Spy High (5 page)

Orion stiffened. “Moonbeam and Karma
perform very important rituals when the Earth Spirit calls.
Sometimes those rituals can be extremely uncomfortable, so please
show some respect.”

I clamped my teeth on my spoon so I
wouldn’t say anything I’d regret. Orion seemed like such a nice
normal guy most of the time, but he turned into a total freak over
this Earth Spirit thing.

Well, freedom of religion. If it was
important to him and everybody else at the commune, I should
respect their beliefs even if I didn’t share them. And besides, his
defense of them was reassuring. Maybe he didn’t mean them any
harm.

I swallowed my mouthful. “You’re right,
Orion, I’m sorry. That was rude and disrespectful of me.”

His stiffness melted into a smile that
made me want to apologize again just to see that deliciously edible
dimple one more time. “You’re forgiven, Storm. Thank you.” He
reached across the table and squeezed my hand just as Skidmark
wandered into the kitchen.

In deference to the
no-smoking-in-buildings rule, he wasn’t actually carrying a joint,
but the heavy cloak of marijuana scent preceded him by several
feet. His thicket of beard and moustache twitched in a smile at the
sight of Orion’s and my clasped hands, and he wove unsteadily to
our table.

“Sweet love…” he warbled in a key
entirely of his own making. “Sweet, sweet love…” He swayed and
caught himself by gripping the edge of our table. One of his
eyelids drooped in a lascivious wink. “If you kids’re gonna get it
on, can I join in? Ol’ Skidmark knows a thing or two ‘bout
lovin’…”

Just in time to hear Skidmark’s
overture, Ratboy strode into the kitchen and froze, glaring.

Apparently Skidmark wasn’t as far gone
as I’d thought. When my gaze snapped over to focus behind him he
spun with surprising agility to face the threat, then staggered
with the sudden movement. I jumped up and seized his shoulders,
steadying him.

Skidmark raised his voice in a tone
that might have been dulcet if not for the rasp of too many decades
of accumulated tar on his vocal cords. “Be cool, man,” he cooed at
Ratboy. “You’re invited, too. You got such a nice tight little
tushie. Tushie-wushie…” He squeezed the air with both hands as
though fondling buttocks.

Ratboy went rigid. Then his face
twisted in rage and he closed the distance to Skidmark in a couple
of fast strides. Orion sprang to intercept him, but Ratboy had
already spat in Skidmark’s face.

“
Filth!
” Ratboy hissed, and
stormed out.

“Aw, man…” Skidmark said plaintively.
“You mean our date’s off?” He appropriated my napkin to wipe the
spittle off his face before drifting away humming, apparently
unfazed.

I sank back into my chair and drew a
deep breath, willing the tremors out of my hands.

Filth. Was it coincidence Ratboy had
used that particular word? If not, it imparted a whole new aura of
menace to the words ‘get rid of the filth’.

“Are you all right?” Orion bent to
clasp my hands between his own.

“Fine. I just… that scared me. That guy
is seriously unbalanced.” I seized the opportunity. “Who is
he?”

“One of the renters.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s a
renter? Is that some Spirit-thing, too?”

Orion laughed. “No, an actual renter.
The commune has several acres of extra land they rent to various
groups. That group has occupied the land for nearly a year.”

“Why haven’t I noticed them
before?”

There was another layer to my innocent
question. What the hell kind of secret agent was I, if an entire
group of commune members had escaped my notice? How could I
possibly have missed them in the nearly four months I’d been here?
And if they were all as wacko as Ratboy, were they a threat to
Moonbeam and Karma? And if Orion was friends with Ratboy…

I realized Orion had spoken while I was
berating myself, and I shook off my self-recriminations. “Sorry,
what did you say?” I asked.

“I said, they don’t usually interact at
all. Their land is separated from the rest of the commune by the
river, and they generally only come over here to pick up food
supplies once a week and occasionally to use the vehicles to go
into Port Renfrew.”

“Oh. That makes sense, then. I saw
Ratboy up at the garage-”

Orion’s burst of laughter interrupted
me. “
Ratboy?
” he choked when he had regained some composure.
“I’m glad Moonbeam named me instead of letting you do it.”

I shrugged, grinning. “Well, he’s a
weaselly little prick and I didn’t know what else to call him.” I
returned to my line of questioning. “Why don’t they just bring
their own vehicles?”

“Moonbeam and Karma don’t allow any
vehicles except the commune’s. Visitors have to be dropped off
here, or if someone’s making a supply run to town they can pick up
visitors at the same time. Those are the only options.” His lips
twisted in a wry grin. “You don’t want to count on the car or
truck, though. They’re so old they break down constantly.”

I frowned. “I don’t know; the truck
sounded pretty good when it was running. Those old engines are
nearly bullet-proof. And that big old boat of a station wagon
probably has a decent engine in it, too. It’ll be a gas-guzzler,
but it won’t be complicated. If Skidmark’s any kind of a mechanic
he should be able to keep them running.”

“Uh, one problem with that,” Orion said
straight-faced. “Skidmark.”

We both eyed the man in question as he
shuffled toward the door. While Orion and I talked I had been
watching Skidmark’s antics out of the corner of my eye, and he
seemed to have offended almost everyone in the kitchen. Some of the
commune members laughed him off but others reacted angrily, and
dark looks followed him despite the commune’s stated policy of
tolerance and harmony.

“Maybe I should go up and have a look,”
I said. “If Skidmark can’t manage the vehicle repairs, I could
probably do them. It’d give me something to do.”

Orion chuckled. “Don’t bother. Many
have tried; none have succeeded. Skidmark will chase anyone away in
short order. If his reek alone doesn’t do it, he’ll find some other
way to offend you.”

I rubbed a thoughtful circle over the
frown lines in my forehead. “Yeah, I noticed he seems to like to
stir the pot. But he just about boiled it over a few minutes ago
with Ratboy.” I turned my frown to Orion. “What’s Ratboy’s real
name, anyway?”

Orion shrugged. “Nobody knows the
renters’ real names, just like nobody knows ours here at the
commune.” He shot me a mischievous grin. “Ratboy is good enough to
go on with.”

I held onto my best poker face. There
was another expression that just wasn’t quite… Canadian. And if
they were friendly enough to wander through the woods chatting, why
would he pretend he didn’t know Ratboy?

Well, screw Stemp’s orders; Orion had
engaged me, not the other way around. I might as well take
advantage of it.

“Hey, Orion, speaking of anonymity and
all those good things, if you really want to…” I cleared my throat
significantly. “…get to know me better… maybe we could do some
basic hi-how-are-you stuff before we jump in the sack. I’ve noticed
you sound British. Where are you from?”

If I hadn’t been watching him intently,
I might have missed the flicker of his eyelids.

“Oh, you have a good ear,” he said
easily. “I grew up in Bristol, but I’ve been here in Canada for
ages. What about you?”

“Um, Saskatchewan,” I said vaguely. “So
how is it that you arrived at the commune after me, but you know
all its inner workings already?”

A slight flush rose on his cheeks. “I
asked,” he said with one of his devastating smiles, and rose. “It’s
time for my shower. Do we know each other well enough yet?”

I laughed. “Nope. See you later. I’ll
try not to turn on the hot water for the washing machine at the
exact moment you’re under the shower.”

He offered me a shallow bow, his dark
brows arching sardonically. “You are too kind.”

I indulged myself by appreciating his
rear view as he left. Then I propped my chin in my hand,
pondering.

He seemed so nice and normal compared
to Ratboy. Why would they be friends? And if the renters kept to
themselves, why would Ratboy associate with Orion at all?

I sighed. I’d just have to keep
watching them.

Anyway, working on the commune vehicles
sounded like an excellent idea. It would be good to have something
to do; but more to the point, Skidmark’s garage was at the top of a
hill with a commanding view. I should be able to observe the
renters from there.

And I wondered about Skidmark. When I’d
grabbed his shoulders, his muscles had been tense and ready for
action. He should have been a limp noodle if he had actually been
as stoned as he appeared. And despite his bumbling and staggering,
his tour of the kitchen had looked suspiciously purposeful.

Not to mention the fact that I was
pretty sure I’d overheard him utter a blatant anti-gay slur at the
table next to us, almost immediately after he’d made his apparently
homosexual advance on Ratboy.

He was definitely stirring the pot, and
not the cannabinoid variety.

And if he was trying to cause trouble
for Moonbeam and Karma, he just became my problem.

It was still raining when I left the
kitchen building. I growled and twitched up my sodden collar. Fine.
Might as well check in with Stemp before I got dried off.

Back in my tent I stood motionless,
straining my ears. Stupid rain; I couldn’t hear a thing except
raindrops pattering on canvas. I hadn’t seen anybody in the
vicinity when I’d ducked inside, but I’d feel better if I knew
nobody was coming up the path to catch me in the act.

I blew out a short breath and squatted
to delve into the canvas bag I’d concealed under a blanket behind
my cot. My fingers groped past the concealing towels in the duffel
and did a quick count by feel beneath. Only two secured phones
left. Damn. Stemp had promised to send more and they were
undoubtedly waiting for me at the post office in Port Renfrew, but
I didn’t want to attract attention by requesting a trip.

It was beginning to look as though I’d
have to, though…

The rustle of the tent flap made me
jerk around to face the intruder, my hand flashing down to my
holster. Then I let out a whoosh of adrenaline-laden amusement and
extended my hand, palm down, fingers loosely curled. “Peaches, you
little shit, you scared the hell out of me.”

The heavily pregnant tortie-and-cream
cat waddled over to rub her jaw against my knuckles, her whiskers
turning up in a cat-grin.

“You’re soaking wet, silly girl,” I
chided, and dug a hand towel out of the bag to blot her fur. “Why
don’t you stay in your nice dry cat house?”

Her purr rumbled under the towel and I
grinned. Like all the commune cats, she seemed unconcerned by rain
and more than willing to brave the moisture in exchange for human
attention. After some cuddles and extravagant purring, I stopped
her when she began to nose with interest at the towels padding the
cat-sized cave of my open duffel bag.

“Sorry, Mom-To-Be.” I picked her up
carefully, supporting her hind legs and drooping belly. “You can’t
have your kittens in here. Go back to your nice warm cat house.” I
bundled her gently outside the tent again, using her as an excuse
to make sure the coast was clear before securing my tent flap
despite my guilt at putting a pregnant cat out in the rain.

But dammit, I couldn’t shut her inside
my tent while I was gone. The commune cats felt the same way about
captivity as I did. And anyway, she’d walked all the way over here,
so she obviously wasn’t worried about getting wet. She’d just go
back to the cat house in the main building, where she’d be warmer
and dryer than I was.

I exchanged my soaked jacket for a more
waterproof version and slipped one of the phones into my pocket
before zipping up the duffel and stowing it under the cot again.
Rising with a deep breath when my knees protested the damp cold, I
pulled up my hood to saunter out into goddamn rain again, trying to
look nonchalant.

My heart gave a guilty clutch when
Orion emerged from his tent just a few yards down the path, and I
willed my face into an innocent expression.

He offered me a jaunty salute with his
towel. “Last chance.”

“No thanks, I’m going for a walk. I
need some, um… meditation time.”

His brows drew together in concern.
“You still look half-frozen. Why don’t you get warmed up first?
Maybe the rain will stop later, and if you wait a bit I can come
with you. There’s a cougar in the area, so Karma and Moonbeam want
everybody to pair up.”

Great, just great.

I forced a smile. “I’m not going far.
And I’d rather go now while I’m wet anyway. I’ll get dried off and
warmed up when I can stay that way for a while.” I made shooing
motions. “Hurry up, or you’ll miss your shower. See you later.”

I was turning to leave when he snapped,
“Wait!”

Startled by his tone, I spun.
“What?”

“Where’s your bracelet?”

“My br…?” I frowned at the empty spot
on my wrist where it had been only moments before. Comprehension
dawned. “Oh, it must have slid off when I was digging in one of my
bags. I’ll find it later. See you.”

I made another attempt to leave but he
blocked my way, his green eyes darkening with worry. “No, go back
and find it right now.”

“I’ll get it later,” I repeated through
teeth that had clenched despite my best efforts.

“No, you need it.” Orion peered
earnestly into my eyes. “It gives us the protection of the Earth
Spirit. Nobody can go without it.” He pushed up his sleeve to
display his own. “Surely Moonbeam and Karma told you that.”

“Oh, for…” I bit off my impending
epithet and plastered a smile on my face instead. “Yes, of course.
Thanks for reminding me. I’ll go and get it right now.”