Spy High (21 page)

“Take care of her, Aydan,” he muttered
into my hair. “Call me if it gets dangerous.”

“I will.” I gave him a reassuring
squeeze before stepping back and putting on a smile. “Hey,
Nichele,” I teased. “Are you sure about this? You’re really out in
the sticks here. There isn’t even an internet connection.” I
conveniently omitted my own secret setup.

Nichele gave me a grin that didn’t
quite reach her eyes. “That’s perfect. I need to get away from
everything for a while.” She turned to Dave. “Thanks for the ride.
See you. Drive carefully.” She gave him a quick peck on the lips
before pulling away.

“I will.” He hesitated, his brow
furrowed with worry. “Call me when you get a chance. Or if you need
a ride home.”

Nichele smiled a little too brightly.
“I will. Now scram. I want some girl time.”

Dave nodded, opened his mouth as if to
say something else, then closed it and turned to climb back into
the cab. Nichele and I stood watching in silence until his truck
was out of sight.

Then I turned to face Nichele. “What’s
up?” I demanded. “You hate camping. And I’m pretty sure your cell
phone is surgically attached to your hand and you’ll fade away and
die without an internet connection.”

Her face crumpled into misery. “He
asked me to marry him.”

“Oh.” I kept my expression neutral. “So
what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” she wailed. “Everything
was so good between us. Why did he have to spoil it?”

“I doubt if he meant to spoil it.” I
hesitated, then dove in. “He’s not like your dad, you know.”

“No, I
don’t
know! How do I know
he’s not boinking every floozy he meets along the road? Or if he
isn’t now, how do I know he won’t start as soon as we’re married? I
can’t live like my mom did. I can’t just put up with it and pretend
it isn’t happening.”

“Oh, Nichele!” I pulled her into a hug,
my heart wrenching as she clung to me. “It’ll be okay,” I murmured.
“Trust me, Dave’s not like that.”

“How do you know?” she demanded,
pulling away to glare at me through tear-smudged mascara. “You
don’t! You can never know until it’s too late!”

“Okay, you’re right,” I conceded with a
sigh. “But look at it this way: You said everything was perfect up
to now, but you still couldn’t be sure he wasn’t cheating on you
while he was on the road.”

“Yeah, but we weren’t married. I could
just dump him and walk away.”

“Like you did with all those other
guys,” I said gently. “You never gave them a chance. Do you really
want to throw away what you’ve got with Dave?”

“No.” She sniffled and wiped her eyes,
smearing her makeup even more. “But…” Her eyes brimmed up again.
“I’ve
already
lost him. We can’t go back to the way we were
now. This will always be a huge ugly
thing
between us. Why
couldn’t he just leave it alone?” She swiped the tears away
angrily.

“Maybe it doesn’t have to be a big ugly
thing,” I argued. “Maybe it’s not a yes-or-no question. You could
tell him you need some time to get used to the idea. I know Dave
loves you. He’ll give you all the space you need, and I’d be
willing to bet he’d never cheat on you.”

“I don’t know, Aydan. I just…” Nichele
sniffled again before straightening resolutely and digging a tissue
and a compact out of her purse. “Never mind. I’ll figure it out.
Oh-em-gee, I look like a raccoon! Here, hold this.”

She pushed the mirror into my hand and
set about repairing her makeup. When she was done she retrieved the
compact and tucked it into her purse before looking up at me with a
grin that only wobbled slightly around the edges. “Okay. Take me to
meet your crazy aunt and uncle.” She glanced around the empty
field, frowning. “Is there a shuttle bus or something?”

I laughed. “Poor little rich girl. I
told you you’d hate it here. There’s no shuttle bus or concierge or
bellhop. If you brought it, you get to drag it to wherever it needs
to go.”

“Well, that sucks.” She grabbed the
handle of the suitcase. “Good thing it has wheels.”

“Uh-huh,” I agreed, eyeing the dense
grass and uneven terrain. “Good luck with that.”

After watching her struggle almost to
the edge of the field, I relented and reached for the suitcase
handle. “Here, let me do it. That thing’s nearly as big as you
are.”

“Thanks.” She relinquished it with a
sigh of relief, rubbing her shoulder. “I was thinking about just
leaving it here and walking back to get what I needed every
morning. Is it a long way to the commune?”

“We’re on commune land now, and we’re
pretty close to the encampment.” I hoisted the suitcase over the
remaining lumpy ground and onto the gravel road. “Come on, Moonbeam
and Karma want to meet you, and they’ll take us to your tent.”

Nichele had apparently decided to
shelve her personal worries, at least for the moment. Her usual
sparkle returned and she chattered all the way to the encampment,
bringing me up to date on our mutual friends and making
not-so-subtle inquiries about the state of my love life.

When we arrived at the encampment she
gawked unabashedly before asking, “So how does this work? I get a
tent, but what about food and bathrooms and stuff?”

“Your tent will probably be in this
area.” I indicated the tents scattered around us. “In the main
building there’s a big kitchen with three wood stoves and you do
your own cooking. You can take whatever you want from the iceboxes
or the pantry and if you use the last of something, you write it on
the grocery list. The showers are in the main building, too, along
with the laundry and school and library, but you probably won’t get
assigned a shower slot. There’s always hot water in the boilers of
the wood stoves so you can wash up in your tent. The latrines are
up by the main building, too.”

“Wow, this is freaky.” Nichele gazed
around her. “It’s like going back in time.” She shot me a look.
“It’s ‘way nicer than you said. These aren’t tents, they’re yurts.
Raised wood floors and everything. And the weather’s beautiful.”
She waved a hand at the blue sky and sunshine.

“Yeah, but this is the first day it’s
been nice,” I grumbled. “And yurt or not, it’s still a canvas tent.
See how you like it once the fog rolls in and it starts
raining.”

“Oh, don’t be such a grouch.” She shot
me a quizzical look. “No wonder you’re cranky, sweating in that big
jacket. Why don’t you take it off? I’m comfy just like this.” She
indicated her crisp khaki shorts and scoop-necked tank top.

I surreptitiously wiped my forehead
under the pretense of pushing my hair back. “I’ve spent the last
four months freezing my butt off. I’m enjoying the heat,” I lied.
“And anyway, it’s easier to wear it than carry it.”

And the pockets were full of classified
technology, but I couldn’t tell her that.

Nichele shook her head. “You’re nuts…
Oh, look! Is that cat pregnant, or just super-fat?” She pointed at
Peaches waddling down the path toward us.

“Pregnant. This is Peaches.” I crouched
to pet her and her purr rumbled up under my hand. “One of the other
cats had her litter a few weeks ago,” I added. “The kittens are
absolutely adorable. I’ll show you later, but with your allergies
you probably don’t want to touch them.”

Nichele sidestepped as Peaches came
over to inspect her. “Sorry, Peaches, I can’t pet you. Why do cats
always go to the person who’s trying to avoid them?” She dodged
Peaches again, eyeing her critically. “Oh-em-gee, Aydan, she’s so
fat! That can’t be good for her. Don’t they spay and neuter their
cats here?”

“Yeah, but they keep a couple of
females intact so they can maintain the population.” I leaned down
to give Peaches a quick chin-rub before walking on in deference to
Nichele’s feline-avoidance tactics. “They only let them have a
couple of litters each, and then they’ll spay them and choose a new
female to breed.”

“Oh, that’s good.”

I hid a smile at her satisfied
expression. Even though she might not be fond of cats, Nichele’s
world-bettering crusades were legendary. I had no doubt that she
would have been pushing for a spay/neuter program within minutes of
arriving if she thought it was needed.

We rounded the corner and Nichele
leaned over to whisper, “That’s got to be your Aunt Moonbeam.”

I grinned at the sight of the slight
figure fluttering toward us in her rainbow tie-dyed caftan.
“Yep.”

Moonbeam gave us one of her luminous
smiles, eyeing us as though amused by the contrast between my boots
and baggy faded jeans and Nichele’s crisp summer attire topped by
perfect hair and makeup.

I made the necessary introductions and
Moonbeam turned to study Nichele with the slightly unfocused gaze
that indicated she was reading an aura. I imagined my steel door
rolling down in front of me, feeling a little foolish for believing
in it but too uneasy not to.

Moonbeam’s smile brightened as she
wrapped Nichele in a hug. “You have a lovely aura, dear. Welcome to
our home.”

Then she stepped back and reached into
one of the folds of her caftan for one of the ubiquitous hemp and
wood beaded bracelets. She gently captured Nichele’s hand and tied
the bracelet onto her wrist.

Looking deeply into Nichele’s eyes, she
said, “This bracelet gives you the protection of the Earth Spirit
as long as you are here. Wear it always. From now on, you’ll be
known as Blaze Featherwind, the name the Earth Spirit has bestowed
on you. Go forth in peace, tolerance, and harmony. The blessings of
the Earth Spirit are upon you.”

“Um… thanks.” Nichele gave me a
sideways look before turning a questioning expression on Moonbeam.
“Am I supposed to… What’s the right way to say I accept?”

Moonbeam smiled. “You don’t need to say
anything, but if you’d like, you could return the blessing by
saying ‘And upon you, too’.”

“Oh.” Nichele gave her a sparkling
smile and an impulsive hug. “And upon you, too.”

“Thank you, dear. Now I’ll show you
your tent, and at four o’clock Aurora Peace Rain will explain the
rituals of the Earth Spirit to you.”

To my relief, Nichele’s tent turned out
to be tucked into the village of tents, far from mine. At least I’d
be able to sneak around without worrying that she’d hear me leaving
my tent.

Once she had moved in I took her on a
tour of the commune, excluding the garage and ending up in the
kitchen for a snack.

Crunching the last of my apple, I
glanced at my watch and stood. “Sorry, Nichele, but I’m going to
have to leave you on your own for a while. I’m due up the garage to
help Skidmark work on the truck.”

Nichele swallowed her last bite and
rose with me. “I’ll come along.” She shot me a mischievous look.
“I’m dying to meet Skidmark. And Orion. Your boy-toys.”

I snorted. “Skidmark, a boy-toy? Yeah,
right. Wait’ll you see him. And smell him.” I hesitated. I really
didn’t want her up at the garage in case Ratboy was there. “You
probably don’t have time,” I added. “Don’t forget you have to meet
Aurora here in twenty minutes.”

Nichele waved that away. “I have time.
I can always jog back. I could use the exercise.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Who are you
and what did you do with my couch-potato friend?”

Nichele giggled. “I’m just trying to
fit in. Everybody seems all healthy-granola here. It’ll be good for
me.”

“Bad news about that fitting-in thing…”
I made a gesture that encompassed her impeccably polished
fingernails, perfect hair and makeup, and bountiful cleavage
displayed by her snug tank top. “You stick out like a peacock in a
chicken farm.”

She pulled a solemn face, slightly
marred by the impish twinkle in her eyes. “Buk-buk-buk…” She
planted her hands on her hips and flapped her elbows, jerking her
head forward in a creditable chicken imitation while she clucked.
“Buk-buk-buk…”

I laughed. “Okay, Chicken Little, let’s
go.”

Striding along the path while Nichele
chattered gaily beside me, I sent a mute entreaty skyward. Please
don’t let Ratboy be there. If he made a crack, Nichele wouldn’t
hesitate to take him on like a little terrier who thought she was a
Rottweiler.

And where was Orion and what was he
doing? Nearly four hours had passed since I’d seen him. That had to
be some kind of record. The only thing that worried me more than
having him pop up behind me was not having him pop up behind
me.

What if he was making a move on
Moonbeam and Karma? If I had to rush off to defend them, Nichele
would surely follow me. Then I’d have three innocent civilians to
protect. And if I had to pull my gun, it’d blow my cover
sky-high…

I sighed and Nichele shot me a look.
“You’re really quiet. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I summoned a smile. “Just
figuring out my timetable between working on the truck and the
bookkeeping stuff I have to do.”

“Well, don’t let me interrupt,” Nichele
said. “I need some time to think anyway. And you said Aurora was
really nice, so maybe I can hang with her a while.”

“Okay, thanks.” I looked away quickly
before she could see my guilty expression. I hadn’t mentioned
Aurora’s voice.

When Nichele and I arrived at the
garage I drew a deep breath, equal parts worried and relieved by
the sight of Orion and Ratboy standing on the opposite side of the
clearing. At least now I knew where they were, but I’d really been
hoping to avoid Ratboy.

Skidmark lounged in a chair against the
garage, eyes half-closed and joint in hand. He looked up at the
sound of our footsteps and brightened at the sight of Nichele’s
lush curves. Dropping the front legs of the chair to the ground, he
rose and smiled so widely I actually glimpsed a gold tooth through
his tangle of facial hair.

“Well, hello, Sugar-Loaves!” he greeted
Nichele’s chest. He turned his leer toward me. “See, if you dressed
like that, guys wouldn’t think you’re a dude in women’s
clothes.”