Between HeVan and Hell (6 page)

“Your matches are Jeze and Tyr, two
good men from our Navigator Cluster. They’ll be working closely
with you on this satellite issue.”

“Jezzie and Teer? Would you spell
those for me?” she asked and he did.

“Now I’m really looking forward to the
future. I see how happy Addie is with you three, and I’m jealous.
All my life I’ve been looking and finding things for others. Now I
want to have something for myself.

“Can I ask you a question?” she
asked.

“Of course, what is it?”

“Why do you put your men in
‘Clusters'? Why do you use that description?” she asked.

“For a long time, males were only
allowed in certain traditional jobs. We had warriors, farmers,
builders, and other jobs that required greater physical abilities.
When the population began to change, the Regent of the time made
the Clusters. They were meant as temporary duty designations,
except the population never evened out between females and males,
it grew even more imbalanced. Now the word has gone into general
usage. An archaic remnant of an earlier era,” he said in a quiet
voice.

He shook himself off. “I’m going to
check on Addie. Jalen and Jett should be back momentarily.” And he
left.

Fifteen minutes later, Suzanna, Jalen,
and Jett were on the road.

Grace finally went into the store
where she was meeting Becky. She’d been mostly window-shopping for
the last hour; she couldn’t forget that the Department supplied the
credit cards she was using. She’d purchased one pair of shoes and
one outfit. Now she was heading to the lingerie department.
Hopefully, instead of stalling, it would look like she was being
really picky about what she’d wear for her boyfriend’s
return.

She couldn’t see Kadyrov’s men because
she wasn’t looking. She knew they were there because she’d been
pushing her powers to the limit ever since she got out of bed. She
used to think that using her powers would weaken her, like burning
up energy. Now she realized that it gave her more energy, like she
was tapping into a source. Last night, while she sat on the couch,
her powers told her the kitchen and living room had a higher level
of surveillance that her equipment had not picked-up. It was her
gift that let her know that she had audio and visual surveillance
in every room except the bathroom. Luckily, in there she only had
audio, she didn’t know why they hadn’t added video; she was just
glad they didn’t. When she got up, she’d taken her clothes into the
bathroom to dress in jeans and a t-shirt. She could get away with
dressing comfortably because this was her regular day
off.

She started going through the racks of
bras, trying to find the right color for underneath the outfit she
bought. She chose two and then headed to the dressing
room.

Anton Kadyrov made his grandfather
proud. They were equally sadistic and without care for any human
life but their own. He picked up his phone and dialed.
“Grandfather, she’s gone into another dressing room. I should have
brought a woman with me. Send one over, will you?”

“Patience, my boy; patience is always
rewarded.”

“If she’s a cop, I’m going to take
great pleasure in retiring her. And if she isn’t, then she’s alone
in the world. I’ll take her for myself. I’d enjoy training this one
on how to please a man.”

“Anton, you know I cannot say no to
you. Of course, you can have her if you want, unless she’s a cop.
Then you will need to set an example. Just remember, she has the
boyfriend, and he has brothers, after all.”

“I’ll let you know what I find out.
And I’ll be careful to eliminate any threats against us,” he said
to his grandfather and hung up.

Grace walked into the dressing room,
saw a familiar blonde head, and hurried over to the dressing room
next door to her. As she walked over, she saw that, for the moment,
they were the only two people there.

“Becky, what did you find
out?”

“You're all set. I’ve been on the
phone to your Captain, I razzle dazzled him. I explained why you
contacted me instead of him and told him I had a couple of Interpol
agents nearby, who were also investigating the Kadyrovs. I
convinced him it was better to combine operations and it would be
easier to avoid detection. Interpol has been working the European
side of the operation to cut off any assistance or international
criminal enterprises he may have going; they suspect human
trafficking. I got all their files on Kadyrov and downloaded them
onto this flash drive,” she said, and handed it over.

“He wasn’t too happy. Wow, that bra is
cute, cute, cute. Do they have it in other colors?” Becky asked,
fingering the soft material.

“Yes. Do you think it goes well with
this outfit?” Grace asked, opening her shopping bag and dropping in
the flash drive Becky passed to her as she pulled out the dress
she’d bought. They both had heard the click of high
heels.

“Yes, it should go well with that
dress. Interesting pattern,” Becky said with a grin.

The saleslady walked in with another
customer.

“Are you finding everything you need,
ladies?” she asked.

“Do you have that bra in a pale
yellow?” Becky asked her, handing over three rejections. “I didn’t
like any of these three so much. I’ll be keeping the other
two.”

And she walked back into her dressing
room. The saleslady took the rejections and said she’d bring the
requested bra right in. She turned to Grace.

“I just walked in and haven’t tried
these on yet,” said Grace. “I’ll let you know if I need anything
else. I’m taking my shopping slow today. My boyfriend is coming
back into town late this afternoon, and I’m trying to keep myself
busy ‘til he gets here,” she said with a smile.

“No problem, dear, I’m happy to help.
With your looks, I’m sure he’ll be speeding to get to you as
quickly as he can.”

“Thank you, what a sweet thing to
say,” said Grace, before she turned and also entered her dressing
room.

She tried on the two bras, then she
and Becky were walking out at the same time. They were both aware
that they were being watched.

Becky said, “I couldn’t help but
overhear what you said to the saleslady. If you need a time waster
while you’re waiting for your boyfriend, hit the spa over by the
hair salon. I think they’re having a mani/pedi special
today.”

Grace turned to her with a smile.
“Thanks, I didn’t know that. I was just going to head back to my
apartment and stare at the walls until he called. That’s a much
better idea. And since I’m expecting him to ask an important
question tonight, I better pull out the plastic ‘til it melts at
the salon, I want to look like a million bucks.”

“You go, girl! It was nice meeting
you. Good luck tonight,” said Becky, as she turned and placed her
things on the counter to pay.

Grace smiled and walked over to the
panties display. She wanted a pair to match the bra she’d chosen.
She saw many nice things, but in her role, she was supposed to be
on a budget. Now that she was committing to charging services in
the salon, she had to be more economical here.

Grace didn’t even glance up as Becky
took her larger purchases away and walked over towards the shoe
department. Grace found what she wanted, paid for it, and then
asked the saleslady for directions to the in-store spa.

While Grace was deciding on spa
services, Becky tried on shoes. She made a point of commenting on
the choices of another shopper. Then she looked at her watch and
seeing the time, acted as if she were in a hurry. She quickly paid
for the one pair of Kelsi Dagger snakeskin peep-toe stilettos she
had found and then rushed out of the department store. She exited
the mall at the cabstand and hopped a cab. She had him drop her off
on the other side of the mall at her car. Then she drove to the
convention center as fast as she could. She didn’t want to be late
for her meeting with Valerie about the upcoming Sci-fi
Convention.

Anton Kadyrov was still watching the
spa when his phone rang. “Hello?”

“The blonde had a cab drive her to the
other side of the mall to her car. Then she drove like a maniac to
the convention center. She met up with another woman at the office
of the event coordinator. The only thing I caught before they went
out of earshot was that she was sorry she was late. Then the other
woman asked her if she’d been shopping again.”

“That’s enough, Gregor, you can drop
that subject. We’re clear, then; she was obviously just a random
shopper and not a contact. I saw her chatting up another woman in
the shoe department. Come over and relieve me at the department
store. I can’t believe how much time this woman has spent here,”
said Anton before hanging up. He looked up and saw the waitress
he’d been fucking lately coming down the aisle. He stepped out into
her path.

“She’s in the spa; find out what she’s
doing and anyone she talks to,” he ordered.

“Sure thing, Anton; you know I’d do
anything for you,” she said with a smile. Running a hand up his
shirt, she leaned forward and gave him a kiss, and then walked over
to the spa.

Grace had finished up a thirty-minute
hot stone massage, and was moving back into the main treatment
areas to get her manicure and a pedicure. She hadn’t realized how
tense she’d become since finding all the passive surveillance in
her cover apartment. Now she was all loose and relaxed.

That was a great idea of
Becky’s having me come here, she thought. I also feel safer being
in a public place. I wonder why?

She walked over to the special chairs
designed to massage your back while your feet were pampered when
she saw a friend from work in the next chair.

“Hey, there, Betty Boop. Is this your
day off, too?” asked Grace.

“Oh, yeah, but it’s my first time
here. A friend mentioned the special today. I’m on a budget,” she
answered.

“Aren’t we all,” Grace said with a
sigh, “Only I’m splurging today because my boyfriend is coming into
town, and I’m hoping he’s planning on popping the question. So, I’m
doing the buff, wax, and polish routine.”

“I have to work tonight. If you bring
him by the club, introduce him. Right now, I’m going to lay back
and let the chair, and this lovely lady with the magic hands take
care of my feet. Those uniform heels at work are killers!” she
said.