sort of affection for him and all his odd ways.
“This chicken biscuit is fucking delicious.” Adam was making The Face again. He ought to come with a warning label. Caution: may erupt into spontaneous orgasm face while eating.
“It’s the honey butter,” Olivia said, shamelessly enjoying the view.
He took another bite and let out a happy sigh. “Goddamn.” His tongue shot out to lick the honey off his lips, and her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. “From now on, I’m ordering whatever you order everywhere we go.”
She gulped down the rest of her tea-flavored coffee to cover her smile.
Their car was ready a half hour later. There was a different clerk in the lobby today, an older woman with long acrylic nails who chewed gum with her mouth open while she checked them out, and looked like she might be the mother of the creepy guy from last night. This place really was the Bates Motel. They were probably lucky to get out alive.
The auto shop was just a little farther down the road than the Whataburger, but there were no sidewalks and the wheels on Olivia’s carry-on bag were useless on the gravelly shoulder. As soon as Adam noticed her struggling to carry her suitcase, he took it out of her hands.
“I can do it,” she protested half-heartedly.
He tossed her a wry look over his shoulder. “I know you can, but it’s faster if I carry both of them.”
For once, she didn’t argue with him.
Tejano music blared out of the open garage bays at Miguel’s Auto Shop. A couple of pick-up trucks and a Tahoe were jacked up on the hydraulic lifts. Their tiny blue Honda Fit sat out front by itself looking like the runt of the litter. Adam talked to one of the mechanics in Spanish and paid for their shiny new tire with his corporate AmEx.
“Do you want me to drive?” Olivia offered, hoping he’d say no.
“Do you want to drive?” he asked her.
“Not really. But after all that driving you did yesterday, I figured you could use a break.”
“I’m okay.” He shrugged. “I got us this far, r
ight?”
It was only two hours to the plant from here. They were so close Olivia could practically taste it. Soon they’d be able to assess the plant’s systems and get started on the integration. They’d know if it was going to be possible to meet their deadline.
Halfway there, it started raining again, and Olivia abandoned her knitting to clench the door handle. Her mother always called it the Jesus Handle, as in oh Jesus, oh Jesus, we’re gonna die, which was exactly what happened to be going through Olivia’s head.
“It’s gonna be okay,” Adam said, throwing a concerned glance at her. “I had the mechanic check all the tires to make sure they were sound. We’re in good shape.”
Fortunately for both of them, the rain confined itself to a steady sprinkle that eased up after a half hour. Twenty minutes later, they got their first glimpse of the Walhalla Power Plant in the distance.
It squatted in the middle of a wide valley like a fairy-tale castle in a steampunk dystopia. The plant was some fifteen miles east of the tiny town it had been named after, built in the nineteen eighties beside a giant man-made reservoir. Adam turned off the highway at a sign that read Plant Traffic, and onto a narrow two-lane road.
Only as they drew near did Olivia truly appreciate the massive size of the plant. She’d thought it was close when they turned off the highway, but it turned out to be nearly two miles away. It was far larger than any castle she’d seen on her one trip to Europe, and far uglier, with great gouts of steam belching out of its stacks.
They pulled up to the gate, and Olivia squinted up at the behemoth structure while Adam rolled down his window. There was no guard shack or human being in sight, just a badge reader and automated chain-link gate.
“Let’s hope the network guys remembered to give us access,” Adam said as he dug his company ID out of his wallet.
“What happens if they didn’t?” Olivia asked, chewing on her thumbnail. She hadn’t been a nail-biter since middle school, but this trip was taking its toll on her self-control and her fingernails.
“Then we sit here until we can get someone on the phone to come out and let us in.”
Fortunately, the network guys had come through, because the gate slid open with a rusty screech when Adam swiped his badge.
There were only eight or so cars in the crushed gravel parking lot, and he parked beside them, in front of a low cinder-block building that resembled a construction site office. There was safety signage everywhere, including one directing visitors to check in at the control shack, and another warning them to wear hard hats at all times.
Olivia didn’t have a hard hat. When she got out of the car, she untied her shirt from around her waist and pulled it on over her arms. Long sleeves and long pants, that was what Gavin had said.
While she was doing that, Adam went around to the back of the car and dug into his suitcase, coming out with his laptop bag and a hard hat. When he put the hard hat on, he looked like Mr. July in a sexy construction worker calendar.
“Do I need one of those?” she asked, trying not to ogle him too much.
“They’ll have extras inside you can use.” He slammed the hatch closed and locked the car. “Come on, let’s go find the plant manager.”
He turned out to be a big bear of a guy named Kurt, whose office was inside the control shack. He was built like a mountain made of muscle. His biceps were the size of honey-baked hams under the long sleeves of his blue work shirt, and he had to be at least six foot four. He made Adam look small, and Olivia feel positively Lilliputian.
“We were starting to worry you two weren’t gonna make it.” Despite his intimidating size, Kurt had a warm, friendly smile that got warmer as he shook Olivia’s hand in his huge bear paw.
Adam’s eyes seemed to narrow as he watched them. “We had a few setbacks on the road.”
“All that matters is you’re here now, safe and sound,” Kurt replied with Zen-like congeniality. He gestured at the empty room around them. “You can set up at any desk you like.”
The control shack was simple and spartan, dominated by an open area filled with desks and monitors displaying status messages and stats on the various parts of the plant. There was a break room area off to one side with a vending machine and a Bunn-o-matic coffee maker that looked like it dated from the eighties, and next to that a single unisex bathroom.
Across the room was the building’s only office, belonging to their new friend Kurt. It was separated from the main space by windows affording a view of everything. Next to that was an open door leading to a utility closet containing all the networking equipment.
“You let me know if there’s anything I can do for you while you’re here.” Kurt’s bluff, hospitable smile settled on Olivia again.
“She needs a head and eye protection,” Adam said, scowling like he’d tasted something bitter. “It’s her first time at a plant.”
Olivia pinned him with a sharp look of displeasure as Kurt headed into his office. They’d only just gotten here and the last thing they needed was to alienate the perfectly nice plant manager.
Adam’s sour expression melted into bemusement as he mouthed a silent What?
Be nice, she mouthed back. Honestly, how did he do this on his own all the time?
“I got you covered,” Kurt said as he emerged from his office and presented Olivia with a hard hat and safety goggles. “Make sure you wear these anytime you leave this building.”
“Got it, thanks.” She tried the hard hat on for size. It swamped her whole head, tilting forward into her eyes.
Kurt reached up to adjust it for her, grinning as he tipped it back out of her face. “Works better if you can actually see. There’s a strap inside you can adjust.”
“Don’t suppose these come in child-sized?” she asked, tightening it to the smallest size.
“’Fraid not,” Kurt said as she tried it on again. It was a little loose, but workable. He gave her an approving nod. “I think it suits you just fine.”
Adam was looking annoyed again. “We should get to work. We’ve got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in.” He’d already claimed a desk and unpacked his laptop.
Olivia followed suit, choosing the desk directly behind his. A cool calm settled over her as she sat down and logged into the VPN. She might be a nervous wreck before a job started, but once she had a concrete task in front of her, everything clicked into place and her focus was absolute.
The RTU at the plant turned out to be over twenty years old. In fact, Kurt told them proudly, it had been installed by his father when he’d been plant manager.
The outputs weren’t compatible with their newer system, but Adam had already shipped a brand-new RTU to the plant, which was waiting for them in Kurt’s office. While he went out to install it, Olivia went over the site’s run book, familiarizing herself with the standard operations and procedures for stopping, starting, and debugging the plant’s systems.
They spent the rest of the day making sure the new RTU was picking up data from all the sensors, eating out of the vending machine, and drinking pot after pot of scorched coffee from the ancient Bunn-o-matic. From time to time, one of the workmen on shift would come into the control shack for a bathroom or coffee break, or to shoot the shit with Kurt, but mostly it was quiet, and they were able to work uninterrupted.
Hours after Kurt had bid them goodnight and been replaced by the swing shift manager, Adam spun his chair around and tapped Olivia on the shoulder.
She’d been concentrating so hard on the telemetry data on her screen, she started at the unexpected touch. Adam smiled in response, and the fluorescent lights overhead seemed to glow brighter. It was the first time he’d smiled since they’d gotten here, and the sight of it was like laying eyes on an old friend after a years-long absence.
“We should take a break.” He stifled a yawn, his shoulders slumping with fatigue. “We’ve been at it for hours.”
“What time is it?” she asked, stretching her arms toward the ceiling until he
r vertebrae popped. She’d been hunched over her computer so long her body had tried to fuse itself into the shape of a question mark.
Adam glanced at the watch on his wrist. It was one of those big round ones with lots of tiny dials set into the face. With his shirtsleeves pushed up, it emphasized how muscular his forearms were. “Nearly seven. We need to check into our hotel before they give our rooms away.”
“Yeah, okay.” She put her laptop to sleep and shoved it and the power cord into her purse. No way was she letting it out of her sight, even for a second.
“I’m thinking we’ll grab some dinner while we’re out and then come back here to work for a few more hours.” Adam already had his laptop packed up, and he lifted his messenger bag onto his shoulder, grabbing his hard hat as he headed for the door.
It was raining when they stepped out of the control shack, and the two of them blinked at the masked glow of the late-day sun like a couple of mole rats emerging from the bowels of the earth.
“How long’s it been doing that?” Olivia asked, pulling her borrowed hard hat down to shield her face from the rain.
Adam shrugged as he started for the car. “No idea.” He unlocked it and held her door open for her.
He drove them back down the two-lane road until it met up with the highway again, and turned toward their motel. It was a fifteen minute drive from the plant, past a couple farming towns too small for even a post office, much less a hotel or restaurant, and over a river that wound back and forth across the highway a few times.
They were staying at the Quality Inn, which was positively luxurious compared to their accommodations the night before. It had been recently renovated, and the lobby featured shiny new tile, a pair of faux-leather couches, and a cluster of high-top cafe tables alongside a granite bar where a continental breakfast was served each morning, according to the motel manager who checked them in.
Their rooms were at opposite ends of one wing of the long, low motel. Olivia’s was closest to the lobby, and before Adam left her at her door they made a plan to meet back up in five minutes and walk over to the diner across the parking lot for dinner.