Friends In Spy Places

by Diane Henders

  “It’s Aydan,” I said. “Somebody called me?”

  “Yes, the DCO wants you to come in for a briefing at twenty-one hundred.”

  “I’m in the middle of a mission and I don’t know if I’ll be able to get away then. Did he say what it’s about?”

  “Yes, it’s a conference-call briefing with Director Stemp from overseas.”

  I sighed. “I’ll be there.” I disconnected, pitched the phone into the garbage, and headed back to the table to face Nora’s wrath.

  When I slid into the chair wearing my best apologetic expression, Nora looked down her nose at me. “Really, Aydan, this is getting tiresome.” She sighed. “You’re right; it was unreasonable of me to think you’d be able to make time for me on such short notice.” She rose and put on her coat. “I think it would be best if you took me back to my hotel room now; and you can get on with your important business.”

  Trying to hide the red fury searing my veins, I said, “I thought we talked about that martyr thing.”

  My voice came out too sharp.

  “You have such a quick temper!” Her face softened. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound that way. It’s just that my drink was very strong and I’m feeling sleepy and a bit headachey. I want to go back to my room and lie down for a while. Why don’t I call you later, after I’ve had a rest? Maybe that will give you an opportunity to clear your schedule.”

  Shit.

  This was my last chance. When Dermott found out she was leaving, he’d fly off the handle. And I’d damn well better have some progress to report, or the chain of command would side with him. Fear shortened my breath. I could be in prison by tomorrow afternoon.

  “I have a briefing at nine tonight and I don’t know how long it’ll take,” I argued. “Are you sure you can’t stay a little longer now?”

  “Really, Dani-dear, I feel quite…” She touched her forehead delicately. “…out of sorts. But please call me when you finish your briefing, no matter how late it is. I’ll be jet-lagged after my trip home tomorrow anyway, so I’m not worried about throwing off my body clock tonight. And I do very much want to spend more time with you while I can.” She bent to kiss my temple. “I need some fresh air. I’ll wait for you outside.”

  As she made her unsteady way to the exit, Eddy hurried over. “Is everything okay?”

  “Fine.” I sadly eyed the congealed remains of what had once been a juicy and delicious sandwich. “Could you please box this up for me? I have to take Nora back to her hotel.”

  “Okay…” He hesitated. “You asked for my professional opinion earlier…” He trailed off, looking troubled.

  “It would mean a lot to me.”

  “Well…” He stared at his toes. “I don’t know… I mean, I’m only a bartender. It’s not like I have any training or anything, and I’ve been wrong before.”

  “Not often, I bet.”

  He sighed. “Often enough.”

  “It’s okay, Eddy. I won’t be upset if you’re wrong.” I gave him a wry smile. “Or if you’re right.”

  He straightened, meeting my gaze. “I’m sorry, but… her body language is all over the place when she’s with you. One minute she’s affectionate and the next minute she’s completely detached. Maybe she’s just really conflicted about reuniting with you…” His voice turned thoughtful. “That would make sense if she’s feeling guilty about running out on you.” He squared his shoulders. “That’s probably all it is. After all, you two have a lot to work through.”

  But he didn’t sound convinced.

  “Thanks, Eddy. I don’t trust her, either.”

  “Sorry.” He patted my shoulder awkwardly. “I’ll go and get a box for your sandwich. Be right back.”

  As he strode away, realization struck me. Nora had out-manoeuvred me again. She’d stuck me with the bill.

  Conniving old bag.

  Our trip back to the hotel was quiet. Nora closed her eyes, and I had more than enough worries to occupy my mind. What if she wouldn’t talk to me again after my briefing tonight? That would be my last chance to get any information out of her. Tomorrow morning I’d be on my way to Calgary by eight-thirty.

  As I parked at the hotel, inspiration struck.

  “We’re here,” I said quietly. When Nora opened her eyes, I added, “By the way, I’ll be taking you to Calgary tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at eight, so that will get you to the airport around ten. I’m sorry it’s a little earlier than you need to be there, but I have a meeting in Calgary at ten-thirty. At least we’ll have a couple of extra hours together during our drive. I hope that’s okay.”

  I held my breath. Would she go for it?

  She smiled wanly. “Thank you, Dani-dear. I’m glad we’ll have a bit more time together.”

  Somehow I managed not to release my sigh of relief. “I’ll walk you to your room,” I volunteered. “You didn’t look too steady on your feet earlier.”

  “Oh, no, I’m fine.” As though realizing she’d just contradicted herself, she put a hand to her temple. “Oh, my. I just had a bout of dizziness. Maybe you’re right.”

  We both got out, and I escorted her into the hotel. As we passed the sports bar Bob Armstrong waved from within, but Nora merely waved back and made no attempt to detour inside. Not that she could have plausibly done that anyway, having just pled an alcohol-induced headache.

  I made a mental note to tell the analysts to notify me immediately if she left her room…

  Shit!

  Analysts. Surveillance. I barely prevented myself from smacking my own forehead. I had completely forgotten about the bug I had intended to plant on Nora.

  Dammit, I had let my feelings get in the way of the mission again.

  But at least it wasn’t too late to fix my mistake. I casually slid my hands into my pockets, peeling the backing off the tiny self-adhesive bug one-handed.

  As we turned toward the corridor, I tucked my hand under Nora’s elbow. “Watch your step here. There’s a ripple in the carpet.”

  She glanced up at me, looking surprised. “Oh. Thank you. I saw it.”

  I nodded and let go of her elbow, but not before I’d pressed the bug into the seam of her purse.

  At her door, I said, “I’ll call you as soon as I can after my briefing. I hope it won’t be too late.”

  Nora smiled and patted my cheek. “It will never be too late for you and me, Dani-dear.”

  Smiling back at her, I waited until she’d opened the door and stepped inside. “Have a good rest. I hope you feel better soon,” I said, and turned away, listening for the sound of her door closing.

  When I heard its soft click, I hurried down the corridor and out to my car, where I phoned the analyst on call and delivered my instructions to watch the surveillance camera outside Nora’s door and to monitor my newly-located bug.

  “Okay, we’ve got it,” the analyst said, then added, “Hang on, she’s leaving her room now.”

  “Already? That sneaky bitch,” I muttered. “Give me the audio feed from that bug I just placed.”

  A moment later, rhythmic bursts of soft static accompanied the swing of Nora’s purse as she walked. Then the unmistakeable roar of the sports bar assaulted my ears.

  She was going to see Bob Armstrong.

  Heart thumping, I held my breath and waited.

  “Good evening,” Nora’s cheerful voice said. A hell of a lot different from the wan quaver she’d affected earlier.

  “Hi, Nora.” Bob’s hearty voice boomed through my speaker. “Pull up a chair and take a load off!”

  “Oh, thank you, I’d love to; but I can’t,” she demurred. “I’m actually going back to my room to lie down for a bit. I had dinner with my daughter and my drink was terribly strong.”

  His laugh boomed out. “Gotta sleep it off, eh?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t want you to think I had been ignoring you when we passed.”

  Fuck, seriously? My big exciting lead had fizzled to my mother simply being polite?

  �
��I hope to see my daughter again a little later,” Nora went on. “It’s been a difficult reconciliation, but I feel as though we’re making progress.”

  “Glad to hear it.” A chair scraped across the floor. “Well, maybe I’ll see you later if you and your daughter aren’t out too late. I’m going to turn in early tonight.”

  “Oh…” Nora hesitated. “In that case… I hate to impose, but…”

  “Whatever it is, you’re not imposing!” Bob let out another loud laugh. “I’m just killing time here until the Missus settles down and lets me move back home again. What can I do you for? You want a ride back to the hospital to visit your friend again?”

  “Yes, but first I need to lie down for a while. But if you’re going to bed early…”

  “Hell, why don’t you just take my car?” Keys jingled. “I’m in for the night. Just park it back in the lot when you’re done, and leave the keys for me at the front desk.”

  “Oh, thank you! I promise to drive carefully.”

  Bob’s big laugh boomed out again. “Can’t get into too much trouble around Silverside! Just make sure all the booze is outta your system before you get behind the wheel.”

  “Oh, I will. Thank you, and good night.”

  “Cheers!”

  The sound of the bar faded rapidly as Nora walked away. A couple of minutes later I heard a door close and the analyst said, “She just went back into her room.”

  Slumping in my seat, I muttered, “Thanks. Keep me posted.”

  Shit.

  I was running out of time. I had nothing concrete on Nora except her one desperate lie to me last week; and as Dr. Rawling had pointed out, even the most well-meaning people could make bad decisions when the personal stakes were high.

  What if she really had been trying to keep me from walking out of her life last week? What if her story was true and I was only pushing her away because of my own pain?

  And if I didn’t find anything incriminating, how would I ever get Dermott to believe I hadn’t intentionally sidetracked the investigation?

  The thought of being locked up in a tiny cell made my skin itch. Shuddering, I scratched at my arms through my parka sleeves.

  I had to do something.

  Anything.

  Ian. Nora had said she was going to try to visit him again, even though she knew damn well that I’d imposed a no-visitors rule.

  Why?

  I fired up my car and headed for the hospital.

  When I poked my head into Ian’s hospital room, he was propped up in bed with his eyes closed, lashes dark against his cheeks.

  At the whisper of my parka sleeve brushing the door frame, his eyes popped open. “Storm!” He sagged against the pillows. “Finally! I was afraid something had happened to you!”

  “Sorry.” I glanced at the guard beside the door. “I need a private conversation with Ian. Please keep everybody else out.”

  He nodded, and I swung the door shut and went over to pull up the chair beside Ian’s bed.

  “Sorry I couldn’t come earlier,” I said. “I’ve been trying to crack Nora, but I’m not getting anywhere.”

  “But you got my message, didn’t you?” Ian demanded. “I might have the puzzle piece that pulls everything together.”

  My heart sank. “What message?”

  His brows drew together. “The message I left with your Director. At noon today.”

  “Noon?” My voice rose dangerously, and I sucked in a breath and modulated my volume. “You left a message with Dermott at noon? That bastard never gave it to me!”

  “What?” Ian stared at me. “I told him I needed to see you urgently.”

  “That…” I groped for a foul enough epithet to describe Dermott, failed to find one, and settled for, “…fucking asshole!” Yanking out my phone, I hit Dermott’s speed dial and added, “I’m going to rip him a brand new-”

  “Dermott.”

  Good Lord, he’d answered on the first ring. That never happened. Well, fuck him and his first attempt at efficiency.

  “You didn’t give me Ian’s message!” I barked.

  “Kelly? What the hell?”

  “Yeah, it’s Kelly,” I snarled. “Why the hell didn’t you give me Ian’s message?”

  “Because your fucking boyfriend can wait to get his fucking rocks off, that’s why! When the chain of command finds out you’ve been diddling him on the side instead of focusing on the mission-”

  My last shred of patience evaporated. “WHAT THE FUCKING HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?”

  Ian twitched at my sudden volume, then winced and gingerly eased his head on the pillow.

  In the momentary silence that ensued, I realized I’d completely screwed myself. Antagonizing Dermott last week had been unavoidable, but pissing him off now had been fatally stupid. Now he wouldn’t rest until I was rotting in prison.

  When Dermott spoke again, the deadly ice in his voice chilled my whole body. “I’m talking about you, screwing Rand in his hospital bed when you’re supposed to be on duty. You’re going down hard, bitch.”

  Chapter 41

  “I never screwed Rand!” I barked into the phone. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll come down there right fucking now and take a lie detector test. I needed his intel to do my job, and I needed you to do your job and pass the intel on to me when he offered it!”

  “You were gone. Holt was here so I sent him instead,” Dermott snapped, but I could hear the doubt seeping into his voice. “And Rand told Holt he could only talk to you.”

  “And from that you deduced that I was sleeping with him?” I unleashed a violent punch to Ian’s mattress, making him twitch again. “You-”

  Fortunately Dermott interrupted before I could get started on his irregular parentage, deviant sexual proclivities, and inadequate genitals.

  “Rand didn’t tell Holt anything, just joked around about getting in your pants. Didn’t give him any valid intel at all…”

  It wasn’t difficult to imagine the conversation between Holt The Asshole and Rand The Liar. Rage momentarily short-circuited my hearing.

  By the time I refocused, Dermott was saying, “…so Holt figured Rand was just bored and looking for a-”

  “RAND!” Clenching Ian’s hospital gown in my fist, I came within a hair of shaking him until his brain dripped out his ears; but he clutched his head protectively and the fear in his face stilled my hand at the last moment.

  I drew in a deep slow breath.

  “Director,” I said sweetly. “Rand has something he wants to say to you.” Still clenching Ian’s gown in my fist, I held my phone to his face.

  “Rand here,” Ian said faintly. “I’m afraid there’s been a misunderstanding…”

  A few minutes later, Ian concluded, “…Holt wasn’t assigned to the mission, so protocol prevented me from disclosing anything to him. I assumed…” His accent took on the condescending tone that Brits do so well. “…that your man would do his duty and pass on my message. It certainly never occurred to me that he, and you, would take such a blatantly sexist stance against Agent Kelly. If she were male, there would have been none of this nonsense.”

  An ominous silence swelled from the phone.

  Shit, Ian, you had to poke the bear, didn’t you? You couldn’t just give a straight-up report for once in your life…

  When Dermott spoke again he sounded like he was strangling on his tongue. “I’m going to get to the bottom of this.” The line went dead.

  “That’s him settled, then,” Ian said cheerily.

  Finger by finger, I released my hold on his gown, glowering at him the whole time. When I finally removed my hand, Ian smoothed the crumpled fabric and batted those gorgeous dark lashes at me.

  “Smile, Storm,” he coaxed. “You’re so beautiful when you smile.”

  Glaring at him, I breathed through the urge to punch him. Then I breathed through the urge to shoot him. Then I breathed through the urge to take my razor-sharp jackknife to his balls…

  “Penny
for your thoughts?” he chirped.

  I let out a slow breath.

  He wasn’t worth it.

  “So what’s your intel?” I asked.

  When he beckoned me closer, I didn’t bother to argue. He looked slightly disappointed when I stood up without comment and leaned down so my ear was next to his mouth.

  “Make it quick,” I said flatly. “I only have a few minutes.”

  To my shock, he obeyed. “I had my team pull the records on the chemist who created the last dose of Substance X, and also the chemist who ruled that the dose had expired. It was the same man.”

  My heart gave a hard thump. “Is he still-”

  “He has also expired,” Ian interrupted before I could finish the question. “Of a heart attack, a week after he filed his report on the doses.”

  “Fuck.” I pulled away to stare at him. “Was there an autopsy?”

  “Natural causes.”

  “Bullshit.”

  Ian spread his hands in a ‘what can you do?’ gesture. “He was middle-aged, overweight, sedentary, and was being treated for high blood pressure. Nobody thought to look beyond the standard toxicology screens, and his family cremated his body as soon as it was released. If there was any evidence in his bloodstream, it’s long gone.”

  “For fucksakes!” I thumped a fist on the bed. “We can’t catch a break here!”

  “Or it’s all coincidence,” Ian said.

  “You don’t really believe that.”

  He sighed. “No. I’ve set my team digging for any possible relationship or contact between Nora and the chemist. They haven’t found anything yet, but I know it’s there. I know this is the connection we’ve been looking for.”

  My phone vibrated.

  With a sense of foreboding, I slowly raised it to read the message.

  “Call home.”

  Oh, hell.

  “I have to go,” I said.

  “Is everything all right?”

  If I hadn’t just been jerked around repeatedly by Ian’s lies, I might have been touched by the concern in his eyes.

  “Probably not.” I headed for the door.

  “Will you come back?” The undisguised anxiety in his voice tugged at my heart even though I knew damn well that he was playing me.