Reach For the Spy (6 page)

Okay, a wrinkled neon
dominatrix pixie.

“Whoa, killer shoes,” I
kidded her. “I didn’t think they could cram that many straps and
buckles on shoes that tiny.”

The outfit should have
been wildly inappropriate on a woman of her age, but it worked for
her. She struck a sexy pose and grinned up at me. “These are from
the same manufacturer as those thigh-high boots you tried on a
couple of weeks ago.”

I groaned. “You mean,
the ones you forced me to try on. Don’t remind me.” I cut my eyes
at her. “You still owe me for that. That guy who peeked in the
window and saw me? I saw him on the street yesterday, and he stared
at me like I was a sideshow.”

“Good. I’ll just tape
one of our business cards to your butt.”

“If you do, I’ll charge
you extra for the advertising space.”

The door chimed, and I
turned to see Linda’s smile. “Granny, I thought we agreed we’d try
to play up the lingerie and couples toys,” she chided. “I think you
should put Big John somewhere different. He’s kind of
hardcore.”

Lola shot her an impish
grin. “I know, honey. But it’s so much fun to see folks’ faces when
they walk in.”

“You’re hopeless.”
Linda walked over to hug her grandmother, and I chuckled at the two
diminutive women standing side by side. Lola’s outrageous outfit
and artful makeup contrasted violently with her granddaughter’s
practical nurse’s scrubs and cosmetic-free complexion, but the
family resemblance was unmistakeable.

I shook my head at
them. “I’m going to leave you two midgets to your sordid plots.” I
headed for the back office and settled in at the desk.

At a quarter after two,
I closed the books and emerged into the store.

“Aydan, come here,”
Lola commanded. “Try this on.”

“No chance.” I kept
moving and didn’t look too closely at the garment she was holding
up. “I have another client. Gotta go. See you.”

I fled.

As I approached Sirius
Dynamics, I repeated my mantra. I could do this. My heart thumped
while I signed for my fob and approached the heavy steel door.

I stepped into the
time-delayed chamber and stood straight and tall while I counted
down the seconds. I could do this.

Wobbling down the
dreaded concrete stairwell, I gave my knees another brisk pep talk.
I could do this.

I managed to greet
Spider in nonchalant tones when I stuck my head into his lab.

He looked up with a
smile. “Hi, Aydan, how’s it going?”

“Fine,” I lied. “Ready
to roll?”

“Sure.” He held up the
signalling device. “All set.”

He handed me the box
containing the network key, and I propped myself in a chair. “I’m
going in. I’ll let you know when I’m at the files.”

“I’ll monitor you from
here,” Spider said. “I’ll keep the data record running in real-time
so I can see what you’re doing.”

“So you’re saying I
shouldn’t pick my nose.”

He blushed. “No.”

I was chuckling when I
stepped into the simulation. He was such a nice kid. And so easily
embarrassed.

The blip came so soon
it startled me. I addressed Spider directly through the network
interface. “Are we done already?”

“Yes. It’s five-thirty.
I spoke to you through the interface, but I guess you didn’t hear
me.”

“No, I was buried in
this file. Lucky you’ve got the signalling device.”

I got up and stretched
before realizing it was a pointless activity since my avatar was
only a virtual body anyway. No point in stretching it when it was a
creation of my own mind. I shook my head at my own silliness and
stepped out the portal.

When I’d recovered
enough to straighten up, I met Spider’s sympathetic eyes. “I really
wish there was another way,” he said.

“Thanks, Spider. Me,
too.”

I stood and stretched.
My body had stiffened considerably after being propped motionless
in the chair for three hours. God, and I needed to pee so badly my
back teeth were floating.

I creaked and groaned
my way cautiously to the door. “Tomorrow, signal me to come out
every couple of hours or so.”

Spider gave me a
cheerful salute. “Will do. See you then.”

The next several days
blurred into a tedious round. Each morning, I worked a couple of
hours at the Silverside Hotel, followed by a long day of intense
concentration at Sirius Dynamics. At night, nightmares stalked my
sleep while I ran with frantic slowness from faceless assailants.
By Friday, my head was aching more or less constantly.

I hissed through
clenched teeth and pounded my fist on my knee, eyes screwed shut.
Despite my best efforts, some creative obscenities leaked out. As
the pain subsided, I gradually squinted my eyes open and pushed
myself up, hands braced on my knees.

Spider’s anxious face
hovered in front of me, and I rolled my stiff shoulders and got up.
“I’m out of here. I’m going over to the Greenhorn for lunch. Do you
want to come?”

“No, I have to get some
other work done, so I’m heading over to the shared office. Kane
will meet you back here and take over the signalling device for the
afternoon.”

“Okay. Are you working
tomorrow?”

He shrugged. “Usually
not on weekends. But if you want to come in, I could, too.”

“No, it’s okay. I could
use a break.” I shuffled toward the door, massaging my head.

“I think that’d be a
good idea,” Spider agreed.

I turned away from the
concern in his eyes. “Okay, have a good weekend.”

I climbed the stairs,
envying him the opportunity to work in natural light and real air.
By the time I escaped the confines of the time-delay chamber, my
hands were shaking and I gulped the outside air hungrily.

At the Greenhorn, the
trembling didn’t seem to want to subside while I stood in the
lineup waiting my turn to order. When I reached the head of the
line, Jeff’s face lit up. “Aydan, hi! Good news, you won!”

I smiled at him
uncertainly, racking my tired brain. “Hi, Jeff. Um... won
what?”

“The raffle for the
firefighters.”

“Oh!” The previous
Monday seemed aeons in the past. I’d forgotten I’d even bought a
ticket. “What did I win?”

“A firefighter.”

“What?” I stared at his
grinning face, nonplussed.

He laughed. “I told
you, it was a raffle for the firefighters.”

“Yeah, but...”

I realized I was
holding up the line while I gaped at him. “Um, let’s talk about
this later. I should order.”

I gave him my food
order and wandered dazedly over to my usual corner table, mentally
kicking myself. Dammit, I knew better than to sign up for something
without reading the fine print.

As I stared into space,
my eyes gradually focused on a colourful poster pinned to the
bulletin board next to the door. ‘Firefighters Raffle’, said the
headline.

I got up and drifted
over to read the smaller print below. ‘Win a date with a
firefighter’. Oh, shit. What the hell had I gotten myself into? I
couldn’t back out now. Jeff and Donna would be disappointed if I
did.

I relaxed as I read
further down the poster. A ticket had been drawn corresponding to
each of the local volunteer firemen, and the ‘date’ was a dinner
sponsored by the Greenhorn and Blue Eddy’s. All the firemen and
their dates would attend together.

Thank God.

I trailed back to my
chair and sank into it with relief. Jeff and Donna had a knack for
organizing successful events, and it seemed this would be no
exception. Jeff had already told me the local volunteer
firefighters were a motley crew of all ages and shapes and sizes.
This would be good clean fun, nothing more.

I glanced up as Donna
placed my plate in front of me. “So who did I win?”

“Tom Rossburn.”

I shook my head. “I
don’t know him.”

“He’s a good guy.
You’ll like him.”

“What do I have to
do?”

“Just come here
tomorrow at five-thirty. Unless you want him to pick you up?” I
shook my head, and she continued. “We’re doing the dinner here.
Dress western. It’s Stampede time down in Calgary, so we’re going
with that theme.”

I breathed a sigh of
relief. This wasn’t going to be so bad after all. I hate making
conversation with strangers, but I could get through a dinner. I
wouldn’t even have to dress up. Life was good.

I finished my delicious
meal and hoisted myself out of the chair. Usually food made
everything better, but I still felt weak and shaky when I headed
for the door.

Back at Sirius, the
hand tremor intensified while I waited in the time-delay. I
switched to belly breathing, willing calm. A muscle jumped in my
cheek while I walked down the sterile hallway to Spider’s lab.

Kane looked up when I
tapped on the door. “Hi, Aydan.” He searched my face. “You look
like you’ve had a tough week.”

I shrugged. “Same old,
same old. I’d better get used to it. Are you ready for an afternoon
of paralyzing boredom, waiting to press the button on that
signalling device?”

He laughed. “In my
life, paralyzing boredom is a nice change. I’ve brought some
paperwork so I’ll be able to entertain myself.”

“You sure know how to
have a good time.” I flopped into my chair. “Could you signal me in
about an hour and half? I tend to lose track of time when I’m in
there.”

“All right.” I caught
the tail end of his nod as I closed my eyes and stepped into the
network void.

It took me a few
seconds to summon up the virtual corridor. Even in the sim, my
avatar body felt sore and exhausted, and my brain responded
sluggishly to my efforts to control the sim.

When the blip finally
signalled the end of my day, I crept out the virtual portal feeling
as though every ounce of blood had been sucked from my body.

Pain slammed through my
head, and it took all my willpower not to curl into a ball and weep
helplessly. I squelched the impulse and belted out a few good solid
profanities instead. The last curse ended with a whimper, so I shut
up and rocked back and forth instead.

The strong, warm hands
massaging my head and neck brought tears anyway. I wiped them away
under the guise of rubbing my aching eyes while I slumped forward,
relaxing under Kane’s ministrations.

Finally, I groaned
relief and sat up. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He
squatted in front of my chair and looked into my face. “You need to
get some rest. Don’t push so hard.”

“I’ll get a break this
weekend. I’m just tired because I haven’t been sleeping well.”

He eyed me dubiously.
“All right. Let’s get you out of here.”

“You don’t have to tell
me twice.”

Home at last, I walked
out past the house and up the hill to the high land. I lowered
myself into the rustling grass at the edge of the hay field and let
out a long breath.

The wide vista of
farmland opened below me, the big Alberta sky arching above. The
breeze carried the warm sweet scent of alfalfa to me while the sun
scorched my back. I let the song of the insects lull me into a
trance, easing the week’s tension out of my muscles.

A movement on the
distant hill caught my eye as a lone horseman rode silhouetted
against the sky. He moved purposefully along his fence line, and I
smiled. I’d seen him a couple of times before. He could probably
see me, too, but we’d never acknowledged each other’s presence. I
appreciated his respect for my privacy. Or his indifference. Either
way, it worked for me.

When my growling
stomach finally drove me down from my perch, I felt much better. A
good supper and the knowledge that I didn’t have to go to Sirius
the next day made my spirits rise even more. I puttered away the
evening in my garden and slept reasonably well for the first time
all week.

I spent a leisurely
Saturday morning and afternoon doing a few easy chores around the
house. By the time five o’clock rolled around, I was heartily
regretting my commitment to Jeff and Donna’s fundraiser.

I sighed and headed for
my closet. Thank God I could wear comfortable clothes. I put on a
pair of my better blue jeans and topped them with a soft brown
plaid sleeveless shirt with western detailing. I brushed my hair
out and left it loose, then eyed my cowboy hat. Nah. No need to go
overboard. I slid my feet into my battered, comfortable western
boots and headed for the door.

When I arrived at the
Greenhorn, I sidled in and took stock of the people packed into the
tiny cafe. I wasn’t sure how many volunteer firefighters a small
town like this normally had, but apparently there were at least a
dozen, along with the women who would be their dates.

I felt underdressed
when I surveyed the other chattering women. Their outfits ranged
from bright western shirts and elaborately beaded jeans to full
skirts and dangling jewellery. My hand went to my ear. Shit, I
hadn’t even changed out of the plain stainless steel studs I
usually wore. And the only makeup I had on was lip balm.

Oh well, story of my
life. At least this wasn’t a real date. No pressure. I sighed,
wondering how long I’d have to stay before I could make a graceful
exit.

“Aydan!” Linda waved to
me from across the room.

I made my way over.
“Another lucky winner,” I greeted her. “I’m glad there’s somebody
here I know.”

“You don’t know
anybody?” She grabbed my hand. “Come and meet everybody, then.” A
few minutes later, I was surrounded by a jovial crowd while I
struggled to remember the barrage of names.

Everyone seemed in high
spirits, and I relaxed while the jokes flew. This might turn out to
be fun after all.

At six o’clock, a
shrill whistle split the babble of voices. The group quieted and
turned to Jeff, who stood on a chair near the counter. Donna and
Blue Eddy stood beside him, all of them incongruously attired in
dark formalwear.