Wired (15 page)

What do I have to show for my efforts?

Nothing Nada. Zip. Zilch
.

Okay, than's not quite true. I learned that Gaia stopped by, but she's not here anymore. That she may or may not have gone off with Skyler Rodke, for reasons unknown. That's got to be important—to Oliver and to me
.

And Chris. Chris is jealous of Skyler. I have no idea why—since it's not like they're competing over chicks or anything like that—but it's definitely there. Some serious Cain-and-Abel shit going on
.

Unless, of course, Chris just hates me. Also a possibility
.

Beyond that, though, Jake wasn't even sure the little mission had been worth his while. He sighed, smoothed a thick curl off his forehead, and leaned toward the sink, preparing to splash some water on his face before he left.

As he reached for the tap, though, he caught sight of something that gave him pause.

It was a rubber band. A basic, red rubber band. The type the mailman wrapped around your snail mail once upon a time. There was nothing of note about it. Jake wouldn't have thought twice about the rubber band if it weren't for one thing:

It had golden-colored strands of hair entangled in it.

The only person who had long blond hair in the Rodke home was Liz. And Jake couldn't imagine Liz using a rubber band in her luxurious hair. Most girls—even lower-maintenance girls—wore elastics. Stuff that was made for hair and wouldn't damage it or rip half of it out at the roots every time you went to tie a ponytail. Besides, Liz's hair was shorter than Gaia's. The hairs in this rubber band were definitely Gaia-length hairs.

It couldn't have belonged to a girlfriend of Chris's since he didn't date girls. Jake supposed the hair could have belonged to a girl
friend
of Chris's, but somehow that explanation didn't sit right with him. And even if Mrs.—or
Mr.—
Rodke had long blond hair… well, they also had their own bathroom, didn't they?

It was Gaia's rubber band. It was Gaia's hair. No question about it.

Jake flashed back in his mind to the fight in the park the other night: the Droogs had ripped some of Gaia's hair straight from her scalp. His nerves began to tingle. What was going on here? Was someone after Gaia's
hair?
And why? Did this have anything to do with DNA research?

He shivered. It was a definite possibility. And suddenly all of Oliver's suppositions and theories seemed ominously plausible.

Jake knew Gaia. If she had put her hair up, she wasn't likely to take it down later in the day. She was a
no-muss, no-fuss kind of girl, and if she could have gotten away with not brushing her hair ever, she most certainly would have. So not only had she stopped by, but she had stopped in the bathroom—okay, not so weird—and spontaneously taken her hair down, only to follow Skyler somewhere?

No freakin' way

His heart pounding, Jake ran his hands under the stream of cold water, finally dousing his face with a refreshing blast of water. He buried his face in a hand towel and breezed back to the front door at near-breakneck speed.

“You found it?” Liz called to him.

“Yeah, yeah. I found it,” he called back, careful not to sound as eager and out of breath as he was feeling. “I've, uh, gotta run. I'm going to try to find Gaia.” He slipped through the front door, feeling ready to burst.

“Sure, tell her hi. Tell her I'm sorry I missed her,” Liz replied, her voice echoing in the front hall of the apartment.

But the door swung loudly. Jake was already gone.

Memo

From:
J

To:
O

Re:
Recon

Trip to the Rodkes' was cool. Two things:

1. Chris is deadly competitive with his brother. Worth looking into?

Think Gaia came by looking for Liz and may have left with the oldest brother, Skyler. Neither Liz nor Chris could confirm—both acted nervous and suspicious on the topic. Not sure why.

2. Found hair band in bathroom that looked like one Gaia would use: long strands of hair still in the band. The Droogs grabbed some of her hair the other day. Could this be related? I'm no scientist, but I'd guess “they” could do DNA research with a strand of hair.

Oliver, what's going on?

Memo

From:
Oliver

To:
Jake

Re:
Re: Recon

Excellent work, my boy. Sibling rivalries are never insignificant, and one of the first rules of espionage is: trust your instincts. If you feel someone is being cagey, he or she most likely is.

Indeed, it sounds as though someone is after Gaia's hair. Further proof of the DNA theory and most interesting. Allow me to research further. I will let you know what I discover once I've done more work.

In the meantime, Gaia is not to be informed of our suspicions. It would only make her unduly nervous. For now, consider it our little secret.

She knew how absurd it sounded“My father works for the CIA” was like a lie a young child would tell.

I
hate to say, “I told you so.”

I hate to say it, but that doesn't mean that I won't.

Gaia can go on all she wants about how her uncle wronged her relentlessly in the past, how his crimes were unforgivable, how she doesn't want him in her life anymore. That's fine. Or it's not fine, actually, given what I now know, but I'll accept it since I have to. But the truth of the matter is that
Oliver was right
. Oliver suspected that Gaia was, once again, in danger, and he put me on the case. And guess what? I found something! Circumstantial evidence, maybe, but evidence no less that is proof positive someone is after Gaia. And whoever it is, they're closing in fast. So I don't want to waste time with “I told you so's,” because to be honest, I'm too busy worrying about Gaia.

It's a funny thing: When I first met Gaia, she was on fire—she was full of life and energy,
even if that energy was mainly negative and mainly directed at me. I loved it. I had never met another girl like her: strong, confident, aggressive, and totally unconcerned with what other people thought of her. Capable, smart, and gorgeous, too. She was completely unique.

But lately Gaia's been a different person, it's like she's had an attack of multiple personality disorder or something. She second-guesses everything I say, she hesitates before taking action, and worst of all… she ran from that fight in the park the other night. Gaia would
never
run from a fight, At least, old Gaia wouldn't. It's like she's lost her edge. Her fire. Her uniqueness.

Yet… this new Gaia
needs
me in a way that old Gaia didn't. She wants constant reassurance, just like any other girl. And more than that, she actually genuinely needs physical protection as well. Now I have a chance to
play hero, to team with the original super-agent mastermind, to keep guard over the woman I love. Cheesy, I know. But I love it.

I had my doubts about new Gaia. I was afraid that her insecurities would drive us apart. But her vulnerability may just be what keeps us together.

Oliver was right. Someone is after her.

I told her so.

JAKE SNAPPED HIS LAPTOP SHUT and ran his fingers through his hair, rumpling it farther than it already had been. It had been a very long day, and he had been disheartened to read Oliver's memo requesting that he keep his discovery at the Rodkes' apartment a secret from Gaia.

True, Jake hadn't been too bothered by following Gaia around and reporting back to her uncle. But the me-and-my-shadow thing was a means to an end—and now he was at the beginning of the end. He had concrete proof: something fishy was going on with the Rodkes. And given that Liz Rodke was Gaia's de facto bestest friend, that “something fishy” could escalate to “something life-threatening” downright quickly.

He didn't want to wait.

He knew what Oliver would say; in fact, Oliver
had
said it. Oliver thought they should sit tight. But Jake didn't think he could.

He was experiencing a sudden surge of protectiveness toward Gaia in her vulnerable state, and it was clouding his ability to be impartial. Seeing the hair band in the Rodkes' bathroom had awakened a primal sense of jealousy, possessiveness, and defensiveness that he wouldn't have even guessed
lay within him. Whatever their agenda, the Rodkes or the people with whom they were collaborating were
not
going to get their hands on Gaia if he had anything to say about it.

Feeling certain about his responsibility toward Gaia somehow had the effect of reinstating Jake's faith in their relationship. They'd been on shaky ground lately, but his emotions were running high right now, and at this exact moment he was willing to do whatever it took to set them back on the right track and to take care of her.

Jake wasn't a fool. He knew that defying Oliver wasn't the brightest move for a sleuth in training. But for some inexplicable reason, that didn't matter to him right now. The only thing that mattered was Gaia. Reaching out to Gaia, reconnecting with Gaia.

Warning Gaia.

With a heavy sigh—keeping in mind that Oliver had outright told him not to say anything about their suspicions—Jake picked up his cordless and dialed Gaia's cell phone. He waited for Gaia to pick up.

And waited.

He wasn't deterred by the fact that she didn't answer right away, knowing that her phone could easily be buried at the bottom of her bag. But the fact that it continued to ring rather than being sent straight to voice mail was an indication that she was deliberately avoiding it. He knew Gaia
wasn't nuts about advanced technology—she was practically the last girl in New York City to even get a cell phone, for chrissake—but he couldn't believe that she wasn't answering his call. Especially since she'd been so needy of his attention lately.

He hung up the cordless and tossed it aside in frustration. What was going on with Gaia, anyway?

GAIA FROWNED AT THE SCREEN OF her cell phone. She had only just rescued it from the depths of her messenger bag, in time to see that she had missed a call from Jake, probably by one ring. She bit her lip. She
really
hated people who blabbed away on the phone in public places like restaurants, et cetera, and she really didn't want to be one of those people. But still… she had been trying to catch up with Jake all day, and they really needed to talk. She moved to hit the redial button, but Skyler gently grabbed her wrist from across the table.

The two were sharing a small booth at Tom's
Diner. Gaia only knew the place from the Suzanne Vega song and, of course,
Seinfeld
, which, even living in the pop culture cave she lived in, was a show she'd been unable to avoid. The exterior, of course, looked just like it did on television, but the interior was far smaller, grubbier, and more bustling with activity than Jerry and crew's version ever had been. It was an established haunt for Columbia students and a proven late-night greasy spoon. Skyler and Gaia had stopped in on the way to his apartment for a quick refuel. Both were nursing cups of strong black coffee, and a half-eaten plate of cheese fries swimming in grease sat between them on the table. Normally Gaia would have devoured the fries, leaving nary a grease stain behind. But being in Skyler's presence was… a distraction, to say the least. And so there the plate sat, virtually untouched. Right next to Gaia's hand, which Skyler was now, even still, holding firmly.

“What?” she asked uncertainly. She knew that making a phone call at the table wasn't the most polite thing a person could do, but it was par for the course in Manhattan. He couldn't really object—could he?

“Come on,” Skyler said. “You're just starting to relax, right? I mean, you don't want to get on your cell phone, start chatting, get all worked up again, do you? The whole reason you came uptown with me was to get away from things for a bit until you felt calmer.”
He leveled her with a gaze that at once seemed wise as well as sympathetic.

Gaia shrugged. He had a point. “True, but it's just….” She didn't know why, but she hesitated on the words
it's just my boyfriend
. Even though Skyler wasn't interested in her romantically, she didn't want him to know how much she wanted—
no, let's be honest, Gaia—needed
reassurance from Jake. She couldn't rationalize it, but she wanted to keep her relationship with Skyler separate from whatever else was going on.

Special.

“It's just my boyfriend,” Gaia finished, trying to bolster her voice with more confidence than she actually felt. “I've been meaning to talk to him all day, and we haven't had a free minute.”

Skyler gazed at Gaia. “Gaia. Do you love your boyfriend?”

Gaia flushed, color filling her cheeks instantaneously. “Yes,” she said softly.

“Good, then. And I can only imagine that he loves you, too. Which is as a stable relationship should be. But a stable relationship requires trust and understanding, right?”

Gaia shrugged. She wasn't totally sure what Skyler was getting at. Trust and understanding were key to any strong relationship, sure, but what did that have to do with taking a minute to call Jake back? She didn't think a quick phone call was indicative of a total
relationship meltdown—but in this case a lack of phone call, in fact, could be.

“Um, sure, yeah,” she agreed halfheartedly. She didn't have
quite
the confidence to disagree with Skyler. After all, he was being awfully caring—much more caring than Jake had been after her recent attack near the boardinghouse, after all.

“Well, then,” Skyler offered, “don't you think you can wait to call him back until after you've taken some time for yourself? He'll still be there in a few hours, right? And he'll probably respect your independence.”