Reach For the Spy (26 page)

“Yeah, where were you
when my date wouldn’t let me come home?” I groused.

I raised a hand to Kane
as he drove away, and followed Germain into the house. “Long day,”
he commented.

“Yeah, but we managed
to skirt disaster for another day.”

His sharp eyes picked
out the cardboard box tucked under my arm. “About time. What did
you get?”

I glanced pointedly
around the room.

“The bugs have been
removed,” he reassured me. “Cameras, too.”

“How about the phone
tap?”

His brows drew
together. “I didn’t know you knew about that. It’s still in
place.”

“Good. It can stay.
Just in case I get more calls from my secret admirer.”

He snorted. “Good plan.
I won’t mention that you know about the tap.”

“Thanks, Carl. You’re
the best.”

He grinned at me. “So
what’d you get?”

I popped the lid open
and returned his grin. “Baby Glock.”

“Aw. It’s
adorable.”

We traded cheerful
banter for a few more minutes until I yawned hugely. “I’m done. If
I don’t sleep soon, I’m going to turn myself inside out.”

“Okay. Sleep well.
Unlike me.”

I laughed. “Thanks for
watching out for me.”

“You’re welcome. Good
night.”

Mindful of Germain’s
presence, I decided on shorts and a tank top for nightwear. Just in
case. I dragged myself into bed and knew no more.

I opened my eyes to
Kane as he bent over me in the silver moonlight. He smiled when I
reached to pull him down. He lowered himself on top of me, and my
breath caught at the sensation of his hard body against mine.

I kissed him hungrily,
moaning as his fingertips lightly traced my collarbone. He trailed
his lips down to the hollow of my neck. His hands found my breasts,
and I moaned again, my breath coming faster.

He moved slowly against
me and I opened my legs to him, pressing up. My hands locked onto
his perfect ass and I urged him closer, begging for more.

He whispered my name,
and I answered with another moan as I searched for his lips
again.

“Aydan.”

I ran my hands up over
his massive shoulders. God, I could sink my teeth into those
muscles. I traced my tongue over one of his bulging biceps,
nibbling my way up to his neck.

His voice changed, more
urgent as he spoke aloud. “Aydan.”

I pulled him closer,
panting with need.

“Aydan!”

I jerked awake with a
yelp.

“Sorry.” Germain stood
silhouetted in the doorway. “You were having a nightmare. I didn’t
want to come close enough to get punched this time.”

I groaned and flopped
back on the pillow. “Thanks. I’m okay now. And I haven’t woken up
punching for a while.”

“Good to know. Good
night again.” He withdrew, swinging the door shut behind him.

I lay seething in the
bed. These dreams were so damn realistic. Must be some kind of
hangover from the sim. Goddamn, I was horny.

I groaned again and
pulled the pillow over my face.

The phone rang.

I resisted the urge to
press the pillow down until I smothered. Another ring. I jerked the
pillow off my head and slammed it onto the bed. The clock read
three-thirty. The phone rang again, and I snatched up the
receiver.

“What!”

“Die, bitch.”

“Fuck you, fuck
everybody who looks like you, and fuck your mother twice!” I
slammed the phone down.

Germain’s tap on the
door came seconds later. “Aydan? Everything okay?”

I sighed. “Fine. I’m
unplugging the phone now.”

“Good idea. I’ll pick
up next time. That might deter your caller.”

“Thanks.”

I was just rolling out
of bed at seven o’clock when I heard the phone ring in the kitchen.
Hell, let Germain get it.

I was on my way to the
bathroom when he tapped on the bedroom door. “Aydan, it’s for you.
Do you want me to take a message?”

“No, that’s okay. I’m
up. I’ll just plug in the phone and take it in here. Thanks.” I
shuffled back to sit on the edge of the bed. “Hello?”

“Hi, Aydan, it’s Tom. I
hope I’m not calling too early. You said you were a morning
person.”

“No problem, I was up.
What can I do for you?”

“I was calling to make
sure you were okay. I tried several times yesterday evening, but
you weren’t home.”

“I’m fine, thanks. It
took a little longer to resolve the problem at work than I’d
expected.”

“Okay...” He hesitated.
“Was that John who answered the phone? Are you safe there?”

I sighed. “No, that was
Carl.”

I didn’t bother to
fabricate an explanation for a man answering my phone at seven
o’clock in the morning. I was pretty sure Tom could figure one out
all by himself.

“Oh.” There was a short
pause. “Okay. As long as you’re all right.”

“I’m fine. Thanks for
checking in, and I’m sorry for the bother yesterday.”

“No bother. Any time
you need help, just ask.”

“Thanks, Tom.
‘Bye.”

I thudded the receiver
against my forehead. Any other woman would be thrilled to get this
kind of attention. Hell, who was I kidding? Any other time, I’d be
thrilled to be getting this kind of attention. But right now, it
was a huge pain in the ass.

I growled my way into
the bathroom and bared my teeth at my reflection. Surrounded by
men, and no hope of getting laid in the foreseeable future. I
snarled and stepped into the shower.

I’d just finished
putting the breakfast dishes away when Kane tapped on my screen
door.

“Come on in,” I
invited. “I’ll just grab my waist pouch, and then I’m ready to
go.”

“No, your first
priority today is target practice,” he countered.

I shot him a grin. “Aw,
gee, sucks to be me. I was hoping to get a chance for that
today.”

He smiled back, but his
eyes were serious. “Go get your guns, then. I’ll tell the sentries
to expect gunfire.”

I headed downstairs to
liberate my old .22 rifle and a box of shells from the gun locker,
and grabbed the box that held my new Glock. By the time I got back
upstairs, Kane was waiting on the front porch.

My heart lifted while
we hiked toward the back corner of my quarter-section. The air was
already warming and the birds were singing their little hearts out.
I could even appreciate them this morning.

Kane surveyed the area
as we approached the small corner that I used for a firing range.
“What’s beyond that knoll?” he asked.

“Don’t worry. Nothing
but empty pasture for miles. No roads, no human habitation. And I
always shoot into the knoll as a backstop anyway.”

“Perfect.”

I set up a target and
walked back to the rock I used to mark my firing line. I stood for
a moment, cradling my .22 while I looked out over the farmland and
breathed the sweet air.

“What?” I shook myself
out of my reverie when I realized Kane was watching me
intently.

“You were a million
miles away.”

I gave him a half
smile. “No, just a few decades.”

He raised an
encouraging eyebrow, and I explained. “I always used to shoot with
my Dad on the farm when I was a kid. Just like this, outside on a
nice day in the middle of nowhere.” I stroked the .22’s stock.
“This was his gun. He got it when he was sixteen. It’s my
favourite.”

“Good memories.”

“Yeah.”

I turned away to
exchange the .22 for the Glock. Bittersweet memories. Hard to
believe it’d been nearly ten years since he died. I concentrated on
loading up the Glock’s magazine and clicked it into place.

I turned to face the
target and laughed. “This really is a baby. It’s so little and
light!”

“Try it.”

I took aim and squeezed
off a shot. A solid kick, as Kane had warned, but not unmanageable.
I hit the target high and to the right.

“Hmmph.” I took a few
more shots, getting used to the sights. My shots moved closer to
the centre, grouping nicely. “That’s better.”

I shot the rest of the
magazine and reloaded. Then I laid the Glock aside and picked up
the .22.

Kane eyed me
quizzically.

“I need to come back to
it. So I know I can pick it up fresh and be accurate on my first
shot.”

He nodded, and I shot a
few rounds with the .22, its familiar action feeling like an
extension of my own body.

“New target.” I headed
downrange and pinned up a fresh one.

When I got back to the
firing line, I bent and picked up the Glock, then turned rapidly
and took three quick shots.

“Nice.” Kane shaded his
eyes with his hand as he surveyed the three closely spaced holes
near the centre of the target.

“Good enough,” I
agreed. “I’ll keep practicing with it, but I’ll feel comfortable
carrying it now.”

“Good. Try the
holsters, then.”

I fiddled with them
until they fit as well as possible. It was a warm day already, so I
decided to go with the ankle holster. I reloaded and eased the gun
into the holster gingerly.

I looked up at Kane’s
raised eyebrows. “Carrying a loaded gun is so totally against all
the gun-safety protocols that have been drilled into my head all my
life. And I feel really uncomfortable with no external safety. I’ll
probably shoot my own foot off.”

“Glocks have a
safe-action trigger. The safety’s built in.”

“Clearly you
underestimate my ability to fulfill Murphy’s Law.”

He laughed. “It’ll be
all right. You’ll get used to it fast.”

“Maybe.”

The unaccustomed weight
dragged at my ankle on the walk back. Just like the unaccustomed
responsibility dragged at my heart.

When we got back to the
house, I glanced up at Kane. “Do I have time to clean them before
we go? It’s against my religion not to clean a gun after I use
it.”

He checked his watch
and frowned. “Mine, too. But we really have to go. We have a
meeting with Stemp in half an hour.”

“Shit, why didn’t you
tell me? I could have quit sooner.”

“I’d rather you took
the time you needed to get comfortable with the gun.”

I shrugged. “Okay. But
if lightning strikes me dead for not cleaning my guns, I’m holding
you responsible.”

“Guilty as charged,” he
agreed. “Put your rifle away and let’s go.”

“My dirty rifle.”

He sighed. “Yes. Come
on.”

My heart rate sped up
while I feigned a relaxed posture in the meeting room. Spider
looked distinctly anxious. His knee bounced rhythmically while he
frowned into middle distance.

Kane sat immobile,
looking calm as always. I really had to learn that trick.

“What’s up, Spider?” I
asked as casually as I could.

“I called Stemp
because...” he began. His head jerked up as Stemp entered the room.
Stemp’s expressionless eyes inspected us each in turn as he closed
the door behind him and made his way to the table.

“Webb,” he said without
preamble.

“We have a problem,”
Spider blurted. He turned apprehensive eyes on Kane and me. “I
tracked the origin of that document you found, Aydan.”

“And?” Kane inquired
levelly.

Spider twitched a
shoulder. “From what I could tell... It originated here in
Silverside. At the internet cafe.”

Kane’s face was
composed as he met Stemp’s sharp gaze. “Were you able to pinpoint
the sender?” he asked.

“No.”

“So we have a leak,”
Kane said.

“So it would seem,”
Stemp agreed. “Is there something you’d like to tell us?”

My mouth dropped open.
I couldn’t believe he was directing the not-so-veiled accusation at
Kane. Kane shot me a warning glance when I sat forward
abruptly.

“Obviously, it’s the
first I’ve heard about it,” Kane said calmly. “But we have a fairly
limited pool of suspects. There are only a few people who have
sufficient security clearance to know about the network key, and
about Aydan’s ability to use it.”

“Yes,” Stemp agreed.
“So what were you doing at the internet cafe on Monday
evening?”

Kane sat slowly back in
his chair, his face impassive. “My home computer died. I went to
the cafe to check my email.”

“I see.” Stemp’s flat
eyes surveyed him.

“Don’t be ridiculous,”
I burst out. “If Kane wanted to rat me out to Fuzzy Bunny, he could
have done it at any time in the past four months. At Harchman’s he
could have snatched me and the key together and delivered us to
Fuzzy Bunny in a nice, neat package. He wouldn’t wait until now and
send an email.”

“Unless he was smart
and organized,” Stemp said. “And unless he intended to keep working
as a double agent over the long term.”

“That’s bullshit, and
you know it!” I glared at him. “There are always a bunch of people
in that internet cafe. Who else was there on Monday night?”

“There were lots of
people there,” Spider put in quickly. “I was there gaming until
nearly two.”

“And did you see anyone
else with a top-level Sirius security clearance?” Stemp asked.

“N...no.” Spider’s face
fell. “But I was pretty involved in the game. I could’ve easily
missed somebody.”

“You have a top-level
clearance, too.” Stemp’s voice was silky.

Spider’s mouth fell
open as he gazed at Stemp. “Uh... yeah...” he whispered. “But...”
He straightened up in his chair, frowning. “But I’d never do
anything to hurt Aydan!”

“Stop!” I jerked up
from my chair and held back the urge to yell. “Stop flinging wild
accusations around. I trust these men with my life.”

“Yes, and how many
times have you nearly died?” Stemp inquired expressionlessly.

The bottom dropped out
of my stomach. “You can’t be serious.”

Kane broke in. “Aydan,
we have to ask these questions. To everybody. We obviously have a
leak. That means somebody we trust has betrayed us. No matter who
it turns out to be, you’re not going to like it.”