Lust (5 page)

This was getting stranger and stranger. Jake grabbed Gaia's legs and helped carry her up the dingy staircase. “I'm not exactly full of energy myself,” he admitted, feeling his shoulder start to ache painfully.

“Different for her,” Oliver huffed. “Superstrength. Supertired.” They plopped her gently on the couch and Oliver turned to Jake.

“I'm glad you were with her,” he said.

“Do you know who those guys were?”

Oliver ignored Jake's question. “We need to go now.”

Jake nodded. “I guess you do.”

Oliver gave him a strange look, like he was afraid to say what was on his mind.

“What?” Jake asked.

“They've seen you,” Oliver said. “Not once, but twice. They know who you are. It's unsafe for you here. Especially now that Gaia and I are leaving.”

Something shifted in Jake. Some sense of inevitability dawned on him. Before, he'd sort of been flirting with the idea of getting involved in something larger than his own life, something mysterious and dangerous. Now it was as if he'd wandered too long in the jungle and couldn't get out.

“You mean I can't just walk away,” Jake said. It wasn't really a question. It was more a statement of something he already understood.

Oliver shook his head slowly. “I don't think so,” he said.

“What do I do?” Jake asked. He thought of going home, then imagined what would happen there if he were tailed by people like the fake cops from the L train. His dad. His grandma. He suddenly felt a wave of
homesickness that was more about sickness than home. “I can't go back, can I?”

Oliver looked at him with a cool, steady gaze. “It would be best to lay low for a while,” he said.

“What about . . . I don't know, what about school?”

“It would be safest if you didn't go for the time being,” Oliver said. “If you made up a really good excuse, then disappeared for a while.” Oliver clapped Jake on the shoulder and led him into the kitchen. “Think about it for a moment. I'll sit with Gaia until she wakes up. It won't be long. You can take the time to get used to all this information.”

Jake nodded and went to the kitchen as ordered—another point in his favor. Oliver was interested. Very interested indeed.

He sat on the floor next to Gaia, watching her breathe as she fought off her exhaustion. After about ten minutes, she stirred and opened her eyes. She sat up like a shot, assessing her surroundings with microprocessorlike speed.

“Where's Jake?” she asked.

“He's fine. He's here.”

She turned to Oliver. “We got tailed. They saw him,” she told him. “He can't—”

“I know. I discussed it with him.”

Gaia slumped back down on the couch, letting loose a frustrated sigh. “I should never have gotten him mixed up in this. He'll have to stay here while we're away.”

“He could do that. Or . . .”

“What?” Gaia turned to Oliver.

“I got extra travel documents,” Oliver said. “An old habit that might work in our favor. He has excellent instincts. Apparently he can hold up his end of a fight. I have a good feeling about him, and we can use an extra agent.”

“I don't want him in any deeper than he is already.” Gaia insisted. “I mean, I almost got him killed already. Isn't that enough?”

“What if he wants to come?” Oliver asked. “We could leave it up to him.”

“Leave what up to me?” Jake appeared in the doorway.

“Forget it. Nothing,” Gaia insisted. “Jake, I'm so sorry. I should never have let you come with me. Now you have to—”

“It's all right,” Jake said. “I mean, I was the one who insisted on coming.”

“What about the other thing? How you can't go home?”

“That sucks,” he admitted. “But if you guys are talking about having me come along to . . . wherever it is you're going, I'm in.”

“Jake, don't be stupid,” Gaia seethed. “This isn't level three of Grand Theft Auto.”

“Don't insult me,” Jake snapped back. “I've been watching you deal with whatever's been going on for a week now. I'm well aware of how serious it is. But
according to Oliver, I've got to sit around, anyway. I'll go nuts here. There's no way I'll stay inside the whole time, and without you here to watch my back, I'll get nabbed for sure. And Gaia—I really want to come with you.”

“Even if I'm going to
Siberia?”
she asked.

Siberia?

Quite honestly, if he'd had his pick of locales, Siberia wouldn't have been first—or even ninety-first—on his list, but he'd known better than to expect St. John's or Montego Bay to have any place on Gaia Moore's travel itinerary.

“Look, I know Siberia won't be a picnic. And I think I understand the danger. But it's weird—I feel like this is what I was meant to do. Like this is why I met you—because I'm supposed to do stuff like this. I'll never know if I don't try.”

While Gaia turned herself into a knot of deep sighs and fevered hand gestures, Oliver gave meditative consideration to Jake's response.

“You don't seem frightened by this,” he said.

Jake looked at him. “I know, it's weird. I'm not.”

“We'd be leaving within twelve hours,” Oliver said. “You wouldn't be able to see your father again before you left.” He shrugged. “That's the bottom line.”

“I can do it.”

“Jake!” Gaia was exasperated. “You don't know what you're saying. This is dangerous.”

“More dangerous than getting shot at, or outrunning a fake police officer and his cronies?” Jake asked. “So far, I've been able to handle it.”

“It's worse than all of that. Jake, I was thrown into this world. You don't have to be in it. Are you crazy?”

“I don't think so. Do you think I am, Oliver?”

“Not as far as I can tell.”

Gaia gave an infuriated roar. “I've seen a lot of people I care about get destroyed by being close to me,” she said. “I've seen them ruined by this life. I don't want you to do this.”

“But I'm in it,” Jake said. “Look, let me get fully informed. Then I'll make my decision. But it's
my
decision. You can't get pissed at me for being okay with this.”

“Watch me,” Gaia muttered, and left the room.

Jake turned to Oliver. “Is she right? Am I destroying myself without thinking this through?”

“I've had a lot of experience with a lot of different kinds of operatives,” Oliver said. “I've seen men who trained for years fall apart under questioning, and I've seen the most unlikely people turn into heroes. I don't think anyone chooses this life consciously. I think it's something you're born to. And much as Gaia claims to hate it, I think she has grown to be comfortable with danger and chaos. You might be cut from the same cloth.”

“Might be?”

“This trip will be sort of a test for you.”

“And what if I fail?”

Oliver shrugged. “Then you might want to return to life the way it was. I think you'll be able to, despite Gaia's protestations to the contrary.”

Jake thought it over. Between Gaia and Oliver, it was certainly Oliver who had the most experience. If Oliver felt confident in Jake, that was really all the information he needed. Well, that, and one other tiny detail.

“Well then, guys, there's only one other thing I need to know.”

“What's that, son?” asked Oliver.

Jake paused dramatically. “What the hell are we going to Siberia for?”

I
can't imagine what it feels like to be Gaia. I mean, everybody goes through life thinking they're the only person who feels the way they do. But in Gaia's case, she might be right. If my dad were in captivity in Siberia, I'm not sure I'd be prepared to go save him. I'm not sure I could keep it together, knowing that my father's very survival depended solely on my ability to pull off a great escape.

On the other hand, whether she admits it or not, I'm the perfect person to help Gaia rescue
her
father. Maybe it's being the son of a doctor who spent years in the ER. Or maybe it's all my martial arts training. But in all honesty, I always manage to keep a level head in situations that send other people into a panic.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not so naïve as to think that believing I'm good at something means that I actually am. Just look at
American Idol
. All those people think they're destined for stardom. Most
aren't even destined for a gig at the Holiday Inn lounge.

I have no idea what's going to happen to me in Siberia. But I'm not that worried about it. Maybe that means I really am crazy. Or maybe it means I always knew this would happen to me. It's like in
The Matrix:
The blue pill is always the way to go. Maybe I should be frightened of the unknown, but I'm not. I'm psyched. This really is what I want. My life has always been stable. I think I need to shake things up and see if I'm right. If I've got what it takes.

Am I going to feel the same way tomorrow? Am I just being impulsive? Am I making a life-changing move based on overactive hormones? I don't think so.

Jeez, I hope not.

Guess there's only one way to find out.

And while I'm at it, maybe I'll find out why Gaia's father was taken to Siberia in the first place.

Maybe.

But probably not.

This
couldn't have happened at a better time. My biggest worry over the past days—a worry that haunted me at every turn—was that we didn't have enough manpower to complete this mission. All I kept wishing for was an extra agent. Someone who'd watch Gaia's back just in case something happened to me. Much as I would love to be alone with her, my instincts told me we needed someone else.

And now this boy shows up, as if my prayers had been heard and answered.

It seems foolhardy. I don't know this boy very well. I've got no reason to trust him, other than those same instincts. But Gaia found him. She brought him here. There must be a reason for that. She is careful and suspicious enough to avoid trusting anyone until he has fully proven himself. Nobody knows that better than I do. And she's impatient enough to avoid anyone foolish or
frivolous. I have a very good feeling about this young man.

And what if something goes drastically wrong? What if he cracks under pressure, makes an impulsive mistake, turns into a blubbering fool halfway through the mission?

This is where my instincts disappear. My Loki instinct would be to neutralize him. And my Oliver instinct? I don't know how I'd handle the situation now.

I'll just have to hope that's not a problem I'll have to face. For his sake. And for Gaia's.

And let's face it: for mine, too.

A Gaia-Sized Gap

THE NEXT MORNING, GAIA AND JAKE
left Oliver's building separately, walking in different directions and meeting up only after their train had taken them into Manhattan. They'd woken in silence, sipping coffee in the kitchen with Oliver without speaking. Now Jake noticed that Gaia really didn't want to talk. The ease, the friendship that had only just developed between them, seemed gone already.

“You're mad at me,” he said.

“No, I'm worried,” Gaia answered.

“It's okay. I understand the risks. I'm not getting dragged into this against my will.”

“I just hope you're doing it for the right reasons.”

Jake was quiet for a moment. “I've never had a chance like this. To go somewhere crazy and do something so out of the ordinary. I'm really into it.”

Gaia shook her head. “And you think you can deal with your dad?” she asked.

“Yeah, I'll come up with a good cover story,” Jake reassured her.

“And what about last night? Don't you think he's wondering why you never came home?”

“Nah, he was on call. That's the advantage of having an ER doctor for a dad,” Jake explained.

They were within a block of his house. Together with Oliver, they had mapped out the area as best they could from Jake's memory, noting adjacent buildings and points of access. A few blueprints, downloaded from a confidential site Oliver had gained access to, didn't hurt either. They found the building around the corner that they needed, and Gaia stepped back and took a look up.

“Hm. Pretty good security,” she said.

“Too good?”

“Nah. I'd climb the outside if it weren't broad daylight. We're going in through the basement.”

“But the bars . . .”

“Watch.”

Gaia sprayed each end of one of the bars with a canister she took out of her pocket. Then she straightened up and hooked her thumbs into the belt loops of her jeans, waiting.

“That's your big trick?” Jake asked. “You're deodorizing the bars?”

“Just wait.”

After a minute she brought her foot down on the bar and it snapped easily, leaving a Gaia-sized gap through which she could reach in and smash the basement window. She slipped through and vanished into the room below.

“Hey,” Jake said in a stage whisper. “Hey! I can't fit in there!”

The spray-canister flew out the hole and landed on the sidewalk with a clatter. He picked it up and sprayed two more of the bars.

“Where did you get this stuff, anyway?” he asked, kneeling on the concrete while he waited for it to take effect and weaken the metal.

“Gift from my Uncle Oliver,” her voice floated up through the gloom. “Guess it was left over from his secret agent days.”

“That's a catalog I'd like to have a look at.” He stood up and kicked the other two bars out of his way and shimmied into the basement.

He held onto the bars for a moment, then dropped to the ground, expecting to land on a dusty floor. He hit linoleum instead.