Reach For the Spy (29 page)

His gun jerked up as I
lunged toward him.

Beyond fear or reason,
I kept coming. His expressionless mask slipped as a berserk roar
ripped from my throat. Even a bullet wouldn’t stop me. I would tear
him limb from limb with my bare hands. Redness suffused my
vision.

Hard hands clamped onto
my arms and shoulders. I flung them off, roaring and punching and
kicking. I smashed my gun butt into a face. Folded a knee with a
violent kick from my heavy boots. I was vaguely aware of impacts,
but I felt no pain. I kept swinging, fighting my way toward Stemp.
He would die today.

A heavy weight smashed
into my back and I slammed face-first into the mud. Spitting grass
and dirt, I struggled and kicked against the relentless grips on my
arms and legs. More weight crushed me. I couldn’t draw a full
breath. My arms and legs were completely immobilized. I tried to
roar defiance, but only a wheezing sound emerged.

I wrenched my head up
out of the dirt as Stemp’s feet appeared in front of me. He
squatted and looked into my face. “Very impressive. It took five
men to subdue you. You must have been very fond of Kane.”

“You...
cocksucker...”

“Ease off,” Stemp said.
“She can’t breathe.”

The weight in the
middle of my back lightened by a few pounds, and I gasped a lungful
of air. Then I tried to lunge at Stemp again.

He jerked back a step.
“Too bad he didn’t feel the same way about you. I was surprised. I
really didn’t think he’d kill you. And I really didn’t think you’d
stand there and let him.”

“You gave the order,
shithead. You set him up. He thought he was doing the right thing.
I thought he was doing the right thing.” I tried to get at him
again with no success whatsoever. The men held me completely
helpless. I spat at him instead. “Die, you fucking bastard!”

Stemp sighed and
squatted down to my eye level again. “You’re right, I set him up.
And I set you up. It was enlightening. I know now that you won’t
hesitate to use your gun to defend yourself. That’s good. And I
know you’re loyal now. Too bad I can’t say the same for Kane.”

A fresh flood of rage
engulfed me, and I gave a titanic jerk. I got one arm free for only
a second before the three men on top of me scrambled back into
place and pinned me again. I let out a shriek of pure
frustration.

“He was loyal, asshole!
What the fuck did you want? You gave him the fucking order. He was
going to carry it out!”

“I know that’s what it
looked like,” Stemp said regretfully. “But he was the one who
betrayed you to Fuzzy Bunny. He was at the internet cafe when both
of the files were sent. He had intimate knowledge of your skills
and capabilities.”

“That’s stupid!” I
struggled fruitlessly again. The pain was starting to sink in now.
I could feel every sharp knee and elbow digging into me. “If he was
working with Fuzzy Bunny, he never would have killed me. They need
me alive. If you hadn’t shot him...” I gulped as the enormity of
the loss finally hit me.

Kane was dead.

I clamped down with all
my self-control to hold my voice steady. “If you hadn’t shot him,
he would have killed me.”

“No. He wouldn’t have,”
Stemp said. “That was a tranquilizer gun he was pointing at
you.”

“What?” I couldn’t draw
a full breath. A loud buzzing filled my ears.

Stemp leaned down to
look in my eyes. “I set this entire thing up. I told all staff with
sufficient clearance that your project was to be terminated today.
They all knew you would die. I wanted to force Fuzzy Bunny’s hand.
Today, here, would be their only chance to acquire you alive. I set
up perimeter guards in advance. I had snipers ready. I was waiting
for Fuzzy Bunny’s operative to appear. And the only person who
appeared was Kane. Carrying a tranquilizer gun.”

My world went
black.

From a hazy distance, I
watched Stemp stride over to Kane’s body. He rolled the body over,
and the horrible slackness of Kane’s heavy muscles tore my
heart.

Stemp reached into
Kane’s pocket and withdrew his keys. He tossed them to one of the
men who’d dragged me to my feet. “Here. Take his Expedition. He
won’t be needing it.” He eyed the two injured men slumped on the
ground. “Load them up and take them to the hospital. Take her, too,
and get her checked over just as a precaution. Then take her back
to Sirius for debriefing.”

The trip back to
Silverside was a blur. At the hospital, I sat dumbly while Linda
cleaned most of the mud off me and Dr. Roth pronounced me cut and
bruised but basically uninjured. Unlike the men I’d hit. One
shattered cheekbone, one dislocated knee. Lots of bruises. I wished
I hadn’t hit them. They were just doing their jobs. So much
suffering.

I passively climbed
back into the vehicle for the ride over to Sirius Dynamics, and
allowed the armed men to escort me up to the second-floor meeting
room. I might have gathered a few stares on my trip through the
hallways. It didn’t matter.

My entire body throbbed
with an ache that was more than just bruises.

Sagging in my chair in
the meeting room, I stared into middle distance while Stemp and
Briggs talked at me. I didn’t absorb much. They had discovered that
the threatening phone calls and shots had come from Bill Harks’s
brother, who was now in custody. They were discontinuing my
twenty-four hour guard. I would continue to carry my Glock. John
Smith would be my new handler. All this was highly classified.
Yadda, yadda.

I sat unmoving, waiting
for it to end. At last I realized the room was silent. Stemp and
Briggs were looking at me expectantly.

“What?” I mumbled.

“Do you have anything
to add? Any questions?”

I blinked slowly.
Nothing much mattered.

No, dammit. One thing
still mattered. I sat up straighter. “You’re wrong. I know you’re
wrong. Kane was no traitor. You killed an innocent man.”

General Briggs’s face
softened. “Aydan, we understand what a terrible shock this has
been. But the evidence is all here. We can’t come to any other
conclusion.”

I sighed. Briggs was a
decent man and a good commanding officer. Kane had liked and
respected him, and I knew the feeling had been mutual. I could see
the pain in his eyes, too.

“Maybe you can’t come
to another conclusion. But I can. You’re wrong.” I cut him off when
he began to speak again. No point in arguing. It wouldn’t bring
Kane back. “Who will deal with his funeral arrangements?” I
resisted the urge to fold over the sudden pain in my gut. “Who’ll
notify his father?”

God, this would kill
his dad. Both sons dead. All his children. Kane’s younger brother,
murdered at only twenty-three, trying to save a mugging victim. And
now Kane himself, shot in the back.

“The chaplain will
contact his father.”

“When?”

“As soon as
possible.”

A new wave of pain
washed over me. Arnie. He’d be devastated. He and Kane had been
friends since childhood.

I stood. “I have an
important errand to run. It will take the rest of the day, and
possibly tomorrow. I’ll also need time off to attend Kane’s
funeral, if there is one. I’ll let you know when I’m available to
work again.”

I turned and left the
room without waiting for dismissal. Outside the room, I grabbed the
arm of one of the men who’d brought me in. “You’re going to drive
me home. Now.”

“Uh...” He glanced
around helplessly. Briggs caught his eye through the open door and
nodded. “Okay.” He followed me down the hallway.

At home, I showered the
last of the mud off, wincing at the new set of bruises and scrapes.
The pain was distant, though, part of a dull and constant ache. I
shrugged and put on fresh clothes.

I reloaded my Glock
with live ammo, and loaded up a couple of extra magazines while I
was at it. A hard lesson. I’d never make that mistake again.

I strapped the holster
to my ankle and threw the waist holster into my small backpack
along with some overnight things, then ate the last of the
leftovers from my fridge without tasting them.

As I drove away, I
tried not to remember how much I’d enjoyed my last drive with
Kane.

Almost two hours later,
I pulled over at the side of the road just outside Calgary city
limits. Easing my stiffened body out of the driver’s seat, I
stretched slowly and painfully. I’d driven the highway in a stupor.
I couldn’t remember much of the trip, but apparently I hadn’t hit
anything big. There were no dents in the car, and nobody had honked
at me.

Have to be alert for
city traffic. I tried to force my deadened brain into wakefulness
while I hobbled back and forth for a few minutes.

Half an hour later, I
pulled into one of the visitor’s parking slots at Arnie’s condo
building. Inside the main doors, I hovered beside the security call
panel.

I couldn’t bring myself
to press the button that would ring his apartment. My eyes welled
up, and I dropped my head to blink rapidly while I pretended to
scrounge in my waist pouch.

The secured door opened
as a man came out. “Oh. Here you go.” He politely held the door for
me, apparently thinking I was looking for my keys. I mumbled thanks
as I slipped into the hallway and headed for the stairs.

Outside Arnie’s door, I
stood again for a long moment, gathering my courage. At last, I
watched my hand rise to knock at the door.

I stood waiting numbly,
but no answer came. I knocked again, and then again. And again.
First I couldn’t start. Now I couldn’t stop.

Finally I realized he
wasn’t there. I leaned forward to beat my aching forehead gently
against the door.

“Oh, God, Arnie, where
are you?” I begged.

What if he was out on
some investigation, gone for days? I thumped my forehead a couple
more times. Suddenly the door wrenched open and I stumbled
forward.

“What the fuck!”
Hellhound bellowed.

I’d clearly caught him
at a bad time. Or, more precisely, in the middle of a really good
time.

He was barefoot and
shirtless, his jeans only half done up. Bright red lipstick was
liberally smeared on his neck, and smudged lip prints tracked their
way down his stomach to disappear into his pants.

His scowl vanished.
“Aydan! Hi, darlin’, listen, now ain’t a good time. Can I call
ya...”

He trailed off, his
eyes widening as he looked more closely at me. “Aydan, what the
fuck? What happened? Are ya okay?”

I took a deep,
tremulous breath, trying to steady my voice. It came out as a tiny
quaver anyway.

“No.”

I bit my lip, trying to
hold back the tears.

“Aw, darlin’, come
inside. I’ll call the police...” He reached to draw me in, and I
pulled back when I heard a light female voice call his name.

“I don’t need the
police.” I took his hand. How could I tell him? “Arnie... I have
bad news.”

He went very still,
searching my face. The fear rose in his eyes.

“Kane?” His voice was a
hoarse whisper.

I could only nod.

“How bad?”

I knew he’d read the
answer on my face already, but I had to say the words. “He’s dead.
Arnie, I’m so sorry.” My voice abraded my throat like hemp rope
yanked across a raw wound.

His face closed down,
expressionless except for the dark wells of pain that were his
eyes.

“I’m so sorry.” I
closed my arms around his rigid shoulders and held him. He turned
his face into my hair and we stood in silence.

“Arnie?” A tousled
blonde head popped out the door. “Hey! What the hell? You creep!
What, you thought you could do her in the hallway while I wait in
the bedroom?”

I pulled away far
enough to meet her eyes. “I’m just a friend. Arnie’s had some very
bad news. His best friend has been killed.”

“Oh.” The tiniest of
lines appeared on her botoxed forehead. “Well, come back to bed,
Arnie. I’ll make it all better.”

I stepped back and
squeezed Arnie’s hand. The loss in his eyes made mine fill with
tears.

“I’m sorry. I’ll go
now. I’ll call you later.” I touched his face, wanting to take away
his pain and knowing it was impossible. As I turned to go, his hand
tightened on mine and he spoke, his voice rough with suppressed
emotion.

“Don’t go.”

He turned and stepped
back into his apartment, towing me by the hand.

The tousled blonde head
was attached to a small, curvy, naked body. She let out a squawk of
outrage as we stepped inside. “What about me?”

“Ya can stay if ya
like, Naomi.” Arnie lowered himself onto the couch and sank his
head into his hands.

“Well, there’s not much
point in staying if you’re just going to sit there,” she snapped.
“I can find plenty of other men who can get it up for me. And
better-looking ones than you, too.”

Unreasoning rage washed
away my numbness. All my unfulfilled violence toward Stemp
distilled itself into two words.

“Get. Out.”

The tone of my voice
was enough to frighten even me. The blonde squeaked and
backpedalled before scuttling into the bedroom. Arnie stood and
came around to look in my face. He opened his mouth as if to speak,
but closed it again and we stood in silence.

When Naomi reappeared a
few minutes later, she was dressed. She’d apparently spent the
intervening time summoning up her inner bitch. She stopped in front
of me, hands on hips.

“Who the hell do you
think you are? This isn’t your home. I’ll stay if I want to.”

She had taken a cheap
shot at a man I cared about. A man who had just been mortally
wounded. I could tear her apart with my bare hands. I had a vivid
memory of the feel of my fists against flesh. I took a single step
toward her, redness tingeing my peripheral vision.

Arnie stepped between
us. “Aydan,” he rasped softly. “It ain’t gonna help.”