He grinned at me. “So what’d you get?”
I popped the lid open and returned his grin. “Baby Glock.”
“Aw. It’s adorable.”
We traded cheerful banter for a few more minutes until I yawned hugely. “I’m done. If I don’t sleep soon, I’m going to turn myself inside out.”
“Okay. Sleep well. Unlike me.”
I laughed. “Thanks for watching out for me.”
“You’re welcome. Good night.”
Mindful of Germain’s presence, I decided on shorts and a tank top for nightwear. Just in case. I dragged myself into bed and knew no more.
I opened my eyes to Kane as he bent over me in the silver moonlight. He smiled when I reached to pull him down. He lowered himself on top of me, and my breath caught at the sensation of his hard body against mine.
I kissed him hungrily, moaning as his fingertips lightly traced my collarbone. He trailed his lips down to the hollow of my neck. His hands found my breasts, and I moaned again, my breath coming faster.
He moved slowly against me and I opened my legs to him, pressing up. My hands locked onto his perfect ass and I urged him closer, begging for more.
He whispered my name, and I answered with another moan as I searched for his lips again.
“Aydan.”
I ran my hands up over his massive shoulders. God, I could sink my teeth into those muscles. I traced my tongue over one of his bulging biceps, nibbling my way up to his neck.
His voice changed, more urgent as he spoke aloud. “Aydan.”
I pulled him closer, panting with need.
“Aydan!”
I jerked awake with a yelp.
“Sorry.” Germain stood silhouetted in the doorway. “You were having a nightmare. I didn’t want to come close enough to get punched this time.”
I groaned and flopped back on the pillow. “Thanks. I’m okay now. And I haven’t woken up punching for a while.”
“Good to know. Good night again.” He withdrew, swinging the door shut behind him.
I lay seething in the bed. These dreams were so damn realistic. Must be some kind of hangover from the sim. Goddamn, I was horny.
I groaned again and pulled the pillow over my face.
The phone rang.
I resisted the urge to press the pillow down until I smothered. Another ring. I jerked the pillow off my head and slammed it onto the bed. The clock read three-thirty. The phone rang again, and I snatched up the receiver.
“What!”
“Die, bitch.”
“Fuck you, fuck everybody who looks like you, and fuck your mother twice!” I slammed the phone down.
Germain’s tap on the door came seconds later. “Aydan? Everything okay?”
I sighed. “Fine. I’m unplugging the phone now.”
“Good idea. I’ll pick up next time. That might deter your caller.”
“Thanks.”
I was just rolling out of bed at seven o’clock when I heard the phone ring in the kitchen. Hell, let Germain get it.
I was on my way to the bathroom when he tapped on the bedroom door. “Aydan, it’s for you. Do you want me to take a message?”
“No, that’s okay. I’m up. I’ll just plug in the phone and take it in here. Thanks.” I shuffled back to sit on the edge of the bed. “Hello?”
“Hi, Aydan, it’s Tom. I hope I’m not calling too early. You said you were a morning person.”
“No problem, I was up. What can I do for you?”
“I was calling to make sure you were okay. I tried several times yesterday evening, but you weren’t home.”
“I’m fine, thanks. It took a little longer to resolve the problem at work than I’d expected.”
“Okay...” He hesitated. “Was that John who answered the phone? Are you safe there?”
I sighed. “No, that was Carl.”
I didn’t bother to fabricate an explanation for a man answering my phone at seven o’clock in the morning. I was pretty sure Tom could figure one out all by himself.
“Oh.” There was a short pause. “Okay. As long as you’re all right.”
“I’m fine. Thanks for checking in, and I’m sorry for the bother yesterday.”
“No bother. Any time you need help, just ask.”
“Thanks, Tom. ‘Bye.”
I thudded the receiver against my forehead. Any other woman would be thrilled to get this kind of attention. Hell, who was I kidding? Any other time, I’d be thrilled to be getting this kind of attention. But right now, it was a huge pain in the ass.
I growled my way into the bathroom and bared my teeth at my reflection. Surrounded by men, and no hope of getting laid in the foreseeable future. I snarled and stepped into the shower.
Chapter 34
I’d just finished putting the breakfast dishes away when Kane tapped on my screen door.
“Come on in,” I invited. “I’ll just grab my waist pouch, and then I’m ready to go.”
“No, your first priority today is target practice,” he countered.
I shot him a grin. “Aw, gee, sucks to be me. I was hoping to get a chance for that today.”
He smiled back, but his eyes were serious. “Go get your guns, then. I’ll tell the sentries to expect gunfire.”
I headed downstairs to liberate my old .22 rifle and a box of shells from the gun locker, and grabbed the box that held my new Glock. By the time I got back upstairs, Kane was waiting on the front porch.
My heart lifted while we hiked toward the back corner of my quarter-section. The air was already warming and the birds were singing their little hearts out. I could even appreciate them this morning.
Kane surveyed the area as we approached the small corner that I used for a firing range. “What’s beyond that knoll?” he asked.
“Don’t worry. Nothing but empty pasture for miles. No roads, no human habitation. And I always shoot into the knoll as a backstop anyway.”
“Perfect.”
I set up a target and walked back to the rock I used to mark my firing line. I stood for a moment, cradling my .22 while I looked out over the farmland and breathed the sweet air.
“What?” I shook myself out of my reverie when I realized Kane was watching me intently.
“You were a million miles away.”
I gave him a half smile. “No, just a few decades.”
He raised an encouraging eyebrow, and I explained. “I always used to shoot with my Dad on the farm when I was a kid. Just like this, outside on a nice day in the middle of nowhere.” I stroked the .22’s stock. “This was his gun. He got it when he was sixteen. It’s my favourite.”
“Good memories.”
“Yeah.”
I turned away to exchange the .22 for the Glock. Bittersweet memories. Hard to believe it’d been nearly ten years since he died. I concentrated on loading up the Glock’s magazine and clicked it into place.
I turned to face the target and laughed. “This really is a baby. It’s so little and light!”
“Try it.”
I took aim and squeezed off a shot. A solid kick, as Kane had warned, but not unmanageable. I hit the target high and to the right.
“Hmmph.” I took a few more shots, getting used to the sights. My shots moved closer to the centre, grouping nicely. “That’s better.”
I shot the rest of the magazine and reloaded. Then I laid the Glock aside and picked up the .22.
Kane eyed me quizzically.
“I need to come back to it. So I know I can pick it up fresh and be accurate on my first shot.”
He nodded, and I shot a few rounds with the .22, its familiar action feeling like an extension of my own body.
“New target.” I headed downrange and pinned up a fresh one.
When I got back to the firing line, I bent and picked up the Glock, then turned rapidly and took three quick shots.
“Nice.” Kane shaded his eyes with his hand as he surveyed the three closely spaced holes near the centre of the target.
“Good enough,” I agreed. “I’ll keep practicing with it, but I’ll feel comfortable carrying it now.”
“Good. Try the holsters, then.”
I fiddled with them until they fit as well as possible. It was a warm day already, so I decided to go with the ankle holster. I reloaded and eased the gun into the holster gingerly.
I looked up at Kane’s raised eyebrows. “Carrying a loaded gun is so totally against all the gun-safety protocols that have been drilled into my head all my life. And I feel really uncomfortable with no external safety. I’ll probably shoot my own foot off.”
“Glocks have a safe-action trigger. The safety’s built in.”
“Clearly you underestimate my ability to fulfill Murphy’s Law.”
He laughed. “It’ll be all right. You’ll get used to it fast.”
“Maybe.”
The unaccustomed weight dragged at my ankle on the walk back. Just like the unaccustomed responsibility dragged at my heart.
When we got back to the house, I glanced up at Kane. “Do I have time to clean them before we go? It’s against my religion not to clean a gun after I use it.”
He checked his watch and frowned. “Mine, too. But we really have to go. We have a meeting with Stemp in half an hour.”
“Shit, why didn’t you tell me? I could have quit sooner.”
“I’d rather you took the time you needed to get comfortable with the gun.”
I shrugged. “Okay. But if lightning strikes me dead for not cleaning my guns, I’m holding you responsible.”
“Guilty as charged,” he agreed. “Put your rifle away and let’s go.”
“My dirty rifle.”
He sighed. “Yes. Come on.”
My heart rate sped up while I feigned a relaxed posture in the meeting room. Spider looked distinctly anxious. His knee bounced rhythmically while he frowned into middle distance.
Kane sat immobile, looking calm as always. I really had to learn that trick.
“What’s up, Spider?” I asked as casually as I could.
“I called Stemp because...” he began. His head jerked up as Stemp entered the room. Stemp’s expressionless eyes inspected us each in turn as he closed the door behind him and made his way to the table.
“Webb,” he said without preamble.
“We have a problem,” Spider blurted. He turned apprehensive eyes on Kane and me. “I tracked the origin of that document you found, Aydan.”
“And?” Kane inquired levelly.
Spider twitched a shoulder. “From what I could tell... It originated here in Silverside. At the internet cafe.”
Kane’s face was composed as he met Stemp’s sharp gaze. “Were you able to pinpoint the sender?” he asked.
“No.”
“So we have a leak,” Kane said.
“So it would seem,” Stemp agreed. “Is there something you’d like to tell us?”
My mouth dropped open. I couldn’t believe he was directing the not-so-veiled accusation at Kane. Kane shot me a warning glance when I sat forward abruptly.
“Obviously, it’s the first I’ve heard about it,” Kane said calmly. “But we have a fairly limited pool of suspects. There are only a few people who have sufficient security clearance to know about the network key, and about Aydan’s ability to use it.”
“Yes,” Stemp agreed. “So what were you doing at the internet cafe on Monday evening?”
Kane sat slowly back in his chair, his face impassive. “My home computer died. I went to the cafe to check my email.”
“I see.” Stemp’s flat eyes surveyed him.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I burst out. “If Kane wanted to rat me out to Fuzzy Bunny, he could have done it at any time in the past four months. At Harchman’s he could have snatched me and the key together and delivered us to Fuzzy Bunny in a nice, neat package. He wouldn’t wait until now and send an email.”
“Unless he was smart and organized,” Stemp said. “And unless he intended to keep working as a double agent over the long term.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it!” I glared at him. “There are always a bunch of people in that internet cafe. Who else was there on Monday night?”
“There were lots of people there,” Spider put in quickly. “I was there gaming until nearly two.”
“And did you see anyone else with a top-level Sirius security clearance?” Stemp asked.
“N...no.” Spider’s face fell. “But I was pretty involved in the game. I could’ve easily missed somebody.”
“You have a top-level clearance, too.” Stemp’s voice was silky.
Spider’s mouth fell open as he gazed at Stemp. “Uh... yeah...” he whispered. “But...” He straightened up in his chair, frowning. “But I’d never do anything to hurt Aydan!”
“Stop!” I jerked up from my chair and held back the urge to yell. “Stop flinging wild accusations around. I trust these men with my life.”
“Yes, and how many times have you nearly died?” Stemp inquired expressionlessly.
The bottom dropped out of my stomach. “You can’t be serious.”
Kane broke in. “Aydan, we have to ask these questions. To everybody. We obviously have a leak. That means somebody we trust has betrayed us. No matter who it turns out to be, you’re not going to like it.”
“Fine, then,” I growled. “Let’s ask the questions. What were you doing Monday night, Stemp? How did you know Kane was at the cafe? Did you happen to pop in there for a while?”
Stemp leaned back in his chair and surveyed me with his inscrutable eyes. “Actually, I did,” he admitted finally.
“Because...” I prodded.
“I was transacting some business that I prefer not to do from home.”
“What sort of business?”
“The sort of business that doesn’t concern you.”
“Oh, really.”
“Really.”
I glared at him. “We’re done here. I have work to do. And I need my team to help me do it.”
“Very well.” Stemp rose. “I will continue to investigate. Meanwhile, I suggest that you trust nobody, and be prepared to use your new weapon. At any time. Against anyone.” He gave Kane a hard stare and left the room.
I kicked my chair back and stalked around the table, fists clenched. “What a prick!” I turned to face Spider and Kane. “I trust you guys more than anybody in the world. He’s so full of shit!”
Kane rubbed a weary hand over his face. “No. He’s not. There are only a handful of people who know what you can do. You know all of them personally. You’ve trusted all of them, until now. You’re wrong about one of them. There’s no way to sugar-coat that.”
I did a quick mental inventory of all the people I’d worked with. Kane was right. I liked and trusted them all. I couldn’t believe one of them would betray me.
Except John Smith.
“What about Smith?” I asked. “Did you see him on Monday?”
Spider shook his head. “I didn’t even see Stemp. I could have easily missed somebody else, too. I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Aydan,” Kane said gently. “Just because you don’t get along with Smith doesn’t mean he’s the mole. In cases like this, it often turns out to be the person you trusted the most.”
I dropped back into the chair and buried my face in my hands. “I hate this. And I don’t believe I’m wrong about you guys. Or Germain. I’d stake my life on you three. For what it’s worth.”
“Thanks, Aydan, that’s good to hear,” Kane said, and Spider nodded agreement. Kane met my eyes. “I hope you’re right.”
Chapter 35
Back in my office, I scanned Spider’s tired face. “How did it go last night?”
He rubbed his eyes, and I could read the strain in his shoulders. “It went okay. I altered your program so if that specific file shows up again, we’ll know. But I couldn’t do anything to watch for any other files or variations on that file because of the encryption. It’s actually pret
ty useless.”
He met my eyes with a worried gaze. “There are some more files in the listening program this morning. You should look at them as soon as possible.”
The anxious knot in my stomach clenched a little harder. “I’ll do that right now.”
I leaned back on the couch and whisked into the virtual network. My heart beat a little faster at the sight of the small stack of files. I was just reaching for the first one with trembling hands when Kane stepped into the virtual file room. I twitched at his sudden appearance, my nerves strung tight.
“Sorry,” he said. “I’m going to work in here again. Let’s hope I don’t need a bucket this time.”
“Let’s hope,” I agreed, and opened the first file.
Much later, I laid down the last document with a sigh of relief. “That’s it. So far, so good.”
Kane looked up from his virtual terminal, his face clearing. “That’s a relief.” He looked at his watch. “You should take a break. It’s nearly noon.”
“Not quite yet. I have an idea.” I dissolved into invisibility and was floating into the network structure when Kane shouted my name.
I snapped back to the file room, my heart pounding. “What?” I scanned wildly, but couldn’t identify any threat.
Kane took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Don’t do that.”
“What? Don’t do what? Jeez, you scared the piss out of me.”
“Don’t just vanish without telling me what you’re going to do. Last time you did that, you were gone for three hours and I had to carry you out in a bucket.”
“Oh.” I sucked in a deep breath of my own, trying to calm down. “Sorry. I’m going to try to modify my little program. I’ll need to be invisible so I can check the connections. I don’t think it’ll take long.”
“Give me your hand. Just in case.”
“Okay.” I felt his hand close around mine as I stretched my invisible virtual self into the network.
It was easier than I thought. Kane’s grip tightened spasmodically when I popped back into existence beside him, grinning.
He let go and surveyed my face. “I take it that went well.”
“Yes.”
Reach For the Spy Page 20
