Tribes of Man: The Beginning [Tribes of Man] (Siren Publishing Classic) (18 page)

* * * *

Bryce waited until Kristano left Sunday evening before he would leave. He wasn’t concerned about Gideon as competition for Raina as he was earlier. They had been spending so much time together that if Gideon was interested in Raina, he would have made a move. If he had made that move, Bryce would know. He popped in on Raina unannounced all the time, and he never found anything he shouldn’t have. It’s not like she could have known he was coming, so he felt pretty secure that nothing was going on.

Kristano, though, was the wildcard in all of this. He seemed too invested in Raina’s case.

Bryce mulled over the ramifications of Raina being interested in Kristano as he pulled open the door to Billy’s Irish Pub. He was meeting Gina and Steve inside for a few drinks before going home to study a little more. He wondered if Steve was ever going to make a move on Gina. They seemed to spend a lot of time together.

Bryce approached the bar and saw Steve and Gina huddled over martini glasses filled with light-green liquid. Gina looked unhappy. She was wearing one of those long sweaters she was so fond of over skintight jeans. Although it was a 1980s type of look, she must have known how great it made her ass look, so she wore it anyway. Truthfully, it didn’t really matter what she wore. Her ass always looked good.

“Hey, guys,” Bryce said as the approached the two. They both straightened quickly, and he wondered if he interrupted something.

“How long have you been standing there?” Gina asked, a little abruptly.

“I just got here.” Bryce gestured toward the door. “Do you want me to leave?”

“No!” Gina nearly shouted, then blushed when the people surrounding her at the crowded bar looked at her. “I mean, we were just talking about our, um, respective love lives.”

“Ohhhhh,” Bryce drew the word out and wiggled his eyebrows. “Love lives, huh. Does that mean you two...” He wagged his finger between them.

This time Steve flushed. “You know that’s not it.”

“Really, I thought you two might be...”

Before Bryce could finish the thought, Gina interrupted, “Steve’s gay, Bryce.”

Bryce felt like an ass. “Oh, sorry, man, I didn’t know.”

Steve just shrugged. “I don’t generally advertise it.”

Since there were no seats around them, Bryce stood in the space between the two on the barstools. When the waiter came over, Bryce ordered, “Another round for these two, and I’ll have the same.”

Moving on as though nothing had happened, Bryce said, “So then why are we drowning ourselves in what I assume are apple martinis instead of beer? Usually, we don’t pull out the hard stuff unless there’s a crisis.”

Steve looked at Gina for a second. She just blushed again. “No crisis, just feeling bummed over our lack of prospects.”

Bryce figured they just didn’t want him to know what was going on. Since he didn’t even know Steve was gay, he imagined that the crisis was in his court, and they just didn’t want to talk about it in front of him. That was fine with him. He didn’t care that Steve was gay, but he would have no idea how to give the guy love advice.

“I hear ya.” Bryce chose to buy what they were saying and joined in the pity party. “I can’t believe it, but now there’s
another
guy in Raina’s life.”

Gina turned her soft brown eyes on his. “I thought you said that you didn’t think anything was going on between her and your brother.”

“I don’t think there is, but now there’s this guy, Kristano.” He said the name with a sneer in his voice. “The guy watches out for her when Gideon’s not around. He looks at her with love in his eyes. I want to hammer him.”

Steve said, “Maybe it’s time for you to give up on Raina, man. Stick to someone closer to home, ya know?”

Bryce wondered if Steve was hitting on him.

Gina said, “Maybe he wants her, but she doesn’t want him. It’s tough being in that kind of situation.” There was a wealth of knowledge in her statement.

“I just don’t know how to get her attention. Originally, I tried to put myself in her path, drop little hints, that kind of thing. That wasn’t working. After that I tried to be more direct, but she still didn’t seem to get it. What do I have to do, drop an anvil on her head?”

“Some people are thick,” Steve said sardonically. “Sometimes the person who’s attracted needs to just lay it out on the line. Don’t pull punches and just tell that person how they feel. Outright. No being subtle.”

“Yeah, but what if she shoots me down because she wants someone else?” Their drinks arrived, and Bryce reached for his wallet to pay.

Steve answered his question but looked directly at Gina. “Then the person spilling their guts would at least know once and for all if there’s a chance. Plus, maybe the person is oblivious to the fact that they’re attracted in the first place.”

“If she doesn’t know I’m attracted, then she’s definitely thick. I’ve been as subtle as an anvil to the head.”

Gina just started to laugh. She laughed until tears started to leak out of her eyes.

Bryce started to chuckle, simply because her laugh was infectious. “Yeah, Bryce,” she said finally, linking her arm with his, “some people are just thick.”

* * * *

A few minutes after Bryce left, Kristano reappeared in the kitchen.

Raina’s head was tilted back, and she was saying the words of the prophecy while Gideon looked at the scroll and wrote down what she translated in a notebook. Kristano watched as Gideon opened a reference book at Raina’s suggestion. They had a good working system. It appeared strange to the casual observer because Raina wasn’t looking at anything and half their conversation was in their heads, but they seemed to be accomplishing a lot.

“Hey,” Kristano said after a moment.

Raina jumped and let out a little scream. Gideon dropped the paper and leapt up into a crouch, his scarred leg protesting at the sudden movement. For once, the two were caught off guard. Raina could always sense Kristano in a room if he was in corporeal form, but this time she was so engrossed, she didn’t notice him.

They realized it was him quickly enough and relaxed.

“Well, at least we know your reflexes are good,” Kristano joked.

Raina moved to the stove to put water in the tea kettle. “I guess we’re a little jumpy.”

“That’s to be expected after today,” Kristano said. He touched Raina’s face. “You look really tired. Maybe you should go crash out.”

Gideon took a good look at Raina’s face and frowned. “I hope you’re not coming down with something. You look exhausted.” He turned to Kristano. “Maybe we’re working her too hard.”

“No, I’ve just got a bit of a bug, I think.” She stepped in to give Kristano a hug. “I am going to go to bed, though. If this is a strategy session, let’s get it over with.”

Kristano gave her an avuncular hug then his body jerked and he held her away, his hands on her shoulders. He looked into her eyes deeply, as though trying to see something.

Raina got a little nervous. “What?”

Her nerves transferred to Gideon, who sat up a little straighter. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.” Kristano released her. “I could just feel how tired she was.”

Kristano moved to shut the tea off. “All you have to do is to keep doing what you’re doing. Work on the prophecy, practice with the water, and leave the rest to us. Now you’ve been briefed, go to bed.” He nudged Raina toward the door.

Normally Raina would fight Kristano’s high-handedness, but she figured it was all being done out of concern and just let it go. She went over and kissed the top of Gideon’s head.

He frowned and turned his face up for a kiss. “I’ll be there in a little while. We’re just going to make sure we’re still on track.”

“Sounds good.” She waved her hand toward Kristano. “‘Night.”

“Goodnight, Raina.” Kristano’s voice was softer than usual.

“I hope she’s OK,” Gideon said.

Kristano thought about what he just learned. “She’ll be OK, we just need to make sure she gets some more rest and eats right.”

They turned their attention to the task at hand, the status on finding Air and Earth, and how to protect Raina from Adder’s next attempt on her life.

When they were done, Kristano had just one issue left unaddressed. How do you tell a barren woman and a sterile man that they managed to conceive a baby?

* * * *

Gideon hadn’t realized how much he valued Joanie’s help in the office. It wasn’t just that she organized his workspace. She also had a way of knowing what he needed before he did. Whenever she brought him something before he needed it, he joking called her Radar after the clerk on
MASH
. He missed her.

When Gideon got to his office on Tuesday, two weeks to the day after he sent Joanie on vacation, he found his office open, the coffeepot full of hot, fragrant coffee, the entire waiting area dusted, and all the files he’d placed on her desk put away.

When he walked in the door, a tan and smiling Joanie said, “Hey, boss,” and gave him a cup of coffee from a clean cup. Gideon was thrilled to see her but didn’t know what to do. On one hand, he really needed her help. On the other hand, he didn’t want to risk her. He decided to give her nearly full disclosure and let her make the decision.

“Hey, Joanie. How was the vacation?” Gideon asked as he snagged the cup and went into his office. It looked like she had dusted that room, too. Since it was only eight thirty in the morning, Gideon couldn’t imagine what time she arrived at the office.

She followed him into his office with a notepad and pen. “It was terrific. I got a last-minute deal on a four-day Bahamian cruise. It was very relaxing.” She settled herself in front of his desk with her pad on her knees.

“How was it around here? I was happy to see that nothing else got blown up while I was away.”

Gideon snorted, thinking about what almost happened at Raina’s house. “Not here, anyway.”

Joanie let that cryptic comment lie.

Gideon got up and turned on a machine that gave off a high-pitched humming noise.

“What in the world is that for?” she asked.

He sat in the chair next to her and spoke in a low voice. “I didn’t look for bugs yet, and this throws off the remote listening devices, yet can’t really be detected from outside. If anyone’s listening, they’ll just think their equipment went wonky for a few minutes.”

“What’s going on, Gideon?”

After a long pause, Gideon said, “I don’t want to lose you, but you deserve to know how dangerous it would be to work for me right now.”

Joanie put the pad and pen on the edge of the desk. He didn’t need to tell her not to take notes, she just knew.

“The only case I’m working right now is Raina Kallan’s case. At the office, it’s primarily a case involving finding people and objects.”

“A missing person’s case?” Joanie asked.

“Not exactly. I have some older names, and I’m looking for descendants.” Gideon rubbed his bald head and down the scarred side of his face.

Noticing the gesture, Joanie frowned. He only did that when he was truly worried about something. “There has to be more to it than that.”

“There
is
a lot more to it than that, but that’s all I can tell you about that part of it. Raina is being systematically attacked by a man who works for a pseudo-government agency that has ties to the FBI.” Gideon snorted. “Actually, we’d be lucky if they were FBI. They’re not. They don’t have to follow the same rules. In the process of trying to get to her, they’ve killed eight people that I know of, her roommate, and seven people at the university library.”

Joanie lowered her voice, “The university shooting was part of a political assassination. I read about it in the paper.”

“No. I know it sounds crazy, but the Center is capable of making it look like that type of assassination when it wasn’t. They say they’re working for the good of the country, but frankly, they’re just an American-sanctified terrorist group.”

“I don’t understand what this has to do with Raina.” Joanie leaned a little closer and dropped her voice another octave.

“And unfortunately, I can’t tell you. I’ve put you in too much danger as it is. I don’t want to lose you, but I can’t risk anything happening to you.”

Joanie sat up straighter in her chair. “You are not firing me, Gideon McConnell. We’ll have to work something else out. How about I work on the other cases you’ve put on the back burner? I’ll have nothing to do with this case at all. I got my preliminary license last year so that I could help with the Johnson case, so as long as you supervise my work, I’m legit. This way, you’re not losing clients, and I keep busy. We’ll make sure they can hear everything I do in the outer office so they’ll know I’m no threat.”

Gideon thought about it for a moment. It was an excellent solution. “I can work with that. But you have to promise me that you won’t take any chances. Don’t even straighten up my desk. I don’t want you to see anything you shouldn’t.”

“Are you trying to imply that I’d snoop?” she asked with a smile. She stood up.

“Not you,” Gideon said with such false cheer that she laughed. “You’d never lower yourself to that level.” Gideon walked over to the machine.

Joanie’s smile faded. “Are you being careful?” she asked before he could shut it off.

“I’m being careful. I would never let anything happen to Raina or to me.”

Joanie’s eyebrows went up, “So that’s the way it is?”

“That’s the way it is.”

She kissed his cheek right over his scar, making him squirm. “Good for you.”

Gideon flicked the machine off. “Thank you for the raise, Gideon,” she said with a grin. “I’d like to become an associate and take on those cases you don’t have time for. It will be nice to have a separate work load. We’ll put that license of mine to good use.”

Gideon grinned again at her audacity. This is why he loved this woman. “I’ll give you all the files you’ll need. It will keep you too busy to help me, but that’s OK. I’m doing fine on my own.”

The fax started to chug. He went over and looked at the sheet. “As a matter of fact, I’ve just had a break.” He handed her the stack of files on the chair. “Here are the insurance fraud cases that Steve over at Nationwide sent me. I hadn’t had a chance to tell him no yet. Now I don’t have to. Give him a call and tell him that you’re gathering the information on them. Then get to work.”