by Dena Christy
“It’s a good thought, but we can’t do it.” Ryce raked his fingers through his short, spiky hair. “In order for one of us to become him we would need to have physical contact with him. A picture won’t cut it. Unless you know a way for Synn or I to touch him, we aren’t walking in that compound disguised as him.”
Disappointment crossed the women’s faces, and Ryce turned away for a moment and faced the wall. He curled his hand into a fist. He fought the urge to drive it into the concrete wall. It would hurt like hell, but anything would be better than the emotions churning around inside him. Breaking his hand would do nothing for Cynric, and that was the only thing that stopped him from slamming his fist into the wall until his bones were crushed.
Collette placed her hand in the middle of his back, and while he appreciated the gesture, it did nothing to sooth him. This hope she’d infused with her words and touch earlier died inside him as the odds of saving his commander and friend stacked up against them
Damn it. They are exactly where they were when they started this. The only difference was they knew that Cynric was in the hands of the military, and they had no workable plan to get him out.
Collette’s heart went out to Ryce. His pain and frustration was written in the tense lines of his body as he faced the wall. The need to sooth him was compelling, but what could she do? She wanted to put her arms around him, comfort and console him, but with the others in the room she didn’t think it would be a good idea. From her position beside him she looked back at the screen. Colonel Dawson’s cold eyes stared back at her, and the smokey wisps of memory curled through her mind.
Something about him nagged at her. There was a familiarity about him that she couldn’t quite place, but she was positive she’d seen him somewhere. Where could she have seen him, and would the memory of it help them now?
She stepped away from Ryce and walked to the center of the room where she could see the screen more clearly. The more she studied the photo the more she was certain that she knew him. Not on a personal level because the memory of him was too vague for that but she was positive that she’d encountered him at some point.
“What is it Collette? You look like you know something,” Miranda said as she stepped up beside her. Collette looked over at Miranda and then back at the screen.
“I know him. I can’t quite remember why though.” Her eyes burned and watered a little as she stared hard at the screen. She blinked the feeling away, not wanting to look away until she was sure where it was that she’d seen him. She felt like she was on the cusp of something important, something that tickled at the back of her mind but she couldn’t quite grasp it.
“How is this helping?” Ryce growled from the back of the room. “We need to get Cynric out of where he is. And staring at that screen like it holds all the answers is doing nothing to help him.”
Collette rolled her eyes for a second and turned her head quickly looking back at him. She understood he was frustrated, since he was obviously a man who needed to be taking action, but his words and attitude were not helping.
“Can you be quiet so I can think? Your way of bursting in there with guns blazing will not work and we’ve already established that. We need to come up with a workable plan and there something about that man in the picture that’s nagging at me. So be quiet until I figure it out.” Ryce’s eyebrows raised in surprise as her scolding came pouring out. He looked taken aback for a moment, and after a few seconds a look of respect came across his face. He inclined his head in acknowledgment of her words.
“My apologies for interrupting your train of thought.” Ryce inclined his head toward her. Collette waited for a second to see if he would say anything else, but it appeared he would remain silent. She offered him a small smile to soften the sting of her words and turned back to the screen.
As soon as she faced the screen again, all the pieces fell into place. Turning away for a moment had done what staring at the screen had not. She knew where she’d seen him. It wasn’t in one specific place, but it was at the fringes of Reggie’s world. That was why she’d had such difficulty remember who he was at first, because he wasn’t part of Reggie’s circle, but he desperately wanted to be. Reggie was a powerful man, from an old powerful family, and he was a target for men of a lower social status, since Reggie’s patronage would be a ticket to bigger and better things.
“He’s a hanger on. I’ve seen him at various functions that I’ve been at with Reggie. He’s been trying to insinuate himself into Reggie’s circle for as long as I’ve been Reggie’s chippy.”
“I have heard he’s ambitious,” Miranda said. “That’s not unusual for a man in his social scale. Most men that get to his level have bucket loads of ambition.”
“Rebecca,” She looked at the woman at the computer console. “Would you be able to bring Colonel Dawson’s schedule?”
“Of course I can,” Rebecca said as her fingers flew over the keyboard. “There isn’t anything I can’t get into.”
“Collette what are you thinking?” Evie asked as she joined her and Miranda in the middle of the room. Collette heard the footsteps of the men as they came to join them all in the middle of the room. A quick glance around told her that everyone was gazing intently at the computer screen while they waited for Rebecca to do her work.
“I have an idea.” Collette looked over at Evie. If she saw what she hoped to in his schedule it would be perfect, but there was a chance that what she wanted to find wouldn’t be there. She didn’t want to set the group up for another disappointment, so she kept quiet about it until she was sure. She didn’t think that Ryce could take another blow. “But until I see his schedule I won’t know if it is something we can put into place. I’ll share what’s in my head as soon as I know if it’s even possible.”
Moments past in silence as everyone waited for Rebecca to do her work. The only sound in the room was the rapid click of keys as Rebecca stared intently at the screen above her head.
“I got it.” The young hacker gave a triumphant laugh as Colonel Dawson’s schedule appeared in front of them.
Collette studied it intently, but it meant nothing to her. The bulk of it was military meetings, and she looked at the days across the top, and realized that they were looking at his work week. A frown knotted Collette’s forehead as the possibility that perhaps Colonel Dawson kept his personal schedule somewhere offline where they could never access it.
“Do you see what you’re looking for?” Evie asked and Collette looked over at her and gave a shake of her head.
“No.” She heard the collective breath of disappointment from everyone in the room. She held up her hand to caution them to be patient. They weren’t out of the game yet, perhaps there was a chance that he kept all his schedules on-line and Rebecca could access it. “Rebecca can you advance the schedule forward so that we can see what he’s doing this coming Saturday?”
“Sure thing.” Rebecca tapped a few keys and Colonel Dawson’s schedule for Saturday appeared in front of them. A smile spread across Collette’s face when she saw what she was looking for. Thank God he didn’t separate his work schedule from his personal one since the appointment he had scheduled for Saturday was most definitely not work related. She looked at Ryce.
“What is it?” he asked as he raised an eyebrow at her.
“I know how we will do it.” Colette resisted the urge to throw herself at him. If they’d been alone, she would have been all over him but she needed to be more circumspect because they were in a room full of people. The urge to kiss him in celebration was so strong that she had to squeeze her lips together to keep from giving into the impulse.
“What exactly are we doing?” Ryce stepped closer to her and for a moment it was like they were the only two people in the room. He looked into her eyes, and she looked back, and her entire focus was on him. Her tongue darted over her lips to moisten them, and his eyes followed the small movement intently. The next time they were alone she would have to kiss him.
&
nbsp; Evie cleared her throat, and the world came rushing back in. Collette jumped and tore her eyes away from Ryce’s so she could address the group.
“Colonel Dawson has been trying for years to edge his way into Reggie circle. He’s attempted to have contact with Reggie, but unfortunately Reggie is very disdainful of people he sees as upstarts. There might be a possibility that Colonel Dawson will get lucky at the Founder’s Ball on Saturday and finally meet Reggie in the flesh.”
“I don’t quite understand how this will help us,” Synn said quietly.
“It’s simple, Ryce will go to the ball on Saturday and he will meet Colonel Dawson.” A huge smile spread across Collette’s mouth. She looked over at Ryce. “Don’t you remember? When you took me home Reggie was at the apartment and you shook his hand. Will that be enough physical contact for you to be able to pretend to be Reggie?”
“Yes one touch is all I need,” Ryce said as he exchanged a look with Synn.
“Excellent. All you need to do is go to the ball and introduce yourself to Colonel Dawson. If you shake his hand, then you will have everything you need to get into his military installation and rescue Cynric.”
“While this seems like a good idea,” Miranda said. “What are you going to do about Reggie? I think it would be a little awkward to have two Reggies at the ball.”
“The real Reggie won’t be at the ball,” Collette said. “He gets invited every year, but it is not a priority for him. So he’ll go if there’s no other conflict in his schedule but unfortunately for him this year there is a conflict. He won’t be at the ball, well at least the real Reggie won’t be.”
“The brief touch I had with him will be enough for me to look like him, but it won’t be enough for me to be able to act like him, at least not in a believable way. I got a brief skimming of his mind, but not enough to be able to navigate in his world,” Ryce said with a look of disappointment on his face.
“You don’t need to know how to navigate Reggie’s world because I do. I’ll go with you and I’ll help you get through the ball,” Collette said as she grinned at Ryce. The small current of excitement that had started inside her was building. Finally there was something that she could do that no one else could, and it was something that would help someone else.
“Didn’t you and Reggie break up?” Evie asked.
“I told him I was done with him, but fortunately for us Reggie is way too arrogant to think that anyone would want to leave him. In his head this is just a small blip and I’ll get over it. So there’s no chance that anyone would know that he and I are not together anymore. My presence with Ryce at the ball will not be questioned,” Collette said.
“Isn’t something like this usually invitation-only?” Rebecca asked from her spot at the computer console. “If I knew what an invitation looks like I might be able to rig something up for you but I don’t think I’d be able to have it done before Saturday.”
“That won’t be necessary. I already have the invitation. When Reggie plans his social activities, he always brings the invitations over to my apartment so that we go through our schedules together. I have the invitation to the ball in the apartment. All I need is for someone to take me back there to get it.”
“I’ll take you back,” Evie said.
There was a buzz of excitement in the room as she and Evie walked towards the exit. They could do this, and Collette had no reason to think that they would be unsuccessful. She glanced at Ryce. His face was serious, and he showed none of the excitement she expected to see there. Collette turned away and followed Evie out of the room. She couldn’t worry about what he was thinking right now. This was a good plan and he would see it for what it was in time.
Chapter Six
Excitement bubbled inside Collette when she and Evie returned to the compound. She clutched the invitation in her hand, and the paper burned against her palm. This was the key to rescuing Cynric, and its value wasn’t lost on her. As soon as she’d retrieved it from her apartment, she made sure that she was touching it at all times during the trip back. She didn’t want to take the chance of losing it since it would be impossible to get another one.
She and Evie made their way back to the communication room, and Rebecca sat alone in front of her computer console. The others must have gone to their respective rooms since there was little else they could do to rescue Cynric until Ryce had contact with Colonel Dawson.
“Did you get the invitation?” Rebecca turned in her chair and looked at Collette.
“Yes, now all we need to do is keep it safe until Ryce and I can use it.” Collette held up the invitation for Rebecca to see, and Evie held out her hand.
“We have a safe on the premises. I can put it in there until you’re ready to use it.”
Collette hesitated for a moment. She was reluctant to let the invitation out of her sight, but a safe would be much more secure than a drawer in her room. She placed the invitation in Evie’s hand.
“Rebecca,” Collette said as she watched the invitation disappear into Evie’s pocket. “The ball is being held in Jarrow Vista and Ryce and I will need some accommodations. Would you be able to make arrangements for us to stay in a hotel close by?”
“I can do that, although we may have difficulty finding an empty room at this late date. If the ball is being held this weekend, then chances are good that most of the hotels in the area were booked months ago.”
Collette’s mouth turned down for a moment. Rebecca was right, most people going to the ball would book their accommodations months in advance. There was a solution, but did she have the nerve to do it? Reggie always maintained a suite at the Renaissance Hotel, so that he would have a place to stay whenever the whim struck him. Since Ryce would impersonate Reggie at the ball, what was to stop him from impersonating him beforehand. The ball was being held in the Renaissance and it would be more convenient for them to stay there.
“If you could get a message to the Renaissance Hotel and let them know that Reginald Carstairs III will attend the ball and would like his suite prepared for him and his guest, that would be perfect. Also include in the message that he’s misplaced his key card and will need a replacement left for him at the front desk.” Collette’s excitement built. They were going to pull this off.
“It will take time for me to do that, since I will have to hack my way into his communication system to contact the hotel, and then make sure that any trail I may have left is deleted,” Rebecca said as she immediately turned toward her keyboard.
“Will you be able to have it done by Friday night?” Collette asked.
“Oh yeah, that’s plenty of time.” Rebecca’s voice oozed cockiness and confidence as she focused on her work.
Collette thought they should let her get to it and turned to leave the room. Evie caught her by the arm before she made it out the door and turned her toward her.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Evie asked.
“It’s the only workable idea we have. It’s our best shot to rescue Cynric.” Evie should know that this was their most solid plan. She was the one who’d suggested that Synn or Ryce impersonate Dawson. Collette had only suggested a way to make that possible. Why was she trying to put the brakes on it now?
“But Cynric isn’t your problem,” Evie said.
“And he isn’t yours either, and yet you are devoting resources to finding him.” Collette looked at Evie, and her friend inclined her head in acknowledgment. “Can’t you understand why I might want to do this? I want to feel useful, and for the first time in my life I can do so. I know you’re worried, but don’t be. We will succeed.”
Evie said no more and Collette turned and walked out of the room. Her steps were quick on the slick industrial floor as she made her way down the corridor toward her bedroom. She meant what she said to Evie, she wanted to feel useful and for the first time in her life she did.
Her steps slowed as she got closer to her bedroom. Ryce stood outside her door, leaning against the jam with his arms cross
ed in front of his large, muscular chest. His brows were drawn together in a frown.
“For someone who is getting closer to getting his friend back you don’t look thrilled.” Collette breezed by him and into her room. He followed her in and shut the door behind him. A small smile, one he couldn’t see with her facing away from him, played around her mouth before she schooled her features to turn back to face him.
Her breath caught at the sight of him in her bedroom. He dwarfed the room as his sheer size made the room and the furniture in it look much smaller than when it was just her. A thought flitted across her mind as she stared at him. What would it be like to have a body as impressive as his pressed against her? She shoved the thought aside since she had a feeling that he wasn’t here to get naked with her.
“So what’s on your mind?” She looked up at him as she took a step closer.
“I don’t want you to do this.” His voice came out in a deep rumble, and she could see the muscle jump in his jaw.
“Do what, exactly?” She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head to the side. First Evie and now him. Didn’t either of them understand that this was something she needed to do?
“I don't want you to put yourself at risk. I will go to the ball myself and figure out a way to contact Dawson.” Collette gave a laugh, and his scowl intensified as the grooves between his eyebrows grew deeper. “What’s so funny?”
“It’s a nice thought, your notion of sparing me and keeping me from harm. I appreciate it, but there is a flaw in your plan. You wouldn’t last five minutes alone in Reggie’s world.” She’d been trained to move through a world like Reggie’s her entire life, and she still found it a dangerous place, full of schemers and backstabbers. They would eat someone as honest and straightforward as Ryce alive.
“Why not,” he growled as he stepped closer to her. “Do you think that because I’m a warrior and not a fancy man like your Reggie, that I’m too stupid to go to the ball on my own and contact Dawson?”
