Embraced by Fire (14 page)

Her body heated and she clenched her thighs together. The man was temptation personified. Temptation she was never going to get to taste. It was a good thing she’d appreciated the moment when it happened, because she was unlikely to get that close to him again. Desire faded. The difference, and distance, between them so very big. She blinked rapidly and rolled over again, shaking the sheet crossly when it tangled around her legs.

She realised as she settled again, that while she hated what he’d done because it personally impacted her, she understood it. She even forgave it. He’d never meant to hurt her. When things were over he would have walked out of her life as suddenly as he’d entered it. In truth, she should never even have found out about his deception.

If only he’d entered her life under different circumstances. She wiggled, trying to get more comfortable as she thought over his reasons for deceiving her in the first place. Someone was using Fantasia Alive to steal private information and sell it on the information black market.

From what she’d seen tonight, and from what Ryu told her, the most likely person was Johnny. Her fingers clenched. Before tonight she hadn’t even known there was such a thing as the information black market. Now she was worried one of her best friends was involved in stealing information and selling it.

She remembered the odd phone call she’d overheard. Could that be connected to the craziness tonight? She closed her eyes, wishing she could shut out her suspicions as easily as the light. She’d known Johnny a long time. She couldn’t believe he was involved in something like this. There must be another explanation. But what?

Damn Johnny anyway. What was he up to?

****

The next morning Kait arrived at work earlier than usual. All night she’d tossed and turned, trying to work things out in her mind, ending up more and more tangled. However, when she opened groggy eyes as the sun hit the horizon, she’d felt a little calmer. And she had a plan.

A plan that required having the building to herself. As she unlocked the main doors, her fingers shook. She wasn’t sure she was doing the right thing. But what choice did she have?

She flicked on the lights in reception then the rack of overhead lights in the main part of the building. The florescent tubes cracked and fizzled as they heated, the light rippling out into the warehouse. She began walking toward the back of the room.

Last night Ryu asked her to let him know if she saw or heard from Johnny. Well, until she found out otherwise Johnny was her friend. She needed to work out where she stood before she told anyone anything. For that she needed as much information as possible.

Loyalty mattered.

Deception mattered, too.

Johnny’s little trip upstairs last night proved he was deceiving her. He might not be telling outright lies but something underhanded was clearly going on. She’d known Johnny a lot longer than she’d know Ryu. Johnny was her friend. Friends should be able to trust each other. They should tell each other when something was wrong. They shouldn’t put each other at risk. Because of Johnny’s actions, she and everyone else at Fantasia Alive were under suspicion. A dull pain throbbed in her chest. Betrayal hurt.

Ryu betrayed her when he used her to get closer to whatever was going on, but he had a darn good reason for that betrayal. A reason she, however reluctantly, understood. It might be awhile before she completely trusted Ryu again, but Johnny…Betrayal by a friend hurt far more than betrayal by a man she hardly knew, no matter how much she desired him.

Despite what happened last night, she couldn’t believe Johnny was involved in something illegal…didn’t want to believe. As a result she was here before anyone else this morning, with a plan that was also a kind of betrayal.

She was looking for evidence. She stopped in front of the wall of staff lockers, and tugged at the door of Johnny’s locker. It didn’t budge.

Locked, drat!
Why hadn’t she thought of that? Of course it was locked. Everyone had a combination lock so they could keep personal effects in their lockers. She wrinkled her nose. Funny thing was, Johnny had never bothered to lock his—until now. He’d said if anyone wanted his junk that badly they could have it.

Rattling the combination lock did nothing more than confirm it was secure. She stared at it, feeling faintly ridiculous.
What are you going to now, Sherlock?
Nibbling her lip hesitantly, she picked up the lock and spun the dial. She had nothing to lose by trying a few combinations.

Flicking the dial through the combination for Johnny’s birthday, she held her breath. Could it be this simple? She tested the lock. Answer: No. The dial remained locked.

She tapped a fingernail against her teeth. What else could she try? Ransacking her brain for ideas she tried: his mother’s birthday, his car licence plate (after dashing to her office to find it), his phone number (home and cell phone)…

Her combinations became more and more ludicrous until, desperate, she tried her own birthday. The lock yielded with a snick. Her eyes widened and she stared at it in utter surprise. He’d used her birthday as the code. What on Earth did
that
mean?

Pushing the question aside, she freed the lock. She didn’t have time to think about it now. If she wasn’t quick someone would arrive and she’d have to can this whole idea. Taking a deep breath, she opened the locker.

The smell of old gym socks hit her. Yetch, maybe this was why he locked it, to keep the smell from escaping. Waving her hand in front of her nose, she rifled delicately through the stuff in his locker.

It wasn’t socks generating the smell, it was his spare running shoes. She dropped them on the floor. She’d put them back before she left, but it was easier searching without her eyes streaming. She sorted carefully through the contents of his locker.

As she finished, her shoulders slumped in despair. There was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing nefarious screaming out. Deflated, she reluctantly closed the locker.

It didn’t latch. Annoyed, she shoved harder. It gave a few millimetres before refusing to go any further. Something was in the way.

Chapter 15

Reluctantly, Kait reopened Johnny’s locker. Her scrabbling must have dislodged some of the mess. Unable to see the problem, she ran her finger along the edge. Why had she ever thought this would solve anything?

She could feel frown lines crowding her forehead. Ryu was the secret agent, not her. The closest she got to solving crimes was watching them on TV. Last night this seemed like such as clever plan. Now…she shook her head. Now, she knew she was just looking for some kind of easy solution. She had no idea what was really going on with Johnny, but whatever was happening he wasn’t stupid enough to leave evidence in his locker at work.

Something hard snagged the tip of her finger. Startled, she peered down at the corner hinge. A piece of plastic was sticking out from under a sweatshirt. Opening the locker fully, she pulled it out. A small flash drive lay in the palm of her hand. Her fist clenched over it spasmodically. Evidence…?

She didn’t know, but she was going to find out.

The creak of the main entrance opening and the sound of voices threw her pulse into overdrive.
Damn!
She darted a glance over her shoulder. The last thing she wanted was to be caught invading staff privacy.

Slamming the locker closed, breathing a sigh of relief when it latched easily this time, she spun the lock then ran for her office. She was just sitting down when Carol poked her nose around the door.

“I thought I heard someone else in the office. You’re here early. I didn’t expect anyone from last night to be coming in before lunch today.” Carol’s honest face was a stark contrast to the deceit Kait knew her own concealed.

She smiled, knowing it didn’t reach her eyes. “I had some paperwork I needed to get done, when the building is quiet like this I can get a lot finished without interruptions.”

“Darn, and here I am interrupting you.” Carol gave an embarrassed laugh, her short, brown hair swinging forward to hide her face.

Kait waved her hand. “No problem, that’s not what I meant.”

“I’ll let you get on with it. I was about to put the coffee on, would you like me to bring you a cup when it’s done?”

“That would be wonderful, Carol.” This time the smile reached her eyes.

Carol was heading for the door when an idea stuck Kait. “Oh, Carol, while you’re here…”

“Yes?” Carol turned expectantly.

“I don’t suppose we have any spare flash drives lying around? I think mine is corrupting data.” Kait squeezed the drive curled in her fist, the plastic digging into her palm.

Carol pushed her glasses up her nose. “Yes, we should have a few. Victor uses them to take presentations to clients. What size do you need?”

Size? Kait’s mind went blank. “Um…” Uncurling her fingers, she glanced down at the drive in her hand. Nothing. She flicked it over, relief surged through her. “Eight gig, if we have it.”

“Sure, I’ll check.”

Kait’s shoulders slumped and she let out a harsh breath as Carol’s footsteps vanished down the corridor. She wasn’t cut out for this spy stuff. Putting the drive on her desk, she stared at it as if it was poisonous.

Finally, curiosity overcame fear and she cautiously slid it into her computer and accessed the drive. What the…?

She stared at the files. Most of them she couldn’t open, and those she could appeared to be filled with nothing but gibberish. She leaned back in her chair and thrummed her fingers on the arm, contemplating her options.

She could call Johnny and confront him, but that assumed he would even answer the phone. She could call Ryu and see what Mr Secret-Agent had to say. Or… she could do nothing.

Carol knocked on the doorframe. “A cup of coffee, and I found three drives. Check they’re empty before using them, if you could bring me the spares when you’re done that would be great.”

“Thanks, Carol, that’s wonderful—and the coffee smells divine.”

Kait stared at the three drives Carol left on the desk, an idea stirring in the dark pits of her mind. She checked the drive in her computer, then picked up one of the drives from Carol and held it next to the one already plugged in. Identical.

Plugging in the new drive, she checked it was empty, then copied everything from the first drive onto the second. She pulled out both drives, careful not to confuse them, then picked up her phone.

The rough growl on the other end suggested she’d woken Ryu. Tough cookies, she thought with a malicious smile. She hadn’t got any sleep, why should he?

“Ryu, it’s Kait, you asked me to call you if I found anything.”

“You found something?” His voice was quickly alert, reminding her she was dealing with someone who, in all likelihood, was woken at all hours of the day or night to save the world.

“Yes, I wondered if you were coming into the office today?”

There was a rustle of sheets, confirming he was still in bed. She shutdown images of a naked, sleep-tousled Ryu. Unfortunately, she didn’t shut them down fast enough and her cheeks heated.

“What did you find?” Ryu’s sleep roughened voice did nothing to help clear her mind and the heat spread down her neck and across her chest.

“I’d rather not talk about it over the phone. Can you come in?”

“I can. What time?”

She cleared her throat. “I’m here already so whenever you’re ready.”

“I’ll be there shortly.” He hung up with a click.

Kait scrunched her fingers through her hair, stress nagging the muscles at the back of her neck. She put the original drive in her desk drawer, the copy went into her handbag. Then, straightening her shoulders, she reminded herself she had work to do today. Switching over to her email, she started going through her correspondence.

An email from Johnny caught her eye. It had been sent late last night—or rather, very early this morning. Hesitantly, she doubled clicked on it. Why was Johnny sending her email?

—

From:
[email protected]

To:
Kait Jones

Subject
: Friday—apologies

Hi Kitty-Kat

Sorry, I won’t be able to make it in to work today. I think I’ve got the flu.

I felt bad last night and left early, Dave covered for me—tell him thanks.

Not sure when I’ll feel better, I’ll keep you posted.

Luv, J

—

Kait re-read the email. It all sounded so plausible. If she hadn’t seen him sneaking around where he wasn’t meant to be, she’d believe him without a moment’s hesitation. Instead, she knew the truth. He was lying.

Oh, Johnny, what are you mixed up in?
He wouldn’t have developed a scheme this complex, that much she believed, but somehow he’d become involved in this dangerous mess.

Instinctively, she knew this was what his phone call had been about that day in her office. She’d given him the opportunity to talk to her. Together they could have found a way to straighten things out. Now, he was in too deep.

Somehow he’d alerted Ryu’s organisation, and goodness knew who else, and was being investigated. With his genial, performers mask removed it was clear Ryu was a dangerous man. She doubted he would let his quarry get away. She rubbed her forehead, she wasn’t even sure if she wanted Johnny to escape.

The remaining friendship she felt for him was a fragile, tender thing at best. If he was breaking the law then he needed to be held accountable. She thought of his mother, when that poor woman found out she would to be devastated.

Kait picked up her phone, then put it down. Ryu was on his way, she would tell him about the email when he arrived. She hadn’t told him about the flash drive over the phone because it seemed too complicated. Now, she had one more thing to tell him. All in all the evidence was painting a damning picture.