by Scott Rhine
“For Eye Corps, it would be Oobie, but for the LA search activities, no.”
“Pick someone. Pick two. Call them tonight. Your people are running in circles without a leader. I have an envoy I’m not using. Tom’s already cleared. You should probably entrust Oobie with a few administrative tasks as well.”
The change of gears threw him for a moment. “Okay.”
She shook her head. “No, that’s your ‘I’m telling you what you want to hear’ okay. I need you to delegate or I will.”
Claudette hid her face with a magazine. Covering the phone, Jez said, “What?”
The starlet said, “You’re emasculating the poor man.”
“Oh.” Into the phone, she said, “I’m sorry, Ben. You’re just too important to too many people. I’ve got Tan picking up the slack for the charity, but you’re as bad about micromanaging as Dirt Bag. It’s one reason he trusts you.”
“Ouch,” he said.
“Risking your life like you did could have hurt a lot of people. Don’t do it again,” she said.
“Say what you mean, hon’,” Claudette whispered.
“Hey, this is my boyfriend call,” Jez snapped. “Get your own.”
“Boyfriend?” Benny and Claudette said at the same time.
“What, I have to change your status on Facebook and have you approve it? We’re both adults here. I’m calling you every night, talking about sappy stuff for way too long just because I don’t want to say goodbye. What else do you call that?”
He stammered for a moment before admitting. “Boyfriend. I haven’t been called that in thirty years.”
“Get used to it.”
“This is a forceful new side. Have you read another page?” he joked.
“Not yet. I'm psyching myself up for Red Giant, but won’t unless I have to. I want to give the team six months to get results on their own.”
“Driving innovation like Patton did tanks.”
“You’re mad I’m taking the Red Giant Project? I heard you lobbied to have me taken out of the field. What did you expect?”
Claudette scooped the phone out of her hand. “Hi, darlin’. My roomie is just trying to live up to her new Iron Butterfly image. Yes, the title Field Marshal is hard to pull off in a hospital gown, but she manages it. They put on jackboots instead of casts. Some boys like that. Uh-huh. I’d be happy to arrange that. I’ll use the company jet. Good job, Benny, she’s a keeper. Goodbye.”
“Hey, I wasn’t done with that!” Jez objected when she hung up.
“Trust me; I’ve given you too much rope already. You just had your first fight.”
“Who won?”
“He’ll let you have the Red Giant project if you come back to LA where he can keep an eye on you. Having you exposed like this is bad for his digestion.”
When Jez started to object, Claudette stopped her with, “Read between the lines, hon’. He loves you and wants to see you, even if you’re busting his balls.”
“Oh. When you put it like that, my neck has been getting awfully cramped from all this long-distance phone work. Going to LA would be a big improvement.”
“That’s my girl. We call it work-life balance in the trade. I told him I’d fly you there on my jet.”
“You? I couldn’t… I mean, thank you,” Jez said, adjusting.
“Fast learner.”
“Are we flying out tonight or first thing tomorrow?”
Claudette laughed. “My ex has been a very bad influence on you. Neither. The doctors have to okay this, and more importantly, my hairdresser has to pay us a visit with her team.”
“Why?” Jez asked. When Claudette held a hand mirror up to her, Jez was a bit startled by what she saw. “Oh. I see. Thank you. I didn’t think what I must look like now.”
“You’ll be beautiful to him, hon’. But people tend to take photos around us, and you don’t want to make the cover of any magazines without pre-treatment. Those haunt you for years. You need a travel dress; pants will be too difficult. You’re shorter and about twenty pounds lighter than I am. Hmmm, probably that younger body. I’ll send my personal shopper to Stonebriar Mall for you.” Just when Jez thought her head couldn’t spin any more, the starlet added, “And we’ll need a cover story for your injuries.”
“I can’t lie.”
“My PR agent will do all the lying, duck. You just smile and wave. It’ll be better if you don’t even read the press release. When someone asks you a question you don’t feel right answering, just say something vague like ‘I’m just glad to be back in one piece,’ or ‘I missed LA so much.’” Claudette stood next to her, holding the hand mirror like a microphone. “Let’s practice. Miss Johnson, how long have you been having sex?”
“A lady doesn’t talk about those things with strangers.”
“We hear you work for the same employer. Was Mr. Hollis using his power and influence to get favors?”
She smiled at this. “Mr. Hollis has always been a gentleman, changing duties when it became clear we were attracted to one another.”
“How did you both get injured?”
“Mr. Hollis saved me from a serial rapist at great personal cost.”
Claudette sighed. “We’ll work on it. Always count to three before answering. It will give my people a chance to intervene. This also helps to obscure those times you need to think hard. It’s just like testifying in court. Be consistent.”
“You’re good at sneaky,” Jez complimented. “Could I get your help on one more thing?”
“Anything, hon’.”
Jez bit her lip. “I have no right to ask this, but I feel I have no choice. Since you’re working with us on the Project now, I need a way to trap the mole. Otherwise, we’ll keep hemorrhaging information and the next mission could finish us all. By surviving and capturing one of their pages, I raised the stakes.”
The starlet shrugged. “Simple. You use Elias as bait.”
They spent the rest of the night hammering out details.
Chapter 23 – Preparation
Two days later, they sat in Claudette’s jet at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. Claudette argued with her as Jez texted Daniel.
She told Daniel about the wheelchair they’d needed to get her out of the hospital and to the plane. He texted back, “No excuse to skip exercise!”
The starlet was harping on the same topic. “I still say you should have let the doctors run more tests. Your ribs are taped, you have more bruises than birthdays, and your spleen was damaged by the abuse.”
“May have been damaged,” she countered. “They refused to do the MRI.”
“You have pins in your right ankle that set off the metal detector. They didn’t want them coming out in the imagining chamber before the bone sets.”
“Another day won’t change anything,” Jez countered, not glancing up from her keyboard. She was frantically typing notes on her laptop.
“The psychiatrist there said you might be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and you refused to fill out her questionnaire.”
“That’s the pot calling the kettle black.”
“I have weekly appointments with a therapist of my own, a well-respected man who… Are you ignoring me?” Claudette asked. She had on large sunglasses and a wig in an attempt to hide her scar. An expert at plastic surgery in LA would be consulting with her the next morning.
Jez explained, “I’m outlining the plan of action for my latest idea. When Swami Rama has his preliminary clearance, I want him to read the OOB page. We need to increase Eye Corps to four divers, one for each branch plus an extra for vacations and emergencies. He has several qualified followers who would volunteer for the Collective Unconscious paragraph. That way, we can pair each eye with a filter. Oobie can train them in a week or two.”
The stewardess announced, “We just got clearance to taxi, ma’am. Could you please stow your computer and phone?”
Jez didn’t seem to hear. “Oh, and Ethics might help regulate Ragnar’s swings.” Claude
tte reached over and clicked SUSPEND. “Hey!”
“Hon’, those men keep knocking you out for a reason. You are exhausting. Sit back and relax for a few minutes.” The starlet pulled out a sleeping mask and ear plugs.
Jez felt too nervous to sleep. She wanted to hold her new Taser during the flight like a security blanket, but it was stowed in the hold. The idea of using the same weapon as Maverick had repulsed her at first, but the fear of no weapon at all made her stomach churn. She refused all offers of food and drink on the trip.
Jez examined their plan from several angles. So many things could go wrong. She took notes on the puzzle page of Claudette’s trade magazine. Instinctively, Jez reached out to borrow some planning smarts from the others aboard the plane, but it was like sucking a thick milkshake through a thin straw. As she scribbled notes, her vision blurred a few times, from sweat and strain.
She began to see probabilities in a flow diagram, chaining together. Nausea clawed at her empty stomach and into her throat. She couldn’t cover all the outcomes. It was harder than chess, more pieces with fewer rules.
The stewardess broke her trance. “Ma’am, I’ll go get you a tissue. Use this drink napkin until I get back.”
The puzzle was spattered with blood from Jezebel’s nose.
Claudette took off her mask. “Are we landing?”
As she stanched the nose bleed, Jez blinked. Her eyesight was still blurry.
When the starlet noticed the red stains blossoming through the napkin, she snapped, “What happened?”
Jez tore out the magazine page covered with random notes and mathematical symbols. Claudette set her jaw in anger. “I can’t leave you alone for a minute. Benny warned me you would push the envelope, but I didn’t think…”
“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
“Do you want to die?” the starlet nearly shouted.
Tears flowed from Jez’s eyes. “No, but I don’t want anybody else to either. And it’ll be my fault if they do.”
The stewardess arrived with a handful of tissues.
Jez blotted the paper, her nose, and then her eyes. “So much for the makeup I just put on.”
Claudette made her play Gin till the landing.
****
When Jez’s guard wheeled her into the public-access area, Benny was the first one to greet her. To hide her injuries, she wore a plaid blanket over her legs like an old woman. He leaned over to give her quick greeting peck, but it turned into a long, deep kiss. “Soft,” he murmured when they parted. Tasting salt, he asked, “Have you been crying?”
She nodded, but remained silent, gesturing to someone taking their photo in the corner.
Benny had a silly grin on his face as he posed for the shot. “Sorry, it’s been a while.”
Claudette came from the baggage claim with three guards and about six bags. One hard case was particularly long and had a special tag.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“My daddy’s favorite shotgun,” the starlet said. “He used it to kill skunks and other vermin out at the ranch.”
Benny laughed, unsure if she was serious.
Nena squealed as she ran to hug Jez. She wore business attire and a lab coat. The photographer snapped a shot of her as well. “I’m so glad you’re safe. Danny wasn’t allowed to come.”
“My orders,” Jez admitted. “Too risky.”
Nena pushed Jez’s wheelchair all the way to the armored van because Benny couldn’t use his arms. When they were inside, Jez handed over a list of handwritten orders to him. He read the first couple out loud, “Move the arc lights from the corporate ball field into the apartment parking lot. Buy out the lease of the first row of storage garages against headquarters fence.” He folded the rest and put it in his pocket.
“I have to mitigate the hazards,” she explained. “Thank you for wearing your bulletproof vest like I asked.”
Carl, the guard beside them, started making calls to implement her suggestions.
“What’s this all about?” Benny asked the women. “Security is going nuts and nobody will tell me why.”
“You didn’t have a need to know,” Jez said, agonizing over the secrets.
Claudette whispered, “Elias is flying in tonight.” Everyone in the vehicle was on instant alert.
“Insanely dangerous,” said Benny. “Why?”
Jez explained, “I wanted to explain to her why Fortune acts the way he does, how the pages are responsible.” The starlet squeezed her hand to stop the flow.
“Whoa, Jez told you about Ladder?”
“I asked. She told me–everything. Miss Johnson knows things about my ex none of the rest of you do. She’s been giving herself nose bleeds trying to find another way, but I know how to deal with Elias.”
Jez bit her bottom lip in an effort not to talk.
“What did he do?” asked Benny.
“He found another page, one he’s keeping to himself,” Claudette lied. Jez was doubled over, holding in the denial. “It only made sense in context with Wannamaker’s mistakes on Seth. Dear, what did that e-mail of his say at the top?”
Jez burst out, “Preventing Replication Loss in Successive Cellular Generations.” After spewing several lines of bio-techno-babble, she managed to clamp down again.
“How have you been reading the boss’s emails?” asked Nena.
“I’ve been intercepting them for years, Claudette explained. “She’s just been the first one to be able to decrypt the ones on Project Ponce de León. And what she saw in them has been eating her alive. Some of those experiments were horrors. We don’t know how, but he did it; Dirt Bag has found his Fountain of Youth.” She paused to let the message sink in. “When I told them what was happening, Crusader and a quarter of his men left.”
Benny said, “That's going to leave us critically short staffed tomorrow.”
Jez blurted, “The price is too high!”
Claudette put a hand over her mouth. “Hush, dear. At the meeting tomorrow, I’m going to stop him.”
****
As thanks for convincing Jez to come home early, Benny stopped the caravan to pick up lunch at Claudette’s favorite bistro. By the time they arrived at the apartments, everyone was gossiping about Fortune’s impending arrival. Normal operations were suspended, and all resources were being redirected toward making his stay secure. Nena wheeled Jez into a first-floor room at the corporate apartments. Benny had his guards put the food bags on the kitchenette table. “I knew you didn’t want to stay in Ward Seven, so I had adjustable beds set up here for you.”
“Thank you. Nena, could you go up to our room and get me a nightgown, clean underwear, and a tooth brush?” Jez requested in her best, helpless-invalid voice.
When she was gone, Jez asked, “Did you bring it?”
Benny said, “Reach into my pocket.”
Jez grinned at the opportunity for innuendo, and pulled a jewelry case out of his jacket pocket. She found her butterfly pendant inside, and cooed over the new, gold-plated chain. Once she fastened the clasp, she purred, “I felt naked without it.”
“I wanted to be the one to put it on you, but…” He wiggled his arms in their slings. “Listen, I leaked the story like you asked, but there are holes in the lie big enough to drive a truck through. It won’t stand up for long. What’s really…?”
“Please don’t ask her,” interrupted the starlet. “Not telling you will cause her extreme discomfort, even pain. Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” he said quietly.
“Do you trust her judgment more than Elias’s?” asked the starlet.
He nodded.
“Then give her a day on this, I beg you,” Claudette asked.
Jez stared at the floor. When he was silent, she said, “I really enjoyed our first kiss. I’m hoping to get another one.”
“That’s hitting below the belt,” he murmured, leaning over her chair.
“Not yet, but we can hope,” Jez said huskily, wrapping her arms around him f
or another long kiss.
Nena cleared her throat on entering. “I just had to grab the emergency bag you keep by the door. Do you need condoms?”
Benny coughed. “No, I’m just on my way to finish my girlfriend’s shopping list.” His voice was deeper than before. As he stumbled out, he bumped the doorframe with his elbow. The girls looked at each other and laughed.
Chapter 24 – Chiaroscuro
By nightfall, the apartments were abuzz. Jez had ordered that everyone on the first floor of the far wing be relocated to other quarters until Fortune departed. She sat in her wheelchair next to Benny at the table. “It’s only eight people,” she explained. “And only for one night. Fortune gets here at 10:30 tonight. If someone launches a rocket, I don’t want anyone else getting hurt. I’ve seen people moving in the halls. What’s the problem?”
Benny took another bite from the piece of pizza he held by two fingers. “Dr. Poldark just got off his shift an hour ago, and he’s pissed. Why worry about rockets? We already cleared the storage facility and the rooftops nearby.”
“Our organization has about an 80 percent chance of surviving till tomorrow,” Jez said, grimly. Finished eating, she put her communications headset back on.
“Up from 70 percent this morning,” Claudette said gaily. “Progress.”
“I can get it to 90 percent if they’ll let me move the meeting location to Fortune’s room here,” Jez said, as her phone beeped. She glanced at the text. “Tan has the package. Lockdown starts in fifteen minutes, at eight o’clock. I need you to go home, rest, and be safe.”
Claudette stuffed several full folders into Benny’s sling as Nena waltzed in. Jez explained, “If we don’t survive the meeting, those notes form the seed of a new project. Once you get the pages, you’ll be able to start again in a place of your choosing. Don’t tell me where.”
Nena was dressed in sheer, black hose, and a short, tight, black dress that left little to the imagination. When she squeezed her purse under her armpit, Benny glimpsed the edge of a nipple before he jerked his head away.
