How Spy I Am (34 page)

Kane eyed me for a
moment. “Your contact. He believed we were staying at the motel and
conveniently lured you away at exactly the right time, leaving me
behind to go up with the building. Aydan, tell me who your contact
is.”

“I… can’t.”

He started to argue,
but I shushed him to silence while my brain spun its wheels. Why
would Robert want Kane dead?

Well, shit, why not?
Revenge; jealousy; hell, even simple convenience; pick a reason.
With Kane gone, it would be far easier for Robert to get close to
me.

Was it time to tell
Kane the truth?

No, dammit. If I did,
he’d report it to Stemp regardless of the consequences to his
career. Then he’d have his neck in a noose with Stemp and Robert
would still be trying to kill him. It didn’t really matter if he
knew
who
was trying to kill him. As long as he knew somebody
was out to get him, he could take adequate precautions.

Which left the matter
of my report to Stemp. I couldn’t explain what was going on without
putting Kane in hot water. I growled irritation and tugged a couple
of handfuls of hair.

At last, slow
realization dawned. I’d been going about this all wrong. Time to
take Kane’s advice.

Time to lie.

I took a deep breath.
“Okay, here’s what I can tell you. You’re in danger from two
different angles. The first is the simplest; my contact is trying
to kill you. I need you to watch your back every minute. I’ll deal
with the contact. I’ll let you know as soon as that situation is
resolved.”

To my relief, Kane
gave a matter-of-fact nod, and I continued. “The second source of
danger isn’t direct physical danger, so it’s both easier and harder
to protect you from it. I… just need you to trust me on that
one.”

“All right,” he said
slowly. “But why won’t you tell me who’s trying to kill me?”

“If I do, it’ll put
you in jeopardy from the second source of danger. All I can tell
you is, if you come face to face with him, you’ll know immediately,
and…” I swallowed the sudden dryness in my throat. “And I expect
you’ll have to kill him.”

Kane gave me a
piercing look from under lowered brows. “Hellhound said your
contact was somebody you might care about. This contact means
something to you.”

I straightened my
spine. “A lot less than he used to.”

He scrutinized me in
silence for a few moments. “So what do I tell Stemp about the
explosion?”

“Don’t mention my
contact…”

“Aydan, I can’t do
that. I can’t omit information from a report.”

“Says the man who just
begged me to lie.” I met his frustrated gaze and sighed. “Okay. Go
ahead and tell him.”

“If I do, what will
happen to you?”

“I have no idea. I’ll
deal with it. Tell him I believe the explosion was an attempt on
your life, but that I wouldn’t explain any further. I’ll report to
him directly.”

“You’re putting your
life on the line for me, aren’t you?”

“No.” I made the word
as definite as I could, but I had a niggling suspicion Stemp might
just give the order to eliminate me when he found out about my
‘secret op’.

Kane blew out a long
breath. “I believed you up to this point, but you’re lying about
the danger to yourself, aren’t you?”

“I hope not.”

“So if something
happens to you, I’ll never know whether it was because of me.”

“Trust me, you can’t
do anything to get me in any deeper shit than I’ve already dug
myself into.”

“You’re making me
worry again.”

I stood and planted my
hands on my hips. “Don’t worry. That’s an order.” His lips twisted
as I continued, “Now get out of here so I can make my report. If
you can wait half an hour before you make yours, it’ll give me time
to tell Stemp about my other op. I think it’ll be better if he
hears it from me.”

“I can do that.” Kane
rose, too, and I trailed him to the door. He hesitated with his
hand on the knob. “Aydan…”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for telling
me… what you told me. I don’t know what it really was, but it felt
like the truth.”

I was opening my mouth
to make a smart-ass remark when his kiss silenced me. It was gentle
and sweet and lingering, and when he pulled away, his thumb stroked
softly across my cheekbone.

“Good night,” he
murmured, and slipped out the door.

I stood open-mouthed
for a moment before shaking myself back to reality and going to the
dresser for one of Stemp’s cell phones.

When I hit the speed
dial, the phone rang once on the other end before Stemp’s flat
voice snapped, “Yes.”

Damn. I’d been hoping
for some sort of automated recording device.

“It’s Ay… Arlene,” I
stammered before slapping my forehead with a grimace. Christ, get
it together. I pulled on my business persona with an effort.

“A couple of
developments today,” I said crisply. “We made some progress with
their super-user, Betty. Apparently she went into a catatonic state
after we collided in the network, which is what caused my minor
identity crisis a few days ago. She’s suffering from severe
post-traumatic stress from internalizing my memories. Dr. Kraus
wants us back onsite tomorrow, but I’m not sure what else I can do
for her.”

“Good. I’ll arrange
for your flights back tomorrow afternoon.”

“That might work…” I
said slowly. “There’s something else going on here. I have some…
misgivings… about the network. There’s something weird going on
here. And the ghost appeared again, so it’s not just part of our
network. I gave it a hell of a blast, and… shit!”

“What?” Stemp barked.
When I didn’t respond right away, his shout startled me. “Arlene!
Are you all right?”

“I’m here. Sorry. I’m
fine. I just… I might have an idea about the ghost. I’ll get back
to you as soon as I know.”

“Can you tell me
more?”

“Not at the moment. I
need more information.”

“Is there any danger
associated with investigating?”

“I doubt it. I’ve
knocked that ghost on its ass a couple of times now.”

“Very well. Is there
anything else?”

“Um… yeah…” I
hesitated, trying to think of a good way to say it.

“And…” Stemp’s tone
was so dry it withered my inspiration completely.

“Uh, well, somebody
blew up my motel room tonight,” I said lamely.

“I see. I presume you
weren’t in it at the time.”

“No. Kane was in the
office, but he got away with minor injuries. The motel manager is
dead.”

There was brief
silence at the other end before Stemp spoke again. “I’m arranging
an immediate extraction. Be ready to leave within the hour.”

“No, it’s okay,” I
stammered. “I need to go back into the network tomorrow and-”

“Your safety is my top
priority,” Stemp snapped. “I refuse to take a chance-”

“The bomb wasn’t meant
for me,” I interrupted. “I’m pretty sure they were trying to kill
Kane.”

Silence swamped the
phone. “
They
, who?” Stemp inquired at last.

“I’m still
investigating that.”

“
You’re
investigating.”

“Um, yeah.” I took a
deep breath and crossed my fingers. “I believe the bomb was
associated with my other op,” I said as confidently as I could.

“Your other op.” If it
was possible, Stemp’s voice got even flatter. “You don’t have any
ops.”

“That you know
of.”

“You are under my
direct command. You are an asset, not an agent. You have no other
ops.”

“For you.”

A long pause. “I see.
And who is your direct command for this other op?”

My voice came out
slightly squeaky despite my best efforts. “I’m sorry, I can’t tell
you. Need to know.”

Another long silence.
“I am the director of operations. I need to know,” Stemp said at
last.

“No, you don’t. I have
specific orders not to tell you,” I lied desperately. Well, it
wasn’t necessarily a lie. I had specifically ordered myself not to
tell him.

“Are you working with
the military side?” Stemp asked. “Should I talk to General
Briggs?”

“If you talk to
General Briggs, I guarantee he will deny any knowledge of this,” I
said with absolute truthfulness. “In fact, it won’t matter who you
ask or cajole or bully, I guarantee you won’t find anyone who’ll
admit to knowing anything about my ops. I’m only telling you as a
courtesy, and my ass will be in a sling if anybody finds out I
did.”

And wasn’t that the
truth.

When Stemp spoke
again, he sounded thoughtful. “I knew I was right about you,” he
said. “How did you circumvent the lie-detector test?”

“You didn’t ask the
right questions.”

“So you haven’t found
a way to fool the test?”

“No. Everything I said
was true.”

“So you say.”

“So I say. Do you have
any choice but to believe me?”

After a short pause,
Stemp spoke again. “Do you have anything else to report?”

“Only that I’ve
informed Kane about the danger to him, and he’s on alert.”

“Very well. Inform me
immediately of any further developments.” The line went dead in my
ear and I sank to the floor, trying not to hyperventilate. I wasn’t
overly successful, and I folded my head down to my knees until the
black spots faded from my vision.

I’d just lied my ass
off to a man who wouldn’t hesitate to kill me on suspicion
alone.

I was so doomed.

When my legs regained
some strength, I rose to totter back to bed. Lying wide-eyed in the
darkness, I did every relaxation exercise I knew, but my mind
continued to whirl.

At last, I gave up on
sleep and settled down to intense thought. If Robert was trying to
kill Kane, when would he make his next attempt? And how the hell
had he known we were here?

Kasper.

I jerked upright.
Kasper had access to our itinerary. What if he’d been lying to me?
What if he’d been communicating with Robert all along? No wonder
he’d looked anxious, the bastard.

My first impulse was
to call Stemp, but after a moment of consideration, I decided
against it. Let Robert think they were getting away with it. They’d
be easier to catch if they weren’t suspicious…

“Shit!” I clapped a
hand over my mouth to muffle any further exclamations and rolled
out of bed, jerking on my jeans and sweatshirt and fumbling on my
waist holster with shaking hands.

Kane had reported we’d
moved to the B & B. It was just a matter of time before Kasper
relayed the information to Robert.

No, no, no! Not Lurene
and Winston with their beautiful home and their tacky knickknacks
and their too-much-information sex life. If he hurt them, I would
kill Robert with my bare hands and enjoy it…

I hurried for the
bathroom window.

The moon had sunk low
in the sky, and the night was moist black satin. Crouched next to a
shrub in the back yard, I strained my eyes against the darkness,
heart thumping. If Robert was going to set a bomb, he’d have to get
close to the house. The front yard was well-lit with a minimum of
landscaping, so I hoped if he made an attempt, it would be in the
dark, sheltered back yard.

Adrenaline scorched my
veins when a large dark shape flitted soundlessly between the
shrubs only minutes later. I eased my gun free of its holster,
praying my trembling hands wouldn’t drop it.

I stared at the place
the shape had disappeared until my eyes watered.

What the hell was he
doing? The shrub was too far away from the house to do much damage
unless it was a hell of a big bomb. Maybe he was just getting set
up.

It suddenly occurred
to me that it might be wise to tackle him before he had the bomb
fully assembled. Clenching my teeth at my own stupidity, I sent a
mute three-word prayer winging skyward and moved silently to the
cover of the next shrub.

A few minutes of
stealthy zigzagging between the plantings brought me to a vantage
point behind my target. I couldn’t see well enough to make out more
than a vague shape, but I was certain he was still there. I panted
open-mouthed, unable to stop trembling or slow my thundering
heart.

I wasn’t going to get
a better chance. If I waited any longer, I was going to pass
out.

My brain detached
itself from the job at hand and floated away to a silly place. The
great super-spy, Jane Bond, discovered unconscious in the back
yard, gun in hand, lying in a pool of her own fear-induced shit.
Nice.

I hadn’t even realized
I was moving until my arm locked around his throat, my gun grinding
against his temple.

“Move and you’re
dead.” The harsh voice didn’t even sound like me.

He went rigid. “Aydan?
Is that you?”

“John!”

“Aydan,” he murmured.
“Could you please take your gun away from my head?”

“I’m… trying to…” My
tremors intensified. Moments ago, I’d been afraid I wouldn’t be
able to pull the trigger if I had to. Now I was terrified I’d pull
it accidentally. My fingers felt as though they’d been replaced
with steel rods. I tried to force my finger to move away from the
trigger-guard, but the effort made it shake so much I didn’t dare
chance it.

I finally brained up.
Gross motor movement, dummy. Use the big muscles. My shoulder
jerked convulsively and my gun flew across the grass to thump
against the fence. A moment later, I managed to unlock my other arm
from his throat.

Kane drew a deep
breath and stood slowly. He paced across the yard to retrieve my
gun and handed it back to me without speaking. I willed my fingers
to close around it and stuffed it clumsily back into my
holster.

We spoke
simultaneously. “What are you doing here?”

“You first,” Kane
added.

“I just realized if
they knew where we checked in this morning, it wouldn’t take them
long to figure out where we were now.”