Heat (4 page)

If you dreamed a friend was trapped, it didn't mean they were really in danger.
And no matter what Mr. Freud said, not everything was about sex
.

Gaia had been concerned about Mary--concern seemed to come from a different place than real fear. Which was probably why Mary had been in the dream. But there was no reason to worry about Mary anymore.

Skizz, the drug dealer who had been threatening Mary, had been on the receiving end of
a patented Gaia Moore ass kicking
. He had survived, but he was in the hospital. And when he got out, the police were waiting. There was no way Skizz could be a threat.

Gaia finally managed to locate a khaki green sweatshirt and tugged it over her head. She dragged her long hair free of the shirt and shook her head. It was just a dream. Dreams didn't mean anything.

She exited her room and made it down to the second-floor landing before the smell of cooking stirred her into hyperdrive. From there she took the steps two at a time.

Cooking was definitely rare behavior on Ella's part. When she did cook, Ella usually made obnoxious gourmet dishes with all the taste of old sneakers. Gaia only hoped that Ella's idea of French toast didn't involve bread and snails.

Gaia reached the bottom of the stairs and slowed her walk as she reached the kitchen. No reason to look too anxious.

George Niven sat at the breakfast table with the Sunday edition of
The New York Times
heaped in front of him. He looked at Gaia over the top of the national news section and smiled. "Hey. How are you doing this morning, kiddo? Going to have some breakfast with us?"

Gaia shrugged. "Guess so." She walked across the ceramic tile floor and sat down across the table from George.

Gaia liked George Niven well enough. George had worked with her father at the CIA for years. He had only one serious flaw. For some reason unknown to science, George was in love with Ella. And in Gaia's opinion,
that was a pretty big flaw
. It made her wonder just how good an agent George could really be when he couldn't even tell that the woman he had married was the world's biggest slut.

Ella marched across the room, her heels snapping on the tiles like rifle shots. Even though it was barely eight in the morning, her scarlet hair was swept up over her head, her makeup was there in
all its Technicolor glory
, and she was decked out in a teal dress so short, it barely qualified as a blouse.

"Here," said Ella. She inverted a pan, and two

slices of browned toast fell onto a plate. Gaia grabbed for the syrup and doused the toast in a maple-flavored flood. She was a little cautious on the first bite, but the food was actually good. Wonders would never cease.

"So," said George. "You have any plans for New Year's?"

Gaia shrugged. "I'm not sure."

George folded his paper and put it on the edge of the table. "Why don't you come with us?"

Gaia paused with a forkful of French toast halfway to her mouth. "Come where?"

"With Ella and me," said George. "I have an invitation to a New Year's Eve event down in Washington, D.C. It would be great if we all went together."

"All together," Gaia repeated.

George smiled. "Like a family."

A shiver went through Gaia, and the syrup in her mouth seemed to turn sour. Gaia barely held down her breakfast. "Uh, I . . ."

She was saved from answering by the ringing of the phone in the kitchen. A moment later Ella called from the other room, "Gaia, it's for you."

Gaia jumped up from her chair, ran into the kitchen, and took the phone from a scowling Ella. "Hello?"

"Hey," said Mary's voice at the other end. "I dare you to meet me in the park."

"I told you I'm done with truth or dare," Gaia said, smiling. "But you don't have to dare me to do that. You have something planned?"

"I'm going on an errand," said Mary. "And then to do some shopping. Come along and help me pick out something outrageous."

Gaia wasn't exactly the
queen of shopping
. In fact, she wasn't the princess or the duchess or the lady-in-waiting of shopping. Gaia was a shopping peasant. The trouble with shopping was that it usually involved trying things on. Trying things on usually meant looking at yourself in a mirror. Looking in a mirror meant facing the fact that your legs were as big as tree trunks and your shoulders looked like they were ready for the NFL.

"How about I skip the shops and meet you after?" Gaia suggested.

"Okay," said Mary. "Just as long as you don't try to get out of our plans for tonight."

Gaia winced. Tonight. She had almost forgotten. "Not the dancing."

"Absolutely the dancing," Mary said. "You promised."

"That's what you say. I don't remember any of it."

"You said you would go."

"I was talking in my sleep."

"It still counts," said Mary. "I better get moving if I'm going to find the perfect thing to wear tonight."

"Mary, why don't we try something else tonight? I mean, dancing, that's just not--"

"Hey, do you hear something?"

Gaia frowned. "What?"

"On the phone," said Mary. "I thought I heard something."

"Like what?"

"I'm not sure. Weird." Mary sighed. "Anyway, see you in the park around three?"

"Sure," said Gaia. Meeting in the park would give her at least one more chance to talk Mary out of her plans for the evening.

Gaia hung up the phone and went back to her breakfast. She managed
two forkfuls of syrup-soaked toast
before George returned to his earlier question.

"So, what about it?" he asked. "A family outing?"

"Uh, that was my friend Mary on the phone," Gaia said quickly, suddenly seeing her way out of the worst New Year's Eve on the planet with George and Ella. "I forgot I already promised to do something with her."

George frowned, but he nodded. "All right," he said. "But I'll keep the offer open. We need to do something to make this family gel."

Gaia dropped her fork and stood up from the table. A family? With Ella? One thing was sure, that was never going to happen. There might be some

paper in an office across town that listed Ella as Gaia's foster mother. But paper was as much of a relationship as they would ever have.

The only thing that made Gaia feel a little better was the expression on Ella's face. From the way her forehead was wrinkled and her lips drawn down in disgust, it was clear that Ella liked the idea of Gaia as her daughter just about as much as Gaia wanted this red-haired bimbo as a mother.

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
wasn't exactly Mary's favorite place. The building was a little too official.
A little too
People's Court.
The last time she had been here was on a field trip back in fourth grade. Or maybe it was third. Whenever it was, all Mary really remembered was the lions.

The Bat Cave

She stopped to pet one of the stone beasts on its cold marble nose and looked up at the huge building. "Wish me luck, Leo. I'm going in."

Mary hurried up the long staircase with a cold wind blowing at her back. Inside, the library was nearly as cavernous as a football stadium. The place

wasn't quite as ominous as she had expected or remembered. Inside there were colorful displays, banks of computer monitors, and lots and lots of people.

She wandered through the stacks until she found an information desk. After getting directions, she spiraled down a winding marble staircase, walked past an acre of book stacks, then continued downward to a smaller staircase of black wrought iron. It seemed to Mary that the stairs went down a long way. Much longer than they should have. They twisted on and on, past doors marked Archives and Records and Acquisitions, until Mary was sure that she must be several floors below ground level. It seemed to her that
the weight of the whole city was pressing down on her head
.

Finally, around the time Mary was beginning to wonder if the next door might be marked China, the staircase ended. The hallway she now saw had none of the intricacy or character of the building above. It was just a plain gray hall, with a concrete floor and bare walls.

Mary walked ahead cautiously. The whole place smelled of damp paper and dust. The dim light left shadows along the walls.

If I see a rat, I'm going to scream.

There were no rats. Or at least, the rats stayed hidden.

Another twenty feet along the hall Mary reached a door labeled Research. She let out a relieved

breath and rapped her knuckles against the door.

"Yes?" said a muffled voice from inside.

"Aunt Jen?" Mary called. "Is that you?"

There was a rattle, and the door opened just enough to admit a head with ringlets of copper hair and round, rimless glasses. "Mary!" she said excitedly. "What are you doing down here?"

Mary shrugged. "I was on my way to the center of the earth and thought I would stop in." She rolled her eyes. "I came here to see you, of course."

"That's great," her aunt replied. Her expression suddenly changed from a smile to a look of worry. "You're okay, aren't you? You're not in trouble?"

Mary sighed. It was clear that her parents had already passed along the terrible story of
Mary and her drug addiction
. "No, Aunt Jen, I'm not in trouble." She held up a small manila folder. "I wanted to see if my favorite aunt could help me find some information."

Relief spread over her aunt's face. "I'm your only aunt," she said, "but I guess you can come in, anyway." She swung open the door.

Mary stepped in, but as soon as she was through the door she stopped again. "Wow! It's the Bat Cave."

Jen laughed. "Just a few simple tools."

"Yeah, right." Everywhere Mary looked, there was another computer or monitor or some other piece of electronic gear.
The whole place glowed
. "It looks like I came to the right person."

Aunt Jen plopped into a padded office chair and waved to another. "Have a seat and tell me what's up."

Mary sat down and opened her folder. She hesitated for a moment. What Gaia had told her was a secret. She knew that Gaia would be upset if she knew Mary had told someone else. On the other hand, Mary couldn't help Gaia unless she knew what was going on. She reached into the envelope and pulled out several sheets of computer printout. "I have this friend," she said. "Something happened to her parents."

Mary watched her aunt take the papers and study them with a frown. Aunt Jen had the same hair as Mary's mother, but that was where the resemblance stopped. Aunt Jen was ten years younger and thirty pounds heavier than her mom. And when she smiled, she looked closer to twelve than thirty-two. Even if Mary had a dozen aunts, this one would still be her favorite.

"What do you think?" Mary asked after a minute of silence.

Aunt Jen shook her head. "I don't know what to think." She flipped through the papers one more time, then looked at Mary. "I'm a library scientist. I study how to organize information. I'm not a detective."

Mary leaned forward in her chair. "Yeah, but you've got access to every piece of paper in the world."

"That's not quite true."

"It's close." Mary smiled hopefully. "Can't you make a few searches? Check a few files?"

"For what?"

"Anything you can find."

Aunt Jen gave an elaborate sigh, but there was a smile on her round face. "All right," she said. "I'll see what I can do." She glanced at her watch. "But it will have to be later."

Mary grinned. "That's fine." She got out of her chair and hugged her aunt. "Call me as soon as you find anything."

Aunt Jen led her back to the door. "You stay out of trouble."

Mary nodded. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." She turned and headed back down the gloomy hallway. Once again she felt
that terrible sense of being buried
under tons of earth.

I'll be fine if I don't have to come back down here,
she thought with a shiver.
If I worked down here,
I
would have to be drugged.

LOKI WAITED ON THE THIRD LANDING.
He could hear the girl coming closer, her leather-soled shoes clapping against the metal stairs. She was
three twists of the stairs below, but she was climbing steadily.
This girl had young legs
. She would reach him soon.

Unseen

He flexed his fingers. This would be a good opportunity to prevent any further threat from Mary Moss. A quick push and she would go screaming back to the bottom of the stairs. The fall was only thirty or forty feet, but Miss Moss would not survive. Loki would see to that.

The footsteps were closer now, still rising to meet him. Loki leaned over the railing. He could just make her out--two turns down.

Gaia shouldn't have told her about Katia. True, he still might have been forced to kill the Moss girl eventually. Her friendship with Gaia, if it continued, was too much of a threat. But the knowledge Gaia had shared with Mary had completely sealed her fate.

Loki squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. No one could know the truth. It was unlikely that this girl could learn anything of importance.
Unlikely, but not impossible
.

Mary was one turn below now. Her head was barely a foot beneath Loki's boots.

Kill her. Stop her from asking any more questions.
It was the cleanest way to solve this problem.