Jimmy remained quiet, he could hear the irritation in Kassar's voice and knew better than to get in the line of fire.
"I met them. The guy was a jerk, kept questioning me about Paige, about school. He didn't shut up until I showed him that picture I..."
"The picture. Do you have it?"
"No, they took it."
"Do you have a copy?"
"Sure, on the computer."
"Send it to Jimmy."
"Jimmy ran a bunch of us over the photo program a while back. I am telling you it was good."
"Send it to him."
Linda nervously tapped away at the keyboard.
"I did everything he taught us. I applied the correct filters to make it appear older, even used old picture stock to print it out on, then roughed it up physically to give it a worn look."
Kassar waved a dismissive hand.
"Jimmy do you have it?"
"Opening it now boss."
Linda wanted to say more, but the truth was she was afraid to. She was near babbling as it was and she really needed to go to the bathroom.
She could see that Jimmy's eyes were looking at something and assumed it was the image she had just sent him. He was nodding. She started to feel a little relieved. His nodding stopped and he looked at her through the computer. "It's a decent start, but this wasn't your final draft was it? Tell me this isn't what you printed out."
Linda felt the warm wetness spreading in her lap even as a chill ran down her spine and her eye resumed twitching.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
"Her shadow?"
Paige stared down at the picture. At first her eyes refused to see what he was saying. She looked at her and Linda standing in front of the library. She was wearing a long dark blue skirt with an off white blouse. A smile spread over her face. She could almost feel the gentle cool breeze. It had been late September, the leaves were changing. Days were still warm, but when the sun went down the temperatures tended to drop quickly. She had forgotten her sweater, but knew Daniel would lend her his jacket. They had been going to the library to study, just Daniel and her. Just Daniel and her?
"Daniel took this photo," she whispered.
"Paige?" Nathan looked at her. Even though she was looking at the picture, he could tell that she was actually staring off into the past. He reached out and touched her shoulder.
She blinked and looked questioningly at him.
"What? Oh sorry. What...what was I saying?"
"Nothing, look at the photo. Look at the shadows."
She returned her attention to the picture and saw it immediately. It had been late in the day and her shadow stretched off to her left, as did the shadow of the tree in the background. No shadow was being cast by Linda.
"How the heck?"
"It's fake," Nathan said quickly.
"Fake?"
"Yes, she wasn't there."
"I went to school with her, Nathan. I know Linda."
"Maybe, maybe not. But that photo never happened."
"Why would she fake a photo? We went to school together for three and a half years. Why would she need to fake a picture?"
"Good question, but only one of many we need to find answers for."
He flicked his eyes to the front of the cab, trying to judge how much to say. The woman did not appear to be listening to their conversation and he could hear the radio playing and her singing along, but he worried they had already said too much.
They lapsed into silence. Paige was back to staring at the photo. He couldn't tell if she was wondering about why Linda had faked it or if she had slipped into the past and was once more remembering her time at school. He decided he wouldn't press anything right now. He wanted to wait until they were alone again.
They road the rest of the way in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Nathan paid the driver and then he took Paige's hand and hurried her inside. Night was approaching and he wanted to get her stuff and get out as soon as possible. He knew he was likely being paranoid, but he had a feeling that paranoid was exactly what he needed to be right now.
CHAPTER THIRTY
"We need to move on this right away," Kassar said.
On the computer screen in his little box, Jimmy sat quietly, nodding his head and waiting to see if there were any more instructions for him. The view of Linda was quite different. He could see she was trembling with a hand pressed against the right side of her head.
"I need to get this fiasco cleaned up immediately," Kassar said with a dismissive wave at the screen. "Jimmy, continue what you are doing, I'll get back to you as soon as I have more for you to follow up on. And of course, if you happen to get a lucky hit notify me immediately."
Jimmy nodded and then a moment later his box on Kassar's computer screen disappeared and Linda's box enlarged to fill the void left behind. Kassar could now see the sweat and perhaps tears running down her face. If he wasn't so furious he'd have taken time to enjoy the sight.
"As for you Linda," he said slowly, watching what little color was left in her face drain away. He reached for his mouse and maneuvered the cursor arrow over the the X that would close their connection. "Aloha."
With the connection severed, he yanked on the mouse, ripping it from the computer and hurled it across the room.
He closed his eyes and counted to ten before calmly reaching for his phone. He tapped in a number and waited. The call was answered before the first ring had completed.
"Identify."
"Kassar, Cameron A."
"Authorization code?"
"Omega three three seven nine."
Kassar could hear the keys being hit over the phone.
"Confirmed. Request?"
"I need a cleaning detail, ASAP. San Diego..."
"Negative, ple.."
"What did you say?"
"Please hold."
"Now you listen to me you..."
Before Kassar could finish his threat, the line clicked off and was replaced with a ringing. He was being forwarded. His grip on the phone tightened and with each ring it tightened a little more. After the fourth ring it was answered.
"Cameron," a soft male voice on the other end of the phone purred.
"Dillinger, what is the meaning of this?"
"What is the meaning of this? Yes. Yes. What exactly is the meaning of this? I see you are trying to procure the services of a cleaning detail, hmmm."
"Dillinger I do not have time to..."
"No, no you never seem to have the time. That has always been your problem, hasn't it? That is, if I am not mistaken, how you came to your current assignment. I must say that when I arranged for that all those years ago I figured one of two things would happen."
Kassar almost ripped the phone from the wall. He knew it. He'd always suspected that Dillinger had had a hand in his reassignment, but had never been able to prove it. Now the man was freely admitting it. And that could not be good news.
"One. You would take time to contemplate the errors of your ways. To take the time to understand that there is value in a chain of command and that while fortune may sometimes favor the bold, patience is indeed a virtue. And for very good reason. Sadly as I expected, but did not hope for, you went with number two. You doubled down. You took this project and perverted it. You bent and twisted it to your will. You re-imagined the concept behind the entire thing. I must admit to being more then a little impressed. Horrified but impressed. "
Kassar's hand was aching from the force he was exerting and he wished he had his hands on Dillinger's throat instead of around the phone.
"I've been very disappointed, for numerous reasons, on how you'd twisted this project. I can actually see the value. However, it is quite obvious things were not ready. You rushed things time and again and things went wrong. Or perhaps, knowing you, they went right."
Kassar looked around his office. He could almost feel the man's eyes on him. How did he know?
"Look, Dillinger, you don't underst..."
"Oh but
I do. It is you who does not understand. I gave you a very clear warning after the last time. How you chose to take that warning, well your actions have clearly given me your answer. There shall be no further assistance coming."
"But the risk for exposure."
"Rests solely on you. I've seen to that. Your project is and always has been, as far as anyone will ever be able to tell, entirely a creation of you and your department. Exposure begins and ends with you."
"But I have a meeting with..."
"No Cameron, no you don't. Clean up your mess and perhaps that can be rectified and restructured. I might even let you continue on."
"It is my project, Dillinger," he snapped.
On the other end of the phone dry laughter echoed.
"Of course it is. And as I said, I have made sure that will be entirely clear when it blows up in your face."
Before Cameron could respond the line went dead, the tone on the other end of the line changed, lowering an octave or two and he knew what that meant. If he tried to redial the previous number he would only be greeted by an out of service message. In fact, he was quite certain that a great deal of numbers were now out of service for him. He also now understood the origin of Jimmy's computer problems.
He loosed a cry of pure primal rage, ripping the phone from the wall. It joined the computer mouse on the other side of the room.
"Cut off? Self contained? You son of a bitch."
He paced around his desk, taking slow deep breaths. He had been in tight situations before. He had been screwed over before and now he had confirmation that Dillinger had been responsible for at least one of those times.
"Probably responsible for this too," he said and then stopped dead in his tracks. His face went a deep shade of red and his hand shot out, knocking over his computer monitor.
"You son of a bitch. This was you again, wasn't it?"
His desire to punch or throw something else was almost overwhelming, but looking around his office he saw the mess he had already created. He forced himself to relax a little. He cursed himself for allowing Dillinger to push his buttons, for allowing himself to lose control. He could fix this, nothing was beyond his control. So he was limited with what he had to work with, he would deal with it.
He reached out and righted his monitor. His eyes fell on the print out of the picture that Linda had obtained.
"Let's start with you," he said to the picture of Nathan. "Who are you and why do you look so familiar?"
He stood there for a moment looking at the picture, then stormed out of his office.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Jimmy answered the buzzing phone immediately.
"Sir?"
"How did he respond?"
"He's so flustered he isn't thinking straight. Took only a minute or two to run the names and faces from the inbound flights. I assumed you didn't want me to suggest that to him?"
"Nope, but if he does think of it, give him the information. Send me what you have and keep me in the loop."
"Of course. Sending the information now."
"I want to give this asshole plenty of rope to hang himself with."
"Yes, sir."
"I appreciate the assistance, Jimmy. You'll have your choice of assignments when this is over."
"Thank you, sir."
The line clicked dead and Jimmy dropped the phone onto his desk. He didn't care about the power play he was in the middle of. He knew who was higher up on the ladder and aimed to keep him happy. Besides he could handle whatever jobs either of them asked him to do in his sleep. He turned his attention back to the more important matter of retasking the Chinese satellite he'd taken control of. He'd heard that Kate Upton liked to sunbathe nude and intended to find out for himself.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Nathan grabbed his laptop bag and then joined Paige in her room. She had left the door open and when he entered she was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring down at the picture.
"Paige, I think we should get your stuff together and get out of here."
She continued to frown at the picture in her hands.
"Paige?"
"This doesn't make any sense. I know Linda. Why would she have to make a fake picture of us together? And why this picture?"
"Paige, let's get your stuff, okay?"
She got up off the bed and walked slowly across the room. She unlatched the door to the balcony and stepped out.
Nathan watched her. He didn't know if she hadn't heard him or was just not listening to him. He shook his head. He found her lack of urgency disturbing. She seemed detached from the moment. He felt his palms go sweaty and his breathing quickened.
"Paige?"
In his mind he saw it all. She stepped to the railing and ran her hand along it. Her other hand released the photo and, caught by the breeze, it fluttered out over the balcony and then down. She turned to him, a slip of a smile on her face. She opened her mouth and said something and though he couldn't hear the words he knew it was goodbye. She hoisted herself up onto the railing then spun around until she was facing him, staring at him, the smile still on her lips. She wobbled slightly and it looked like she was giggling, but still Nathan could hear nothing but the thundering rush of his own blood in his ears. She winked at him and then leaned back falling off the balcony.
"No!"
The sound of his own scream startled both of them back to reality, Paige nearly leapt a foot off the ground, turned quickly and slammed her arm against the railing. Nathan blinked and realized it had all been in his mind. He saw the fear in Paige's eyes as she looked at him and rubbed at her elbow.
"Sorry, Paige, really sorry. I...I." He tossed up his hands, unsure how to explain.
She followed his eye-line and saw he was looking out over the balcony. He didn't know whether or not she guessed what he'd been thinking, but she came inside and slid the door to the balcony closed.
"Sorry," he said again.
She nodded and sat back down on the edge of the bed.
"Now what?"
It was a simple question and his answer was just as simple.
"We leave. We get out of here."
"But go where? This is insane."
"I don't know. But I think we need to leave quickly. Linda may come after us here."
"So? I mean this is insane."
"You said that already."
"Well it is true," she said. "This entire thing is totally insane."
"I can't argue that, but I still think we need to go."
"No. We need to stop. I need to stop and think. Besides, Linda doesn't even know where we are staying."
He opened his mouth to argue, but knew from her expression that he wouldn't be able to coax her to move on until she was good and ready.
"Okay, then let's talk it out a little."
Paige stood back up and began pacing the room. She was silent for a very long time. After ten minutes, Nathan stopped looking at his watch. He knew it was only making her more nervous and she needed to work through it in her own way, in her own time.
"On one hand I seem to be running away from a woman I have known and trusted for years."
"And yet she..."
Paige shot him a glance and he fell silent. He understood immediately, she was driving this car. He just needed to be quiet and sit in the passenger's seat.
"And yet," she continued, picking up on his thought, "Linda has for some reason made a fake photograph of me and her. Why? Doesn't make any sense. We took plenty of pictures together during our time at college. I'm sure of it. So why would she have to make a fake one?"
Nathan wanted to answer. He didn't know if he was right or not, but half a dozen theories were rattling around in his head, all of them shed Linda in a bad light.
"On the other hand there is you. Someone else with photographs of me. Me with you to be exact. Someone I do not know, but you claim to know me quite well. To the point of marriage in fact. I looked at all those photos you had and they looked real. I don't remember
looking for shadows, but..." She shrugged her shoulders.
"So I have one person who I know and yet for some reason don't trust, though I should. And I have one person who I don't know and yet for some unknown reason seem to trust. I feel like someone has taken my life and put it in a blender."
Nathan's eyes were locked on her. She had started to tremble a little again, though he could understand why this time. She balled her hands into fists at her side. He could see tears threatening at the corners of her eyes. She swung around and kicked out in frustration. Foot met wall and wall won. She leapt back, hopping on one foot while grabbing at the other. She lost her balance and before Nathan could make it to her, she fell to the floor, landing with a solid thud on her backside.
Nathan stood over her, looking down. She sat cradling her injured foot, tears rolling down her cheeks and laughing.
"And now I think I broke a toe," she said through her laughter.
He knelt down next to her and she allowed him to take her injured foot in his hand. He slid the sandal off her foot and gently touched each toe, she winced when he reached her middle toe.
"I'm afraid its the little piggy that had roast beef," he whispered and was rewarded with a genuine smile and giggle.
"Well I guess its a good thing it wasn't the one that went to market, because I am guessing we need to get out of here. Don't we?"
Nathan looked into her eyes. He wanted so much to be able to say something that would explain all this. To say something that would comfort her, but he couldn't.
"I'm afraid so."
Paige nodded and allowed Nathan to help her up. He remained silent while she quickly got her stuff together. She winced a bit with each step. He wasn't sure if she had actually broken her toe or not, but she had certainly hurt herself.
"Okay, so where to?" she asked.
"The airport."
"And then where?"
She wasn't surprised when he said, "I don't know."
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
He knocked once but didn't wait for a response, it was more to announce his presence than to ask permission. He opened his mouth to begin an assault of questions, but shut it when he found he was facing an empty desk.
Second Chances Page 12
