Dangerous Code

by Stella Marie Alden

  His frown deepens, he shakes his head, disapproval all over him.

  I jump in to explain. “It’s not what you think. I slept with her not knowing my boss was going to make her my assignment. And I’m going to keep her. She wasn’t just a quick lay.”

  Suddenly the person under discussion enters, her smile disappears, and her brows crease. Shoot. Had I read her wrong? Maybe one night was all she ever wanted?

  Bob sees her face and turns to her with a kind smile. “Coffee?”

  “Please.” There’s liquid in her eyes when she stares down at her bare toes, the ones that had locked around my back while she screamed in ecstasy last night.

  What did I say? Maybe I was a bit crass, but I said I wanted her, didn’t I?

  “Cream, lass?” Bob puts out a carton of half-and-half.

  Her hands are shaking as she sets down her cup but I don’t have time for touchy-feely.

  Bob’s mind is with me as he places a wad of twenties in my palm. Then he heads to the kitchen for provisions.

  I’ll ask about her tears in the car but first I need to call my boss. “Hey Mike.”

  “Where are you?” Yup. He’s pissed.

  “I’m on the road, taking Jones someplace safe.” I sound quite reasonable.

  He doesn’t. “Drew wants to talk to you. I’ll transfer you after I’m done.”

  “Sir. I don’t believe that’s a good idea, sir.” That’s military-speak for no way.

  “He’s your handler.”

  “Sir, yes sir. I know that, sir.” It’s quite possible I’ll need a new job after this from the way he reams me a new asshole.

  He stops when he finally figures out I’m not going to change my mind. “Where are you, detective?”

  “Just south of Albany.” I might as well tell him. He could easily have the call traced.

  “I want her back in New York, tonight and that’s not a suggestion.”

  “I understand, sir, but Jones is threatening to start tweeting if I don’t let her sleep. She says I’m as bad as the kidnappers.”

  Meggie’s mouth starts to open in protest but I put a finger over her lips. It’s better if my boss thinks we’re not getting along. Actually, that’s not too far from the truth.

  “Fine. Go directly to the safe house in Suffern. Call me first thing in the morning.” He hangs up while Megan stares at my audacity.

  “What?” A dimple shows when I smile. Can’t be helped. At least I have my captain’s permission to keep her out of the city.

  After loading up and saying our goodbyes, I help Megan into an old black Nova parked in one of the temple’s private garages. A lot like a woman, the little car responds to my every touch. Then it’s a relief that Megan gives me the silent treatment for miles. I don’t want to get into it with her. I need to stay focused on that rearview mirror and driving.

  When I take a curve, Megan’s thrown into my shoulder. “Where’re you taking me?”

  “Suffern. There’s a safe house there.” I still have no idea why she’s angry. I guess she wanted a one-nighter but that makes no sense. Maybe she’s mad I told Bob we slept together. That’s probably it. Women are funny about that.

  She picks up her phone and starts typing with her thumbs but I reach across the seat to get her to stop. “Do you think that’s wise? To use your phone?”

  “I want to ask Jason what he thinks of your plan. Then we can shut down.” She’s so cute when she raises her eyebrows, daring me to disagree.

  “Fine.” Even though that program makes my skin crawl, something about my conversation with Mike felt off. Why did he insist I bring her back to New York? Speak to Drew?

  “Hello Jason. Detective O’Brien wants to ask you a question.” Megan puts her phone on speaker and places it in the holder.

  “Hello, Detective.”

  It’s inflection is so real that I squirm and then choose my words carefully. “Is the FBI safe house in Suffern compromised?”

  “I cannot predict the answer to your question with accuracy.”

  Struck out again.

  Megan’s more precise questioning one-ups me. “Who has accessed information on the FBI Suffern safe house in the last six hours?”

  “Special Agent Drew, Captain Mike Sansone, and an untraceable IP.”

  A shiver goes up and down my spine at the word untraceable. “Jason. Is there anyone at the Suffern safe house? Right now?”

  “Yes. Agents Brown, Blaine, Cooper, Howards, and Jackson.”

  Mike knows I’m the suspicious type and would make certain I’d recognize at least one of the people he sent to guard her.

  I don’t know any of those guys.

  My spidey senses tingle, downright uncomfortable. “Jason, where’s the safest place for us to spend the night?”

  “Please constrain your request.”

  That thing grates on my nerves and I turn to Megan for help. “What’s wrong with it, now?”

  Frowning, Megan starts thumbing at lightning speed. “I don’t know. It’s never acted this way before. Does this car have GPS?”

  “No. Why?”

  “Good. Give me your phone.” She removes the sim cards, shoves the phones into the dash, and I get good and worried.

  She touches my thigh, “I know you’re going to think I’m nuts but I got a really bad feeling.”

  “I don’t think you’re nuts. I’m with you.” My hand rests on hers.

  “No, you think I’m a quick lay.” She laughs but it’s forced.

  Whoa. That came out of left field. “Is that what has your panties all wadded up?”

  She nods.

  “I said you weren’t a quick lay.” That didn’t sound so good either. Why do women have to make things so complicated?

  Shrugging, her face turns away from me as she stares out the passenger side window.

  “Didn’t I say I’d call this morning?” What can I say to make her believe? What more does she want?

  “Uh huh. Right before the phone call. The one where Joe said we were caught on camera.”

  Well, at least I know what’s really pissing her off. “I told you, I didn’t know anything about that video.”

  “Well that doesn’t make me feel any better, Colin. Jeesh. People saw us. Me. Naked. You know, having sex.” Big green eyes stare at me, accusing.

  I get it. I didn’t like it any more than she did but what’s done is done. “I took care of the original and I assume Jason took care of the rest.”

  She nods.

  “Believe me, no one got much more than a lovely view of my ass. So we’re good?” I shoot her a smile.

  She snickers. “I guess… Do you really want more than a quick lay? With me?”

  I really wished she hadn’t overheard me say that. It was crass, meant for Bob’s ears only.

  “Do you?” Her eyebrows raise, and I know I should tell her the truth.

  Hoping I’m not making a mistake that I’ll regret the rest of my life, I nod.

  She gives me this smile that melts a piece of my heart. “You might as well know. It’s stupid but I had this horrible crush on you when I was a kid.”

  I can’t help but focus on the past tense. What does she think now? She still didn’t say if she wanted more than a one night stand.

  She squeezes my leg. “Why did you stop emailing me?” Her heart-shaped mouth purses into a little frown.

  “I didn’t. You did.”

  “No I didn’t.”

  “Yeah, you did. We chatted online about going to Arizona. Remember? Then nothing. You disappeared. From Facebook. From everything. I figured you went off to college and needed to start anew.” Even as a randy teenager, losing her friendship had sucked. She was the only person I could pour my heart out to.

  “I had no idea.” Her eyes narrow. “Those bastards.”

  “Who?”

  “My college. They must’ve blocked you. You have no idea what they were capable of. After I escaped, I swear I tried to find you but the Marines said you’d depl
oyed. I wasn’t family so they wouldn’t tell me how to stay in touch.

  “You could’ve found me if you tried.”

  “I know. But what good would that do? I thought you had written me off and by then I was in hiding. A mess. That’s why I changed my identity. I could’ve ruined your career. I might still.”

  “I don’ think-”

  “Let’s not talk about it. Okay?”

  It’s not okay. Not even a little bit but her expression says she’s had enough. I’ll get what I need from her, eventually.

  She adjusts her seatbelt so she can raise her knees to her chest. “I was so stupid. There was this guy, Mahmoud Teherizad, he was my college advisor. You read about that, right?”

  “They left the name out of the files.”

  “Figures. He was the son of a Saudi prince and my mentor in Artificial Intelligence. Brilliant but with an ego a mile wide. When I made intuitive leaps he couldn’t follow, he got insanely jealous.”

  She sighs, quiet for a while, watching the foliage. “At first I pictured him like Brian Elliot in Wonder Woman volume 2, episode 74.”

  “Sorry you lost me.” I glance over and the tops of her cheeks blush.

  “Apologies. Stupid. Of course. That’s how my mind worked as a teen.” Her small hand goes higher on my thigh.

  It’s not meant to be sexual but, of course, but my cock thinks it is, and I groan. It’s going to be a long ride.

  “So in that episode, Wonder Woman injures a super-genius hacker and then heals him. Together they defeat their arch enemy.”

  “I’m still not following you.”

  Her laugh is bitter. “Mahmoud was nothing like the hero in my comic books. You know how I was as thirteen. At seventeen I hadn’t changed all that much. Just like I did with you, I crushed on him. Thought I was in love. I should’ve known better.”

  Was she talking about me or him? I wished I could say that I would’ve done something if she’d contacted me, but by then I was deployed with sand up my ass.

  “I found out what a twisted mother-fucker he was.” She clenches her fists and wipes an angry arm across her face. “It’s so hard to admit. I wanted him to love me. I actually begged.”

  “Meggie, you don’t have to tell me anymore if you don’t want to.” I’m pretty sure I don’t want to hear what comes next.

  Staring out the passenger side window, her jaw clenches. “You need to know this. He took a video of the whole thing. Whenever I misbehaved, he made me watch while he jacked-off.”

  “Misbehaved? Jesus, Meggie. Listen to yourself.” I curse myself for shouting. Not appropriate, O’Brien. But she sounds as if she believes it’s her fault.

  Angry eyes meet mine as she juts out her chin, as if I’m guilty by association. “And every bit of this was sanctioned by the U.S. government.”

  I try to reason with her. “You can’t blame the whole U.S. government for one Saudi.”

  “But how many knew, Colin? How many? You must’ve read my file. Afterwards, the whole thing was covered up. Like it never happened. Like it didn’t matter. Like I didn’t matter.”

  I squeeze her hand wishing I could argue with her logic, but I can’t.

  A sense of urgency hits me and I put my foot down on the pedal of the Nova. I need to get her to the cabin and safely hidden. As the sun sinks lower, I turn on the headlights, and we drive for almost an hour more.

  “There’s one more thing you need to know. Last night was the first time, since… since then.” She just blurts it out like it’s no big deal.

  I almost lose my grip on the wheel. “Jesus, Megan. You should’ve said something.”

  How’s a guy supposed to respond to something like that? There’s no words for all the shit exploding in my brain so I just hold her hand while the blackness of the empty countryside unfolds.

  “You okay?” Her voice in the dark reminds me of the kid I once knew.

  “Yeah,” I lie but I’m definitely not.

  The modern man is uneasy but the caveman beats his chest. She chose me to break free of what that bastard did to her.

  “You sound angry.” After sniffing repeatedly, she searches the glove compartment. I guess she was looking for a tissue because coming up empty handed, she wipes her nose on her sleeve.

  “You just need to give me a moment to let it all sink in.” I want to comfort her, I really do, but she’s put me into an awkward situation.

  It might be better if I let her think I’m angry because after that revelation, I’m not sure if I can resist her. She’s my job. That means I can’t be her lover again until this is all over.

  Then she drops another bombshell. “I think Mahmoud may have gotten into Jason.”

  “Are you serious? Why didn’t you say something?”

  “I didn’t think you’d believe me.”

  She’s probably right but that doesn’t make the matter less urgent. “Can you shut it down?”

  “I won’t know until I try.”

  Suddenly I remember what Drew said about her selling to the Chinese. That she was a traitor. She’s so naive. Maybe that’s what happened. What if she logs on and makes everything worse?

  I’m still wondering what to do as I head the Nova down the long winding path toward the cabin. Then I notice her shoes. I suppose if I chop off the heels, she’ll be able manage the half mile trek up the hill.

  “Here we are. Give me those.” I pull to a stop under camouflage of nylon netting laced with fake pine boughs. Then I pull out my boot knife and it gleams in the car’s overhead light.

  She scoots back and throws open the passenger door. “These are designer. You’re not going to destroy them.”

  “Suit yourself.” I exit, grab the knapsack of provisions out of the back seat, and head up the hill.

  She follows and seconds later I hear, “God Damn it. Ow! You are such a bastard. Fine.”

  Shoes come off with eyes closed and she hands them off as if they’re a prisoner of war. Then once the damage is done, I take her hand, and lead her up the hill. I’ve got incredible night vision and apparently walk too fast.

  She stumbles and clutches my arm. “How much further?”

  “We’re almost there,” I lied. Can’t be helped. We’re only about half way up the hill.

  “I can’t see a thing. Ouch. Shit.” She starts to fall and her nails dig into my arm.

  Slipping my arm around her waist, I guide her. “Hold on, Meggie. I’ve got you.”

  We walk for a while in silence and then suddenly she gets all chatty. By now I know that’s how she deals with nerves. “What happened to you Colin? Why did you enlist? I thought you were going to NYU?”

  This is not the time for that conversation but before I can explain, her voice stiffens. “You don’t have to say, I was just wondering.”

  Suddenly, a noise behind us makes her jump. It’s probably just a rabbit or a mole, but she peels away from me and dashes away, back down the hill.

  “Megan, Stop!”

  As I follow, pine boughs smack me in the face. She shouts out with a heart-stopping screech, branches snap, and gravel rolls. Then there’s silence.

  “Megan?” My heart shoots into my throat.

  Nothing.

  I rush to the steep drop off and call down, “Megan? Are you hurt?”

  “I’m here. I’m okay. Just a few scratches.” Her voice comes from a spot parallel to where I’m standing.

  Thank God she stopped before she fell off the ledge. I don’t know whether to thrash her or hug her. “Keep talking. I’m coming.”

  “I heard a bear.” She’s just feet away.

  I snicker as my muscle memory finds the familiar path. “A bear?”

  She gets defensive. “Yeah. They’ve been known to attack.”

  I land beside where she’s standing and hug her tight. “Not very likely. They’re more likely to run in the other direction. It wasn’t a bear.”

  “Okay, A wolf, then. Either way. I was smart to run.” Her arms surround me. />
  “Megan, it was probably just a mouse, a squirrel, or even a rabbit. Small noise, small animal. Right?”

  She punches my chest. “How would I know? Things sound larger than they appear in the dark. I’m not moving again unless you turn on a flashlight.”

  If someone’s searching for us from the hills above, a light will point us out like a beacon but I’m so happy to see her alive, I almost agree. “I’ll make a deal. I’ll answer your questions if you promise, no more running. God Megan, there’s stuff a lot more dangerous than animals.”

  “Deal… Unless there’s another bear.” She’s impossible.

  “If there is one, safer to freeze than run.” I consider cuffing her to me. A few more inches, and she would’ve slid off a sheer thirty-foot drop.

  Oblivious to how close she’d just come to death, she starts up her interrogation again. “So. Why’d you stop texting me?”

  “It’s a long story.”

  “A deal’s a deal.”

  “It’s really simple. I enlisted.” I put my jacket around her because she’s shivering. That near fall bothered her more than she’s letting on.

  “But why? You told me you needed your computer to get souped-up for college. I made that old piece of junk run like new.”

  “I did use it. First in Iraq. Then in college.”

  The woman would make a great interrogator for the inquisition. “But why enlist? I thought you were set on going to college. Your first semester was just a few months away.”

  “My dad lost his job. My mother got tired of his crap and changed the locks on the doors. End of marriage. End of story.”

  I hate talking about that time in my life and in the dark, ghosts tend to haunt worse than in the daylight.

  “Yikes. But that doesn’t explain-”

  “-He asked me for money and I gave him some.”

  She gasps, “Oh no. Your tuition?”

  “My friends told me that my dad was spending my money and not for rent. I found him drunk, sitting at a bar. I told him he was a worthless piece of shit. Me and my mom deserved better. Then I demanded my money back.” I wish I could take back that day and that Megan hadn’t asked me about it. And that I wasn’t in the middle of the woods with a woman I could possibly fall in love with.