Tell Me No Spies (15 page)

“The first two men
kidnapped me. They beat and tortured me. They were trying to shoot
me when I killed them. The third man was trying to rape me while
four of his friends held me down. The last man abducted me and took
me inside a house and set the house on fire. He was about to kill
an innocent man when I shot him.”

Dave’s eyes widened
and his jaw dropped as I babbled.

“What…” The bar
drooped and he swallowed audibly. “What about the two you injured?”
His voice was a hoarse whisper.

“There were five of
them. They’d just shot somebody I…” I gulped as the memory rose up
again. “…I cared about. A lot. At the time. I hit one in the face
and broke his cheekbone and dislocated another one’s knee before
they took me down.”

Dave staggered back
and dropped into the passenger’s seat, staring at me. “What the
hell…? Heck, I mean. What…?” He stared blankly at the bar in his
hands before dropping it as if it had burned him. “Jane… I mean,
Aydan, I’m sorry, I…”

“It’s okay, Dave, I’ll
just go now. Remember, if anybody asks, I held you at gunpoint.” I
dragged myself to my feet.

“Wait!” The hand he
placed on my arm was shaking almost as much as I was. “Why are they
looking for you? Are these guys going to…” his Adam’s apple bobbed
as he swallowed, “…rape you and torture you? If they catch
you?”

“No, they’ll probably
just shoot me. I need to get out of here. You’ll be safe when I’m
gone.”

“Will you kill
them?”

“No. They’re the good
guys.” I grabbed my backpack with my uninjured hand and tottered
forward.

Dave pushed himself to
his feet with a sharp gasp, clutching his back. Then he
straightened slowly, blocking my way. “You can’t go out there.”

“I have to.” I tried
to slip by him, but he grasped me firmly by the shoulders and
pushed me down into the passenger’s seat, wincing as he bent.

“You need help,” he
said. “I’ll get you out of here.”

“Dave, thanks, but you
can’t…” Concern stabbed me at the sight of his grimace. “Are you
okay?”

“Yeah. Put my back
out, swinging that bar. Stupid.” He returned to his verbal
campaign. “You can’t do it yourself. You can’t get off the
island.”

“I’ll find a way.”

He frowned at me. “You
can only go by air or ferry. They’ll catch you in airport security,
and there are cameras in the ferry terminals.”

“Shit, there are?”

“Yeah.”

I squirmed, trying to
think of another alternative. “I could hire a boat privately.”

“You don’t have enough
money.”

I eyed him hopefully.
“You offered to lend me some.”

He snorted. “Deal’s
off. You’re stuck. You need me.”

“Dave!” I made a fist
in my hair and tugged in sheer frustration. “You don’t get it. This
is dangerous shit. You could end up in jail, or dead, if you get
caught in the crossfire. I’m just going to go. I’ll figure
something out.”

I reached for the door
handle, but he dropped into the driver’s seat with a grunt of pain
and slammed the truck into gear. “You gonna jump out of a moving
vehicle?”

I sighed. “It wouldn’t
be the first time.”

He shot an avid glance
in my direction. “What happened that time?” When I remained silent,
he added, “You owe me.”

I groaned. “Dave,
you’re right, I owe you big-time, but I can’t tell you
anything.”

He took the exit for
the Pat Bay Highway and studied me out of the corner of his eye
while he drove. “You’re some kinda big-time spy. Like James Bond or
something.” He glanced over. “That’s why you said your name was
Jane. Jane Bond, right?”

“No.” I studied the
purpling bruise on my forearm and slowly flexed my fingers. Good,
not broken after all. The pain was subsiding into a throbbing
ache.

“Look,” he said. “I’m
gonna help you whether you want it or not. So you might as well
tell me what’s happening.”

“Dave, you don’t know
what you’re getting into. Just drop me off and forget you ever saw
me.”

“Are you kidding?” He
shot me a grin, his face alight. “Guns and black cars and Jane
Bond? This is the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

I clasped my aching
head. “Dave…”

“Who were those guys?
Why are they trying to kill you?”

“I don’t know if
they’re trying to kill me or not. They might just have orders to
capture me.”

“Why?”

“I can’t tell
you.”

“You said your ex was
chasing you.”

“Yeah, that, too.”

“Those guys are his
friends?”

“Co-workers,
probably.”

He threw a frown in my
direction. “They really cops?”

“Yeah. Kind of.”

“You said you weren’t
running from the cops.”

I scrubbed my hands
over my face. “I’m not. Not exactly.”

“Exactly what,
then?”

“You’re not going to
let this rest, are you?”

“Heck, no.” He grinned
at me again. “We got another couple hours before we get back to the
mainland. And another twelve hours tomorrow on the way back to
Calgary.”

I slumped in the seat
and dropped my head back against the headrest. “Shit. Okay. You
win.” I tried to organize a story that would answer his questions
without telling him anything secret.

“I’m… a witness. They
need me for a case. I’ve been working with them, but I just found
out that the guy I’ve been working with…”

“Your ex?” he
interrupted.

“Yeah, kind of. We… I
liked him, and I thought he liked me, but I just found out he
killed my husband, and he’s been lying to me all this time.”

“
He killed your
husband?
” Dave gaped at me, his eyes round, and I grabbed for
the steering wheel as the truck swerved. He jerked his gaze back to
the road, blinking rapidly. “But you said he was a cop.”

“He said my husband
was a criminal and he had to kill him.”

“Was he?”

“I…” Somehow, I’d
never questioned what Kane had told me. What if he’d been lying
about that, too? “I honestly don’t know.”

“So you think he might
kill you, too?”

“He wouldn’t have,
before. Well, I don’t think so, anyway. But he might have orders to
now.”

“But you said they
needed you. You’re their witness.”

I sighed. “It’s
complicated. They might have decided they don’t need me that badly
anymore.”

He gave me a
sympathetic glance. “That why you ran?”

“No. But…” I swallowed
hard. “I think they might have killed the rest of my family, too. I
have to know.”

“
What?
” He was
gaping at me again.

“Dave! Maybe you
should pull over.”

He gave his head a
quick shake and did exactly that, slowing the truck to halt at the
side of the road.

“Why in hel… sorry,
heck, would they kill your whole family?” he demanded.

“I don’t know, Dave,
but I really need to find out. I thought Aunt Minnie might be able
to tell me something. She’s the only relative I have left. But she
was too out of it.” I wrapped my arms around myself as a horrifying
thought hit me. “Oh, God, I hope they don’t kill her, too. She’s
just a helpless old lady.”

Dave’s face paled.
“They wouldn’t let guys with guns into a nursing home.”

“They wouldn’t use
guns. They’d make it look like a heart attack. That’s how they
killed Robert. And maybe my dad, too.”

“Who
are
these
guys?” He stared at me. “Cops don’t get orders to kill people. And
they don’t kill them with fake heart attacks. These guys are spies,
aren’t they? Or Mob?” His face went even paler. “And you’re running
from them…”

“That’s why I was
trying to get you to butt out. Just go back to your life and forget
this ever happened. You’ll be safe as long as you don’t get caught
with me.” I reached for the door handle, but he grabbed my
hand.

“But what about
you?”

I blew out a long
sigh. “They’re going to kill me anyway, sooner or later. I know too
much. I’d just really, really like to know the truth about this
before I die. And I need to get back to Calgary and see if I can
help Nichele.”

“Then I’ll take you.”
He put the truck into gear again and pulled away, his scowl focused
on the road.

“Dave…”

“No dice. That’s the
way it’s gonna be.”

I gave in. “Thanks,” I
whispered.

By the time we safely
navigated the ferry and landed on the mainland, I’d come up with a
desperate idea. I checked my watch. Nearly four o’clock. That would
be almost five o’clock in Alberta. Spider would be getting off work
soon.

I rolled my head and
shoulders, trying to release the aching tension before I turned to
Dave. “I need to find an internet cafe or a library or
something.”

He shot me a quick
glance, then turned back to concentrate on driving. “What’re you
going to do?”

“I’m going to see if I
can get in touch with a friend on the internet.”

“Sure you want to take
the chance?”

“No. But I have
to."

He scowled. “Those
guys were on that phone booth like white on rice. They’ll be
watching email for sure.”

“I’m not going to use
email.”

His eyes widened. “You
some kind of hacker?”

“Hell, no. I couldn’t
hack my way out of a paper bag. But I have an idea that just might
work.”

We stopped at the
visitor’s centre for directions, and pulled up in front of an
internet cafe about half an hour later.

I took a deep breath
and met Dave’s worried eyes. “Wish me luck.” I had the door open
before another thought hit me. “If you see me leaving with anybody,
or if anything happens to me, just drive away and forget you ever
saw me. You don’t want to get involved in this.”

“But…”

“Really, Dave. I mean
it. Promise me, okay?”

He scowled and his
lips pressed into a thin line.

I tugged a couple of
handfuls of my hair in pure frustration. “Dave, I really need you
to do this. I really need to know you’ll stay safe. Please?”

The silence
lengthened. When he spoke at last, his voice was steady, but his
faded eyes were imploring. “Look, I’m just a fat, middle-aged loser
with a shi… crap job and a family that doesn’t care whether I live
or die as long as the support cheques keep coming. I wasn’t kidding
when I said this was the coolest thing that ever happened to me.”
He flushed and dropped his eyes. “Just let me help, okay?”

I took his hand in
both of my own. “Dave, you’re not a loser, you’re an amazing guy.
You’ve already saved my life. I don’t want it to cost you
yours.”

He met my eyes. “My
decision to make. Get going.”

I slumped in defeat.
“Okay. But Dave, don’t be a hero. A live friend is better than a
dead hero any day.”

He nodded, and I
climbed down from the truck resisting the urge to beat my head
against the door. I’d seen the gleam in his eyes. He was going to
be a fucking hero.

And the worst part
was, I needed one.

Inside, I paid cash
for my access time and got settled at a computer to search out the
World of Warcraft site. I cursed my lack of foresight in only
half-listening to Spider’s long-winded descriptions of the game and
its interface. At least I knew he used ‘Spider’ as his screen name,
and I knew his character was a night elf, whatever that was.

On the site I rapidly
skimmed the online tutorial, focusing on the chat features. Shit,
this was going to take some time. I glanced around, heart thumping,
before concentrating in earnest. Thank God they offered a
thirty-day free trial. Otherwise, Kane could have nailed me by my
credit card activity the instant I bought the membership.

I set up a fraudulent
account and debated for too-long seconds over a screen name, then
impatiently clicked through the character setup, creating a human
female with long red hair. None of the rest of it made much sense,
but I only needed to get into the game. Please God, let Spider be
playing tonight.

When I completed the
setup, my heart sank as I stared at the complicated interface.
Realm. That was it. What the hell was the name of the realm Spider
was always babbling about? Maybe it didn’t matter.

The name of the realm
occurred to me just as I discovered how to look for other players
online. A surge of triumph filled me when I recognized Spider’s
screen name. Thank God. I scanned the chat interface. Whisper.
There it was.

“Pssst. Spider.”

The chat screen
scrolled. “who r u?”

“Look at my character.
From Dog Star.” Come on, Spider, figure it out.

“OMG! where r u??? r u
ok??”

“Hiding. I’m
fine.”

“r u crazy?? dept-wide
alert for u dead or alive.”

“Need your help.”

“i’ll call K.”

“NO!!!”

“y not? he’ll
help.”

“NO. He killed my
husband.”

The data stream
halted, and I imagined Spider’s horrified expression. After a few
seconds, another message came through. “WHAT!! pls repeat.”

“He killed my
husband.”

“no way.”

“He told me
himself.”

The scrolling text
stopped again. Then, “what do u need?”

I paused, thinking. I
really didn’t want to name names, just in case. The text window
scrolled as Spider demanded my attention.

“r u there? r u
there?”

“I’m here.” I
hesitated over the keyboard, then added, “I was with N on Tuesday
night when K came to get me. Do you know who N is?”

“yes”

I breathed a sigh of
relief. “N is in danger. She’ll be killed if the police get
involved. Can you help her?”

Jesus, speak of the
devil. Movement caught my eye as two uniformed police officers
strode in, scanning the patrons. I hunched down behind the computer
screen, praying they wouldn’t see me.

I ignored Spider’s
text response and rapidly logged off, trembling. As I cleared the
cache, the officers moved past me to speak to the kid behind the
counter. Maybe they weren’t looking for me at all.