The Spy Is Cast (24 page)

Exhausted satisfaction
pinned my leaden limbs to the bed.

Just a few more
minutes of rest, and then I’d definitely go over there…

A small electronic
beeping woke me. Hellhound lifted his arm off my waist and rolled
over to turn off his wristwatch alarm.

I turned to face him
in the morning light. “Well, this is discreet.”

He chuckled. “I knew
Kane wouldn’t come into the trailer while he was on watch. An’ this
was easier than gettin’ up every time ya had a nightmare.”

I pushed up on my
elbow, looking down at his sleepy face on the pillow. “I’m sorry!
Why didn’t you just wake me up? I could have gone out and sat with
Kane and you could have slept.”

“It’s okay, darlin’, I
slept.” He rummaged under the covers. “Ya might want these.”

I took my shorts and
tank top from him and shimmied into them. He grinned at me, his
eyes hot. “If I didn’t hafta go relieve Germain…”

He shook his head and
gave me a wry look. “If ya wanna use the bathroom, ya better go
first. Ya won’t wanna go in there after I’m done.”

I laughed and kissed
him. “A true gentleman.”

When I came out of the
bathroom washed and dressed, Hellhound was just finishing another
helping of Salisbury steak, and I shuddered.

“Don’t you get tired
of that?”

“Nah. I can eat
anythin’.”

“So can I, but I can’t
eat it day after day like that.”

He shrugged as I
started to open cabinet doors to check out the food supply.

I stuck my head out
the door of the RV and wished Kane a good morning. “Do you want
some chili for breakfast? I won’t be able to eat the whole
can.”

He smiled back at me,
and I was glad to see his extra sleep had helped. He still looked
tired, but the greyish cast was gone from his skin.

“That sounds good.
I’ll come in. We’ve got a clear sight line around us now that it’s
daylight.”

He came into the RV as
I stuck my bowl of chili in the microwave. “’Morning,” he greeted
Hellhound.

“Mornin’,” Hellhound
mumbled around a mouthful.

“You’re heading out
shortly?”

Hellhound nodded.
“Soon’s I’m done here. Gotta take a dump first.”

“Thanks for sharing
that,” Kane told him. “Aydan, can you be ready to go with
Hellhound?”

“I presume you mean to
Harchman’s, not to the bathroom.”

“Yes.” He pinched the
bridge of his nose, grimacing. “You’re as bad as he is.” Hellhound
snorted laughter, and Kane ignored him with forbearance.

“I’d like you to check
to see if there’s any activity,” Kane told me. “Then you can come
back here and finish digging through the database. The sooner we
can identify the captives, the better.”

“Okay.” I started
shovelling in chili.

“Hellhound, you’ll
stay with Aydan while she does this. Be ready to signal her, same
as before. Aydan, be quick. Just check things out and leave. Don’t
interact, no matter what.” He shot me a stern look, and I
nodded.

“As soon as you’re
finished, go with Hellhound to relieve Germain. Come back with
Germain. I don’t want you unguarded,” he finished.

“Got it,” I confirmed.
Hellhound rose to head for the bathroom and I picked up my bowl and
spoon. “I’m just going to finish this outside.”

I grabbed my leathers
on the way out and left Kane waiting for his share of the chili to
heat up.

It was a cool morning,
and I’d worn my baggy jeans again. I tried to pull the tight
leather pants over top, but there was no way. Kane and Hellhound
were still inside, so I stepped into a blind spot between the
windows and changed pants. Then I dragged the folding chair into
the sun and sat down to finish my breakfast.

Seconds later, Kane
stepped out the door and settled onto the fallen log by the trailer
with his bowl and spoon. “Smart woman. Lucky you’re not easily
offended.”

I grinned at him.
“It’s not my first time camping with a bunch of guys. Besides, he
gave fair warning.”

“True.”

I scraped out the bowl
and laid it down beside the chair, relaxing as the sun’s early
beams warmed my black leather. My eyes drifted shut. When I opened
them again, Hellhound stood in front of me.

“Ready to roll?” he
rasped.

I yawned. “Yep. Let’s
go.” We climbed aboard our bikes, and Kane let us out the gate.

We gave Harchman’s
place a drive-by, but all seemed quiet. We parked again in the
ditch, and I shivered. This close to the mountains, the temperature
varied dramatically between daytime and night-time
temperatures.

I lowered myself
gingerly to the cold ground. “Too cold to lie down.”

Hellhound nodded and
sat down, wrapping an arm around me. I rested my head on his
shoulder and was about to go into the network when his voice
stopped me.

“Aydan? Can I ask ya
somethin’?”

“Sure.”

“Does that thing in
your watch make ya… telepathic?”

I pulled away to look
at him. He met my eyes steadily, but I could sense his discomfort.
I understood. I knew exactly what it was like to wonder if somebody
could look inside my head at my innermost thoughts. I hastened to
reassure him.

“No. I’m definitely
not telepathic.”

“So ya don’t know what
I’m thinkin’. Ya can’t get inside my head.”

“No. Absolutely not. I
can’t get inside anybody’s head. I don’t know what anybody’s
thinking.” I nudged my shoulder against his and shot him a wicked
grin. “But I know what you’re thinking about, a lot of the
time.”

He laughed and
relaxed. “I’m a guy. Duh.”

His grin dissolved.
“But yesterday, ya lay down in this ditch not knowin’ anythin’ more
than I did. Ya woke up an’ said ya were gonna get Kane out. An’ ya
had a plan you’d worked out with him. Times. Places. He was inside
Harchman’s. Ya never left my side.”

I sighed. “I know it
looks like telepathy, but it’s not. I wasn’t inside Kane’s head,
either. I have no idea what he was thinking then. Or now. Or
ever.”

“Okay, darlin’.” He
scowled. “None a’ this makes sense. I know ya can’t tell me, and I
don’t really wanna know. But tell me this, if ya can without
gettin’ in trouble. If I get captured, can ya talk to me like ya
talked to Kane?”

“Yes. Assuming I can
get in the right place to do it.”

“Ya hafta be close
enough. Physically close enough.”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Thanks.” He
pulled me close again. “Guess ya better get started, then.
Germain’ll be wonderin’ what’s keepin’ me.”

I laid my head back on
his shoulder, marvelling at his trust. I knew he and Kane went back
a long way, and I guessed that trust extended to me by proxy.

Then again, I was
putting my life in his hands, too. I trusted him, Kane, and Germain
more than anybody else I could think of offhand. I put away that
unaccustomed thought for future analysis, and stepped invisibly
into the network.

Like the previous day,
I peeked into each room in turn. The rooms were deserted, and I
picked up speed as I went. When I discovered one that was occupied,
I jerked to a halt.

Harchman again. This
time he had me bent over one of the desks in the security control
room. I averted my eyes from the revolting sight of his flabby
white ass as it quivered with each thrust.

This guy was really
getting his money’s worth from the sim. In real life, he would have
had to stand on a step stool to manage that.

I made an invisible
face and was about to move on when a sudden thought occurred to me.
Unlike the scenario Harchman had created in the gazebo, the
security room sim was very realistic. Harchman wouldn’t have
bothered with that much detail. He didn’t need it for what he was
doing. Could this be a stored sim of the actual security room?

I drifted through the
wall and into the room, looking away from Harchman and trying not
to listen to his porcine grunting. I floated around to look at the
security monitors and check their time display. Sure enough, it was
real-time. The sim must have been created so the security room
could be monitored remotely. This could definitely be useful.

Harchman squealed like
the pig he was. I whisked through the wall, catching an unwanted
glimpse of his sweaty, contorted face as he came. Really didn’t
need to see that. In the virtual corridor outside, I shook myself
like a dog, trying to shed the mind cooties.

Focus.

I zipped invisibly
down the corridor, checking the rest of the rooms, then drifted
through the firewall. Swallowing queasiness, I peeked into the room
that had held the prisoner the previous day. It was clean and
unoccupied.

I checked the next
several rooms, beginning to regain my confidence. When I discovered
a captive, the shock hit me almost like a physical blow. Wrapping
my invisible arms around myself to hold my emotions in check, I
memorized him. This time I wouldn’t let Kane down.

Thankfully, they
hadn’t gotten to this prisoner yet. He was young, and his smooth
face and hazel eyes reminded me disturbingly of Spider. Like the
first man, his wrists and ankles were secured to a chair with nylon
ties. He strained at his bonds, blood leaking from the gashes on
his wrists where the ties cut into his flesh.

I knew exactly how
that felt. I shuddered and drew a few calming breaths, pushing away
my own memories to concentrate on every detail of his face.

As I watched, he
stared around the room, still struggling. His wild-eyed gaze met
mine and even though I knew he couldn’t see me, the sensation of
contact was so unnerving I ducked and scooted away.

I rapidly checked the
rest of the rooms, finding them clean and vacant. Easing out a
shaky breath, I zoomed back to the portal and stepped carefully
through.

Pain slammed through
my head right on cue. My resistance was low after only a few hours
of sleep, and I jerked into fetal position and held my head
together with both hands. I didn’t bother to restrain my varied and
extensive vocabulary of obscenities. I went on at length, trailing
off gradually as the pain subsided.

When I finished and
uncurled, Hellhound was holding me tightly. He gazed down anxiously
at me. “Darlin’, are ya okay?”

“Fine,” I mumbled,
massaging my temples.

“Really? Cryin’ and
throwin’ up and swearin’ is the best-case scenario?”

“Usually I don’t cry
and throw up. But the worst-case scenario is much worse.”

“I never wanna see it.
It’s hard to imagine it gettin’ much worse.”

I gave him a wan
smile. “Let me put it in context for you. Lacking the necessary
equipment, I can’t swear to the accuracy of this, but imagine the
best-case scenario is like getting a solid kick in the balls.”

“That’d prob’ly make
me cry an’ puke an’ swear.”

“Then imagine the
worst-case scenario is like being held spread-eagled while one of
the CFL’s star punters takes his best shot at your nuts. Wearing
cleats. And then an enraged wolverine comes along and chews off
anything that’s left. Slowly.”

He flinched and cupped
his crotch protectively. “Stop it, darlin’, you’re scarin’ the
boys. If ya keep doin’ that, I’m gonna end up with indoor
plumbin’.”

“Now, that would be a
tragedy. The boys have my heartfelt apologies.”

He grinned. “Ya can
make it up to ‘em later.”

We got on the bikes
again, and Hellhound led the way to a different access point. “Go
on ahead,” he advised me. “I’m gonna shut down the beast an’ push
it in.” He pulled out his phone and pressed a speed dial button
before disconnecting. “You’re good to go now.”

I idled the Honda
slowly down the winding trail, hoping I wouldn’t have to leave
quite as quickly this time. I’d only ridden a hundred yards or so
when I spotted a flash of red paint through the trees. Shortly
afterward, I pulled into the clearing beside Germain’s Yamaha.

He turned from his
binoculars, looking alarmed. “Aydan? What’s going on?”

“Nothing to worry
about. Kane wanted me to check the network again this morning, and
he wanted me to have an escort both ways. Hellhound’s behind me,
pushing his bike in.”

“Now, that’s love,”
Germain chuckled. “I still can’t figure out why anybody would want
to ride a Harley. Especially after pushing it around for days.”

Hellhound laboured up
the slope into the clearing. “Liked the other viewpoint better,” he
panted as he leaned the big motorcycle on its kickstand.

“Get some modern
technology,” Germain needled him. “I can ride in and out.”

“Yeah, but look what
ya gotta ride,” Hellhound retorted.

Germain grinned and
handed him the binoculars. “See you later.” He started his bike and
led the way down the trail.

There was no sign of
Kane when we reached the gate, and Germain got off to open it and
close it again behind us. Nerves twitched in my stomach as we
wheeled the bikes up beside the RV.

I had just pulled my
helmet off when Kane stuck his head out the door of the trailer,
the phone glued to his ear. He raised a hand in greeting before
ducking back inside. I blew out a relieved breath and went inside,
too.

He was obviously just
finishing his conversation so I slipped into the bathroom and
changed back into my jeans. By the time I emerged, Kane was sitting
on the edge of the pull-out bed while Germain heated some food in
the microwave. I ran a glass of water and slid into the bench of
the dinette.

“Anything new in the
network this morning?” Kane asked.

“Yes. There’s a new
prisoner, and they haven’t started working on him yet. I got a good
look this time.”

Kane straightened.
“Excellent! That’s the first break we’ve had. Can you get started
looking through the database right away?”

“I can, but aren’t you
going to go in and rescue the new prisoner?”