by Zoe Allison
He raised his eyebrows. “You do not think that it was a big deal?” He was surprised and a little relieved, but if he let himself admit it, a bit disappointed.
She hesitated. “No. Of course not.” She glanced away. “Do you?”
“Not if you do not think so,” he said. “It must have been a spur of the moment thing. We were both shaken by the mole turning up then managing to escape.” He was trying to convince himself as much as her.
“Yeah,” she said quietly, “that’s definitely it.”
“Are you tired?” he asked, noticing that she seemed subdued. “Do you want me to leave so you can get some rest?”
Vic flicked her eyes up to meet his. “No, don’t go. Not yet.”
He reached out and squeezed her hand. “Okay.” He really should let go of her hand again, but he couldn’t bring himself to.
“Don’t suppose you managed to catch the masked guy?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “Sadly not. The CCTV just shows a black blur leaving that room. He must have made a run for the stairwell, and we don’t have cameras there. After that, he could have unmasked and easily reentered on another floor, blending in.”
Vic sighed. “So we’re no further on.”
He squeezed her hand again. “Not quite.”
“Gareth came back with the name?” she asked.
He smiled. “Yes.”
Vic sighed with relief. “That’s brilliant news.” She glanced away for a moment. “So, what was it?”
“Harvey Moore,” he told her.
She nodded. There was a strange expression on her face.
“Are you up to this? We can talk later if you prefer.” He wondered if he should tell her what else Gareth had said but decided that it wasn’t appropriate. He didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.
“No,” Vic said quickly. “That’s okay.” She adjusted the bed sheets with her free hand. “What’s our next move?”
“Well,” he said. “Mine is to go back up to the annex and cross-reference the name Harvey Moore with our database. Yours is to stay here and rest up until you are fully healed.”
“Well, that won’t take long,” she told him. “I’ll meet you up there in an hour.”
“No,” he said. “You take as much time as you need. I can handle it, and Gareth is running the general search into the backgrounds of Harvey Moore and Glassmarsh.”
“Tell Bond to make sure he’s got a phone signal wherever he’s working this time,” she said.
He smiled, awash with guilt regarding Gareth’s secret. “Will do.”
Vic frowned. “What do you think the mole was after in your office?”
Vale shook his head. “I am not sure. What was he doing when you confronted him?”
“He was behind the desk,” she said. “Maybe he was trying to access your computer?”
“Possibly,” Vale said. “I’ll replace the screen and find out if there is a way to check whether it has been accessed.”
Vic yawned, her eyes heavy.
“Okay, soldier,” Vale said, reluctantly letting go of her hand. “You close your eyes and get some sleep. I will be back to check on you later.”
She smiled, eyes already closed. “Yes, sir.”
He left the room, taking one last look at her through the small door-window, before heading out of the medical wing.
In the elevator, he let his relief wash over him. She wasn’t healed yet but soon would be, and the thought of that made him lighter. He tried not to think about the way she had made him feel back in the office—the overwhelming desire to be close to her, to kiss her, and the fact that he hadn’t wanted to stop at just kissing.
He left the elevator for the stairwell, quieting his mind and concentrating on the name ‘Harvey Moore’ in an effort to prevent any more inappropriate thoughts swirling around his brain.
Vale entered the annex and got to work setting up the search for Harvey Moore to run on the system. It would take a few hours to cross-reference with all the operatives over the globe. In the meantime, he had decided to go fix up his computer in order to figure out what the masked person had been after, but he would need some help from the head of cyber security, Li Wei. On the way down the stairs, he called him.
“Valentino.”
“I need your help with something.” Vale said
“Sure,” said Li. “What is it?”
“Can you come to my office?” Vale asked.
“Okay,” Li said. “You mean right now?”
“Please,” said Vale. “It is urgent.”
“Give me a couple of minutes.”
Vale ended the call and left the stairwell to enter his office. He connected the new screen that had arrived while he was down in the medical wing and fired up the PC, ready for Li.
He glanced over at the now-boarded-up window. Vale smiled as he remembered the way Vic had drop-kicked the masked man out of it. She was incredible.
A horrible thought occurred to him. Did they really know that the assailant was male? When he thought about it, the person had been of an androgynous form—mid height and concealed in a baggy black hoodie and trousers, with their face and hands entirely covered. It could have been either a male or a female. He sighed. That just increased the pool of possibilities twofold.
He sat back and waited, trying not to look at the spot next to his desk where he had shared that kiss with Victoria. Normally he was fully in control of his emotions and actions, but something about her was unraveling him. Vale frowned and tapped his fingers on the desk. He needed to work through whatever it was before it compromised his ability to do his job. That was the most important thing. Maybe the best tactic was keep her at arm’s length, because he had tried just being her friend, but that hadn’t worked. Then again, keeping my distance hasn’t worked either, due to my inability to stay away from her.
There was a knock at the door signaling Li’s arrival. Vale dragged his thoughts from Victoria. “Come in.”
Li entered the room. “So, what’s up?” He clocked the boarded-up window and his dark eyes widened. “Wow. What happened in here?”
“Someone broke into my office earlier then they made a hasty exit through that window. I think they were attempting to access my PC.”
Li whistled softly. “Malevolent?”
Vale considered how much to say. It would probably be best not to mention his suspicions regarding a mole. “Yes. But we do not know how they got in, and after that, they disappeared.”
Li raised his eyebrows. “That was why the lockdown alarm sounded?”
“Yes,” Vale said. “But unfortunately, it did us no good.” He pointed to the PC. “I had to get a new screen. The old one got smashed. Are you able to figure out if somebody accessed it?’
“I can check it out,” Li said as he came around the desk. “Can you log in first?”
Vale did so then got up to allow him to sit in the chair.
Li started working on the keyboard. “So this is a standalone PC? No network?”
“That is correct,” Vale said.
“So the hacker needed to physically be in the room in order to gain access,” said Li.” “Who would know that your PC isn’t connected? Only someone who works in the building?”
“Perhaps,” Vale said, not wanting to say too much. He still didn’t know who they could trust.
“Okay,” Li said. “Someone must have used a boot disk to start up the PC, probably with a USB. The likelihood is that they planned to add another administrative user so they could reboot the PC and gain access, but there is no such user on here, so they must have been interrupted before they’d managed it.”
Vale sighed with relief. “So they would not have been able to view any files on the PC?”
Li shook his head. “They can’t have gotten far enough. The only other way to do it would be to remove the hard disk, and there’s no sign of that having been attempted.”
“Thank you,” Vale said. “That is extremely helpful.”
/>
Vale’s phone started ringing…Priyanka.
“Hi,” he answered.
“Is Vic okay?” she asked.
“Yes. She is recovering in the medical wing,” he told her, trying to keep the image of Vic’s pained grimace out of his head. “Any news from your end?”
“Lorenzo hasn’t gained any ground from our intelligence sources. I wonder if Moore is holding back on whatever his plan is, after you and Vic foiled the Sydney attack.”
Vale wasn’t convinced. Moore wouldn’t be put off so easily. He would want to showcase his plan, whatever the cost. “Anything more from Gareth?”
“No, I’ve not heard from him again,” she said. “The name ‘Harvey Moore’ seems to be the Glassmarsh sibling’s original name. He’s had many others over the years, most of which we haven’t traced. But it appears that Glassmarsh’s original surname was Moore too, so that fits.”
“Right,” Vale said. “Well, it seems nothing was compromised here, thanks to Vic. There is something else I am going to check on. I will update you if I find anything.”
“Okay,” Priyanka said.
“Did…Gareth seem okay to you?” Vale asked.
Priyanka hesitated. “Yes, why?”
“No reason,” Vale said. “I will speak to you later.”
They signed off.
Vale turned to Li, who was logging off the PC. “Thanks for coming up here at such short notice.”
Li got up. “Let me know if I can help with anything else. Want me to check the CCTV for any images of that guy?”
“Thank you,” Vale said, “but we have it covered. I will call you if anything else comes up, though.”
Li smiled. “No problem.” He let himself out of the office.
Vale felt guilty for not being fully honest with Li, but the reality was that everyone was under suspicion. Not that he suspected Li Wei in particular, but it wasn’t as if there was anybody who stood out as being the likely culprit.
Vale left his office for the annex. He climbed the stairwell and entered the door at the top, starting to regret taking Vic up there earlier. He could easily have gone on his own and set her another task to perform while he did so. That wouldn’t have risked him revealing himself.
He entered the room containing the database and checked on the progress of his search. No matches so far.
Hopefully she wouldn’t have put two and two together yet regarding his identity, but it wouldn’t be long until she did if he kept on acting so recklessly. She was an intelligent person and bound to work it out if he wasn’t careful. He ran a hand through his hair, remembering her touch when she had helped him with the discomfort in his neck. There was something soothing as well as exciting about her contact. Afterward, he had been renewed and his neck hadn’t bothered him since. Maybe…he subconsciously wanted her to guess his secret? He leaned against the wall, pondering that thought further. Was the inner turmoil, his recurring dream about taking over as Mr. X and the constant knot in his neck all the result of his need to confide in Victoria?
He took a deep breath. Keeping the secret from Hayden and Amber had been difficult, but it was only after meeting Victoria that his struggle had become an even heavier burden. It was only with her that he took such risks in revealing himself. He wished he could speak to someone about the matter. Priyanka knew about his real identity, but he didn’t want to confide in her regarding his confused feelings about Vic. She would just use it as an excuse to talk him into trying to get into a relationship with her, which was not what he wanted. Is it?
He couldn’t tell Amber and Hayden either, because they didn’t know he was Mr. X. He rubbed his forehead. He needed to get the mission over and have some time to find himself again.
Vale walked to the screen, wishing for something to pop up, something that would blow the whole thing wide open and end his misery. Just then, a name did appear. Charles Moore. A picture of Lord Glassmarsh materialized next to it. Vale blew out his breath in disappointment. They knew that link already. He decided to go check on Vic. He could come back up here later to make sure no other names had surfaced.
Back in the medical wing, Vale spoke to the medic in charge of Victoria’s care. Her wound was healing but it hadn’t fully normalized yet. They wanted to keep her in overnight for observation because she lived alone and there wasn’t anyone to keep an eye on her. Apparently, she wasn’t very happy about staying in.
He made his way to her room and peered through the window. Vic was sitting up in bed, leafing through a magazine in a restless manner. He knocked on the door. She looked up and smiled, beckoning for him to enter.
“Thank goodness you’re here,” she told him. “I’m going spare. Can you believe they want to keep me in overnight? No bloody way.”
He sat on the edge of her bed. “I think it would be a good idea to follow medical advice.”
“There’s no need!” she insisted. “I’m fine. It’s much less painful than it was and nothing bad is going to happen to me now.”
“Still,” he said, “I don’t like the thought of you home alone overnight when the doctor has advised against it.”
Vic shook her head. “It’s no problem. I’m sure I’ll be fine.” Her eyes lit up. “Can you get Priyanka to speak to them and okay it? Or better yet, Mr. X? You and he are clearly very close.”
Vale’s breath caught in his throat. “I would not put it that way.” He glanced toward the door. “But I will go and speak to the doctor again and see if she thinks there is any leeway.”
Vic smiled. “Cool.”
Vale left the room and found the doctor, in her office. “Sorry to bother you. I just wanted to check. Is it strictly necessary for Victoria to stay overnight? You were correct in that she really is rather upset about the idea.”
The doctor gestured for him to sit. “My opinion is the same,” she told him. “I can understand her frustration. She’s told me how keen she is to get back on her mission. She says that she owes it to everyone. However, that doesn’t change what I would recommend medically.”
She owes it to everyone? What did she mean by that?
“I understand,” Vale said. “What if she stayed with someone instead of going home? Would that work?”
“Yes,” the doctor said. “It’s really for someone to keep watch that she doesn’t start to feel worse. If she did, we would want to review her vital signs and her wound.”
“Okay,” Vale said. He pushed aside his inner voice, the one telling him that it was a bad idea. He stood up. “Then that is settled. I will take the responsibility of monitoring her overnight and call you if there are any problems.”
“Phone my cell if you have any issues. I’m on call all night.” She scribbled her number on a piece of paper and handed it to him.
Vale left the room and went back to Victoria. As he entered, her face lit up with anticipation. “Well? What did she say?”
“Good news and bad news,” Vale told her, taking a seat at the edge of the bed.
There was a wary look in her eye. “What’s the bad news?”
“You can’t go home,” Vale said.
Her face fell. “And the good news?”
He met her gaze. “You can come home with me and I will watch you overnight.” Even as he said it, he was conflicted. Deep down, he knew it was not a good idea, not after that kiss in his office. But he couldn’t stand to see her upset about staying in the medical wing.
Something flickered in her eyes and she cleared her throat. “I don’t want to be any trouble.”
“It is no problem,” he said. “You would do the same for me.”
Vic smiled at him and her whole face lit up, melting his doubts away.
He couldn’t help but smile back. “I have a spare room and it is all made up, so you can sleep there. My place is nearer HQ than yours, so it makes sense for us to stay there just in case we need to come back.”
“That’s fine,” she said. “I only have one bed anyway.” Her cheeks colored slightly when
she said that, and she glanced away. “Thank you.” She met his gaze again. “This is so good of you.”
He squeezed her hand. “Not at all.”
The staff at the medical wing gave them some painkillers and a change of dressing, just in case it was needed. They also received some instruction on what sort of signs to watch out for that could signal deterioration.
“Thank goodness,” Vic said as they left the area, headed for the exit. “I can’t wait to get some fresh air.”
Vale looked at her. “You are not walking home.”
She frowned. “Why not?”
“Because you are recovering from a serious wound,” he said. “That is why.”
She rolled her eyes. “Come on. I’m fine.”
He shook his head as they walked out of the front doors toward a waiting car. “Nope. In you get.”
Vic puffed out her cheeks and blew through pursed lips. “You’re so frickin’ bossy.”
Vale smiled. She got into the car and he took a seat next to her. “Okay?” he asked.
She laughed. “Vale, I’m fine. I’m not about to faint on you again.”
His heart rate rose at that idea. He was trying not to think about what they had been doing when she had passed out.
He watched her profile carefully with each minor bump of the car, worried that any jarring motion would hurt her shoulder.
As they approached his apartment, a smile played at the corner of her mouth. “What is it?” he asked her.
“You can stop looking at me like that,” she said. “I’m not going to break.”
Vale glanced away sheepishly, becoming aware that watching out for her comfort wasn’t the only reason he had been staring at her.
They got out of the car and he insisted that she take his arm on the way into the building and up to his place. She rolled her eyes at him but obliged.
When they got through his front door she raised her eyebrows. “Well? Am I okay to manage on my own two feet now?”
He laughed and gestured for her to take a seat over in the living area. “You rest up. I will fix you a drink.”
“Again?” she asked him. “They’ve pumped me full of blood already.”
“Doctor’s orders,” he told her.
