Dangerously Placed (18 page)

‘So it wasn't Nix who told you what happened, then?' I asked as casually as I could, pretending to study the list of flavours on the box.

‘Nah. He called and said he had to do an extra shift at Virtuadventures this evening – some kind of emergency. Sounded kind of mad, actually. I guess the Senior Manager went all guilt-trip on him or something.'

‘Oh.'

‘So … you guys want to go to the beach anyway?'

‘I don't think so,' said Ki.

‘Not really in the mood,' said Sky.

I just shook my head.

‘I'll get going, then.' Joel began to slouch off.

‘Wait a moment,' said Ki suddenly. ‘I brought home a book Evan recommended on forensic investigation. I think you might find it interesting, Joel. Plenty of gore.'

‘Yeah? Cool – where is it?'

‘In Sky's car. Perhaps you could get it for Joel, Sky.'

Sky looked startled, but a glance at Ki's face showed that it was a command, not a request. The two of them set off, Joel giving me a dread-shaking nod by way of farewell.

Ki got up and locked the door. I stared at her.

‘What was all that about?'

‘I wanted to speak to you in private.'

‘What about?'

Ki's dark eyes bored into me.

‘I thought you might like to tell me about the fight you had with Nix, without the others hearing.'

I gaped at her.

‘How did you …?'

‘Basic deduction,' Ki told me calmly. ‘The fact that you omitted to mention anything about what Nix said or did after he released you from the window; your touchiness on the subject of returning to work; the look on your face when Joel said Nix hadn't told him about your adventure today. Adding in the fact that you
and Nix clearly have a romantic interest in each other, it was obvious that –'

‘Wait! What?' I nearly fell off the bed. ‘You
knew
I liked Nix?'

Ki raised an eyebrow. ‘It was hardly rocket science to work that one out, Alex.'

‘But … I barely knew myself until today!'

A look of affectionate pity flitted across Ki's face. Ordinarily I would have been offended, but right then I was way past being worried about whether my best friend had any respect for my intellect.

‘Why didn't you
tell
me?' I moaned, and put my head in my hands. ‘I could have done something about it! And now it's too late …'

‘Tell me what happened,' said Ki gently.

I told her.

‘It's just so stupid!' I concluded shakily. ‘Or maybe it's just me that's stupid. I should've realised how perfect Nix was for me earlier – not now, when it's too late.' I dashed a tear away. ‘I always thought of him as a brother-type, you know? Fun, and a nice guy and all, but kind of juve. Not
romantic
. I don't even know why I suddenly see him so differently – that's how dumb I am.'

‘You're not dumb.' Ki handed me a black handkerchief. ‘A little out of touch, perhaps, but that's understandable. Nix was correct on one point – you and he have hardly seen each other over the last few months.' She held up a hand. ‘I don't say this to accuse
you, Alex. Personally, I feel that putting so much effort towards a single goal shows strength of character. But you – and he – have changed considerably in the last year, and since you were spending less time together, it was difficult for you to perceive that change until you were suddenly in close contact again.' Ki drew her knees up, arranging her long black skirt neatly over them. ‘Did you never wonder why Nix applied for work experience at a special effects studio?'

I shook my head, staring at her.

‘Do you recall the day, just before Christmas, when we went to Sky's place to help her mum cook for her solstice celebrations?'

‘Yeah.'

‘Nix was there too. You were telling us of the marvels of Simulcorp and how fascinating the world of virtual marketing was. I'm sure you didn't notice at the time, but Nix seemed unusually interested and asked a number of questions about it all. I believe it was immediately after New Year that he applied for a placement in a remarkably similar field – one I had never heard him mention before.' Ki put her head on one side and studied me. ‘It was because of you, Alex. If you think back, perhaps you'll remember that he always made a point of asking you individually if you'd be coming to the beach whenever he invited all of us, even though you almost always refused. His anger about Dale, his suggestion that we investigate Grody's murder so your name would be cleared
– they were all indications of his attachment to you.'

My throat constricted.

‘But I didn't notice. So now he thinks I don't really care about him! And if he won't even speak to me, how am I going to tell him? You know how stubborn he is – remember the time he refused to apologise to Mr Henshaw for trying to ride the Ag students' steer to freedom the day before the Hoof and Hook competition?'

‘Vividly,' said Ki. ‘But it might help to remember that strange things – stranger even than the bending of Phoenix Torsten's pride – happen every day.'

I considered this. Ki was right, of course – she nearly always was – but I wasn't sure if that would do me much good. I couldn't help feeling that the closeness between Nix and me might be too new, too fragile to survive a heavy blow right from the start. I didn't tell Ki that, though.

‘Thanks, Ki,' I said instead. ‘You're always the wise one around here. Hey, I forgot to ask – did anything big happen in
your
day?'

Ki flicked her long dark hair over one shoulder.

‘Not especially. I saw one of the junior staff at the morgue partially sever his own thumb by accident, and we were evacuated for an hour or so due to a bomb hoax, but nothing really
big
, no.' And with a serene smile, she got up to unlock the door.

Thursday started miraculously: my parents agreed that I could go back to work. My dad even promised to take his lunch break early so he could drive me from AU-3 to the memorial gardens for Grody's funeral, which he and Mum agreed it was my duty to attend. I had to hand it to Detective Sergeants Montague and Hargreaves – whatever it was they'd said to my folks, it had obviously been amazingly reassuring.

I found out what one of their reassurance points had been as Dad's car drew up alongside AU-3. Constable Byrne was standing guard outside the door. He waved cheerily as I crunched my way across the pebbles, and moved aside for me to do the retina scan. I spotted a camera following my movements from over the doorway, and another directly in front of me as I stepped inside the building. The new security
measures Inge had told me about were already up and running. Would Nix's fears for my safety be alleviated if he could see all this? I sighed, dumping my backpack and quickly pulling off the funeral outfit of dark pants and black velvet top – borrowed from Ki – that I'd put on over my bodysuit.

I knew as soon as I walked through the golden door and into Virk that something was very wrong. Where the corridor had always been carpeted with soft green grass, it was now just a flat green surface, slick and shiny like plastic. As I stared down at it, I realised that I had changed too. The beautiful boots and chocolate-coloured skirt suit Budi had created for me had reverted back to the monochrome bodysuit form of the generic work experience projection – only now, instead of a flat grey, I was a hideous purple. I wondered what could be affecting the office like this. Was one of the many Simulcorp servers that kept Virk running experiencing a power outage? Or had the CEO decided to strip some of the luxuries from the office and use the processing power for some other division of the company?

In the open space area things were even worse. The spectacular mountain view had been replaced with a bright blue wall that strobed unpleasantly as I looked at it. Some of the plants hanging over people's cubicle walls had a weird, blocky look to them, and others seemed to end abruptly, as if someone had taken to them with a huge pair of scissors. My first impulse was to ask Budi what was going on, but he was nowhere
to be seen. Then I remembered that he'd planned to attend the funeral – he was probably at the airport by now. Many of the other cubicles were empty, their occupants presumably also en route to Brighton. I certainly wasn't going to ask Inge, who was standing in a corner shouting at Dusty as he attempted to sweep up what looked like a pile of black bricks. As I got closer, I realised the bricks were the remains of Inge's cubicle, which seemed to have collapsed, and I spotted another reason for Inge's bad temper: her own appearance had suffered along with the rest of the office's. Not only was she wearing flat-soled shoes for the first time since I'd met her, but her chest had shrunk to a considerably less startling size and shape. In fact, she looked almost normal.

Li-Mei, Viktor and Natalya were standing talking together near the water couch. From their occasional glances towards Inge and stifled bursts of laughter, I guessed that they found Inge's reduced glamour amusing. It was probably wise not to look like I was joining in the fun, I decided. Maybe Elena could tell me what was happening around here.

‘Um, excuse me, Li-Mei?' I ventured, going up to the little group. ‘Sorry to interrupt, but do you know where I could find Elena?'

‘Nowhere, I'm afraid. She's been deactivated.'

‘Deactivated? You mean, like, switched off?'

‘She wasn't functioning properly this morning, so Inge told the techies not to bother fixing her.'
Li-Mei noticed my horrified expression and gave me a sympathetic smile. ‘I know – Elena was nice, wasn't she? But we'll probably be better off with a human office manager, really. Think of all the mistakes she made.'

But I wasn't thinking of Elena's mistakes – I'd made too many of my own for that to feel like a good enough reason to get rid of someone. What I was thinking of was the way I'd never see Elena again. Tears pricked at my eyes, but before I could say anything, Inge spotted me.

‘Alex!' she shrieked. I tried to back away into my cubicle, but she strode over to me. ‘This damned new security programming has ruined the office! Those police officers wouldn't let any of us into the office this morning until the techies had put all the safeguards in, so the whole thing has been done improperly, in a rush.' She glared at me as if it was all my fault. ‘Still, we must carry on nonetheless, yes? So, I need you to have your proposal finished today – if possible, before you leave for Pierce's funeral, so that I can check it myself.'

That gave me less than three hours. I gulped.

‘I'll get right to work.'

‘Please do,' barked Inge. She glowered around at Li-Mei, Viktor and Natalya. ‘And why are all you people standing around? Aren't you supposed to be discussing the Lowestoft collaboration?' Looking daggers at them, she stalked off to berate Dusty again. Viktor chuckled at her as she went. His amusement came to a sudden stop, however, when he sat down on the couch, which
had evidently been damaged by the new programming. Instead of sitting on it, he fell right through with a loud splash.

I was about to sit down – carefully – at my own desk when the most surreal thing of all happened.

‘Alex,' said a low voice behind me, and I turned.

It was Dale. Looking drawn and serious in a way I'd never seen him before, and dressed in an identical purple suit to my own, but definitely the same Dale I'd once thought so much of. It seemed a lifetime ago now.

‘Dale? What are you doing here?' I demanded.

He looked around cautiously at Inge, who was too busy venting her anger on Dusty to have noticed him.

‘I emailed Budi and told him I'd be in today because I was feeling better,' said Dale. ‘He said it was okay. Alex, I think we'd better sit down.'

I pulled the second chair out from under my desk. Our desk, I reminded myself.

‘I've got something to show you,' he said, opening the Impression folder on our computer and bringing up a video file I hadn't seen before.

‘If it's more footage of me in revealing positions, I don't want to see it,' I told him.

‘No! It's nothing like that, I swear.' He turned earnest blue eyes on me. ‘I know I said I wouldn't show up here again, but I've been thinking about everything, and …' He took a deep breath. ‘Remember when you asked me if I knew anything about Grody's death? Well, I do. It
might be nothing important at all, but I decided I should show you. I uploaded it to our proposal file last night. I want you to tell me what I should do with it, Alex. I'll do whatever you say.' His gaze sharpened suddenly. ‘What's this on your face?' He reached up to touch the cut on my cheek, which was now complemented by a lovely dark ring of bruising.

I moved my head back. Just enough so he didn't touch me.

‘It's a long story. Let's just say it hasn't been all fun and games since you left. Now show me whatever it is you want to show me – I've got a proposal to finish.'

Dale blinked, lowering his hand. The video flicked up on screen. Like the footage of me in my Virk Suit, it was quite shaky. I was about to tell Dale he should abandon any ambitions to become a cameraman, when the view steadied and I saw that we were looking at a Simulcorp building. One identical to mine.

‘Is this …?'

Dale nodded.

‘It's AU-2. I took this the day Grody was killed, before I headed over to your Virk Room. And that's him.'

I squinted at the screen. Sure enough, a man was walking around the side of the building. He was tall and thin, with gingery hair. As we watched, he bent his face to the retina scanner and stepped quickly through the door, casting a brief glance over his shoulder as it shut behind him.

‘I was probably the last person to see Grody alive,'
murmured Dale, his eyes fixed on the screen. ‘Except for the murderer.'

A tiny shiver ran through me. It was kind of creepy. But I couldn't see that it proved anything.

‘This was lunchtime, though, right?' I asked. ‘We knew he was still alive then. We spoke to him. I don't see how this changes that.'

‘Neither did I at first,' said Dale. ‘I took another minute or so of footage. My uncle wanted me to go in there, see what Grody was like inside the Virk Room itself, maybe get some unflattering pictures they could run in the paper if we could get enough dirt to do a story on him. But I couldn't. Grody was …' He looked down for a moment. ‘He was too scary.'

I said nothing. I knew exactly what he meant, but that was no reason to show sympathy for Dale's failure to be as big a sneak as his uncle wanted.

‘There!' Dale pointed at the screen. ‘Look!'

Dale had obviously given up on seeing Grody any more; the camera swung away from AU-2 to the street and the clip ended.

‘Look at what?'

Dale took the video back about two seconds.

‘Watch carefully,' he told me, and pressed Play. ‘There!'

Dale paused the clip and I stared at the screen. Just before he'd switched off the camera, it had caught a brief image of someone standing by the wall that divided the black-pebbled courtyard from the building
next to it. A woman, about as tall as Ki and quite slim, looking towards the entrance to AU-2. Suddenly I was a whole lot more interested.

‘Can you zoom in on her?'

‘Yeah.' The woman's face filled the screen. She was wearing dark sunglasses and had shiny, chestnut-brown hair cut in a shoulder-length bob. Below her sunnies, I could see that she had high cheekbones, a slightly pointed chin and a thin, straight nose. She had an almost haughty look, like a model on a catwalk. I tried to picture the black-clad figure I'd walked in on in Grody's Virk Room. There was so little to go on – it had been dark, and the balaclava had been an effective disguise. But it
could
have been this woman underneath it.

I turned to Dale.

‘You need to show this to the police,' I said.

For a moment I could see him preparing to argue with me, to ask if that was really necessary or suggest that I take it to them instead. But the words died on his lips. He'd known that was the only thing to do all along – he'd only brought the video in so I'd know he was doing the right thing at last.

‘There's every chance this woman is Grody's murderer, Dale,' I said, but I spoke more gently this time. I gestured at the cut on my cheek. ‘You wanted to know what this was? I went to AU-2 as well, two nights ago. I found a woman tampering with Grody's Virk Room. She attacked me. Yesterday while I was in AU-3
someone – probably the same woman – attacked me again. This footage of yours may be all the police need, not only to find the murderer, but to keep me, and anyone else who might have inadvertently got involved in all this, safe.' I raised my chin a little. ‘You said you'd do whatever I told you to, Dale.'

Dale nodded. Then he took a deep breath, steeling himself.

‘I'll go now.' He pushed his chair back, then paused. His blue eyes sought mine. ‘Alex.'

I swallowed hard, guessing what he was about to say.

‘I want you to know that it wasn't because of my uncle that I tried to get closer to you. I liked you from the start. You were so … strong.' He smiled, and for a second it was as though the last week and a half had never happened. ‘You seemed so determined to be better than me, but you never tried to score points with Budi and Inge by bringing me down. I admired that a lot.' His smile faded. ‘I still do. I know I'm asking a lot here, but do you think there's any way we could … start again?' He leant towards me. ‘Or maybe just pick up where we left off?'

I looked at him. Even in the purple bodysuit, he really was an unusually good-looking guy. I could still see why I'd been so captivated by him when we met. Only now his boyish charm felt a little too … boyish. His soft blue eyes, pleading with me, made him look weak and all too easily led. A small, bitter smile tugged
at my lips. It was clear to me now that in thinking Dale was so confident and grown up, and that Nix was so juvenile, I had been very much mistaken.

‘I'm sorry, Dale,' I said.

He looked down.

‘I guess it must be pretty hard for you to trust me now.'

‘It's not that,' I began, and he glanced up at me.

‘Oh,' he said slowly. ‘I see. It's your friend, isn't it? The violent one.'

I felt my face heat up a little.

‘What makes you say that?'

Dale got up.

‘You don't seem like the kind of person who'd pay someone to protect her. And what other reason is there for a guy to get so angry over a girl?' He grinned, but his eyes still looked hurt. ‘Goodbye, Alex.'

The first thing I saw when my dad drew up at the Brighton Memorial Garden was Budi walking towards us. In realspace he looked younger than ever. As Budi held out his hand to shake my dad's, Dad looked him up and down, from the big smile on his youthful face to the black teardrop-patterned sarong wrapped around his waist. I could tell he was having a hard time believing that Budi really was one of my mentors.