How Spy I Am

by Diane Henders

  “N-no, you d-don’t. I b-blew them all up t-tonight.”

  “What?” He stared, his jaw dangling.

  “I s-said I b-blew them up. They’re t-toast.”

  His shout exploded the silence of the night. “You moron! That was my… They were mine! Mine! My revenge… my purpose! My chance to give Irina peace! And…” His voice faltered. Dropped to a whisper. “And… Robert…”

  I laid a hand on his shoulder, my heart squeezing. “K-Kasper, I’m s-sorry.”

  Somehow I managed to stumble back to my dirt bike and get aboard. I took the shortest route to Kane’s office, barely feeling the bitter wind.

  My numb indifference lifted for a moment at the sight of the small darkened house still standing unscathed in its quiet yard. The glimmer of satisfaction gave me almost enough energy to dismount.

  My leaden leg caught on the seat, toppling both me and the bike onto the curb. I lay whimpering quietly on the sidewalk until the pain in my pinned leg impelled me to struggle out from underneath the bike. I crept to my feet and tottered to the front door only to realize my key had been lost with my waist pouch.

  Despair buckled my knees and I slid down the door, clutching at the doorknob in a futile attempt to remain upright.

  The door swung open and I sprawled onto the floor of the darkened vestibule.

  After a moment of sodden incomprehension, a few wisps of adrenaline trickled into my bloodstream. I struggled to my hands and knees and drew my Glock. Kane and Spider would never leave the door unlocked.

  I should search the house. I’d watched Kane clear my house often enough to know how to do it. But ponderous exhaustion dragged at my limbs and agonizing shivers convulsed my body. I couldn’t even make it to my feet, let alone through the house.

  My torpid brain served up one last useful instruction, and I crawled over to drag the phone off Spider’s desk. A moment of sheer dumb gratitude made me press the receiver to my heart at the sound of the dial tone. Steadying my shaking hands against the floor, I managed to punch in the number for Kane’s cell.

  “Kane.” His voice was a raw rasp.

  “I’m at y-your office. The d-door w-was unlocked. B-be c-careful, s-somebody m-might’ve b-broken in…” My words came from far away, and I slumped down to curl around the receiver, taking comfort from the sound of his voice without comprehending his words.

  Suddenly, Kane was beside me. “Aydan!” His voice vibrated with tension.

  “I’m f-fine,” I mumbled. “C-clear the h-house.”

  His hand stroked over my hair, and then he was gone. I drifted until he returned and knelt beside me. His gentle hands performed a rapid examination of my limbs while he spoke.

  “The house is clear. I must have left the door unlocked. I was watching your tracker when it disappeared and a few seconds later I heard the explosion. I knew it had to be big if I heard it underground. I tried to trace your cell phone. It was gone, too, and I just… ran.”

  He stroked my hair gently away from my face. “I drove to your last known position. I could tell how bad it was even from a mile away. I found your truck abandoned. When you called I was… searching the blast site. Hoping you’d somehow survived…” His lips brushed my temple. “Aydan. Aydan, talk to me.”

  I struggled to sit up, tremors racking me.

  Kane’s strong arms closed around me, tucking me close to his heart. He tilted my chin up to look down into my eyes. “I thought I’d lost you. Talk to me. Please say something.”

  For an instant, Robert’s gentle smile hovered in my mind, his arms as warm around me in memory as Kane’s real-life embrace. I gulped hard.

  “It’s o-over.” My voice was choked, and I cleared my throat before trying again. “You’re s-safe.”

  And my husband had loved me.

  The trembling spread to my lips, and I hid my face against Kane’s broad chest. My voice was a ragged whisper. “I k-killed a d-dog t-tonight.”

  “What?” He caressed my hair, his lips moving softly against my temple. “What did you say?”

  My numb shell shattered into shards of pain. “I b-blew up a p-poor innocent d-dog…”

  The tears overwhelmed me and I sobbed helplessly into his chest.

  Kane held me close, rocking me and stroking my hair until I finally subsided into hiccups that tore fishhooks of pain through my battered ribs.

  “S-sorry,” I whispered.

  “It’s all right.” He stroked my hair one more time before pulling away far enough to coax my chin up. I met his eyes awkwardly, but he smiled and leaned down to kiss me lightly. “Come on,” he whispered against my lips. “We’d better get you to the hospital.”

  “I’m f-fine.” I pulled away and tried to stand, but my protests wavered into mumbling when the room swam around me.

  His arms closed around me again, and I let the warm, safe darkness claim me.

  Chapter 51

  “Ms. Kelly.” Stemp’s flat voice invaded my ears, and I groaned. The effort of dragging my eyelids open shot dull pain through my skull and I groaned again, struggling to focus on his face.

  “Yeah.” My voice was a dry croak.

  “Welcome back.” I didn’t bother to respond to that, and after a moment he continued. “We need to debrief.”

  “…’Kay.” I cast a bleary glance around the hospital room. “We secure?”

  “Yes. This room is soundproof and unmonitored.”

  “Kane?” My voice rasped in my dry throat, and I fumbled for the water glass beside my bed.

  “I’m here.”

  I cranked my head around with an effort that stabbed jagged knives through my neck and ribs to discover him sitting beside the head of my bed.

  “Come around here where I can see you.”

  He smiled and obeyed, dragging his chair around to sit beside Stemp at the foot of the bed.

  “Okay.” I gathered my thoughts for a moment while I sipped some more water. “Long story.”

  I took a deep breath that punished my aching ribs and began to outline everything I’d learned about the Knights and their years of spying and subterfuge, leaving out all mention of Kasper and Robert.

  When my voice trailed off into scratchy coughing at last, Stemp leaned forward while I sipped water, his gaze intent. “How did you get Irina’s key?”

  Damn, I had hoped he wouldn’t notice my convenient omission. I kept my gaze level. “Sam had it at his house.”

  “You broke in and stole it.” I met his eyes and said nothing. After a moment, he spoke again. “Terry Sherman is still at large?”

  “Far as I know.”

  “We discovered three red-haired, brown-eyed women who looked approximately your age in the wreckage of the house outside town.”

  My heart stuttered to a halt. “Were they…”

  “Injured, but all expected to survive. So they must be the remaining mages?”

  I drew a breath of relief. “I guess. Except for Terry’s mage, Plum Blossom. Tammy Mellor. Sam said Terry was offline, so they must have escaped together.”

  “So Kraus was the mastermind.”

  “Yes… But he never actually committed treason. And his intentions were good.” I debated internally for a moment, exhaustion slowing my thoughts. No choice. I was going to have to trust Stemp. “Sam called me this afternoon on my cell phone. He’s hitchhiking. You should be able to narrow down his location if you track the call record.” I tried for a steely-eyed glare and succeeded in a painful squint. “I need him alive. And I need Betty’s key. I don’t know whether Sam has it or whether it’s still in Macon.”

  Stemp rose. “I’ll deal with it. I’ll be back shortly.”

  “Wait. You’re going to want this.” I handed over my watch. “My network key is inside. Sorry about the trank gun. It blew up with the warehouse.”

  Stemp accepted the watch. “So a very frightened young security guard’s babblings about a secret agent with a Star Trek stun gun can be dismissed as concussion-induced hallucination, wouldn�
��t you say?”

  Poor Murren. I smiled in spite of myself. “Yeah.”

  Stemp’s tiny humorous twitch tugged at his lips before he hurried out, and I let my eyelids drift closed on the comforting sight of Kane sitting at the foot of my bed.

  Much too soon, Stemp was back. “Terry Sherman and Tammy Mellor died in a bomb blast in China late this afternoon. Their bodies were burned beyond recognition, but they were identified by some personal effects.”

  I closed my eyes again, feeling the ache drumming slowly in my bones. “So that’s the last of the Knights. The other three must have arranged for Terry’s murder when he didn’t join the revolt. And poor Plum Blossom was just collateral damage. Did you recover any of the network keys?”

  “No. The mages didn’t have them. We assume they were destroyed in your spectacular explosion.” Stemp paused. “What did you use?”

  “Forty-two geese and two pallets of C4.”

  I opened my eyes in time to catch another twitch of amusement that vanished instantly. “Why didn’t you come to me immediately when you discovered what the Knights were doing?”

  “I couldn’t. It would’ve jeopardized my… other activities.”

  Stemp held my gaze for a long moment, and I successfully overcame the urge to look away.

  “I notice your tracking device mysteriously ceased functioning at the time of the explosion. And I notice your arm is healed.” His tone was as emotionless as ever. “How did you discover the device?”

  “I know what a burn looks like. I could tell there was another injury there.” I kept my voice as flat as his.

  “So you extracted it when?”

  “The day you released me.” I drew a shallow breath. “I couldn’t afford to let you know.”

  “And your other op?” Stemp’s gaze dissected me.

  I hesitated, then met his eyes squarely. “I don’t have any other ops.”

  “So I understand.” He held me with his reptilian eyes. “That seems a waste of your… talents. So since I apparently can’t prevent you from placing yourself in harm’s way, I’m promoting you to field agent, effective immediately. Report for a full briefing when you’re released from hospital.” He rose and strode out without another word, leaving me gaping at the closing door.

  “Oh, shit.” I managed a faint whisper at last.

  Kane came around to the side of the bed to squeeze my hand. “Aydan, that’s good news. You’re not just an asset anymore. That means your death sentence is lifted. Even if they find another way to decrypt files, they won’t kill you.”

  “I don’t know a damn thing about being a field agent.”

  Kane drew back to study my face, his eyes twinkling. “Those old undercover habits die hard, don’t they?”

  “I’m not undercover! I’m not an agent! I don’t have a fucking clue…”

  He cut off my increasingly frantic words with a gentle finger across my lips. “Aydan, stop. Just rest. We’ll talk later.”

  As if responding to his command, my eyelids drooped despite myself.

  The sound of the door opening made me jerk upright, swearing and clutching my ribs.

  Stemp spared no time for pleasantries. “You’re being discharged, and we have Kraus. Do you want to interrogate him?”

  “Uh.” I blinked my way to semi-alertness. “What time is it?”

  “Nine A.M.”

  “Can I leave now?”

  “Yes. They only kept you overnight as a precaution because of the hypothermia. Your other injuries are minor. They’ll heal on their own.”

  “Okay.” I pawed my hair away from my face, wishing for a hot shower and a hairbrush. “I’ll need Sam and Betty in my office at Sirius. I’ll get dressed and get over there… shit. I need a vehicle. And clothes.”

  “Your clothes are in the wardrobe.” Stemp nodded toward the corner of the room. “Get dressed while I arrange to transfer Betty, and I’ll drive you over.” He vanished out the door before I finished nodding.

  Pulling on the tight leather was quiet torture, and I was slouched in the chair cradling my complaining ribs when a tap on the door heralded Stemp’s return. Minutes later, we were on our way to Sirius Dynamics.

  When we entered my office, I was shocked at Sam’s pallor. Seated between two large black-clad guards, he looked haggard and defeated.

  “Hi, Aydan,” he said quietly.

  “Hi, Sam.” I eyed him awkwardly, torn between sympathy and anger. After a moment, I gave it up. Deal with that later. Focus on the job at hand.

  My small office was crammed with Betty’s hospital stretcher and all the members of my team. Spider’s face was pale, his hazel eyes dark with anguish, but I didn’t know if it was because of Betty’s condition or Sam’s betrayal. Kane and Kasper wore almost-identical cop faces, but a spark of hatred kindled Kasper’s eyes when he regarded Sam.

  “What do you want to do?” Jack asked. Her face was white and strained, and she avoided looking at Sam.

  I sighed. “Just hook me up. Sam, I have an idea that might work, but it isn’t going to be pretty. I need you to use your mind control to push Betty into the network traffic where I can meet her head-on again.”

  He clasped trembling hands together. “But, Aydan…”

  “I’ll know you’re the ghost,” I interrupted. “I won’t attack you. I just need her to be in the network traffic, not in a sim, and she’s not going to get there on her own. And I don’t want her to realize what’s happening, so you’ll have to control her right up until I tell you to get her out.”

  “Aydan, is there any risk to you?” Kane asked. “Is there any chance you’ll end up catatonic as a result of this?”

  “I doubt it. If it didn’t happen the first time, I can’t see why it would this time.” I looked up at Jack as she finished hooking up the monitors. “Are you all set?”

  She shot an anxious look at Betty. “So I should see a set of ghost brainwaves on Betty’s monitor, but not yours?”

  “Yes.” I blew out a breath. “Let’s do it.”

  Kane’s avatar popped into existence beside me only a second after I stepped into virtual reality. He wore full combat body armour, and he glanced down at me with a frown as Betty’s immobile avatar appeared.

  “You should be wearing armour,” he said. “Just in case bullets start flying again.”

  “No, I think-” My words were drowned out by Betty’s shrieks, but moments later her avatar stood motionless and silent again, its face still twisted in an expression of horror.

  “…we’re done with the bullets,” I finished as we turned to face the ravaged body suspended by its chained and bleeding wrists, its all-too-familiar massive upper body and short dark hair its only remaining identifiable features. The smell of blood and burned flesh closed my throat.

  Kane’s hand found mine. “Can you get rid of that?”

  I choked down my gag reflex and concentrated. “No. Sorry. I… it won’t, not while Betty’s in the sim. I have to go, Sam’s holding her.” I took a deep breath and faded into the data stream.

  The dizzying maelstrom of data sucked me under instantaneously. Clinging frantically to Kane’s anchoring grip, I willed away panic and spread my virtual net. Capture some data, release others. Just like fishing. Get the net just right.

  I was partly successful. The turbulent chaos eased to a more ordered whirl, and I held tightly to my bulging virtual net. Now the trick was to sort out the remainder without losing hold on what I had…

  An unknowable time later, I sniffed out the last faintly familiar packet and tucked it away.

  My exhausted relief was short-lived when I realized I couldn’t return to the virtual sim without relinquishing my hold on the data. Despair swamped me.

  I was so close. So damn close. And I couldn’t hold on much longer. Already I could feel my grasp weakening, the packets surging against my fragile net.

  Panic mounting, I seized on the first idea that came to me. Surely a guy with Kane’s background would know Morse c
ode.

  The only Morse code I knew was SOS. But I knew where I could find the rest.

  I sent a desperate tendril of consciousness into the internet. Moments later, I began squeezing Kane’s virtual hand.

  P-u-l-l-B-e-t-t-y-O-u-t. P-u-l-l-B-e-t-t-y-O-

  The sudden absence of data left me reeling, my consciousness imploding on the empty shell of itself.

  Completely disoriented, I clung to the one thing I could still comprehend. Kane’s virtual hand drawing me slowly and steadily back into the sim, a data packet at a time.

  His voice sounded close, but I couldn’t see him. “It’s all right, Aydan, I’ve got you. Stay with me now.”

  I thought he was touching me, but the jumbled sensory inputs seemed to come from random directions. The blindness didn’t ease.

  “All right, here’s the portal. Let’s get you through.”

  When the pain crashed through my head, my own swearing was a welcome sound. I pried streaming eyes open and collapsed against the sofa cushions in sheer relief when the room wavered into focus.

  I let my eyes close again and lay limply while Kane’s strong warm hands worked their magic on my temples.

  A female voice with a charming Southern drawl made my eyes pop open again.

  “My heavens, what on earth? Where am I? And who are y’all?” Betty sat up, staring around her incredulously. Jack hovered over her, making reassuring gestures.

  I let my head fall back to smile up at Kane behind me. “Thanks for getting me out.”

  He returned my smile. “At least I didn’t need the bucket this time.” His smile widened. “This time you were string.”

  I squeezed my eyes shut and thumped my head against the couch. “Yeah, that makes sense. I felt like you were pulling me in a packet at a time, like a long… string. Go figure.”

  At last the activity died down and the crowd dispersed from my office, leaving only Kane and me. Across the hall, Betty and Jack talked handbags and fashion in the lunchroom while ‘that nice Mr. Stemp’ made arrangements for Betty’s trip home.