Reach For the Spy (5 page)

“Aydan?” Spider tapped
timidly on the door frame.

I focused on his face
and he ducked his head as if expecting me to yell at him. I
concentrated for a moment on my facial expression, but I was pretty
sure I wasn’t glaring at him.

“What?” I was proud
that my voice was even.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Come on in.”

He sidled through the
door and lowered himself into a chair. A few seconds later, Kane
stuck his head in the doorway. He scanned the pair of us before
entering the room, closing the door behind him. He strode to the
other chair and sat.

If I hadn’t known him,
I might have thought he hadn’t a care in the world. His body
language was open and relaxed, his face composed, but I could read
anger in the flinty grey of his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said
evenly. “It seems there’s to be no negotiation on this.”

“Can’t you talk to
Briggs?” Spider exploded. “Couldn’t we...”

“Don’t worry about it,”
I told him. “I’ll deal with it.”

“But...”

I sighed and rolled my
tense shoulders. “I hate to admit it, but I have to agree with
Stemp. If I was him, I wouldn’t let that network key aboveground,
either.”

“But... it’s not fair.
How can he expect you to do that? You can’t even stand to be down
there for a few minutes!” Spider’s eyes were dark with
distress.

I stood up. “I’ll
manage. When I’m in the network, it won’t matter anyway. I was tied
up hand and foot last week, and I managed to get through it. I can
get through a few minutes in an underground bunker until my
consciousness goes into the network. Once I’m in the network, I can
make all the open space I need.”

I squeezed his
shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go down and get to work.” I headed for
the door before I could change my mind.

Back in Spider’s
underground lab, I controlled my breathing with an effort. “Do you
have the signalling device?” I asked Kane.

He nodded reassurance.
“Right here.”

“Good. I’d hate to be
hanging around in the network not knowing there’s a fire alarm
blaring in real life.” I tried to make a joke of it, but it didn’t
come out sounding funny at all.

Kane reached for my
hand and squeezed it gently. “Don’t worry. I have the signalling
device, and Webb’s going to be in the network with you anyway.
Between the two of us, we’ll make sure you get out if you have
to.”

“Thanks,” I said
awkwardly. “I’m sorry I’m being such a chickenshit about this.”

“You’re not.”

I stepped quickly into
the virtual void of the network and immediately created a
simulation. By the time Spider’s avatar popped into existence
beside me, we were standing on a mountain peak. Far below us, a
glittering lake reflected the vividly blue sky. Across the deep
valley, a range of mountains marched into the misty distance.
Echoing silence surrounded us, underscored by the constant whisper
of the breeze sifting through the stunted spruce trees.

“Wow!” He turned in a
circle, gaping. “This is amazing! I’ve never seen a sim with so
much detail. And it’s so realistic! I can even smell the pine
trees.”

“They’re spruce,” I
ribbed him.

“Picky, picky. Is this
a real place?”

“Yeah. Mount
Indefatigable, in Kananaskis Country. This trail is closed now. Too
many grizzly bears. Which I’ve conveniently omitted from the sim,”
I hastened to reassure him as he glanced anxiously around.

“I’m pretty much a city
boy,” Spider admitted. “Wilderness makes me nervous.”

We stood in silence for
a few moments, and then I stretched and sighed. “Well, I guess I’d
better get to work.” I let the simulation fade to the network’s
white void. A few minutes later, I was absorbed in files.

Spider and I worked
steadily, decrypting and recording the data. The files we’d
selected at random didn’t seem important to me, but Spider insisted
we had to go through the documents completely to make sure we
weren’t missing anything.

The back of my neck was
beginning to ache when there was a sudden blip in the network, and
a small stab of pain knifed behind my eyes.

I sprang up. “Time to
get out.”

Spider frowned up at me
in confusion. “Okay. Do you need a break?”

“No, Kane just
signalled me. Didn’t you... Oh, no, I guess you wouldn’t have
noticed it. That’s just me and the network key.”

“You’d better go, then.
I’ll come, too.”

We made our way rapidly
back to the virtual portal. “You go first,” I told him. “I’m going
to step through nice and slow.”

“Good,” he agreed. “I
don’t want to see you thrash around in agony ever again.”

He vanished through the
portal, and I stepped unhurriedly through it behind him.

The usual pain crashed
through my head, and I grunted and jerked into a ball, wrapping my
arms over my throbbing skull. I breathed slowly and deeply until I
could open my eyes without wincing.

I straightened up. “You
rang?” I inquired.

“Quitting time,” Kane
said cheerfully.

“Really?” I peered at
my watch. “Holy crap, it’s nearly six o’clock. Time flies when
you’re having fun.” I turned to Spider. “See, I told you it
wouldn’t bother me to be underground as long as I was in the
network.”

“We’ll need to come up
with a more efficient solution than this, though,” Kane said. “It’s
not a productive use of time for me to sit here doing nothing but
holding the signalling device.”

“Right. I didn’t think
of that.” Spider frowned for a second, and then his face cleared.
“No problem. Aydan can go into the network, and I’ll work
externally. We can still communicate through the network interface,
but I’ll be here with her physical body so I can signal her if
necessary.”

“That’ll work,” Kane
agreed. “Aydan, what are your plans for tomorrow?”

“I have to be at the
Silverside Hotel at nine, at Blue Eddy’s at eleven, and then I’m
due at Up & Coming at one. I could be here by two-thirty.”

“Does that work for
you?” Kane addressed Spider.

“I can work with
that.”

“Okay, then, I’m out of
here. See you tomorrow.” I made a beeline for the door, feeling the
oppressive weight of tons of concrete hovering over my head again.
This time I made it into the lobby without hyperventilating. I
turned in my security fob at the desk and went outside, blinking in
the sudden glare of sunshine and heat.

I slid into the
oven-like interior of my car and pressed my back into the dark
upholstery, closing my eyes while the heat seeped into my bones. A
long breath leaked out of me, tension easing from my shoulders.

“Are you all
right?”

My body spasmed with
shock at the sound of Kane’s voice and my eyes flew open to meet
his concerned gaze as he leaned in the open driver’s door.

“I was, before you gave
me a heart attack,” I stammered.

“Sorry.” He met my eyes
seriously. “I just wanted to tell you that you did a great job
today. I know what it took for you to do that.”

I felt a flush on my
face that wasn’t related to the heat of the car. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. See
you tomorrow.”

He strode away, and I
listlessly reached for the ignition. With the strain of the day
lifted, my muscles felt like wet dishrags. I drove home on
autopilot and stumbled into my overheated house with my stomach
growling.

After a meal of
leftovers and a couple of unproductive hours at my desk, I fell
into bed early and spent the night running through endless dreams
on leaden feet.

I crept out of bed and
into the shower the next morning feeling only slightly refreshed.
At the breakfast table, I marshalled my shrinking courage with a
brisk pep talk about positive attitude. I could do this.
Claustrophobia was all in my head.

I made no effort to
dress up beyond a well-fitting pair of jeans and a flattering
T-shirt. Even so, I was over-dressed for the grimy office at the
Silverside Hotel. I made my unwilling way to Harks’s chaotic desk
and began to sort through the heaps of stained and wrinkled
receipts.

Harks’s aversion to
tidiness actually worked in his favour in a few cases as I
harvested slips of paper from where they’d drifted onto the floor
and into the corners. I tried not to think about the nameless
objects that lurked in the dingy cavern under the desk.

Harks made a short
appearance, again leaning heavily on the back of my chair. The
faint wheezing of his breath from a few inches behind my head made
my skin crawl, and a dull headache bloomed while my neck and
shoulders tensed.

After an hour and a
half, I’d sorted and stacked the papers in orderly piles, ready for
me to tackle the next time.

As I left the office,
Harks looked up from the reception desk. “You leaving already?”

“Yes, I have another
client.”

“I need this done right
away, you know. For what I’m paying you, I should come first in
line.”

Yeah, right. He’d
ignored it for at least six months, and now he needed it right
away. I left without comment.

I stepped gratefully
out into the blazing sun and stumbled to my car. After another
liberal application of hand sanitizer, I slumped in the seat for a
few seconds massaging my headache before driving over to Blue
Eddy’s.

My spirits lifted
immediately at the sound of the piano when I let myself in the back
door. Rollicking boogie-woogie made me grin as I poked my head into
the bar.

Eddy glanced up and
returned my smile while the music continued to pour effortlessly
through his nimble fingers. I knew I couldn’t resist the temptation
anyway, so I didn’t try. Instead of going directly to the office to
get started, I wandered over and leaned against the piano, watching
him play. He walked the bass home and grinned up at me.

“You’re still my
all-time favourite client, Eddy,” I told him sincerely.

“Ah, you’re just
sucking up because you love my burgers,” he teased.

“True, but I’m also
sucking up because I love your piano playing. And your bar. And the
blues. And your beer.” I sighed. “Man, I could sure use a beer
right now.”

He hopped up from the
piano stool. “Do you want one?”

I shook my head
regretfully. “I’d love one, but I can’t. I’m driving. And anyway,
beer and bookkeeping probably isn’t a good combination.”

His observant gaze
assessed me. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve
just been really busy lately. I’ve gotten a couple of new
clients.”

“What, more dens of
iniquity like mine?” he joked.

I laughed. “One of them
is a den of iniquity. Or a den of disgusting filth, anyway.”

“Do tell. I didn’t know
we had disgusting filth here in Silverside.”

“Then you’ve never been
in the office at the Silverside Hotel.”

Eddy sobered, a faint
line appearing between his eyebrows. “Bill Harks? Are you sure you
want him for a client?”

“No,” I said
truthfully, trying to make it sound like a joke. “His office is so
gross and dirty, I needed a shower by the time I left. He had a
sandwich lying on his desk that was older than I am.”

Eddy stood in silence
for a moment, his face troubled. “Aydan... be careful over
there.”

“Why? Will the cooties
crawl out of the carpet and eat me?”

“No. At least I don’t
think so,” he said with a half-smile. “It’s just... You don’t want
to be around Bill when he’s drinking.”

“Thanks, Eddy,” I said
seriously. “That’s good to know. I’ll be careful. Thanks for being
my guardian angel.” I began to drift reluctantly toward the office.
“Guess I’d better get to work.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Then
you could go back to playing the piano,” I hinted heavily.

He laughed. “I could,
indeed.”

The merry sound of the
piano waltzed me into his tiny office.

At twelve-fifteen, I
was just putting away the books when a movement from the open
doorway caught my eye. I glanced up and chuckled at the sight of a
disembodied hand holding a big burger and home-cut fries on a
generous platter.

Eddy’s smiling face
popped into the doorway above it. “Can I tempt you?”

“Eddy, you can tempt me
any day, any time. Thanks!” I rummaged in my waist pouch for
cash.

“On the house,” he
demurred.

“No, I can’t. You’re
always feeding me.” I pushed a twenty at him, but he backed
away.

“No, really. A customer
ordered it and then changed his mind. I can’t legally sell it to
you.”

I regarded him for a
moment. “Okay. Thanks, Eddy.” I returned his grin and bit into the
hot, juicy burger. He was a lousy liar, but I didn’t see how I
could tell him that. If the man wanted to feed me enough to lie
about it, who was I to argue?

I finished my excellent
lunch and stepped out into the bar, soaking up the classic blues
from the sound system. Eddy was occupied with filling glasses at
the bar, and I returned his jaunty wave as I left.

I stepped into Up &
Coming on the dot of one o’clock, feeling as though life was worth
living after all. Amazing what some good food and good music will
do. I recoiled theatrically at the sight of the huge black silicone
penis on display at the front of the shop.

“Lola!” I called. “You
left Big John the Wonder Horse out again!”

Her smirking, wrinkled
face bounced up from behind the counter. “Hi, Aydan! I’m just
rearranging the shop.”

I eyed her with
amusement. “Purple? I love it!”

She ran her hands
through her spiky hair. “Yeah. I got tired of blonde. And this is
such a bright, happy colour.”

It was. In fact, her
hair practically glowed purple. Combined with the low-cut,
body-hugging purple dress she wore, it made her look like a
wrinkled neon pixie. She stepped out from behind the counter.