The Spy Is Cast (21 page)

I held on blindly and
mindlessly until the bike came to a stop. Detached, I took in
Germain’s grinning face as he pounded Kane’s back. I wobbled off
the back of the Harley and pulled off my helmet, standing stupidly
for a few seconds before placing the helmet on the ground and
staggering toward the trees.

I was a few yards into
the forest when Hellhound appeared beside me, holding out a small
carton of orange juice. “Think ya need this, darlin’.”

“Thanks.” I took it,
not looking at him. “I need to be alone for a while.”

“Where ya goin’?”

“West.” I kept
walking, staring straight ahead.

He walked with me a
few more steps, but I couldn’t turn to him. He stopped, and I
stumbled away.

I blundered straight
through the undergrowth, not even trying to follow game trails. At
last, I came upon a dense stand of spruce, their heavy boughs
sagging almost to the ground. I crept into the gloom beneath them
and curled into a ball, letting the sobs begin.

Much later, I sat up
slowly. Everything ached. I found a tissue in my pocket and cleaned
my face as best I could. Thankful for the orange juice, I sipped
slowly and let the acidic sweetness wash away the bitter taste of
bile. My trembling gradually subsided, and I drew my first steady
breath in a long time.

I leaned back against
the trunk of the spruce, arms wrapped around my drawn-up knees. My
primal self took comfort from the dim concealment, and I sat in
silent stillness. The pungent spruce scent filled my nose, and a
squirrel chattered somewhere in the forest. The breeze sighed
through the tops of the trees. I narrowed my vision, concentrating
on the fine details of the spruce needles and twigs and moss,
clearing my mind and letting time slip away.

Animal-like, I sensed
the vibration of the ground before I heard the raspy voice call out
my name. I wasn’t ready to be found yet.

I stayed silent and
motionless.

A few minutes later,
Hellhound tramped into view, and I watched through the screen of
boughs as he scanned the woods. The worry in his face made me
sigh.

The next time he
called, I answered.

His head snapped
around, searching for the source of the sound. Then he spotted me
and advanced slowly, squatting outside my hiding place. “Can I come
in, darlin’?”

“Come on in and pull
up some dirt.”

He shoved the branches
aside and took a seat on the carpet of spruce needles beside me,
leaning his back against the tree trunk. “Ya okay?”

“I’ll live.” I spoke
quickly to drown out the response in my head. No, I’m not okay.
I’ll never be okay again.

“Kane said ya saw some
bad shit. D’ya wanna talk about it?”

“No. Not ever.” My
voice wavered, and I shut up.

He took my hand and
stroked it gently, and we sat in silence for a while. Finally,
Hellhound turned to me. “They need ya back at the trailer. When
you’re ready.”

“Okay.” I crawled out
from under the tree and stood, brushing off spruce needles.

He followed me out.
“We’ll get some food into ya. That’ll help.”

I hunched over as my
gut clenched. “I don’t think I can.”

He folded me into his
arms, and I closed my eyes and huddled against him. The nausea
slowly faded as his warmth surrounded me.

“Come on, darlin’.
Just take it slow.” He shepherded me toward the RV, his comforting
arm around my shoulders.

The walking helped.
When we reached the edge of the forest, I turned to him. “Thanks.
Again,” I said awkwardly.

Hellhound surveyed my
face seriously for a moment before giving me a preposterous leer.
“Your debt’s mountin’ up again, darlin’. Ya better start payin’ me
back in bed soon, or you’re gonna hafta marry me.”

I laughed out loud at
our private joke, my knotted stomach easing. “God forbid!”

As we approached, Kane
stepped out of the RV. I blinked rapidly and scrubbed my hands
through my hair. Those memories weren’t real. This was real.

I felt Hellhound’s
gaze on me, but I threw my shoulders back and walked steadily
toward the trailer. Everything in the real world was all right. The
rest was only a nightmare. I knew how to deal with nightmares.

Kane met us at the
door and gazed down at me with concern. “Are you all right?”

“Fine. Are you all
right?”

“Fine. Thanks to
you.”

I gave him a smile
through stiff lips. “You’re welcome. Did you call it in? Did they
arrest everybody over there?”

“No.”

“But…” A look at his
troubled eyes made my protest wither on my lips.

He sighed. “We need
more information. Evidence.”

“But they killed that
prisoner! I saw them kill him! They tortured you! What are you
waiting for?” I demanded.

His hand flew up,
shushing me. “I called Stemp,” he responded. His eyes flicked in
Hellhound’s direction, and I knew he couldn’t tell me anything
more. “We can’t take them down yet. I’m sorry,” he added as I
opened my mouth to argue again.

I shut my mouth and
stepped up into the RV.

Germain glanced up
from the laptop as I came in, Kane and Hellhound behind me. “Aydan!
Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just
needed some time.”

His normally smiling
eyes were worried. “Okay,” he said slowly. “Do you feel up to going
through this database now?”

“Sure. What do I need
to do?”

“First she’s gotta
eat,” Hellhound said firmly.

“Right, of course,”
Germain said. “Sorry.”

“I’m gonna work my
gourmet cookin’ magic again,” Hellhound joked. “What d’ya wanna
eat, darlin’, Salisbury steak or beef stew?”

“I’ll take the stew,
if that’s okay,” I told him. “Are you using the water system in
here?”

Kane nodded. “The
plumbing is all working. And the tap water’s drinkable. Go
ahead.”

“Thanks.” I stepped
into the tiny bathroom.

Embarrassment flooded
me when I caught sight of myself in the mirror. My face was
streaked with dirt and tear tracks, and my eyes were red and puffy.
No wonder the guys were treating me so carefully. Damn. I’d really
hoped to keep my meltdown private.

I splashed cool water
on my face and patted it dry, taking my time. The sun shone through
the pebbled glass in the small window, and I assessed the lines
etched in my face by its unforgiving glare. I looked like I’d aged
ten years.

Hell, I felt like I’d
aged a hundred. Ten was a heck of a deal. I pulled my folding
hairbrush out of my waist pouch and brushed the last of the spruce
needles out of my hair before stepping back into the living
area.

A steaming paper bowl
of stew waited for me on the table, and the microwave dinged as I
arrived. I took my place and Hellhound squeezed in opposite me with
his meal, fresh from the microwave. Kane fired it up again, and
both he and Germain wedged themselves onto the dinette benches as
well while they waited.

I eyed the three big
men and laughed, trying to reassure both them and myself I wasn’t
about to burst into tears again. “I’m pretty sure the designers of
this vehicle didn’t have you guys in mind.”

Germain grinned
ruefully across the table, his shoulder jammed against Hellhound’s.
“Usually we eat in shifts. This is a little too much
togetherness.”

Kane’s shoulder was
pressing against mine, too. I revelled in the sensation of his
undamaged body next to me.

My stomach gradually
settled while I picked at the stew. We all ate in silence for a
while before Kane turned to me, leaning back slightly in the
cramped quarters. “Do you feel up to debriefing now?”

“Sure.”

Hellhound shrugged.
“Guess it’s time for me to go for a walk.” Germain got up so he
could squeeze out of the dinette, and he left, closing the door
behind him. Germain sat again. We regarded each other in
silence.

Germain cleared his
throat. “I already filled Kane in on what you told us about the
prisoner you saw in the sim earlier,” he said to me. He turned to
Kane. “What happened after you and Aydan got separated?"

Kane frowned. “It was
strange. I ran off in the opposite direction to Aydan and made as
much noise as possible. But when they caught me… it was like they
didn’t know what to do. I expected to get kicked around a bit, but
they called the dogs off right away, and asked me quite civilly
what I was doing on private property.”

He shovelled in the
last of his meal and continued. “So I said I’d been taking a walk
in the woods. Told them I didn’t realize it was private property,
said I was sorry and I’d leave. And I think the one guard was
actually going to let me go.” He rubbed at his chin, looking
perplexed.

“But then the other
one called it in, and their dispatcher told them to bring me up to
the house. I pretended to be surprised it was Harchman’s place,
told them I’d been at his party Saturday night, and they were very
polite. They certainly didn’t seem to be on high alert.”

Germain’s brows drew
together. “Maybe they hadn’t been briefed yet? But the day was half
over. And they should have had their instructions before they went
out.”

Kane shrugged. “When
we got onto the building site, two men met us. They told the guards
they’d take me up to see Harchman. The guards handed me over, and
that’s when everything went to hell.”

He got up, collecting
our empty dishes and tossing them in the garbage. “Aydan, did you
get enough to eat?”

“Yes, thanks. But I
could sure use a drink. I don’t suppose you have any beer.”

They both laughed. “If
we’d known you were coming, we’d have stocked up,” Germain
teased.

I gave a dramatic
sigh. “I guess I’ll have to drink water, then.”

Kane chuckled as he
filled a glass and brought it over for me. “So anyway,” he picked
up the thread as he sat down. “As soon as the guards were out of
sight, they hit me with a stun gun. Dragged me into the guest
house, but again, it was weird. There was a guard at the door, but
they made up some cock and bull story about heatstroke when they
dragged me past. Like he didn’t know what was going on. The one
outside the room was one of theirs for sure, though. They tied me
to the chair and took us all straight into the sim. I missed the
transition entirely. I didn’t figure it out until they hung me up.
I’d scoped out the guest rooms on Saturday, and I was pretty sure
none of them had chains hanging from the ceiling. That’s where
Aydan found me.”

I shuddered
involuntarily, my mouth going dry. I sipped slowly at the water,
staring at the table.

“Aydan, what happened
from your end?” Germain asked.

I swallowed hard and
cleared my throat before answering. My voice emerged hoarsely, and
I took another sip of water. “Arnie and I parked by the side of the
road and I went in as planned. Found the right sim. Went in and got
Kane invisible while we figured out what to do. Came back out and
told Arnie to coordinate with you, then went back in again. I held
Kane’s construct while he went out. Created constructs of the other
two when they disappeared from the sim. I…”

My throat closed up
completely, and I stopped, sipping some more water. I took a deep
breath. “I maintained the sim until I got the signal. Then I got
out,” I said steadily to the table.

There was a short
silence, and I didn’t look up.

“How do you think they
identified you?” Germain asked Kane.

“They’d noticed
Aydan’s disguise popping up in the network during the party,” Kane
replied. “So they knew they’d had a breach, and they were on the
lookout for any party guests who had been acting suspiciously. I
was noticeable because I showed up on their security cameras a few
too many times when I was checking out the outbuildings.”

He shrugged. “I knew I
was on camera at the time, but I’d been hoping there were enough
other guests milling around that it wouldn’t matter. I probably
would have gotten away with it if they hadn’t caught me in the
woods today.”

“What did they
want?”

“They knew I was
working with an accomplice, because they couldn’t find a person
that matched Aydan’s disguise in any of their security footage from
the party. They wanted to know who my partner was, who I was
working for, and how we’d gotten into the network. I just kept
telling them I didn’t know what they were talking about, and I was
just a guest at the party.”

I finally looked up,
and he smiled at me. “The really good news in all this is that
you’re still in the clear. They obviously aren’t looking for you.
And now that I’ve escaped and taken out three of their men, they’ll
be looking for me very enthusiastically indeed.”

“Good news for me, not
for you,” I told him.

“At this point, I’ll
take any good news I can get.”

Germain broke in,
frowning. “So how did you get away?”

“The two men who were
working me over actually came into the physical guest room to enter
the sim,” Kane explained. “So all our bodies were there. When Aydan
took over the sim, I dropped back out of the network. I got free
and took them out while they were still in the sim. I popped the
guard and dragged his body back into the room. Then I went out of
the guest house, thanked the doorman and told him I was feeling
much better, and walked up past the house like I owned the place.
They didn’t even have extra patrols on in the woods.”

“That’s the strangest
thing I’ve ever heard,” Germain said. “That doesn’t sound like
Fuzzy Bunny.”

“I think Harchman’s an
idiot,” I agreed. “He showed me right into the security control
centre. He told me about the patrols in the woods. And he sure
wasn’t doing anything productive in the sim network earlier.”

“What?” Kane swivelled
to face me. “You saw Harchman in a sim? What was he doing?”