by Adira August
She left her plate next to a staffer loading an industrial dishwasher. She found Alma at the end of the island giving instructions for lunch.
" … twelve workmen inside plus the twenty outside, so sixty sandwich set-ups, roast beef and ham, cheese, keep the veggies on the side, most of 'em won't be interested. Plenty of liquid available, fruit bowls and and cookies, I think. Have baggies so they can take them back to the site. Add twenty set-ups for regular staff."
The two assistant cooks scurried off and Alma turned to Avia. "Ms. Rivers. Can I get you something else?" She smiled.
"I just wanted to thank you and compliment - well - everything. It was so nice for me to be here with you all."
"Thank you, we're delighted you came down," Alma said.
Avia looked around. "So, you make meals for everyone on the property? Every day?"
"The kitchen does, whoever's on duty. It's open twenty-four seven. Mr. Ramos thinks it's more efficient than having people bringing their own and having to deal with the waste, or providing refrigerators for them, all of that."
"So the kitchen is a whole industry of it's own," Avia said. "You know, I was hoping to see Hugo before I left, is he around, having some of the fantastic strudel?"
"You might check the Hall," Alma suggested.
Avia thanked her again and set off to wander the huge space. She found Hugo with coffee and an empty plate, reading morning newspapers on a tablet in a lone chair with a coffee table. Hugo was a nice-looking man of average height and build, with lightly salted black hair. He had a warm smile and a charming manner and was Ben's right hand, basically running Hart Development for him.
She assumed the isolated single chair indicated he didn't want to be disturbed during breakfast. Or perhaps, as no one else could sit down, it just kept anyone who did disturb him on point and the meetings brief.
"Hello," she said.
He looked up, and broke into a grin.
"Avia!" He rose to his feet. "Let me get you a chair." He didn't wait for her to answer.
She sat down, crossing her ankles, legs at a slant, knees together, smoothing her skirt. Her bag sat on the floor next to her, her coat draped over it. She noticed several people shooting looks at her from the corners of their eyes. She assumed they were wondering who she was that she was granted such enviable access to Mr. Ramos.
"Have you had breakfast?" Hugo asked, after he'd sat down again.
"I did. It was wonderful. Lovely staff," She answered. "How are you?" It wasn't a polite inquiry, she liked Hugo.
"Good. Rested. I had a day off, yesterday." He said.
"I hope you did," she said, "Have a real day off." She decided to jump right in. "From from what Ben says, you're the real C.E.O. around here."
"Don't let him kid you," Hugo said. "He's very much the man in charge. He just likes time for development, so he leaves the executive grunt work to me."
"Nevertheless," she said,"You're probably the only person who's authorized to tell me what I want to know. I could call Ben, but I'm hoping he's getting some sleep on the flight and I don't want to disturb him."
Hugo's face set in serious lines. He waited for her to go on.
"It's possible," Avia began, "Ben's just being controlling. But I think it's more likely he thinks there's some threat to me. If there's a threat to me, I expect to know about it. I'm not naive, I've been threatened before. I care about my own safety. I'm not a clueless airhead who won't cooperate in her own protection. In fact, I might even be useful in that regard. I'd appreciate it if you'd tell me what's going on."
He regarded her with an expression of new respect. She could almost see the synapses firing as he calculated the risks and possibilities.
He picked up his coffee and drained it. "Eustace tells me you'd like to have a walk on the grounds." She nodded. He stood up and offered her his hand. "Come. Walk with me. I'll introduce you to Devers."
Ben Again
"She wanted to see the security reports, herself," Hugo told him, his image fuzzed momentarily by interference.
"Of course she did," Ben said. That's my ace journalist. "So, did you show her?"
"She's a hard woman to say no to," Hugo answered. "And no fool. Yeah, I showed her. She wondered at the coincidence of two people in suspicious situations that had something to do with you within twenty-four hours of each other, being referred to as 'kids.'"
"The bike messenger and …. ?" He thought. "The trespasser? Night before last?" Ben frowned. "Those incidents are pretty far removed from each other, like over twenty miles. Long way to go on a bike."
"It is. Unless that 'kid' wasn't so much a kid, and they had a car. Or a confederate. Thing is, except for gender, the descriptions are the same. Slight, little over five feet. Blond. And Alex didn't really get a look at the bike messenger's face. She could could have made an assumption."
"About gender?" Ben snorted. "That'd be ironic."
"Tell me," Hugo said. "I think Avia might be right." Then - "She's quite a woman."
Ben nodded. "She is. Where is she, now?"
"Left ten minutes ago. Eustace is taking her to the Coloradan. She said to tell you she has no intention of doing anything but working on her laptop the rest of the day and you shouldn't worry. … Oh, and Alma packed her off with three strudels, so she'll be significantly fatter when you get back."
Ben laughed. "Thanks. Anything else?"
"Not much. Your itinerary is confirmed and the workmen started the inside part of the moat reconstruction today. Should be finished by Thursday."
"That's very good news, if it happens," Ben told him. "Listen. Let's take this security issue very seriously. Up the level of coverage. I want people on her at all times."
"Done and done," Hugo assured him. "Devers took care of it as soon as he compared the descriptions. Avia Rivers will be here safe and sound when you get back."
The S.U.V.
Avia looked up from her laptop screen and raised her voice a little to get Eustace' attention.
"Eustace?"
He caught her gaze from the backseat in his rearview mirror. "Ma'am?"
"With the privacy window closed, how much can you hear from back here? If I'm on the phone or whatever?"
"At normal levels of conversation, I can tell people are speaking but not make out words. If you raise your voice, I can make out simple strong words. If you close the screen and I have music on, I can't hear anything, unless you shout."
He negotiated the on ramp to I-25. "Would you like me to turn on the music?"
She smiled. "No, that's okay. I have to call my boss, I think muffled is fine. Pretty sure I won't be raising my voice." She looked around. "How do I operate the window?"
He told her where the button was on the armrest and the black glass window slid up into place. But before she could call J.J., her laptop signalled an incoming video call. It was Ben.
"Hey," she said softly, thrilled to see him.
"Hey, yourself. How are you?" He asked, looking serious.
"I'm fine," she said. "Slept like the dead for nine hours. How are you? Did you sleep?"
"Avia! How. Are. You?" He looked stern. It made her grin. "I'm sorry, seriously, it's just, I miss you and here you are going all Domface on me from halfway around the world. … Oh!" A thought struck her.
"What? What's wrong?" She could see him grabbing his cell phone.
"Nothing! It just occurred to me, is this a secure way to talk?"
"Are you asking if the C.I.A. is listening?"
"Yes."
He shrugged. "Probably. But unless we use some words to trigger special attention, we're being overheard by a machine."
"You're a billionaire on the way to do business with a Chinese guy. I don't think you need trigger words." Avia said.
"Maybe not," he admitted. "I just wanted to make contact."
"Then you should have stayed in bed."
"Believe me when I say the thought crossed my mind."
"Ben?"
"What
is it?"
"I have to think how to ask this." She sighed. "Okay. Um - last night, did you … accelerate things between us? I mean, did you want to get to a certain place because of ... the kid thing?"
There was a long silence. "Yes."
"Because you wanted me to go along with whatever you set up while you're gone?"
His lips pressed into a thin line. "Yes." He ran his hands through his hair. "Do you want to take anything back that you promised? I'll understand."
She considered the offer. "I don't think I do. But - but I'd like the option to stay open until you get back and we can talk, if that's okay." He nodded.
"Look," she went on. "Yesterday you made a speech about me not knowing you. Well, you don't know me, either. You should have told me right away, as soon as you found out. This is my business, Ben, as much as yours. I'm safer if we work together. So are you."
"Me? Why me?" He asked.
"Because 'assume makes an ass of u and me.'" She said. "The timing makes it easy to assume the trial triggered the action. But what's actually going on is pretty hazy. I want you to have your staff keep me updated. I want to know the plan and have input. I'll go with what the experts decide, because I'm not a damned fool, not because of last night."
"You said you didn't want to take anything back?" He asked.
"I did. And right now, I mean that," she said.
"Then pay attention Sub, I'm only going to say this once." His voice was arctic. "Do not put yourself in harm's way. Do you understand?"
Muscles deep in her belly clenched when he called her "Sub."
"Yes, Benedict. I won't put myself in danger," she replied, the tightness in her abdomen reflected in her voice.
"Then I'll agree to what you want," he said. "But mis-use the information to skirt your security, disobey me in this when I'm taking you at your word against my instincts, and the consequences will be more far more severe than anything Randall did to Mackin. Believe me, Avia, neither of us wants that."
The look he gave her was hollow-eyed and grim, the planes and angles of his face in sharp relief. He's really frightened for me, Avia thought.
"Ben?" He nodded to show he was listening. "I promise you, okay. I won't let anything happen to me." She touched the screen where his cheek was. "Four days isn't enough."
His face relaxed. Avia's cell signalled. Talli.
"Go," he said. "We'll talk tonight before you go to sleep."
"Okay," she said. "You want to wish me goodnight?"
"You'll sleep better if I make you come." He smiled and the screen went blank.
Sexy bastard, she thought fondly as her panties were suddenly wet and her clit achy. She answered Talli before it went to voicemail.
"Hey, Sister."
"Hey. Listen, I have something a little unexpected to tell you." Talli hesitated.
She never hesitates, Avia thought and the vision of the interior of an airplane popped up in front of her. "Where are you?"
"You know how I can be a little impulsive sometimes?" Her sister came back
"Don't tell me, let me guess," Avia said. "You're flying off to study aboriginal peoples in Central America?"
"Close. It's my last phone call before my plane lands in Denver."
It took a few minutes of negotiating with Eustace and Devers, but Avia was waiting when Talli came out of the concourse, dragging her little suitcase and hauling her giant "airplane purse" over her shoulder.
Eustace maintained a close watch, but didn't offer to carry the bag. Avia knew he needed to keep his hands free. Talli was too polite to ask about it in front of him.
They garnered a few stares and head turns as they walked through the airport. While Talia was an inch shorter, she habitually wore higher heels. Her hair was shoulder length, but she kept the front and sides short and held the rest up off her neck with a large clip.
From the front, it was very hard to tell them apart. Talli always said that being an identical twin got you the same attention as being the weekend anchor on the ninth rated cable news show. People stared, but not that long. The two women didn't even notice it, anymore.
It made Eustace hyper-alert.
Talli noticed his vigilance and shot a what's going on look at Avia, who sent a later look back.
Once inside the S.U.V., Talli announced she was starving and couldn't they stop for lunch? The dark look Eustace gave Avia in the mirror convinced her she'd pushed the security boundaries far enough. She asked him to pass one of Alma's butcher paper wrapped packages back.
"It won't take that long to get to the hotel and I'm fairly certain we'll find a lot of good stuff in the kitchen," Avia said. "Or, we can have room service. Meanwhile, let me introduce you to apple haute cuisine."
They picnicked on strudel they pulled apart with their hands. Avia dove over the backseat to find Ben's cooler and the ever-present bottles of water that seemed essential to his existence.
"We need napkins," Talli said.
Eustace' hand appeared over the seat, offering a wad of paper napkins from different fast food franchises. Talli took them and handed one back with a piece of strudel on it.
Avia shrugged and nodded to him in the rearview. He took the strudel. The Rivers sisters were a force to be reckoned with.
Watcher 5
One pair of eyes was not enough on a high priority assignment from a client as powerful and dangerous as this one. Especially when the client expressed impatience with the lack of solid evidence that Avia Rivers and Ben Hart were lovers. Watcher had reached out: To workers on Hart's estate, maintenance staff at Avia's condo complex, underlings in various capacities at Hart Development.
The video on Watcher's cell was a little jerky and not always in focus, but the sound was crystal clear, if faint.
"So is it true? You have an actual girlfriend? You know, not just a woman you have sex with, but also have dinner with?"
"Somebody on my staff talks too much."
"Never thought I'd see it. You have a picture? I want to see this miracle woman."
"Google her. Avia Rivers. The Week."
That was enough, but Watcher let the video play out. Hart considerately provided his own confirmation a few seconds later.
" … the air for ten more hours together, so … We are in an exclusive relationship. I'm meeting her sister when I get back."
Watcher saved the video to the cloud and sent it to the client with a text asking if there was anything else he needed. The answer came back five minutes later.
THAT'S ALL.
FORWARD FINAL CHARGES.
Watcher did the calculations and sent the text with the final bill, then pulled away from the Coloradan hotel. Stopping only long enough to offload the bicycle in the trunk to a dumpster in a Capitol Hill alley, along with the messenger jacket, Watcher headed for the airport. It was time to turn in the rental and buy a ticket on the first flight out of D.I.A.
Avia and Talia
"You went on an interview and ended up in paradise." Talli sighed, sipping the delicious pink wine Avia's poured for them both. Ben kept the wine cooler full, including several bottles of the Château d’Esclans. It went quite well with the herbed chicken and roasted baby potatoes with green beans cooked in garlic butter room service had sent up in the kitchen dumbwaiter.
When Talli expressed the opinion that a room service meal would take too long and be very expensive, Avia had smiled and handed her a menu. "It's taken care of."
When Talli asked why they didn't bring the food to the door, Avia'd shrugged and said, "Ben likes dumbwaiters."
When Talia asked why Avia was giving her bullshit answers, Avia sighed. "I don't know why you're here."
Talli twirled the stem of her glass. "Talking to you last time on the phone was really weird. It was like a movie where they take away the real person and replace them with a clone."
Avia waited.
"What the hell happened last night?" Talia asked. "I'm watching TV and all of a sudden, I'm having these wild visions o
f stuff we'd never done. Or thought of." She shook her head. "I almost wore poor Rolly out. … Av - you're the most pedestrian person about sex I know. What's this guy doing to you?"
A slow smile crept over Avia's face. She reached out and squeezed her sister's hand and didn't let go. "I get so busy, sometimes I forget how much I miss you."
"I don't need the gory details, but what's going on and how did you get here in four damned days? What's he doing to you, Av? Seriously."
"So, essentially, you're telling me he beat you into submission?"
Avia sighed. Talli did have a way of putting things. "Yes," she said, blushing but determined not to look away.
They were on the big four-poster in Avia's bedroom. Avia lying on her front with her arms crossed under her chin, Talia lying back against the plush pillows against the headboard. She'd found the metal rings set into the wood along the edge of the headboard. But she didn't say anything.
"And you had a safeword and didn't use it?"
"Yes! For the third time." Avia put her forehead on her arms so Talli wouldn't see her roll her eyes.
Talia looked at Avia for a long time. "Okay."
Avia's head popped up. "Okay?"
Talia sat up and drew her knees up to her chin. "Did I ever tell you about meeting Roland?" Avia shook her head.
"I thought he taught a class you took."
"Yeah. I walked in, sat down, he turned around from writing something on the board and started talking. By the end of the class, I thought If I didn't get him someplace where I could take his clothes off, I'd spontaneously combust."
Avia hid her vast surprise. Roland St. Clair always looked like the professor of Ancient Greek Literature, he was. A little prematurely grey, hair a little too long growing over his collar, tortoise shell glasses. It took a while to realize he was quite attractive; it took him laughing or teasing. He was sweet and quiet and very smart and only interested in his subject and his family.
"The thing is," Talli went on, "He was feeling the same way and I knew he knew and he knew I knew ... that thing." From Talli's face, Avia must have looked as clueless as she felt. "The whole class we'd been exchanging looks and, it was like the psychic thing only with a guy I'd never met. We just connected.
