The Spy Is Cast (35 page)

The two men exchanged
a look. “That could work,” Germain said reluctantly.

Kane scrubbed his
knuckles through his hair. “Maybe,” he growled. “I don’t like it.
But I haven’t liked anything about this mission yet. All right.
Let’s see if we can come up with something that will work.”

Some discussion and
several phone calls later, we had a plan. Kane leaned back in the
dinette bench. “All right. Let’s head to the pickup point. Germain,
you can drive the RV back to our original base camp, and I’ll
follow in the gas company van. Once we’re settled at the base camp,
we can go ahead with the next phase.”

Germain nodded. “Let’s
load up your bike.”

When we arrived at the
pickup point, Kane unbuckled his seatbelt. “Aydan, you’ll ride with
me.”

It wasn’t a request. I
nodded and followed him out of the RV. I waved to Germain as he
drove away, and Kane and I got into the van.

He spoke as we cleared
the city limits. “Aydan, what was that, back in the RV?”

“What do you
mean?”

“First of all, why did
you deliberately create that record when you knew it was dangerous?
After I’d warned you to be careful? And secondly, why were you so…”
he paused, obviously searching for the right word, “Challenging?
When I called you on it?”

I tensed defensively,
but his voice was even. If he was still angry, he was hiding it
well.

I struggled for a
reasonable tone. “I didn’t mean to undermine your authority. I
honestly thought it was the right thing to do at the time. There
wasn’t significantly more risk than if I’d had files open and
locked. You were okay with that risk when we discussed it up
front.”

“It’s not about my
authority. The point is, we discussed the plan up front. If you
deviate from our plans without telling me, I can’t protect you.
When the team isn’t fully informed, that’s when team members die.
For no good reason.”

His voice was grim,
and I realized I’d reawakened his old ghosts long before I took
that cheap shot in the RV.

“I’m sorry,” I told
him sincerely. “I warned Stemp I wouldn’t be any damn good at this
spy stuff. I told him I didn’t want to be put in a position where I
could endanger you.”

His face softened.
“Aydan, I know you’re doing your best. And it’s not my own life I’m
worried about. I’m just trying to keep you and the rest of the team
safe.”

I sighed. “I
know.”

“So why did you get in
my face?” he asked mildly

I grimaced. “Sorry. It
wasn’t anything to do with you.”

“What was it,
then?”

“Apparently, I have
some faulty wiring in my psyche somewhere. The instant I feel that
somebody’s threatening me, I get furious. Usually far out of
proportion to the threat.”

“But I didn’t threaten
you.”

“You sounded
threatening. I was on edge to start with. It was enough.”

He glanced over.
“That’s why you were ready to take on those two men in the
campground.”

“Yeah.” I sighed.
“When I lose my temper like that, I’m ready to take on anybody.” I
shrugged. “It’s saved my butt a couple of times. Most guys back
down when they realize I’m serious.”

He gave me a crooked
grin. “You do look kind of… feral… when you get that angry. No
offense.”

I laughed. “None
taken. I’ll admit I haven’t tried too hard to overcome that
particular personality trait.” I sobered. “It’ll probably get me
killed someday.”

“Probably,” he
agreed.

“Thanks.”

“Just saying.”

When we reached our
destination, Germain turned off at the base camp while Kane and I
drove on to retrieve the Honda from its hiding place. Kane parked
the van near the creek and held out a restraining hand when I
reached for the door handle.

“Not so fast,” he
said. “We don’t know if we’re walking into an ambush here. I’m
coming with you.”

I suppressed a sigh.
It was nice to be protected, but my ravelled nerves were begging
for some silence and solitude. I said nothing and slid out of the
van.

As we strode toward
the creek, Kane glanced over. “Are you feeling comfortable riding
yet?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. It
just took a little getting used to. It’s good to be back in the
saddle.”

“Good.” He hesitated.
“Aydan… I just want you to know how much I appreciate all you’ve
done. You’re a great partner. A trained agent couldn’t do better.”
He gave the last sentence a meaningful intonation, which I chose to
ignore.

“Thanks.” I left it at
that.

I felt him watching
me. “Don’t you ever let your guard down?”

I shrugged. “Do
you?”

“Mmm.” He gave me a
crooked smile and we walked the rest of the way in silence.

Back at the camp, I
went straight into the RV and began scrolling data. When a bowl of
chili appeared at my elbow, I rubbed my tired eyes and gave Kane a
grateful smile. “Thanks.” I slouched back in the bench seat with a
sigh and started spooning in chili.

He slid in across from
me. “How’s it going?”

“Really damn slow. I’m
only looking for the blond prisoner, but he doesn’t have any
distinguishing marks at all, so it’s taking forever to look through
all the possibilities. I’ve restricted the search to people who
live in Calgary and surrounding area, but there are still tons of
young blue-eyed blond guys. I’m so tired, I don’t know if I’d even
recognize him if I found him anyway.”

He grimaced. “Welcome
to the glamour of spy work.”

“This is a huge waste
of time! I don’t see why we’re doing this at all!” I rolled my
aching shoulders, trying to ease the tension. “That poor guy is
suffering…” I gulped as a spoonful of chili made a concerted effort
to come up at the memory. A couple of hard swallows later, I
continued, “… and he’s running out of time. Can’t we go over there
tonight?”

Kane eyed me with
sympathy. “I know how hard it is to wait, but the gas company made
the appointment for eight o’clock tomorrow morning. We can’t afford
to blow our cover by rushing in.”

“Why didn’t you get
them to pretend they found a gas leak so we could go in right
away?” I demanded.

“Aydan, how would the
gas company know there’s a leak?” Kane asked patiently. “It’s a
private estate miles out of town. They wouldn’t be just passing
through to notice something like that. I’m sorry, I feel the same
as you, but that’s just the way this work goes sometimes.”

Some time later,
sounds from outside made me jerk my head up. I peeked cautiously
out the window and relaxed when I identified their source.
Rationalizing that it was time for a break anyway, I hovered a safe
distance away from the window so I could enjoy the show outside
without getting caught.

Kane and Germain were
both stripped down to shorts, sparring in the mellow light of the
evening sun. I gawked unabashedly, appreciating their obvious skill
almost as much as their sweat-sheened muscles. Kane might be
off-limits, but I could still enjoy the view. And Germain was
definitely easy on the eyes, too. At least I’d get some
compensation for this rotten job.

By the time I surfaced
from the database a second time, the shadows had accumulated in the
corners of the RV and the windows were dark squares. Kane and
Germain had come in to escape the mosquitoes, and they looked up
from their quiet card game as I straightened slowly, groaning.

“Still no luck?”
Germain asked.

“No. I finished
looking through the locals hours ago, and now I’m looking at guys
from all of western Canada. I still haven’t found him.”

“Let it go, then,”
Kane advised. “You’re probably too tired now anyway. Get some
sleep. Germain and I will cover the watches tonight.”

“I’ll take a watch,” I
protested. “You guys need rest, too.”

After a short
argument, Kane conceded, and I drew the last watch.

I might as well have
stayed up all night. I tossed and turned, and it was a relief when
I finally left the bed to spell off Germain.

My shift dragged on
interminably, and by the time the men awoke in the morning,
butterflies were performing tight-formation aerobatics in my
stomach. I knew our plan was sound, in theory. But I wasn’t looking
forward to the execution of it.

“All right,” Kane
summarized as I finished my breakfast. “We’ll have exactly two
hours if all goes well. If anything goes wrong, we’ll signal an
abort and regroup at base camp. Aydan will go in to view active
sims and read documents only.” He gave me a severe look, and I
nodded, suitably chastened.

Germain looked at his
watch. “Time to go. Let’s do it.”

I balanced awkwardly
inside the cardboard box as the van slowed and cornered. We
stopped, and I heard the murmur of voices at the gatehouse. I
breathed a quiet sigh of relief when forward motion resumed.

I hunkered down in my
box while the van wound around several curves. Then movement halted
and the engine stopped. I heard Germain get out of the driver’s
seat. A few seconds later, the rear doors clicked open.

“All clear,” he
muttered. I heard him pick up his toolbox, and then the back doors
slammed. His cheery whistle receded from the van, and Kane and I
uncurled from our boxes, stretching.

“Are you all right?”
Kane inquired, indicating the box I’d just vacated.

I pushed the box
aside. “Yeah, I’m fine. I knew I could get out of the box any time,
so it didn’t bother me. If I’d been trapped in there, it would’ve
been a whole different story.”

Kane eyed me dubiously
in the dimness. “Are you sure about this?”

I lay down on the
floor before I could change my mind. “Let’s just do it.”

He knelt at my feet
and gently tied my ankles together. I breathed slowly and deeply,
staying calm. I tensed when he took my hands in his, and he clasped
them between his palms.

“Aydan, this is
stupid,” he said softly. “You don’t have to do this. You’re shaking
like a leaf.”

“Just do it,” I ground
out.

He reluctantly reached
for the tie. As it snugged around my wrists, I squeaked,
“Stop!”

His knife was
instantly in his hand, reaching to cut the tie, but I pulled my
wrists away. “No, it’s okay.” I took a deep breath. “I can do this.
Just… just… if you could reach into the front pocket of my waist
pouch and give me my folding knife to hold. That would help.”

He unzipped the pocket
and placed the sturdy knife in my hand. I clutched it like a
lifeline and took another deep breath. “Okay, I’m going in.”

I concentrated and
stepped into the white void of the network, where I swung my
invisible arms wildly, trying to shake off the claustrophobia.
After a few deep breaths, I calmed down enough to think rationally.
I was safe. Kane would protect me. He would cut me loose at the
first sign of trouble. And I had my knife. Just in case. I breathed
some more before heading for the file repository.

I located and opened
the file that had caught my attention the previous day. Sure
enough, it contained a list of names and dollar amounts. Damn, I
could use Hellhound’s photographic memory now. I tried to memorize
the names, but they wouldn’t stay in my head.

I blew out an
irritated breath. Then an idea struck me, and I read off the first
few names, repeating them to myself while I closed the file and
stepped carefully out the portal.

I tried to jerk my
hands over my aching head, but they wouldn’t move. I hissed
wordlessly through clenched teeth until the pain receded enough for
me to open my eyes. Kane held my bound wrists as he stared down at
me in concern.

“It’s okay,” I
whispered. “Got some names for you. They won’t stay in my brain.
Have to write them down.”

He quickly let go of
my hands and extracted a notebook and pen from the clutter in the
back of the van. “Shoot.”

I recited the names,
and then ducked back into the network for the next batch.

I struggled against
heavy weight. Pain drilled through my eye sockets while I fought to
escape. Inarticulate cries strangled in my throat. When I finally
pried my eyes open, Kane lay half on top of me, pinning my arms
with his weight while he held my head in an iron grip, his hand
pressed over my mouth.

I blinked painfully,
and his grip loosened.

“Aydan, you have to
stop now! You were trying to batter your brains out on the floor.
And you’re getting louder every time.”

“Rella Industries,” I
croaked. “Sumner, Brian; Telemetrix Solutions; Tatum, Gerald; Verge
Systems; Wexner, Ralph; Williams, Alex.”

He scribbled down the
names while I panted and tried not to whimper. I pawed at my head
with my bound hands, trying to rub away the pain. Kane laid aside
the notebook to lift my head and shoulders into his lap. His
strong, warm hands firmly massaged my temples and the back of my
head and neck. I couldn’t suppress a pathetic moan as my muscles
relaxed.

“How much time have we
got left?” I whispered.

He cradled my head in
one large hand while he checked his watch. “An hour and a
quarter.”

“Good. That was only
the first file. I’ve got a long way to go.”

“Take a break,” he
urged. “It’s getting worse every time you come out. Even with you
tied up and me holding you down, you’re still shaking the whole
van. And that’s just your normal exit. I don’t know what would
happen if you actually got kicked out of the network.”

“It’s only bad because
I’m going in and out so often. I hope I won’t have to come out so
frequently once I get into the rest of the files,” I reassured him.
“That list was just too good to pass up.”

“All right,” he agreed
doubtfully. “But I’m going to shut this down if it gets any worse.
You could be damaging your brain doing this, for all we know. And
you’ll definitely damage your brain if you keep banging your head
against the floor. Try to stop doing that.”