Embraced by Fire (16 page)

Opening a water bottle she took a drink, then dampened a tissue and wiped her face. Dampening another tissue, she blotted her eyelids. She didn’t want to leave her office in case someone saw her. Once her eyes weren’t so red, she’d sneak down to the bathroom. Throwing the tissues in the bin, she straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath, praying for calm.

Ignoring her pen lying on the floor, she turned back to her computer. Her email alert was flashing. Work would distract her. She switched to her mail, and saw a new email from Johnny waiting.

She bit her lip and looked at the empty doorway—Ryu was gone.

She would see what Johnny wanted before she called Ryu. It might be nothing.

—

From:
[email protected]

To:
Kait Jones

Subject:
My locker

Kait, I stopped in to check my locker this morning (sorry I didn’t say hi, I didn’t want to give you my flu) and there’s something missing. Has anyone gone through my locker this morning?

—J

—

It was clear Johnny hadn’t seen her last night, but he knew something was up. Should she tell him she’d seen him? She rubbed her fingers together anxiously then clicked reply.

—

From:
[email protected]

To:
Johnny Blake

Subject:
RE: My Locker

Johnny—What’s going on?

I saw you upstairs last night. I care about you and want to help. I hoped looking in your locker might give me a clue about what’s going on. Please let me help you.

Kait.

—

There, that sounded okay. She wouldn’t let on about Ryu, but maybe she could talk Johnny into turning himself in. Johnny’s reply flicked into her inbox almost instantly.

—

From:
[email protected]

To:
Kait Jones

Subject:
RE: My locker

Kait, WTF??!!

—J

—

From:
[email protected]

To:
Johnny Blake

Subject:
RE: My Locker

You tell me. I saw you creeping around and you’ve got encrypted files in your locker. Are you in some kind of trouble?

—K

—

From:
[email protected]

To:
Kait Jones

Subject:
RE: My Locker

Did you take the files? Do you still have them?

HAVE YOU TOLD ANYONE???

—J

—

From:
[email protected]

To:
Johnny Blake

Subject:
RE: My Locker

Yes, I still have the flash drive.

I haven’t told anyone.

Are you okay, J? What’s going on?

—K

—

Kait thought of Ryu and looked guiltily at her handbag with its duplicate drive. She wasn’t sure she wanted to give it to Johnny.

—

From
: [email protected]

To:
Kait Jones

Subject:
RE: My Locker

I need those files, Kait, I’ll come by your house tonight and pick them up.

Whatever you do, don’t tell anyone.

—J

—

That didn’t sound good. She massaged her shoulder, she didn’t want to see Johnny alone. However much she longed to trust him, she wasn’t sure she knew him anymore.

—

From:
[email protected]

To:
Johnny Blake

Subject:
RE: My Locker

What’s on those files, why are they so important?

—K

—

From:
[email protected]

To
:
Kait Jones

Subject:
RE: My Locker

I can’t tell you, but if I don’t get them back my life’s in danger.

Please, Kait, I need that flash drive.

—J

—

She looked again at her handbag, she’d give him the copy. There was no way she could live with herself if something happened to him.

—

From:
[email protected]

To:
Johnny Blake

Subject:
RE: My Locker

If things are that bad, don’t come to my house. We’ll be safer in a public place. I’ll meet you in the park tomorrow morning at ten.

—K

—

There was a longer pause before his reply arrived, as if he were thinking about her suggestion. She shifted on her chair, wishing things were different.

—

From:
[email protected]

To:
Kait Jones

Subject
: RE: My Locker

9am at the park. Bring the flash drive.

—J

—

From:
[email protected]

To:
Johnny Blake

Subject:
RE: My Locker

Okay, 9:00. See you then.

Be careful.

—K

—

Kait’s finger hesitated, then she pressed send. It was done.

She hoped she hadn’t screwed things up horribly, but she wanted a chance to talk to Johnny face-to-face. Maybe she could convince him to turn himself in. She nibbled her fingernail. She wasn’t going to tell Ryu until it was over. Hopefully he’d forgive her the deception.

Closing her email, she got up and put on the cardigan she kept behind the door. Despite the sun pouring in her window, she felt cold.

Chapter 17

A clinking of cups accompanied Ryu as he put the tray down on the table. “I don’t know why I didn’t make you guys get your own coffee.”

“Because you’re too sweet for words, Mac.” Delilah patted his cheek and picked up one of the black coffees.

Derek made a choking sound. “
Sweet
, don’t make me barf. Lizard-boy got them because there are more of us and we’d kick his ass.” He added milk while dodging Ryu’s mock punch. “See, what kind of punch was that? A three-year-old could do better.”

Ryu rescued Derek’s coffee before smoothly hooking a leg behind other man’s knees and tripping him. Derek landed on his ass with a loud grunt

“If I fight like a three-year-old, what does that make you?” Ryu looked down at his prone friend. “And that’s
Dragon
-
man
to you, Bear-breath.”

Derek rolled to his feet and tackled Ryu. They both went flying in a flurry of feet and fists. Derek caught Ryu a blow to his stomach and the wind rushed out of him. Gasping for breath, he finally forced Derek onto his back. Sitting on the bear-shifter’s chest, Ryu grinned down at him.

“Children, behave.” Adrian took his own coffee while glaring at Ryu and Derek, the twinkle in his eyes somewhat ruining the effect.

Ryu stood and offered his vanquished companion a hand up. Derek stood with a groan, before clapping Ryu on the back and retrieving his coffee. Ryu took a sip of his own bitter, black brew and glanced at his watch; eleven-thirty. After his late night yesterday, he should be in bed, but everyone was hanging around to see what the flash drive revealed.

Leaning back, he rested a shoulder against the wall and took another sip of his coffee. His eyes slid closed and he wondered what Kait was doing right now. She’d had a difficult couple of days. If he hadn’t needed to get the flash drive to Spock, Ryu wouldn’t have left her this afternoon. In fact, he wanted nothing more than to wrap her in his arms and keep her safe.

Instead, he’d had to satisfy himself with rubbing her arms soothingly. He sighed, slowly but deep. He didn’t know her well enough to offer more than restrained comfort anyway, even if he’d had time. Johnny, the bastard, knew her well enough, but he was the cause of her heartache.
Bastard
.

“How is Kait taking this whole business? You said she and Johnny were close friends.” Ryu opened his eyes to see Adrian leaning against the wall beside him.

He blinked, Adrian had the uncanny ability of picking the subject foremost on someone’s mind. He denied being able to read minds but Ryu was sure there was something more than good guesswork involved.

Shrugging, he said, “About how you’d expect when a friend metaphorically stabs you in the back. She’s cut-up but holding it together.”

“What about the two of you?”

“What do you mean?” Ryu looked at Adrian in surprise. He thought he’d kept his attraction to Kait well hidden.

“She knew you at school, took you on as staff in good faith. Now you turn out to be undercover and investigating her friend, can’t be easy. Mistaken about you, mistaken about him. Got to shake her…” Adrian raised an eyebrow.

Yeah, she had to be feeling pretty insecure about her ability to judge people. Ryu wished there was something he could do to help. “We didn’t know each other well at school, and I only recently started working with her. I think finding out the truth about me has fallen to the wayside compared to the truth about Johnny.”

“She does understand she can’t talk to anyone about what’s going on?”

Ryu nodded. “Yes, she understands.” He took a sip of his coffee while he waited to see where Adrian was going with this.

“Good.” Adrian looked at him intently. “She needs a friend right now. With Johnny gone, that leaves you.”

“Me?” Ryu almost choked on his coffee.

“We can’t have her running loose and she seems nice enough. Would it be that hard?”

Adrian didn’t know the half of it, Ryu thought. Yes, it would be hard. Around her it was already hard more often than was comfortable. He cleared his throat. “She’s nice enough. I just don’t know if I’m the best person.”

He should tell Adrian how attracted he was to her, but he didn’t want to complicate things further and, truthfully, he relished the excuse to be around her.

“I don’t think we have a choice.” Adrian rubbed his thumb against the rim of his cup, he looked like there was something else he wanted to say but wasn’t sure how to start.

“I’ll do what I can.” Ryu wasn’t used to seeing Adrian hesitant and it unnerved him.

“I know this operation is difficult for you. It’s always tricky going undercover and keeping your real name. It’s not easy to be someone else when you can’t forget your other self. Meeting someone from your past makes the separation even more troublesome.” Adrian lowered his voice. “And I know how frustrating you find it working with Neil. Heck, we all do, but I think you’ve got deeper issues.”

“I’m fine.” Shit, he didn’t want to talk about this.

“You’ve never talked to me about your issues with Neil, but I’m here if you need me, either as your boss or your friend. If you’re not comfortable talking to me, Dr. Larne’s door is always open for operatives.”

“I’m fine.” Ryu’s fingers tightened around his coffee cup splashing hot liquid up the sides.

“Neil has been on this investigation from the beginning, we were called in to help him. If I thought there was an alternative I would suggest another team but…”

“We don’t have those options.” Ryu appreciated what Adrian was trying to do, but his relationship with Neil was not something he was comfortable talking about.

“No, we don’t have those options.” Adrian’s voice was compassionate. “We’re one of the best teams, and you’re one of my best operatives. People like Neil might not know about our
special
skills but they know about our regular ones.”

A flash of orange caught the corner of Ryu’s eye as a mini-football flew toward them. He grabbed the ball out of the air, only his fast reaction saving their coffees from going everywhere.

“Heads up.” Derek’s grin said everything Ryu needed to know about the delayed warning.

With an exaggerated growl, Ryu threw the ball back, glad of an excuse to end the conversation. There wasn’t anything Adrian could do that would improve his relationship with Neil. There wasn’t anything anyone could do. As a man, Ryu could usually put things aside, deal rationally with the little prick, but the part of him that was dragon seldom behaved so obligingly.

The ball came his way again, and a fast and furious game of catch began, with Delilah and Adrian joining in. A group of shifters, with their inhumanly fast reactions, was something to behold and added a whole new level of challenge to the game.

Spock’s hand shot up, grabbing the ball as it flew over his head. The only non-shifter in the room, his reaction time was impressive. Not that anyone in the team ever thought less of him for being fully human. Spock’s abilities with computers more than compensated for any
skills
the other team members might have.

“I’ve got something.” Spock turned the ball over in his hand then glared at them. “And some of us are trying to work in here.”

Forgetting the game, everyone hurried over to look over Spock’s shoulder.

“Sorry, Spock,” said Derek meekly.

“Yeah, sorry, Spock.” The others, even Adrian, dutifully added.

Spock grinned a little manically and threw the ball into the corner of the room, then spun in his chair so he could look at them. “It took a while to find the right decryption codes but I cracked it.” He glanced at Ryu. “I don’t think I would have worked it out so quickly if I hadn’t been working on that stuff you brought out of your last mission.”