Reach For the Spy

by Diane Henders

  “Oh.” I waved a dismissive hand. “Nothing. I really had a great time. Thanks again.”

  I was turning to get out of the truck when he took my hand in his callused one. “I had more fun tonight than I’ve had in a long time, too,” he said. “I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be with the most beautiful woman there. All the guys envied me.”

  And he leaned over and kissed me.

  His lips were gentle and unhurried. As he pulled back a few inches to look into my eyes, I sat in stunned confusion. This was more than I’d bargained for.

  His mouth curved in that crooked smile, and he leaned in and kissed me again, stroking his fingers through my hair. This time the kiss lingered, and I found my hands sliding over his corded shoulders. His denim shirt was soft over the hard, lean muscle, and I felt a shiver of heat start low.

  He pulled me closer and warning bells went off in my brain as my body responded hungrily.

  This was a bad idea. Sooner or later, I was going to end up dead. Probably sooner. And he could be in danger, too, if he was anywhere close to me.

  Shit, shit, shit! This was such a bad idea!

  Breathless, I pulled away and he let me go, watching me in the soft light from the dashboard.

  “Tom,” I began. I sighed. Just end it. “I had fun tonight, and I like you. But I don’t think this is a good idea. Good night.”

  I got out of his truck and headed for my car before I could change my mind.

  Chapter 10

  The next day I was finishing my lunch when the unmistakeable rumble of a Harley split the quiet of the country.

  I sprang up from the table and dashed as soundlessly as possible for the front door, mindful of the bugs. At the front door, I slowed to a more casual pace as I stepped out onto my front porch and into camera surveillance.

  The bike pulled to a stop in front of the house, and I took a challenging stance to confront the burly tattooed biker grinning at me. One fist on my hip, I raised my hand as if to shade my eyes. My arm should block the camera’s view of my lips from that angle.

  I spoke softly but clearly. “Don’t look too friendly. I have a situation.”

  His ugly face hardened as his gaze darted around, checking out the house and surrounding area.

  I pointed forcefully down the lane for the benefit of the cameras. “Turn your bike around and drive halfway down the lane. Wait for me there. I’ll be a few minutes.”

  I blessed his keen mind and private investigator’s instincts as he turned the bike around without comment and rode away. I turned on my heel and marched back into the house, listening to the receding rumble. It stopped, and I hoped the bugs had registered it as fading in the distance rather than as a cessation of sound.

  I waited for a few minutes before heading through the house to step nonchalantly out onto my back porch. I picked up my hoe and wandered in the direction of my garden.

  Out of camera range, I turned and circled the house, being sure to stay outside the effective radius of the surveillance. As I walked up to him, Hellhound swung off his motorcycle. He warily scanned the yard and house before giving me a teasing grin.

  “Ya said ya got a situation? This the kinda situation where ya got a man in your bed an’ ya don’t want him to see the competition? Guess I shoulda called first,” he rasped.

  I laughed and snuggled up. “I wish it was that kind of situation.”

  “It could be, darlin’.” He bounced his eyebrows. “I was just out cruisin’ an’ thought I’d drop in. See if ya wanted some company.”

  “Oh, yeah, I definitely want your company,” I assured him as I slid my hands under his jacket, stroking his bulky, solid chest.

  He pulled me closer and kissed me. Lust poured through me at the touch of his tongue. If there was a hall of fame for tongues, his would be in it. Deep. I was panting by the time he broke the kiss.

  “So what’s this situation?” he asked.

  “Huh?” I shook my head and refocused with difficulty. “Oh. Um. I’m under surveillance. My house is bugged and there are cameras all around the exterior.”

  “What?” He jerked upright, scanning the area again. “Aydan, what the fuck? Are ya in danger again?”

  I sighed. “More like ‘still’. And don’t worry, the bugs and cameras are being monitored by the good guys. Well, kind of good guys. I guess. But I don’t want them to know that I know they’re monitoring me.”

  “What the hell’s that s’posed to mean?” he demanded.

  “Can’t tell you. Classified. As usual. But it’s more of the same shit with that technology I was using last week.”

  “But you’re safe, right? Kane’s watchin’ out for ya?

  “Yeah, no problem. It’s just going to put a bit of a damper on my love life for a while.”

  “No shit. But why’re ya worried about me bein’ on camera outside the house?”

  I scuffed at the gravel with the toe of my shoe while I thought about my reply. “Um... it’s complicated.” I looked up at his frown. “You know how you got caught in the crossfire last week because Fuzzy Bunny saw us getting friendly?”

  He nodded, his face darkening. I took his hand and stroked it, trying to erase the memories. He closed his hands around mine.

  “Ya are in danger,” he said flatly. “An’ you’re tryin’ to keep me out of it.”

  “Well... yeah, kind of,” I admitted. Too bad his dumb-biker image was just a facade. I couldn’t slip anything by him.

  “Aydan, what d’ya need me to do?” He studied my face, and I suppressed a shudder at the thought of what he’d already done for me. And what it had cost him.

  “Nothing. Just don’t get friendly with me within camera range. Or in public.”

  “Okay,” he said slowly. His head jerked up as he glanced over my shoulder. “Speakin’ a’ situations, ya got one comin’ for ya right now, I’d say.”

  “Shit, what?” I wheeled around to follow his gaze. My heart sank at the sight of the approaching figure.

  “Looks like a cowboy carryin’ a bouquet of flowers,” Hellhound observed with a chuckle. “Ya been busy, darlin’?”

  “Shit!” I turned back to him desperately. “You’ve got to help me.”

  “I dunno, I think ya can take him. Save a horse, ride a cowboy, ain’t that the sayin’?”

  “Very funny. He’s the type to get attached. You know how I feel about getting attached.”

  His face softened, and he stroked the hair back from my face. “Darlin’, maybe ya should think about gettin’ attached again. Ya been alone a long time.”

  I planted my fists on my hips. “Are you proposing?”

  “Christ, no!” The consternation on his face made me laugh despite the gravity of the situation.

  “I feel the same way about getting attached as you do. I like being alone. Help me out here. You know I’d do the same for you,” I begged.

  He grinned. “Hey, I know you’re different, darlin’, but most chicks wanna settle down in the end. I just thought ya might be gettin’ soft or somethin’.”

  I smacked him on the chest. “No, goddammit! Stop messing around!”

  I heard the soft thump of approaching hooves behind me as Hellhound chuckled. “Okay, darlin’, I can throw myself on this grenade for ya,” he whispered.

  He grabbed my ass and yanked me against him. The abrupt contact shocked an involuntary cry out of me, quickly muffled by his lips. His fist knotted in my hair while he kissed me hard and hungrily, his magical tongue teasing me.

  Instant fire flared through me. His hand slid intimately around my ass and between my legs, and I gasped and shuddered with the sudden intensity of my need.

  “She said no, dirtbag! Get your hands off her!”

  Through a haze of lust, I mentally replayed my last words and gestures and suddenly realized how badly this could backfire.

  Tom’s boots thumped to the ground as he dismounted behind me, and I pulled away from Hellhound and spun to face Tom’s furious scowl and clenc
hed fists.

  “Tom, it’s okay. You just misunderstood. Arnie’s a friend,” I gasped.

  He looked slowly from me to Hellhound’s ugly, bearded face and badass leathers. “Looks like I misunderstood something. I just don’t know what, exactly.”

  I sighed. The horse was eagerly devouring the bouquet Tom had dropped. Might as well make equally short work of this situation.

  “Tom, I told you last night that I didn’t want to take things any further with you. This is Arnie Helmand. He’s my good friend. And my lover, from time to time. Now is one of those times.”

  “Oh.” Tom frowned, searching my face.

  Tires crunched on my gravel driveway. Shit, now what?

  I turned to see Kane’s black Expedition pull to a stop in front of Hellhound’s Harley Fatboy.

  Jesus, my yard was starting to feel like a Village People reunion. So far I had the cop, the biker, and the cowboy. My overstressed brain temporarily disengaged as I glanced toward the road, half-expecting to see a musclebound construction worker approaching.

  Thank God, none appeared.

  I dragged my attention back to the situation at hand as Kane strode up. His eyes flicked across the tableau.

  “Hellhound?” he inquired.

  “Cap,” Arnie greeted him noncommittally.

  Kane frowned at me.

  “John, this is Tom Rossburn, my neighbour,” I said weakly. “Tom, I’d like you to meet John Kane.”

  The two men measured each other with their eyes as they shook hands. Kane returned his attention to me. “Aydan, I need you. Now.” He turned to the other two. “Sorry.”

  Hellhound swung astride his bike and shot Tom a warning glance. “Ya might wanna move your horse away. This beast’s loud.”

  Tom nodded brusquely. Then he mounted and rode away without a backward glance.

  Hellhound gave him some distance before firing up the Fatboy. “See ya later, darlin’,” he rasped over the din. He lifted a hand to Kane and me and rode down the lane.

  Kane turned to me. “Anything I need to know about this?”

  “Nope.”

  Chapter 11

  “I’m sorry to bother you on a Sunday,” Kane said. “But I need you to check a document over at Sirius. It’s urgent. Can we leave right away?”

  “Um. I have a bit of a continuity issue. I have to circle around outside the cameras and put the hoe back on my back porch. As if I was coming from the garden.” I gazed up at him. “Why did you drive all the way out here? Why didn’t you just call me?”

  “I tried. You didn’t pick up. I ran the surveillance footage back so I knew you were here, working outside. I expected you to be out back.”

  He frowned down at me, and I suspected he was resisting the urge to ask me what the hell had been going on. I relaxed when he apparently let it go.

  “I need you to carry your phone with you at all times,” he said. “Just in case. Especially if you’re going to play hide and seek with the cameras.”

  I sighed, feeling the noose tightening. “Okay.”

  “What’s the story with your neighbour? Does he suspect anything?”

  “No. This was the first time he’s ever been in the yard. But I told Hellhound about the bugs and cameras.”

  “All right. Hurry up and get rid of your hoe. You can follow me into town, and I’ll meet you at Sirius.”

  I arrived at Sirius Dynamics twenty minutes later and navigated the depressing security with a sense of impending doom. I had been so looking forward to having two full days up in the daylight and open air. My hands started to tremble again when I opened the door at the bottom of the concrete stairwell.

  Kane and Spider looked up from Spider’s desk in the lab as I came in. “Good, you’re here,” Spider said. “We just intercepted this communication, and we think it may be important.”

  “That’d be a nice change from all the tedious crap we’ve been wading through,” I muttered as I slouched into my chair. “Where is it?”

  “In the usual file room,” Spider said.

  I nodded morosely and stepped into the network.

  The digital file was enormous. After the first fifty pages, my brain ceased to process any of the information, and I simply decrypted the document word for word without comprehension.

  At long last, I spoke into the network interface. “That’s it. Is there anything else you need here?”

  Spider’s voice vibrated with excitement. “No. That was excellent. That document was a game-changer. Come on out.”

  I heaved my aching avatar up from its chair and stumbled toward the portal. When I stepped through, my fatigue made the pain seem worse than usual, and I caught myself whimpering while I beat my throbbing head against the nearest solid surface.

  A few seconds later, I recognized the solid surface as Kane’s chest when he held my head firmly against him. “Aydan, stop,” he commanded.

  I groaned and made an effort to unclench my teeth. “I’m okay. You can let go now.”

  He released me and raised my chin to look into my eyes. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yeah. Just tired. What time...” I raised a shaking arm to glance at my watch and suppressed another whimper. Eight o’clock. I was starving.

  Kane looked at his watch, too, and his expression darkened. “Aydan, I’m so sorry. We did it to you again. Can you make it upstairs?”

  “Yeah. I can manage without regular meals as long as I don’t have to run any marathons.”

  I hauled my trembling body out of the chair and staggered for the door.

  Kane’s hand was under my elbow as he turned back. “Webb, get that document sent out ASAP.”

  “I will.” Spider turned back to his keyboard, fingers flying.

  I straightened and did my best to approximate a normal stride down the hallway. Kane paced beside me, watching me closely. He put his hand under my elbow again while I dragged myself up the stairs and into the time-delay chamber.

  When the heavy door finally released, he guided me to one of the lobby chairs. “Stay here. I’ve got some orange juice upstairs.”

  I put out a hand to stop him. “It’s okay. I only have a problem if I exert myself. I’ll just swing into the burger joint on the way home and grab something.”

  He eyed my trembling hands. “I’ll follow you.”

  I really wasn’t in the mood for company, but I was too tired to argue. I sighed and headed for the door.

  The burger was greasy and nowhere near as good as Eddy’s. I nibbled it half-heartedly while Kane devoured his meal. When I couldn’t force myself to swallow any more of it, I laid the remains back into the basket and sank my aching head into my hands.

  I started out of my semi-conscious doze at the sound of Kane’s voice. “You didn’t eat much.”

  “No. Eddy’s spoiled me,” I mumbled.

  “Are you okay to drive?”

  I sat up straighter and shook myself. “Yeah. Good night. See you tomorrow.”

  The fifteen-minute drive home seemed interminable.

  When I arrived at the farm, I parked the car and climbed the hill above the house again, unable to face the thought of being enclosed even by my own house. I stood for a long time on the brow of the hill, soaking up the open space and letting the wild wind tear at my clothes and hair.

  Movement caught my eye, and I glanced over to see Tom silhouetted on his horse again. I sighed, feeling sorry for myself and for him. That had been a shitty way to end things. He seemed like a nice guy.

  I sat down and rested my head on my drawn-up knees in the long red beams of the sunset, feeling melancholy and still unwilling to go indoors.

  “Aydan.” The soft voice jerked me awake. “Are you okay?”

  A gentle hand lifted the hair away from my face, and I rolled over to peer up at Tom’s frown in the twilight.

  “What...?” I frowned back at him, disoriented.

  “Are you okay? Do you know where you are?” he asked anxiously.

  I s
at up as he squatted on his heels beside me. His horse snuffled placidly a few yards away.

  “Can you tell me your name? Do you know what day it is?”

  I shook my head vigorously, my brain gradually rebooting when I recognized classic first-responder orientation questions.

  “Sorry. I’m fine. Yes, I know where I am. I just fell asleep.”

  “Tell me your name,” he repeated patiently.

  I laughed. “It’s okay. My name is Aydan Kelly. It’s Sunday evening. I’m sitting on the hillside above my farm, outside Silverside, Alberta, and I really just fell asleep.”

  The tension eased from his shoulders and he gave me his crooked smile as he sat down on the ground beside me, stretching out one long leg. “You scared me.”

  “Sorry. What are you doing here?”

  “I was out riding. Just... thinking things over. I saw you up here, so I went the other way. I didn’t want to intrude. But you were out here so long, and when I looked over, I saw you kind of collapse onto the ground and lie still. I was afraid something was wrong.”

  “Thanks for watching out for me. I just had too long a day, I guess.”

  “Aydan... since I’m here anyway, I owe you an apology. I was out of line last night. You said you were widowed, and I never thought to ask if you were involved with someone. I’m sorry. I owe your boyfriend an apology, too. I didn’t mean to poach.”

  I drew up my knees and rested my chin on them while I stared out over the long vista fading in the twilight. “It’s okay. And Arnie’s not my boyfriend. He wouldn’t care one way or the other.”

  “But... you said he was your lover.”

  I sighed and glanced over at him. He really deserved the truth. Or at least as much of it as I could tell him. “Can I be really blunt?”

  He nodded. “Might as well be, I’d say. You don’t owe me any tact.”

  I stared out over the fields again. “Arnie and I are good friends. Neither of us wants to get involved. With anybody. Including each other. We get together from time to time. We have a few laughs. We have sex. If he walked in and found me in bed with another man, he’d probably apologize for not calling first. I’d do the same for him if I walked in on him with another woman. I know it might seem weird, but it’s what I want right now.”