Albert had said his gruff—and brief—goodbyes, the morning after, promising never to mess with my missions again. The Haighs had practically done backflips upon the return of their diamonds and, as a token of their gratitude, had offered us anything in their store. Vayl had taken a look at my ring finger and raised his eyebrows. I’d shaken my head.
“Cirilai is all I need,” I’d said. So he’d dropped it.
Then Pete had called us back to Cleveland.
We sat in his bare little office, which looked much more cheerful painted primrose yellow, and waited for him to finish shuffling papers. While he figured out how to get around to the subject, I noticed he’d replaced the dead plant by his closed window blinds with one of those miniature electric fountains. Suddenly I had to pee.
“I see here you wrecked the rental vehicle,” Pete said.
“The Scidairans were responsible,” Vayl pointed out.
I reminded myself to breathe.
Pete shuffled his stack some more. Cleared his throat. “The Oversight Committee has reviewed this case.”
I felt my eyebrows go up. “Already?”
He nodded. Loosened his tie. “They, uh, are not happy that Floraidh has been admitted to a mental institution and her coven has dropped out of the picture.”
“Did you explain to them why?” Vayl asked.
Pete nodded. “They don’t seem to understand all the shadings and parameters of the situation.” He sighed. “They see this as a failed mission. And they’ve strongly suggested that I suspend Jaz, pending further review.”
Suddenly all I could hear was this high-pitched whine. Like the old class-is-over signal at my high school, only farther up the scale. “What?”
He nodded. Ran his fingers over the two hairs left on his shiny head. “I’m sorry, Jaz. I don’t see how I can deny them. They’re threatening to cut my funding if I don’t—”
I hadn’t realized I’d begun to reach for Grief until Vayl’s hand slid over mine. I looked at him, blinking rapidly to keep the tears from forming. I’d never seen him so forbidding. He turned back to Pete. “I smell ulterior motives. First they refused my request for a warlock. Then they sent Albert to spy on us. And now they want to fire their best assassin, despite the fact that she saved Floraidh from Bea? And do not give me that, ‘But she is practically a vegetable,’ excuse. That is not Jasmine’s fault. What message do all these actions convey to you?”
Pete’s entire forehead crinkled as he considered the options. “They could be looking to reshape the department.”
Vayl nodded sharply. “Or eliminate it completely. They put us in a situation most of your employees would not have survived. And you, slave that you are to the bottom line, allowed it.”
I flattened my hand against my chest because I honestly thought that was the only way I could prevent my heart from leaping out of it. Suddenly I understood Albert’s point of view. This wasn’t how I wanted to die. Flopping on the floor of my boss’s office, wishing to God I’d chosen a career where other people didn’t have so much control over my future. Then I nearly croaked again when Pete didn’t fire Vayl. Or even snap his head off. But sat back in his chair, folding his hands across his stomach thoughtfully.
Vayl said, “Jasmine is due some vacation time, is she not?”
“Uh—” Pete turned to his PC, clicked away at his keyboard for half a minute. “Yes. Looks to me like she’s got a month built up.”
“Then grant it to her, and mine to me. Do not call either of us in that time. Avoid the Oversight Committee members as well, no matter how often they try to contact you, all right? They cannot touch your budget for several weeks anyway, correct?”
“Right.”
“By then I will have everything taken care of.”
We both looked at him. Pete said, “Vayl? What are you planning?”
He gave Pete a look as grim as a funeral. “It is better that you do not know.”
Apparently Vayl intended to keep me in the dark as well. He’d whisked me off to my apartment, ordered me to pack for a long getaway, and left. When he returned I was sitting just where he’d left me, having done nothing.
“Jasmine.” He sat down on the bed beside me. “You have not even opened your trunk.”
I stared down at my hands, clasped between my knees, and swallowed the lump that had risen in my throat the minute Pete had dropped the hammer. “He’s going to fire me,” I said. “You’ve been around forever. You know how to do different things. But this is all I have, Vayl. This job means everything to me.”
He slid his hand over both of mine just in time to catch the tear that had escaped from my eye. “I know,” he said softly. “I promised you before that I would not let those cretins harm you. I have never broken a vow and I never will. You have not been fired, nor even suspended. You are on vacation. During which time the Oversight Committee will come to see the error of its ways.”
I glanced up in time to see a satisfied little smile play across his face. “What are you going to do?”
“What I should have done the moment I heard they had managed to get themselves appointed.” He met my eyes, his own softening to amber as he said, “You will let me do this thing for you?”
“I don’t even know what it is!”
“Are you sure you want to?”
I nodded. He leaned over and whispered in my ear, as if he thought my drab little bedroom might be bugged or something. I started to laugh. “Are you serious?”
“I rarely know how to be otherwise.”
“You know, that just might satisfy my undying need for revenge on Pete and his goddamn bosses for siccing Albert on us in the first place. Can I help?”
“It would be better if you did not.”
I thought about it. “Oh. Of course. Well, then, you have my blessing. And, you know what, this is it!”
“This is what?”
“That thing you said you’d try to find that would prove how much you love me. This is definitely the one.”
FB2 document info
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Document version: 1
Document creation date: 14.8.2011
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Jennifer Rardin
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Jaz Parks 5 - One More Bite Page 16
