The Change (Unbounded) (43 page)

We paused as Ritter threw open the door. He stood framed by the hallway, his face somber. His gaze slid over me, almost a physical touch.

I didn’t look away.

Ava stood. “Guess it’s time to go.”

My heartbeat took that moment to increase its pace. I didn’t know if it was because of Ritter or what we were walking into.

R
ITTER AND
I
TOOK THE
backseat again, with Stella shotgun and Ava driving. Ritter carried a handgun, though he knew it’d be taken from him before he was allowed to enter the meeting place.

“Do you have a knife in that bag?” I asked. “One with a leg strap, or whatever you call them.”

“Sheath.” One of his eyebrows rose questioningly. “I have two. Why?”

“I’d like to use one.” I waited for a joke as to my competence with the weapon, and when none came, I felt strangely grateful.

He rummaged in his bag and handed me a dark blue arrangement. “This one might work. It only carries one knife, but the other isn’t adjustable and won’t fit you.”

My eyes went to where his thigh touched mine on the seat, sending pulses of heat that I was trying to ignore. Obviously we were nowhere near the same size.

I unfastened the Velcro attachments. “I’m assuming we’ll have to go through some kind of security before we see Halden. Won’t they think it odd that we’re armed?”

Ritter shook his head. “We told them there’d been trouble with pirates trying to steal the software. Besides, I’m playing the part of a game junkie and they love this stuff.”

I lifted my dress to strap on the knife. I tried to hide my smile as Ritter averted his gaze, his nostrils flaring slightly. But then I couldn’t get the sheath to adjust properly, and it was my turn to blush and look away as his roughened fingers made the adjustments. I wavered between slapping him away and begging him to keep his fingers right where they were.

When the sheath was finally in place, it felt strangely comforting against my skin.

We drove to the outskirts of town until we reached an area dotted with manufacturing plants. Small fields of grass and weeds had sprung up between some of the buildings. It was to one of the more isolated buildings we were heading, a squat, sprawling place with only one floor.

Each of us scanned the area as we strode up the cemented walk to the double front doors. At my side, Ritter was especially tense. He looked good in his dark suit, with his hair combed back from the hard lines of his face, but tiny beads of sweat dotted his forehead. Not a breeze in the air gave relief to the heat.

Ava gave Ritter a sidelong glance. “You think the Emporium’s watching?”

“Our people have been in place for the past three hours. There’s been no sign of them. I don’t know whether to be relieved or more worried. They have to be here. With the information they have, it would be stupid for them not to be.”

“Guess we’ll find out.” Ava opened one of the front doors.

Inside, we were met by two guards and the kind of metal detector I’d seen in airports. We began emptying our belongings into trays. “We’ll have to hold this here for you,” said a balding guard, hefting Ritter’s gun. “Mr. Halden doesn’t allow weapons.” He divested Ritter also of a knife. “Interesting equipment for a programmer,” he commented dryly.

“Game programmer,” Ritter corrected. “I like weapons.”

“Of course.”

Meanwhile, the other guard, an attractive man with golden brown skin and short black dreadlocks, had passed Stella through the metal detector and motioned me over. The machine went off with a loud clang. I stiffened as he approached me. There was something different about him. Something difficult to place. Then I had it. He was Unbounded. Not old Unbounded like Ava and the others—he didn’t quite have that confidence, but he was Unbounded all the same. Newer.

Fear shot through me. Was he from the Emporium?

I glanced at Ava who was awaiting her turn with the balding man, and she nodded at me. Her thoughts were shuttered, but I knew she wanted me to submit to his search. Easy to think, but quite another thing to stand still as the guard waved a wand over me, trying to determine the source of the metal. He found the knife, but to my surprise, he gave a quick flip of his arm and a metal anklet appeared in his palm. “You must have forgotten this,” he said, pretending to unfasten it from my ankle.

“Oh, sorry.” I shrugged delicately.

He was one of ours. My knees felt weak with relief.

The bald man laughed. “Not much of a weapon, but enough to set off the sensors. Better pick it up on your way out, miss.”

“Thank you,” I told the Unbounded guard, stumbling purposefully so I had to reach out and touch him.

He was dark. However new he was, he’d been trained that well at least.

Did that mean he might be a double agent? What if our trust in him was misplaced, as it had been with Laurence? We would have to kill him. If it came down to it, could I kill him to protect the others?

The guard winked and smiled. “You all right?”

I nodded, feeling guilty for my thoughts. I glanced at Ritter, understanding him better than I wanted to.

The bald guard motioned for Ava. “Okay, I’m done with Rambo, here. You can step through.” Ava did so without a problem, and the man added, “Mr. Halden is waiting for you in the room at the end of the hall. I’ll show you where.”

Following the older guard, we walked purposefully down the hall. Ava was smiling, Stella, briefcase in hand, looked poised and beautiful, but Ritter’s expression was grim. I found a smile and pasted it on my face.

“Smile,” I hissed at Ritter. He looked startled for an instant before his lips moved upward at the corners. The effect wasn’t very convincing, but when he took glasses out of the pocket of his shirt and put them on, I thought maybe he could pass. A computer nerd he wasn’t, but there was an obvious intelligence in his eyes.

I didn’t worry too much about his lack of a weapon. I’d seen him in action, and I knew his body was every bit as dangerous as a loaded gun. He glanced over at me, his eyes sliding down to where the knife was pressed against my thigh. That told me he’d been aware of what had happened with the guard. I wasn’t surprised.

Despite my cool dress and the air-conditioned interior of the hallway, I was feeling rather hot under Ritter’s stare.
Adrenaline,
I told myself.

Yeah, right.

Ritter’s gaze left me as the guard knocked on the door. I took a deep breath. Without really meaning to, I sent my thoughts out to my companions. All were dark, even Ava, and I took that as my clue to be careful, but I wouldn’t shut myself up entirely unless I felt threatened. If the Emporium was nearby, they would already know we were inside, and this far from their sensing agent we should be relatively safe. Sensing was the reason I was here, after all.

The door was opened by a stocky man with silver hair. He looked like security, probably loaded to the teeth. Another man stood to the side of the door, younger, but also with the air of security. A third man occupied the space by the window, his face turned away from us, and I knew immediately that this was John Halden. He was tall and thin, with coffee-colored skin and close-cropped black hair generously laced with gray. He wore jeans, Nikes, and a T-shirt with a logo I didn’t recognize. When he turned, I saw a kind but unremarkable face with brown eyes that could have belonged to anyone.

Not at all the cutthroat businessman I’d expected.

He came toward us, hand outstretched. I felt more than saw the guards tense as he greeted us, as if they feared that was the moment we might try something.

Strange how sensing had evolved from disjointed flashes to a function as normal as breathing. Like absorbing. A limb I couldn’t do without. For an absurd moment I wanted to laugh with joy for my newfound ability, like a blind man suddenly given sight. I squelched the emotion quickly, refocusing on Halden who had extended his hand to me.

“Nice to meet you,” he said as Stella made our introduction. He had a generous mouth and with his smile, his face was utterly transformed. I was amazed at the difference between the ordinary man I’d first seen at the window and this man whose magnetism radiated sunlight.

I returned his smile. “My pleasure. I’ve heard a lot about you, and I’m pleased we can finally meet.”

“Thank you for allowing us to reschedule, John,” Ava added.

Halden’s smile faltered, becoming a bit hard. “Well, we can’t always predict life, can we?” I was sure there was a double meaning in the words, but his emotions didn’t reveal what.

Halden motioned us to a large oval table that reminded me eerily of the one at the Emporium headquarters in California. “Please have a seat.”

We did as we were told. He’d arranged it so the wide table was between him and us, and that gave me a sense of unease.

“I have been impressed with your project,” Halden began, directing his gaze at Stella. His appeal went beyond power and magnetism; there was also a sensual energy in the lean lines of his body that he seemed unaware of. “You’re right that it will completely revolutionize the entire gaming world. But there are also many other applications—medicine, education, law enforcement. And much more. I’m looking forward to developing it. When you showed me what your team was up to the last time we met, I was very impressed. Even more so with your latest reports. I’ve never seen anything like your work. We’ll have to talk about whether or not you’re paid enough at your current job.” He smiled to show he was joking, though it was clear from his tone that he wasn’t.

Something squeezed my thigh. Ritter’s hand. I shook my head, as if shaking off the rain. I’d been so focused on Halden that I had no idea how long Ritter’s hand had been on my thigh, which was strange because now that I was aware of it, my nerves were screaming at the contact.

Ritter’s chin lifted toward Ava and Stella. The women’s eyes were fixed on Halden, more caught up in him than they should be. Like I’d been. No wonder Halden had been so successful over the years. His magnetism was inescapable.

I glanced at Ritter and saw his eyes go to a second door to the room, located behind Halden. It was slightly ajar.

Something was wrong. Not just the door, but in Halden’s demeanor, in his single-minded focus on his words. He was hiding something. I tried delving deeper into his mind, but besides a high level of anticipation, there was no clue to what he planned. Either he simply wasn’t thinking about it, which I didn’t believe for an instant, or someone had warned him not to think of anything he didn’t want us to know.

But who?

I tried to probe further, but was rewarded only by a dull pain in my skull. I wondered if Ava was having better luck.

“I’m very happy where I am,” Stella assured Halden. I was glad to see his eyes linger on the soft curves of her face. At least he wasn’t immune to her charms. I wondered if there was a woman in his life.

“Too bad for me, I guess.”

Checking first to make sure the guards weren’t watching me, I pulled up the skirt of my dress enough to free the knife and pass it to Ritter. He could do far more damage with it than I could. To my surprise, he pushed it back, shaking his head almost imperceptibly.

“So the trade is acceptable to you?” Stella asked. “Of course, we’ll want reassurances that you will not replicate the identification technology. We will do the same for our virtual reality program.”

Halden hesitated. “I’m sorry, but there has been a complication. I can no longer trade, yet I would like to buy your technology from you. I promise to make it worth your while.”

Ava blinked once as the information set in. “No.”

“That was not the deal,” Stella added. “I didn’t put so much sweat into this project to give it away for money. We need the identification technology.”

Halden arched a brow. “Need? That’s a pretty strong word.” He leaned forward. “And the thing is, it seems you’re not the only ones who need it.”

“You have another offer?” Ava’s voice was curt.

“Actually, I do.” He nodded to a guard, who walked to the partially open door behind Halden and motioned to someone we couldn’t see.

Next to me Ritter’s body was coiled, ready for action. Stella’s face paled, and I wondered if it was fear or if the Unbounded experienced morning sickness. Everyone was standing now, except me. My eyes riveted on the door.

Stefan Carrington was the first to emerge, followed by Justine Carver, my once-best-friend. I should have known. Only Unbounded could have warned Halden about guarding his thoughts. With Stefan and Justine was the large-nosed Edgel who had operated on my leg at Cort’s. They sauntered into the room, confident as though they owned the place. I had the urge to tug off Justine’s auburn wig out of spite, but even if I did, it wouldn’t expose the rot in her heart.

The last person emerged, and I bit my lip to keep from crying out.

Cort!

He looked healthy, though rather frayed around the edges. His face sported a quickly fading bruise, his slacks were ill-fitting, and his white shirt rumpled. After the disaster at Emporium headquarters, he must have flown all night to get here. But he was alive.