by Gayle, A. B.
Usually Aiden was cute when he was stubborn, but right now wasn’t the time for it. “If he has answers, we need them, especially if we want to get out of here.”
“Is the offer still up for Canada?”
Flynn grabbed his face and planted a kiss on Aiden’s forehead. “Fuck yeah. When we get to Vancouver, the TimBits are on me.”
Aiden loosened his grip on Flynn, but leaned forward, closing his eyes, and rested his forehead on Flynn’s, speaking softly. “Promise you’re not going to… disappear like that again. I….” He struggled to find the right way to phrase his words, but found his vocabulary lost. As seemed to be par for the course around Flynn most times. “Just promise.”
Flynn put his arms around him and held Aiden tightly. “I’m not, not if I have anything to say about it. Okay?” Poor kid. In moments like these, Flynn felt terrible for ever getting involved with him. His life was such a disaster area, and Aiden was so innocent. Well, as innocent as a sexy teacher could be.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Aiden nodded. “Okay. Lyle might be with Gideon. I think there was an office he was setting up in yesterday. Or maybe he was just inspecting it.”
“Who the fuck’s Gideon?”
Aiden had to think back. “The… pilot? Maybe?”
That made Flynn raise his eyebrows. “You don’t know?”
“I think I’ve mentioned that the last few days have been difficult? I’ve been in… a sort of… fog I guess.” He didn’t want to admit how he’d pretty much lost his mind from worrying about where Flynn was and the change in his life that everyone else seemed if not happy with, at least at ease about.
Flynn smoothed his hair out of his face, troubled by the pained look on Aiden’s face. “You don’t think Eidolon’s done something to you, do you?”
“No. I wouldn’t eat or drink anything they offered, so they couldn’t have.”
No wonder he looked so thin. “What? When was the last time you ate?”
Aiden shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, okay? I’m fine. Just… been a little stressed is all. I’ll be fine now.”
Flynn eyed him suspiciously. “Right. We’re gonna get you something to eat, and then we’re gonna hunt down Lyle’s pasty white ass and kick it until he spills his guts.”
“How do you know he has a pasty white ass, hmm?” Aiden teased, eyebrow quirking up in amusement to distract him from their other conversation.
“Oh, come on. Have you seen him? He makes Greg Allman look like George Hamilton.”
“I’ve seen him, but he’s quiet. Didn’t talk to me much, but then… I didn’t say much either.”
“There’s nothing to say to that asshole. He’s got a stick jammed so far up his ass he probably spits splinters.” Flynn got up off the tiny bed , and asked, “Does this lean-to have a kitchen?”
“Yeah, down the hall and around the corner. You’ll have to get dressed, first.” He laughed quietly into his hand at the comment about Lyle, but then felt bad about it and turned it into a small cough.
Flynn turned around, and did a small, modified butt dance. “What, I can back this up into your kitchen? Have you gotten snooty on me?”
“I just don’t want anyone else seeing your ass, that’s all.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth he bit his bottom lip and blushed. Again. Damn, all those reactions he’d had around Flynn before were coming back full force.
Ah, cute. He loved to make Aiden blush. Good thing it was so damn easy. “You said you got some of my clothes? Where are they?”
“In the bag under that bed,” he gestured. “The blue bag. Your book is on top.”
Flynn went to get it, looking over his shoulder at him. “Why are there more beds in here? Are you planning an orgy without me?”
Aiden managed to keep a straight face. “I thought you’d already planned it.”
“Oh no, you don’t plan an orgy. They’re no fun unless they’re spontaneous.” Flynn opened the bag, and dug out some novelty boxers with big lipstick prints on them. He stepped into them before pulling out a pair of cargo shorts and a tank top. “Hey, does the weather ever drop beneath a hundred here?”
“Not since I’ve been here,” Aiden said as he got off the bed, stretching. “We’re all staying in here until this place gets fixed up. Doesn’t leave much room for privacy, which is why I wanted to fix that other place.”
“Good idea. Stick with me, baby, and I’ll get us kicked out within an hour.” As Flynn pulled on his shorts, he realized that wasn’t even a joke. He got kicked out of all the nicest and all the worst places. People just didn’t have a sense of humor anymore.
“Believe me… I’m going to be sticking with you.”
Flynn smiled at him, feeling like a heel. Aiden probably should have stuck with someone better. He threw the tank top over his shoulder, not ready to put it on yet, and asked, “So what’s in the kitchen? Any food, or just an industrial gruel pot?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. I found scissors in there last time I checked it out.” Aiden pulled on some of his own clean clothes, thankfully he’d brought shorts. He tugged his sneakers on over bare feet and pulled his white t-shirt over head. “Hey, think they have that World’s Greatest Grandpa mug you were so keen on finding?”
Flynn held up a pair of crossed fingers. “We can only hope. And I hope you kept the scissors, ‘cause I’ve heard if you soak ‘em in drawn butter, they’re good eating.”
“Well, we’ll have to hope they have butter to soak them in then.”
“If necessary, I can hunt down and kill a butter bear. You’ve hooked up with a macho dude, Riding Hood. Lucky you.”
“My very own sexy wolf? Very lucky for me.” Aiden laughed softly. “I didn’t realize the butter bear was indigenous to this region…”
“Oh sure. They fly, you know. But they have a tendency to melt if they’re in the air too long, so you can find ‘em pretty much anywhere. They really love Denny’s.”
“That explains a lot,” Aiden mused as he opened the door and let Dante in. The dog instantly pounced on him and he pushed him off, patting his head.
Flynn watched Aiden with his dog and smiled, doing his best to pretend that he wasn’t worried at all. But he was. Something was going on, and he couldn’t grasp what. None of this made sense.
Which was why Lyle better have some answers. And he hoped he gave them up reluctantly, because he really felt like punching something.
22: Pierced Ears
Gideon Sterling and Sandra Pierce
Introducing Eidolon Security Detail Alpha –
Harry Garvey, Ragnar Bjornson, Gareth Pritchard, Ray Bullivant and Ewan Clarke
with mention of Miles Sutherland, Carter Gillespie, Lyle Tate and Aiden Parker
___________________________________________________
26th January, dinner time
“This is no fucking good…”
“I tell you, if he doesn’t sort the bitch out soon, I bloody will…”
“…need to know who to take orders from…”
Gideon looked up from his desk as the voices invaded the quiet and calm of HQ as it had come to be known. The paperwork he was attempting to finish was a raft of requisition forms and orders. He needed to sort them before the seaplane’s next scheduled visit. So far, despite her arrival on this morning’s flight, he’d managed to avoid Sandra Pierce, and he wanted to keep it that way for a while longer if he could.
Christ, his neck was stiff. Gideon flexed his shoulders and heard a crack as something shifted back into place. Exhaling with relief, he realised he’d been on the go ever since waking to the sound of his satellite phone going off: a ‘heads up’ from Ragnar Bjornson that their flight was on the final approach.
His men had been first off the plane, shouldering their kit and clumping down the wooden walkway, Bjornson in the lead, a tall, tow-headed, genial Scandinavian with piercing blue eyes followed by Pritchard, Garvey, Clarke and Bullivant. After a quick welcome he’d sent them up to stow their gear then set
them a few tasks around the place, clearing up some of the larger pieces of storm debris and transferring the equipment which had just arrived from the jetty to the complex.
Next time he saw Breslaw, though, he’d rip him a new one for making him into a glorified babysitter. Gideon had done the best he could for Tate after hearing his request for privacy and offered him a share of his own room for now. Tate had reluctantly agreed; Gideon knew all there was to know anyway. Gideon tried hard not to be judgemental. He might not understand–that was evident after talking to Tate for a while–but he didn’t make assumptions. Tate was struggling through life and rising to the challenge, so far as Gideon could see. He respected the man for that.
The teacher had been roaming around with his dog half the night, muttering to himself about being hot. He’d seen the paramedic—whatshisname—Carter Gillespie, intervene which meant he hadn’t needed to do anything himself. Gideon strongly suspected there were PTSD issues there, but he would leave that to the medics to decide.
Then as he and his men took a well-earned break, Gillespie had started harassing him that Miles Sutherland had been missing for more than 24 hours. After lunch, he’d sent his men off to make a thorough rece of the island. While they were doing that he told them to keep an eye out for the missing man. He expected they had turned up to give him their report.
The argument that the doctor might be lying injured somewhere was a valid one, but Gideon had seen the look in the man’s eye when he walked off soon after they landed. He obviously wanted to be anywhere but there, on Mystery Island. Of all of them, Gideon figured the doctor was probably the most experienced at looking after himself.
The door opened and Bjornsen, Garvey and Pritchard barged in, coming to a halt before the desk. Gideon looked up and growled, “You might be civilians now, but don’t you ever knock?”
“Sorry, boss, but this is ridiculous…”
“She’s fucked us up….”
“…conflicting orders….”
“Woah there, one at a time. Rag, what are you yammering about?”
“Sorry, sir, but it’s that Eidolon woman, Pierce. She’s contradicting your orders about what we’re meant to be doing here…”
“What exactly did she say?” Gideon asked. There was no sense in going nuts before he had the whole story.
“We were progressing with the sweep of the island like you told us, sir, then she called us over and ordered us to help rebuild the bures.”
“What did you do? Garvey?”
The lean young man almost straightened to attention. “We left Clarke and Bullivant at it, sir, and completed the survey. Couldn’t find a trace of Sutherland anywhere, by the way. It was getting dark so we decided we best head back. We observed Gillespie, sir, he was on the beach, looking out to Rapatoka. Looked like he might be doing his own search, like he suggested, sir.” Gideon suppressed a chuckle at all the ‘sirs’. Garvey was nothing if not precise, even if they weren’t in the service any more.
“Okay, go find the others and knock off for the night. I’ll deal with Ms Pierce.”
“Boss, who do we take orders from now?”
“Me, Pritch, for as long as you are here, clear it through me first, please.”
“Right, sir.”
“Now, did you get the supplies unloaded?”
“Yes, boss,” Pritchard winked. “Six crates of supplies and a couple of dozen bottles… We got any birds here or are we going to have to put up with you in drag again? Harry’s got his ipod dock…”
“Great. Not sure about me in drag again, that cheongsam was a little tight. Although the girls are a little few and far between. The gay guys outnumber the girls five to one, I’m guessing…” Gideon grinned. “I saw a couple of girls arrive with you, but that’s all. What about them?”
“Nah, one’s a lesbian…”
“She’s not…”
“Is too…”
“Well, if the gays are that numerous, you’ll have to watch your arse, Garvey.” Ragnar grinned and elbowed Harry Garvey in the ribs. It was a well known fact that if anyone was going to be chatted up by a Thai lady boy or an Anak Ikan then it would be Harry. Next to Pritch he was definitely the gay bait.
“My arse is safe, thank you, but what about yours, Gay Boy?” he retorted.
Gideon ignored the verbal sparring. He would go to hell and back with these guys, but a niggling feeling of doubt was suggesting to him that they might have to, sooner or later. “I want you lot to mind your Ps and Qs around Ms Eidolon herself, let me handle that one, and don’t think you can turn into beach bums. There’s work to be done.” There was a chorus of moans which degenerated into laughter.
“No such thing as a free holiday, eh, boss?”
“Might have known we’d not be sitting on our arses all day…”
“Knew it was too good to be true…”
“Can it, guys,” Gideon ordered gently. “Be subtle, okay? Keep the lines of communication open and hope Ms Busybody goes home first chance she gets.
They’d barely been gone a moment, when the door opened. No knock, again.
He didn’t even bother to look up. “Why don’t you guys bugger off and let me do some proper work.”
“Nice to see someone is working, Mr. Sterling.”
Shit, he thought. “Ms Ei…Pierce… Nice to see you.”
He stood, not sure whether to offer her his own chair. As offices went it was pretty sparse. She surprised him though by perching on the edge of the desk and smiling at him sweetly. Pierce didn’t do sweet so what was going on here?
“Your men seem to be settling in well, enjoying themselves.”
She stretched out one leg and twisted it slightly as if admiring the view. Did she think his men would find her attractive? Gideon smirked to himself as he sat back in the chair. The odds might be in her favor, but none of them would touch her with a barge pole. Although…
“They’re adaptable. Comes with the territory.”
“Hm, as long as they realize that there is a lot of money tied up in this project. Games are all very well, but we have to get this place up and running in record time. If you need more men…”
“My men are not here to be builders, Ms Pierce, they have specialist skills. If you needed builders, you should have brought more with you.”
“Builders will be coming, Mr Sterling, along with all sorts of tradespeople. It was at your insistence that your security detail arrived first. I’d have thought getting a roof over their heads would be a number one priority, unless of course they like sleeping in communal quarters with a bunch of gay men.”
“You have something against gay men?”
“Not at all, Mr Sterling, but your men don’t seem the sensitive, understanding type.”
“You don’t know my men…” he stopped himself and smiled broadly.
She stared at him for a long moment. She almost seemed to be baiting him. Before he could respond further, she sprang to her feet and started pacing around the room. “Enough of that.” She gave a dismissive wave of her hand and placed a document down on the desk in front of him. The seaplane specs. “How does she handle? Will she suit our purpose do you think?”
“That entirely depends on how you perceive our purpose. She’s a good plane. Handles well. She has a good range…”
“Precisely, that’s why we bought her. She’s the vital link in our plans. The Russian model may be bigger, but they can’t land in such a small area. Do those landing and lift-off devices work like they’re supposed to?”
Gideon smiled. Something about her eagerness didn’t sit right. “The suppressors work just fine. Now, if I could draw your attention to the state of the equipment here…”
She waved a hand dismissively. “Just let us know what you need. I must admit that cyclone did make a bit of a mess. That’s what you get when you use leaves and branches for building materials.”
“Readily available building materials, Ms Pierce, plentiful and cheap.” Gideon gestured to the for
ms on his desk. “My requirements are all ready for you.”
“What about the important things, the electricity, the desalination plant, are they all still functioning properly or do we need to get them repaired as well.”
“Well, the generator is working, although it could do with a complete overhaul. As to the desalination plant, I have yet to check it. There’s only so much you can complete in a day.” What did she think he was, superhuman?
“I’ll have some experts come in on the next flight. When I stayed here as a guest last year, that was one of the first things that made me interested in buying this place. Once the solar and wind generators are all up and running again, we won’t need to rely on antiquated pieces of machinery. We will have all the energy and water we need.”
Experts. Gideon suppressed a smile. Anything and everything was at her beck and call. Well, Eidolon’s. “I’m sure we’ll have the resort running to your satisfaction in no time.” He turned on the charm. “You’ll have to stop ordering my men around though; it confuses them. They’re used to a chain of command. You’ll not get the best out of them unless you leave them to me.”
“Your men?” She turned and planted her hands on the desk leaning over slightly towards him. “Mr. Sterling, your men may have been under your command in the SAS, but here they are employees of Eidolon.”
“SBS, Ms Pierce. Not SAS. And yes, we are all your employees now, are we not? But they still remain my men, under my command. Anything else will mean you won’t get the optimum performance from them. If security, as you have already stated, is of paramount importance?” Gideon stood and wandered round his desk, stepping closer to her. “We’re here to do the best we can for you.”
“I expect nothing less, Mr Sterling. However, we need to be exactly clear who is the boss here and, like it or not, I need to be sure that this place is operational as soon as possible. I can’t afford to have men jaunting around the island when there is work to be done.”
“I’m sure jaunting was the last thing on their minds. All I’m asking is that you let me keep things simple. Chain of command, Ms Pierce. If you want them to do anything, please run it by me first. Dissemination of information is easier when it comes through correct lines.”
