The Spy Is Cast (7 page)

Now if I could just
restrain my normal temperament and vocabulary, everything would be
fine. Being myself would definitely be a bad idea.

I had a sudden mental
image of letting fly with a rip-roaring fart halfway through the
elegant meal, and snickered.

“You behave,” I said
severely to my reflection, struggling to quell its wicked grin.

A soft knock made me
jump. When I opened the door, my jaw dropped. Kane filled the
doorway, clad in a charcoal suit expertly tailored to his broad
shoulders and taut midsection. His silvered temples looked
impossibly distinguished with that short, dark hair. His freshly
shaven square face looked rested, and I caught the faintest whiff
of citrus. Not even the scar through his eyebrow and the bump from
his badly healed broken nose could detract from the whole package.
The man was breathtaking.

“Wow,” I said
inadequately.

Kane looked like he
was doing a bit of deep breathing, too, and his grey eyes darkened.
“Wow, yourself,” he said finally, his deep baritone a little husky.
We exchanged an awkward smile.

He reached into his
pocket. “Don’t forget this,” he said, opening the velvet box. He
lifted the necklace out and placed it around my neck, brushing my
skin. As he took his hands away, he let one of the tendrils of my
hair slide through his fingers.

He took a step
back.

“Oh,” he said after a
short pause. “Rings.” He reached into his pocket, withdrew a heavy
gold band, and slipped it on his left ring finger. He held out his
closed hand. “For you.”

I held out my hand,
and he dropped two rings into my palm. One was a plain band, the
other an enormous diamond. I gazed up at him wide-eyed. “Holy crap,
does this thing come with a bodyguard?”

He grinned. “Me.”

“I’ve already got a
ring,” I told him, showing him the one I wore. Robert had had it
custom made for me, a top-quality half-carat in a simple,
sophisticated setting. It looked tiny beside the one in my
hand.

“That’s a nice ring,
but it’s not quite the bling we need for tonight,” he said. “Put
that one on your other hand.”

I slipped on the pair
of rings and mimed dragging my hand. “I’m going to have one arm
longer than the other after tonight.”

He laughed. “Let’s
go.”

I grabbed my new
purse, already regretting that it wasn’t big enough to carry my
waist pouch, and sighed as the door closed behind me.

When the elevator
doors opened on the lobby, Kane offered me his arm and I took it,
smiling up at him. Even in my high heels, I was still a good three
inches shorter than he was. I relished the novelty. If I’d worn
these heels when I was with Robert, I would have towered over him
by six inches.

When we entered the
lobby, I froze.

“
Shit!
’ I swung
Kane around and hid behind him. “Take off your ring, quick,” I
hissed as I put my hands on his chest, yanking the rings off my
finger and dropping them into his breast pocket.

He slid his arms
unhurriedly around me and leaned down. His lips brushed my ear.
“Relax,” he whispered, his breath sending a rush of heat through my
body.

Behind my back, I felt
him remove his ring. He straightened, smiling down at me, and took
both my hands in his, palming the ring. Getting myself under
control with an effort, I smiled back and slid my hands down his
chest, dropping the ring into his pocket with the others.

He offered his arm
again, and we turned and made our way into the lobby. Nichele
bounced up from one of the wing chairs, grinning.

“Hi, Aydan!”

I cut my eyes at her,
silently promising her a slow death. She smiled and extended her
hand to Kane. “You must be John,” she chirped. “It’s so nice to
meet you.”

I sighed. “John, this
is Nichele Brown. Nichele, John Kane.”

He took her hand
graciously and bowed over it, very European. Nichele’s expression
melted, and I knew I was in for some serious grilling the next day.
Assuming I let her live.

At that moment the
valet appeared, oozing respect. “Your car is ready, sir.”

Kane thanked him
courteously and discreetly handed him a bill. A large bill, judging
by the valet’s reaction.

“Nichele, it was a
pleasure to meet you,” Kane’s baritone voice was pure velvet, and I
could see from Nichele’s tiny shiver that it had the same effect on
her as it had on me. “We need to get going now,” he added. “Have a
nice evening.”

He drew me toward the
door, and my jaw hit the floor all over again. “You’ve got to be
kidding me. Your ‘wheels’ are an Audi R8?” I demanded. The sleek,
low-slung car purred sensuously at the curb. “Open it up, I want to
see,” I urged him softly.

He shook his head,
smiling as he leaned close. “No,” he whispered. “In the first
place, you have to keep that dress clean at least until we get to
the party. And in the second place, elegant ladies don’t look under
the hood.”

“Lucky there are no
elegant ladies present, then,” I whispered back. “C’mon,
please?”

He shook his head
again, those sexy laugh lines crinkling around his eyes.

“Tease,” I accused
him.

He opened the
passenger door for me, grinning. I did my best to slide in without
flashing the bystanders, but my skirt slithered up my thighs when I
sank into the low seat. As soon as Kane closed the door, I buckled
in and tugged the skirt down again, willing it to stay put.

He came around to the
driver’s side and got in, buckling his seatbelt, too. “Ready?” he
asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever
be.”

Delving into his
pocket as we pulled away, he fished out the rings and handed them
to me. “Let’s try this again.”

“Sorry about that,” I
apologized. “I brought her in as a wardrobe consultant, but I
should have known she’d do something like that.”

“It’s all right. The
end result was worth it.”

I stroked my hand over
the dashboard. “How about if we skip the party and go for a joyride
instead? I can’t believe I actually get to ride in an R8. Is it
yours?”

Kane shook his head.
“Are you kidding? No. Unfortunately. It’s just on loan for the
evening, same as the rings. But at least we’ll get to take it out
on the highway. Harchman’s place is out by Bragg Creek.”

I beamed at him. “Life
is good.”

While the fine
automobile devoured the miles, we strategized. “What exactly do you
need to scope out?” I asked. “Couldn’t you just pull floor plans
from the building permits?”

Kane shot me a
piercing look. “Most people wouldn’t think of that.”

I shrugged. “You must
have come across my stint as an architectural draftsman when you
were investigating me in March. I did practically nothing but
construction drawings and permit applications.”

“We did. I just never
fail to find your career path… interesting. Draftsperson, computer
tech, bookkeeper. It’s an unusual mix.”

I lifted a shoulder.
“The drafting certificate was quick and easy to get when I finished
high school and wanted to get a job. And I never really intended to
work with computers, I just took some courses so I could deal with
the network at the architectural firm. Bookkeeping is what I really
like to do.”

“We already have all
the floor plans and the site plan,” he informed me after a short
pause. “Webb also managed to quietly obtain the installation
diagrams for the security system.” He grinned. “Don’t ever try to
hide anything from Webb. That kid can sniff out information you
don’t even know you have.”

I laughed. “He’s
pretty amazing. Lucky he works for the good guys.”

Kane sobered. “You can
say that again. But to answer your original question, I’m going to
be looking at the position and distribution of security personnel.
I’m also going to be watching for anything that looks like a
structural change from the registered floor plans. And I’ll check
to see if there’s any additional electronic or physical security
besides what we already know about.”

“Do you have a copy of
the plans with you?” I asked. “I’d like to take a look, too.”

“No, sorry. I should
have shown them to you earlier. I didn’t want to have anything with
us that could arouse suspicion, so I left them at home.”

I shrugged. “Oh well.
So what’s your strategy for wandering through somebody’s private
residence without arousing suspicion?”

“That’s where it gets
complicated,” he admitted. “It’s not just the private residence.
There’s a guest house and several other lavish buildings on the
property. It’s quite an ostentatious layout.”

“Excellent. That
helps.”

“Why do you say that?”
He eyed me with interest.

“Ostentatious means
there’s somebody who just can’t wait to give the grand tour to
somebody who’s suitably impressed. Is Harchman married?”

Kane nodded. “Twenty
years. His wife’s name is Maria. Not a happy marriage, from what we
can determine. Seems he’s got a roving eye.”

“Perfect. Either he or
Maria will be looking for a bit of admiration for their property.
If it’s him, I’ll suck up. If it’s her, you can.”

Kane chuckled. “I’m
pretty sure you’ll be the one doing the sucking up. Harchman likes
to be known as a high roller. Classic attention-seeker. His wife
keeps a low profile.”

“It still might be
smart for you to show some attention to Maria,” I said slowly. “If
he’s that much of an asshole, she’d probably appreciate a little
gallantry. That could get you in some doors. If Harchman’s hiding
something, she might not know about it. She might let you in where
he wouldn’t.”

Kane looked
thoughtful. “You’re right. That’s a good idea. We may not meet her
at all, though. According to what we’ve been able to find out, she
doesn’t often attend this type of affair.”

“Okay. So, next
question, how the heck am I supposed to wander through all these
buildings looking for a network? I thought we were just going to a
dinner party. If I zone out for a few seconds while I’m sitting in
a chair, nobody will notice. But you know I fall down if I access
the network when I’m standing.” I grimaced. “And now I have to
balance on high heels at the same time.”

We drove in silence
for a few minutes while I racked my brain for an idea.

“We need to agree on
some sort of signal that you’re going to try to access the
network,” Kane said. “You give me the signal, and I’ll make sure
I’m holding you up. If you get in at all, it’ll only be for a
second or two. You might not even have time to fall down.”

“Well, it’s not
perfect, but that’s probably about the best we can do,” I agreed.
“What’s the signal?”

“Put your arm around
me and lean your head on my shoulder. That way if you go limp for a
second, I can hold you up without being too obvious.”

I sighed. “Okay. It’s
a plan.”

“I really don’t like
this,” Kane grumbled. “I know it needs to be done, but I just hate
to put you in the line of fire again.”

“Well, I won’t be in
the line of fire.” I tried to reassure us both. “A short,
nondescript, dead man will be.”

“You’re sure you can
do this.”

“Hell, no,” I said
grimly.

The Audi hugged the
road on the way into the foothills. Kane and I exchanged the
fervent smiles of a pair of car fanatics as we rounded the first
curves.

“I suppose it would be
unbecoming for an officer of the law to speed,” I suggested
innocently.

Kane gave me a
predatory grin. “Lucky I’m an energy consultant tonight.” The purr
of the big V10 engine deepened to a velvet growl and the car
effortlessly accelerated, pressing me back into the seat.

“Ooh, yeah,” I
crooned. “Come on, baby!”

Kane glanced over, the
corner of his mouth crooked up. “Do you need a moment alone with
the car?”

I smirked at him,
unabashed. “Yes.”

“Too bad. Looks like
we’re here.”

I sighed, eyeing the
discreet sign beside the overgrown laneway as he braked. “Are you
sure we can’t just keep driving? I know where there’s a road that
this car could really sink its teeth into…”

“I’d love to,” he
assured me. “But duty calls.”

“Duty sucks,” I
muttered as we pulled up to elegant wrought-iron gates. The
uniformed attendant examined the expensive-looking invitation Kane
displayed, and nodded to the gatehouse guard. The gates swung open
and we purred sedately up the driveway.

The narrow strip of
asphalt wound through heavy spruce forest for several hundred
yards. As we swung around the final bend, a dramatic vista opened
before us where the land fell away into a rolling valley with a
spectacular mountain panorama spread out behind it.

We drove up the final
hill, passing a parking lot on our right just before we arrived at
a cul-de-sac where other guests were disembarking from their luxury
cars. I spotted a couple of Vipers and a brand-new Lamborghini in
the mix.

I nudged Kane. “Jeez,
talk about embarrassing for those guys. They must hate it when they
show up at a party and somebody else is driving the same Viper as
they are.”

He snickered. “Oh, the
humiliation. But I think I could take it.”

“No shit.”

We pulled up to the
curb and Kane turned to me. “Ready to do this?”

I groaned. “Okay, I’m
putting on my well-behaved lah-de-dah act now. See if you can stand
in front of the car door to block the view. If I manage to get out
of this car without exposing myself, it’ll be a friggin’
miracle.”

He chuckled and got
out of the car, pacing around to the passenger side to open the
door for me. He stooped, offering me a courtly hand. With intense
concentration, I remembered to keep my knees together, unfurling my
legs out the door and coming to my feet as gracefully as
possible.