The Spy Is Cast (13 page)

I slid my arms around
his neck, purring hungrily. “Oh, Hellhound, oh baby, you want to
know what I’m going do to you?”

I whispered a detailed
description, brushing my lips against his ear and moving sensuously
against him. The heat of his next kiss left me breathless, the
touch of his magic tongue sweeping me away in a wave of lust. I had
very happy memories of that tongue.

I was reminding myself
we were in a public place when Nichele’s voice intruded again.
“Aydan, your wings are here. Are you coming?”

“Not quite yet,” I
mumbled against Arnie’s lips. “But I have high hopes.” I pulled
away far enough to see his grin. Nichele smirked and rolled her
eyes before disappearing around the corner again.

“I’m supposed to be
having lunch with Nichele,” I whispered. “What are you doing
later?”

He gave a start and
glanced at his watch. “Shit!”

“Shit, what?”

“Darlin’, I gotta go.
I’m gonna be late for a job.”

“P.I. stuff?”

“Yeah.”

I let my fingers
wander down his chest, heading south. “Skip it. I’ll make it worth
your while.” His eyes dilated as I toyed with the button on his
jeans. “Come on,” I whispered. “You know you want to.”

He groaned and caught
my hand as he stepped away, his gaze locked on me. “Ya got no idea
how much I want to,” he assured me hoarsely. “But no can do. For
you, I’d blow off just about anythin’, but this one I can’t.”

“When will you be
done?”

“Dunno, darlin’. I’m
goin’ outta town. Could be days.”

Dismay and frustration
splashed over me like cold water. “You’re kidding me, right?”

He shook his head, his
regret obvious. “If it was any other client, I’d say to hell with
it, but this one I can’t.” He met my eyes meaningfully.

“Goddammit. Kane. He’s
got you doing surveillance out by Bragg Creek.”

Hellhound’s face went
expressionless. “What d’ya know about that?”

I shrugged and shook
my head. “Can’t tell you. Son of a bitch, Kane owes me big for
this. Dammit.”

His forehead furrowed
with concern. “Aydan, are ya… You’re not in any danger this time,
are ya?”

“Not that I know of at
the moment.”

He blew out a sigh.
“Good. Shit, I gotta go. And I ain’t gonna kiss ya again, ‘cause I
won’t be able to stop if I do.” He squeezed my hand. “Take care. I
wanna see ya again. Soon. I’ll call ya when I can.”

I took a deep breath
and let it out slowly. “Be careful out there. And ride safe.”

“Always do,
darlin’.”

He slung his jacket on
and strode out the door, and the fat rumble of his Harley faded
into the distance moments later.

I trailed
disconsolately into the bathroom and washed my hands. When I got
back to the table, I threw myself onto the sofa and glowered at my
wings.

Nichele smirked at me.
“Got your Eggs Benny heated up again?”

“All hot and juicy,
and nobody to eat it,” I growled.

“Eeeeuuuuwww!” She
clapped her hands over her ears. “That metaphor went ‘way too
far!”

“If you don’t want to
know, don’t ask.”

“Oh, I want to know,”
she assured me eagerly. “What’s with you and this Arnie guy? He
calls you darling? You never mentioned him before, are you holding
out on me? Or are you just coming onto him because you didn’t get
lucky with that big hot hunk o’ man last night? And why didn’t you
just go ahead jump John? He is definitely into you, girl! Or… have
you got a thing going with Arnie already? Are you doing both of
them?”

I bit into a wing,
waiting for the barrage to cease. When I could get a word in
edgewise, I attempted to answer with as few details as
possible.

“I’m not doing either
of them at the moment. Unfortunately. I told you, John is off
limits. Business. And I’m pretty sure Arnie calls all women
‘darling’. Saves him the trouble of remembering their names in the
morning. Not that I’d care by then.” My eyes unfocused slightly at
the memory.

“You did do him! When?
What was he like? I want details!”

I had to throw her a
bone. My preference would have been a chicken bone to the head, but
that would only delay the inevitable. Besides, I knew Hellhound
wouldn’t object to having his reputation boosted.

“Arnie’s a musician,
among other things. He plays guitar and harmonica. Think hands,
lips, tongue, and rhythm. He’s got a mighty fine instrument, too.”
I gazed into middle distance for a few seconds of juicy
reminiscence. “That man knows how to make music.”

“Oooo, when you put it
that way…”

I wiggled my eyebrows
at her. “If you ever get the chance…”

“Eeuw,” she
interrupted. “In the first place, he’s ugly. In the second place,
he’s yours.”

“I was going to say,
‘if you ever get the chance, try a musician’,” I said with dignity.
“And he’s not mine. He’s just a friend.” I leered at her. “A friend
with a great benefits package.”

“And anyway,” I added,
feeling a little put out on Arnie’s behalf, “Looks aren’t
everything. All you ever go for are pretty boys in suits. You don’t
know what you’re missing.”

“I’m missing waking up
to a scary-looking guy.”

“You’re so
shallow.”

“You have no
standards, girl.”

We grinned at each
other, our well-worn exchange as familiar as our own faces. I
lounged back in the couch and nibbled some more wings, hoping
question period was over. Seeing Nichele’s avid face, I knew I
wouldn’t get off that easily.

She leaned forward.
“So…?”

“So?”

Nichele blew out a
short breath. “Jeez-Louise! It’s like getting blood from a stone!
Give, girl! You really like Arnie, I can tell. That ‘looks aren’t
everything’ sounds serious.”

I shook my head.
“Absolutely not serious. You know I’m permanently done with the
whole relationship thing. I like him, yeah. He’s a good guy.”

I paused, remembering
his gentleness with my battered body and spirit in the spring. So
unlike his tough-guy appearance. I smiled.

“And the best thing
about him is, he’s only interested in one thing. Getting laid. No
strings attached.”

“So, are you going to
hook up with Arnie later? You guys were scorching the paint in the
hallway something serious, girl. Or are you going to see John
again?” She leaned forward, her face alight with lecherous
anticipation. “Or both?”

“Don’t you have a
life?”

“Yeah, but it’s more
fun to dig into yours.”

With as much finality
as I could muster, I responded, “Arnie just went out of town. He
doesn’t know when he’ll be back. John is working, and I probably
won’t see him again in the foreseeable future. I have to be back in
Silverside to see clients this week. If you’re looking for cheap
thrills, you’ll have to look somewhere else. ‘Cause there sure as
hell aren’t going to be any in my life for a while.”

“Well, girl, that just
sucks.”

“Tell me about it. Now
I need to go work out again.”

The conversation
finally turned to more general topics, and I finished my wings with
relief.

Nichele and I lingered
on the sidewalk in front of Kelly’s, laughing and bantering for a
few more minutes before we parted. I headed for my car smiling, my
earlier frustration diminished by good food and Nichele’s upbeat
conversation.

The sun hammered the
parking lot, and I was sweating before I even reached the car. As I
keyed open the car door and slid into the oven-like interior, my
breath caught in my throat. I sprang out of the car and staggered a
few steps away, gasping and choking on chemical fumes.

When I’d recovered
sufficiently, I wiped my streaming eyes and opened the passenger
door as well. The breeze gradually cleared the interior, and at
last I leaned in to study the damage.

My heart sank when I
pinpointed the source of the smell. I opened the shopping bag with
reluctant hands.

“Shit!”

I’d been so careful,
too. I’d wrapped the makeup and hairspray in a separate shopping
bag before placing it in the bag containing the dress. But in the
heat of the car, the hairspray had leaked. And dissolved part of
the bag. Which was now permanently embedded in the gooey mess that
used to be an expensive dress.

Son of a bitch.

On the drive home, my
brain chewed at what I knew of the situation at Harchman’s while
the highway unrolled in front of me.

Harchman must be
broadcasting the network throughout his property. Or was it
confined to only the building site? And what the heck could he be
using it for?

I didn’t think
operating a network of that type was illegal in itself, although I
couldn’t imagine how Harchman could have obtained such highly
classified technology by legal means. I guessed Spider and his
fellow analysts would be digging to discover its origins.

I sighed, worrying
about Kane and Hellhound and the rest of the team. It would only
take one wrong move. Fuzzy Bunny played for keeps.

I thought wistfully
back to before I knew any of this. I had been so happily
ignorant.

Now, in a way, being
disconnected from the action was worse than being the middle of it.
Four months ago I’d been terrified, but at least I’d known what was
happening. Would anybody even think to notify me if one of the team
was injured or killed?

I wrenched my mind
away to more reassuring thoughts. Hellhound was a civilian private
investigator, as well as Kane’s lifelong friend. I knew Kane had
hired him before for other situations that didn’t warrant putting a
trained agent on the job. Kane wouldn’t knowingly put Arnie in the
line of fire. Maybe it wasn’t as dangerous as I was imagining.

Letting that thought
ease the tension in my shoulders, I sighed again and tried to let
it go. Worrying wouldn’t help them anyway.

At home, I tried to
ignore my nagging sensation of dread while I got on with my regular
routine.

Tuesday morning, I
arrived at Blue Eddy’s promptly at ten o’clock and let myself in
the back door with the key he’d given me. The merry sound of the
piano made my face split into a grin. Ragtime today. The music
skipped and danced down the hallway and so did I.

One of the many
benefits of working for Eddy was that he came in early, ostensibly
to get everything ready for opening at eleven o’clock. In fact, he
usually spent the time playing the piano, and I was the happy
beneficiary of his efforts.

He looked up with a
smile as I came in. “Hi, Aydan!”

His fingers never
missed a beat. I was willing to swear his hands were capable of
making music without any input from his brain at all. I envied his
gift hopelessly.

I grinned at him.
“Hey, Eddy! Have I ever told you that you’re my favourite
client?”

Quite apart from his
musical talent, Eddy’s quick thinking back in March was the only
reason I still had all my body parts. He didn’t know exactly what
he’d saved me from and he never would, but I was eternally
grateful.

He finished the piece,
walking the bass home while I beamed at him. “No. But it’s sure
nice to hear.”

He returned my grin
and turned back to the keyboard, and I retired to his cramped
office to do the week’s entries. I had been working steadily at the
desk for about forty-five minutes when my phone rang. I picked it
up, abstracted.

“Hello, Aydan
speaking.”

“Hey, Aydan, it’s
Spider.”

I shook myself free of
the train of thought I’d been following. “Hi, Spider, what’s
up?”

“Can you come over to
the office this afternoon?”

“Um.” I glanced at my
watch, figuring out times. “I’m at Eddy’s right now, and then I
need to grab lunch and head over to the sex shop. I’ll be a couple
of hours there…”

A strangled noise on
the other end of the line made me pause. “Spider? You okay?”

I heard the phone hit
something hard on the other end, and desperate choking sounds
receded from the speaker. Cold fear ripped through me as I bolted
to my feet.

“Spider! Spider! Are
you okay?
Spider!
”

Choked gasps sounded
faintly through my phone, and I dashed out of Eddy’s office,
fumbling one-handed for my keys while I flew down the hall.

Bellowing Spider’s
name into the phone, I burst out the door and ran for my car. Just
as I reached it, a hoarse wheeze came from the phone.

“I’m okay.”

I sagged against my
car, gasping relief. “Jesus, Spider, what the fuck? You scared the
shit out of me!”

Eddy rushed out the
door, his face tense. I put the phone against my shoulder and spoke
to him. “It’s okay. False alarm.” He halted and clutched his chest
theatrically before turning back to the building with a relieved
smile.

“Spider! What
happened?” I demanded.

“I choked on my Coke,”
he replied sheepishly, his voice still croaky.

“Christ! I thought
somebody was strangling you!”

“Sorry. That’s what it
felt like, too. Where did you say you were going? It sounded like
you said ‘sex shop’.”

“I did.”

“Um.” Silence
lengthened, and I imagined his crimson face. “Aydan, that’s, um… a
little too much information.”

I chuckled. “They’re
one of my bookkeeping clients. I thought you knew. Sorry, I didn’t
mean to shock you.”

He rallied quickly.
“I’m not shocked. I mean… whatever. I just… it was just the way you
said it.”

With difficulty, I
contained my laughter. I heaved myself off the car and headed back
into Eddy’s, continuing the conversation as casually as I could.
“I’ll be there until about three-thirty or so. I could be at your
office around four. Will that work?”

“That’ll be fine. See
you then.” He hung up quickly, and I flopped back into the chair in
Eddy’s office, giving in to a long belly laugh. Eddy poked his head
in the door a few moments later as I sprawled there, gasping and
giggling.