The Spy Is Cast Read online

He shook his head. “No joke. I used to work out a lot, but I got away from it. I didn’t know how fuckin’ fat an’ lazy I’d got ‘til ya wore me out this spring. And knowin’ how your husband died, well, shit… That ain’t a bad way to go, if ya gotta go, but I’d rather stick around an’ enjoy it.”

  He stepped close again, stroking his strong fingers through my hair. His raspy voice deepened. “I’m ready to rock your hot body all night long now, darlin’.”

  I ran a shaky hand over his chest. “I had no complaints before.”

  “Wait’ll ya test-drive the new model.”

  His hand slipped behind my head, and he kissed me slowly. Goddamn, I’d almost forgotten how good his kisses were. By the time he pulled back a fraction, I was plastered against him, ardently exploring the hard new contours of his arms and torso.

  A bar patron walked by us on her way to the washroom, disapproval written on her face. Hellhound chuckled.

  “Ya want me.” His voice slid into that deep growl that never failed to light a fire in a very wet place. “Ya want me bad.”

  I slid my arms around his neck, purring hungrily. “Oh, Hellhound, oh baby, you want to know what I’m going do to you?”

  I whispered a detailed description, brushing my lips against his ear and moving sensuously against him. The heat of his next kiss left me breathless, the touch of his magic tongue sweeping me away in a wave of lust. I had very happy memories of that tongue.

  I was reminding myself we were in a public place when Nichele’s voice intruded again. “Aydan, your wings are here. Are you coming?”

  “Not quite yet,” I mumbled against Arnie’s lips. “But I have high hopes.” I pulled away far enough to see his grin. Nichele smirked and rolled her eyes before disappearing around the corner again.

  “I’m supposed to be having lunch with Nichele,” I whispered. “What are you doing later?”

  He gave a start and glanced at his watch. “Shit!”

  “Shit, what?”

  “Darlin’, I gotta go. I’m gonna be late for a job.”

  “P.I. stuff?”

  “Yeah.”

  I let my fingers wander down his chest, heading south. “Skip it. I’ll make it worth your while.” His eyes dilated as I toyed with the button on his jeans. “Come on,” I whispered. “You know you want to.”

  He groaned and caught my hand as he stepped away, his gaze locked on me. “Ya got no idea how much I want to,” he assured me hoarsely. “But no can do. For you, I’d blow off just about anythin’, but this one I can’t.”

  “When will you be done?”

  “Dunno, darlin’. I’m goin’ outta town. Could be days.”

  Dismay and frustration splashed over me like cold water. “You’re kidding me, right?”

  He shook his head, his regret obvious. “If it was any other client, I’d say to hell with it, but this one I can’t.” He met my eyes meaningfully.

  “Goddammit. Kane. He’s got you doing surveillance out by Bragg Creek.”

  Hellhound’s face went expressionless. “What d’ya know about that?”

  I shrugged and shook my head. “Can’t tell you. Son of a bitch, Kane owes me big for this. Dammit.”

  His forehead furrowed with concern. “Aydan, are ya… You’re not in any danger this time, are ya?”

  “Not that I know of at the moment.”

  He blew out a sigh. “Good. Shit, I gotta go. And I ain’t gonna kiss ya again, ‘cause I won’t be able to stop if I do.” He squeezed my hand. “Take care. I wanna see ya again. Soon. I’ll call ya when I can.”

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Be careful out there. And ride safe.”

  “Always do, darlin’.”

  He slung his jacket on and strode out the door, and the fat rumble of his Harley faded into the distance moments later.

  I trailed disconsolately into the bathroom and washed my hands. When I got back to the table, I threw myself onto the sofa and glowered at my wings.

  Nichele smirked at me. “Got your Eggs Benny heated up again?”

  “All hot and juicy, and nobody to eat it,” I growled.

  “Eeeeuuuuwww!” She clapped her hands over her ears. “That metaphor went ‘way too far!”

  “If you don’t want to know, don’t ask.”

  “Oh, I want to know,” she assured me eagerly. “What’s with you and this Arnie guy? He calls you darling? You never mentioned him before, are you holding out on me? Or are you just coming onto him because you didn’t get lucky with that big hot hunk o’ man last night? And why didn’t you just go ahead jump John? He is definitely into you, girl! Or… have you got a thing going with Arnie already? Are you doing both of them?”

  I bit into a wing, waiting for the barrage to cease. When I could get a word in edgewise, I attempted to answer with as few details as possible.

  “I’m not doing either of them at the moment. Unfortunately. I told you, John is off limits. Business. And I’m pretty sure Arnie calls all women ‘darling’. Saves him the trouble of remembering their names in the morning. Not that I’d care by then.” My eyes unfocused slightly at the memory.

  “You did do him! When? What was he like? I want details!”

  I had to throw her a bone. My preference would have been a chicken bone to the head, but that would only delay the inevitable. Besides, I knew Hellhound wouldn’t object to having his reputation boosted.

  “Arnie’s a musician, among other things. He plays guitar and harmonica. Think hands, lips, tongue, and rhythm. He’s got a mighty fine instrument, too.” I gazed into middle distance for a few seconds of juicy reminiscence. “That man knows how to make music.”

  “Oooo, when you put it that way…”

  I wiggled my eyebrows at her. “If you ever get the chance…”

  “Eeuw,” she interrupted. “In the first place, he’s ugly. In the second place, he’s yours.”

  “I was going to say, ‘if you ever get the chance, try a musician’,” I said with dignity. “And he’s not mine. He’s just a friend.” I leered at her. “A friend with a great benefits package.”

  “And anyway,” I added, feeling a little put out on Arnie’s behalf, “Looks aren’t everything. All you ever go for are pretty boys in suits. You don’t know what you’re missing.”

  “I’m missing waking up to a scary-looking guy.”

  “You’re so shallow.”

  “You have no standards, girl.”

  We grinned at each other, our well-worn exchange as familiar as our own faces. I lounged back in the couch and nibbled some more wings, hoping question period was over. Seeing Nichele’s avid face, I knew I wouldn’t get off that easily.

  She leaned forward. “So…?”

  “So?”

  Nichele blew out a short breath. “Jeez-Louise! It’s like getting blood from a stone! Give, girl! You really like Arnie, I can tell. That ‘looks aren’t everything’ sounds serious.”

  I shook my head. “Absolutely not serious. You know I’m permanently done with the whole relationship thing. I like him, yeah. He’s a good guy.”

  I paused, remembering his gentleness with my battered body and spirit in the spring. So unlike his tough-guy appearance. I smiled.

  “And the best thing about him is, he’s only interested in one thing. Getting laid. No strings attached.”

  “So, are you going to hook up with Arnie later? You guys were scorching the paint in the hallway something serious, girl. Or are you going to see John again?” She leaned forward, her face alight with lecherous anticipation. “Or both?”

  “Don’t you have a life?”

  “Yeah, but it’s more fun to dig into yours.”

  With as much finality as I could muster, I responded, “Arnie just went out of town. He doesn’t know when he’ll be back. John is working, and I probably won’t see him again in the foreseeable future. I have to be back in Silverside to see clients this week. If you’re looking for cheap thrills, you’ll have to look somewhere else. ‘Cause there sur
e as hell aren’t going to be any in my life for a while.”

  “Well, girl, that just sucks.”

  “Tell me about it. Now I need to go work out again.”

  The conversation finally turned to more general topics, and I finished my wings with relief.

  Nichele and I lingered on the sidewalk in front of Kelly’s, laughing and bantering for a few more minutes before we parted. I headed for my car smiling, my earlier frustration diminished by good food and Nichele’s upbeat conversation.

  The sun hammered the parking lot, and I was sweating before I even reached the car. As I keyed open the car door and slid into the oven-like interior, my breath caught in my throat. I sprang out of the car and staggered a few steps away, gasping and choking on chemical fumes.

  When I’d recovered sufficiently, I wiped my streaming eyes and opened the passenger door as well. The breeze gradually cleared the interior, and at last I leaned in to study the damage.

  My heart sank when I pinpointed the source of the smell. I opened the shopping bag with reluctant hands.

  “Shit!”

  I’d been so careful, too. I’d wrapped the makeup and hairspray in a separate shopping bag before placing it in the bag containing the dress. But in the heat of the car, the hairspray had leaked. And dissolved part of the bag. Which was now permanently embedded in the gooey mess that used to be an expensive dress.

  Son of a bitch.

  Chapter 15

  On the drive home, my brain chewed at what I knew of the situation at Harchman’s while the highway unrolled in front of me.

  Harchman must be broadcasting the network throughout his property. Or was it confined to only the building site? And what the heck could he be using it for?

  I didn’t think operating a network of that type was illegal in itself, although I couldn’t imagine how Harchman could have obtained such highly classified technology by legal means. I guessed Spider and his fellow analysts would be digging to discover its origins.

  I sighed, worrying about Kane and Hellhound and the rest of the team. It would only take one wrong move. Fuzzy Bunny played for keeps.

  I thought wistfully back to before I knew any of this. I had been so happily ignorant.

  Now, in a way, being disconnected from the action was worse than being the middle of it. Four months ago I’d been terrified, but at least I’d known what was happening. Would anybody even think to notify me if one of the team was injured or killed?

  I wrenched my mind away to more reassuring thoughts. Hellhound was a civilian private investigator, as well as Kane’s lifelong friend. I knew Kane had hired him before for other situations that didn’t warrant putting a trained agent on the job. Kane wouldn’t knowingly put Arnie in the line of fire. Maybe it wasn’t as dangerous as I was imagining.

  Letting that thought ease the tension in my shoulders, I sighed again and tried to let it go. Worrying wouldn’t help them anyway.

  At home, I tried to ignore my nagging sensation of dread while I got on with my regular routine.

  Tuesday morning, I arrived at Blue Eddy’s promptly at ten o’clock and let myself in the back door with the key he’d given me. The merry sound of the piano made my face split into a grin. Ragtime today. The music skipped and danced down the hallway and so did I.

  One of the many benefits of working for Eddy was that he came in early, ostensibly to get everything ready for opening at eleven o’clock. In fact, he usually spent the time playing the piano, and I was the happy beneficiary of his efforts.

  He looked up with a smile as I came in. “Hi, Aydan!”

  His fingers never missed a beat. I was willing to swear his hands were capable of making music without any input from his brain at all. I envied his gift hopelessly.

  I grinned at him. “Hey, Eddy! Have I ever told you that you’re my favourite client?”

  Quite apart from his musical talent, Eddy’s quick thinking back in March was the only reason I still had all my body parts. He didn’t know exactly what he’d saved me from and he never would, but I was eternally grateful.

  He finished the piece, walking the bass home while I beamed at him. “No. But it’s sure nice to hear.”

  He returned my grin and turned back to the keyboard, and I retired to his cramped office to do the week’s entries. I had been working steadily at the desk for about forty-five minutes when my phone rang. I picked it up, abstracted.

  “Hello, Aydan speaking.”

  “Hey, Aydan, it’s Spider.”

  I shook myself free of the train of thought I’d been following. “Hi, Spider, what’s up?”

  “Can you come over to the office this afternoon?”

  “Um.” I glanced at my watch, figuring out times. “I’m at Eddy’s right now, and then I need to grab lunch and head over to the sex shop. I’ll be a couple of hours there…”

  A strangled noise on the other end of the line made me pause. “Spider? You okay?”

  I heard the phone hit something hard on the other end, and desperate choking sounds receded from the speaker. Cold fear ripped through me as I bolted to my feet.

  “Spider! Spider! Are you okay? Spider!”

  Choked gasps sounded faintly through my phone, and I dashed out of Eddy’s office, fumbling one-handed for my keys while I flew down the hall.

  Bellowing Spider’s name into the phone, I burst out the door and ran for my car. Just as I reached it, a hoarse wheeze came from the phone.

  “I’m okay.”

  I sagged against my car, gasping relief. “Jesus, Spider, what the fuck? You scared the shit out of me!”

  Eddy rushed out the door, his face tense. I put the phone against my shoulder and spoke to him. “It’s okay. False alarm.” He halted and clutched his chest theatrically before turning back to the building with a relieved smile.

  “Spider! What happened?” I demanded.

  “I choked on my Coke,” he replied sheepishly, his voice still croaky.

  “Christ! I thought somebody was strangling you!”

  “Sorry. That’s what it felt like, too. Where did you say you were going? It sounded like you said ‘sex shop’.”

  “I did.”

  “Um.” Silence lengthened, and I imagined his crimson face. “Aydan, that’s, um… a little too much information.”

  I chuckled. “They’re one of my bookkeeping clients. I thought you knew. Sorry, I didn’t mean to shock you.”

  He rallied quickly. “I’m not shocked. I mean… whatever. I just… it was just the way you said it.”

  With difficulty, I contained my laughter. I heaved myself off the car and headed back into Eddy’s, continuing the conversation as casually as I could. “I’ll be there until about three-thirty or so. I could be at your office around four. Will that work?”

  “That’ll be fine. See you then.” He hung up quickly, and I flopped back into the chair in Eddy’s office, giving in to a long belly laugh. Eddy poked his head in the door a few moments later as I sprawled there, gasping and giggling.

  “What was that all about?”

  I shook my head feebly. “Sorry, I’m just blowing off some adrenaline. That was Clyde Webb. We were talking and he choked on his Coke. I thought he was dying or something.”

  True, but incomplete. Eddy didn’t need to know I’d been afraid Spider wasn’t strangling of his own accord.

  Eddy grinned. “Thank goodness. You scared me, rushing out of here like the place was on fire.”

  “Sorry,” I repeated. “I’ll smack him for both of us when I see him.”

  He laughed and went back to the bar while I returned to the papers I’d scattered in my mad flight.

  On the dot of one o’clock, I strolled into Up & Coming. The seductive smell of warm chocolate tickled my nose as soon as I walked in and I scanned the store, trying to pinpoint its source.

  A curvy, diminutive woman stood with her back to me while she reached up to arrange lingerie on one of the shelves, wobbling slightly on high, booted heels. Her feet were so tiny t
hat if the heels had been any higher, she’d have been en pointe. The display lighting gleamed off her tight brown leather pantsuit and lit her short, spiky platinum-blonde hair like a halo. When she turned, I gasped at the sight of the sweet, lined face surmounting bodacious if somewhat wrinkled cleavage.

  “Lola?”

  “Hi, Aydan,” she greeted me in her throaty voice.

  I stared. “Wow, you look amazing! What happened to the delicate little lady with the white hair and pink ruffled blouse?”

  She laughed. “Been there, done that. It was fun while it lasted. Some of my 1-900 customers really got off on it. But it was time for a change.”

  “Some change! I love your hair, it’s a great style and colour on you.”

  “Thanks. I was going to go red like yours, but you can’t get that colour out of a bottle.”

  I laughed. “Yeah, I don’t think they make hair dye with this much grey in it.”

  “You hardly have any grey, honey. Your hair still looks completely red in this light.”

  “Thanks.” I sniffed again, pinpointing the chocolate smell. “Is that you?”

  “Yes, I was at a trade show in Vegas last week, and I picked this up. Scented leather. It smells better the warmer it gets. Imagine some big, hot hunk wearing nothing but a chocolate-scented thong.”

  Kane came immediately to mind and I could feel my jaw slackening.

  Lola shot me a wicked grin. “I see you get the picture.”

  I shook myself. “Thanks for nothing. Now I have to go take a cold shower.” Curiosity got the better of me. “Does it come in any other scents?”

  “Black is licorice. There’s another shade of brown that’s coffee-scented. Cherry red. Blue raspberry. Oh, and look what else I brought back!” She reached behind the counter and brought out a pair of thigh-high black leather boots loaded with buckles, fringe, and vicious stiletto heels.

  I laughed. “Lola, you could fit your whole body inside those things.”

  “I know, but I couldn’t resist bringing a couple of pairs back. We’re going to carry the line on our website, and I needed some samples. I got a pair in your size. There wasn’t any point in getting them for myself. Or for Linda. Her legs are as short as mine. Here, try them on.”