Angela

She woke to the sound of her phone going ballistic. The constant vibrating on the little plastic end table next to her bed was incessant.

In her sleep-addled state the best she could manage was a “Whadafuggll?” as she reached for the phone to see who it was. It was Noah. She tried to answer it, but she must have caught it on the last ring because it went silent before she could press the green button. But her phone lit up with the missed call notification.

Except there wasn’t one missed call. She had ten of them, all from Noah, along with double that in text messages.

Something’s wrong.

Immediately she was more awake, and when his next call came in she answered it right away.

“Hello?”

“Finally!” he said, his voice tight.

“This had better be good,” she warned, not impressed by his greeting.

Noah told her all about his encounter with Chase, how he was now confined to his room, unable to be there.

“So that’s what you called me about? To tell me that you got grounded?” She glanced back at the night stand. “It’s one thirty in the morning, Noah. Couldn’t this have waited until, I don’t know, seven, or even eight?”

“No,” he growled. “It couldn’t. I think he’s up to something. Don’t you get it? Chase is the spy! He’s threatening you, and now I can’t be there to protect you!”

“Nothing that he said in that conversation indicated he was the spy,” she said tiredly. “It sounded like he was trying to do what you are, but just clumsy and inept.”

There was a pause on the other end. “Maybe,” Noah said at last. “That would explain why he agreed to the punishment, without speaking up.”

She sighed. “Why would the spy do something so obvious like that? Think Noah. I’m half-asleep and even I can see this. It was a bumbling move by an amateur trying to sleuth something out. Nothing more.”

“I’m not sure I believe that,” he told her. “I’m uncomfortable with you being alone.”

There was genuine worry in his voice. Not overprotectiveness like she’d expected, but an actual show of emotion. He hadn’t ordered her to go somewhere, or to come to him, which she knew would have resulted in her simply ignoring him. No, instead he’d told her that he was uncomfortable with the idea. It put his feelings on the table, but left the decision in her court.

Angela blew air out between her lips.

“Would you feel better if we went and stayed with Rachel?”

The relief in Noah’s voice was so strong she thought it was going to reach out through the phone. “Yes, very much so.” There was a pause. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

“You’ve got one week,” she told him. “Figure out what’s going on, and when you can finally play your get-out-of-jail-free card, you end this, understand? No more games. If you have to, you go to Gray and you tell him all you know. I’ll back you up.”

“I can’t do that,” he said. “You know that. Unless I have concrete proof, it won’t do anything to convince him that I’m not the spy. He can’t take that risk, and we all know it. If he wasn’t directly affected by it, then I would, you know that. But I have to do this, Angela, on my own.”

“You’re not alone,” she reassured him. “You have me.”

The phone rumbled with his growl. “I know. For that, I am very thankful.”

“You’d better be,” she teased, knowing full well she was just as grateful to have him.

“I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

“You won’t lose me,” she reassured him. “I promise.”

There was only silence on the other end, but she could hear him breathing.

“I’ll call Rachel and wake her. But don’t think she’ll forgive you as easily for disturbing her slumber as I will.”

Noah laughed. “No, probably not. But she will understand, and I will just have to take solace in that.”

Despite her tiredness, and the sliver of worry his phone call had awoken in her, Angela laughed as well. “That’s true.” She grew serious. “You be careful, Noah. Okay? Find out what the hell is going on, and put an end to it. But you do so carefully, got it?”

“I’ll be careful.”

They both knew he was lying.

“I’m going to go get ready now,” she said, not wanting to discuss it anymore. “I’ll text you when I get to Rachel’s safely.”

“Call me instead, please,” he requested. “Just…so I know it’s you. I know it’s paranoid, but please humor me on this.”

Angela shrugged mentally. What did it cost her to call him? Nothing, really. “I can do that,” she promised. “I’ve got to go now.”

“I know.”

“Talk to you soon,” she said, reaching for the end button.

“Angela, wait!”

“Yes?” She perked up at his tone. What was he going to say?

“I…” he started to say, then fell silent.

Waiting, she listened to the struggle on the other end of the phone, of his attempts to say whatever it was he was going to say. In the end, she could tell he lost the inner war. Part of him obviously wanted to say more, but he couldn’t get the words out.

“Thank you,” he said at last.

“You’re welcome, but for what?”

“For believing in me when nobody else does. You’ve been willing to trust me this entire time, giving me the fullest amount of your own confidence. I…well, saying I appreciate it just doesn’t do justice to how I feel about that.” She heard him swallow. “I just wanted you to know that.”

Angela grinned. She had an inkling on what it was he had struggled to say, but though she longed to hear it, to speak the words herself, she agreed. Now wasn’t the right time. But what he had said was lovely in its own right.

“I’m glad,” she said. “Just don’t do anything that might make me regret giving you that trust. It’s freely given until it’s broken.”

“I promise never to do anything to endanger that trust,” he said solemnly and without hesitation.

“I know. Now I’m going to go call Rachel and then a cab. I’ll talk to you soon.”

They hung up and she looked over at the crib where her son was thankfully sleeping peacefully. So much for a good night’s rest. Heaving herself to her feet, she stretched. Moving to the bathroom, she splashed some water on her face and then dialed Rachel’s number, holding the phone between her shoulder and ear while she started to pack a bag.

It took only two rings before Rachel picked up.

“What are you doing up at this hour?” was the greeting she received.

“Hello to you too,” Angela replied. “What are you doing up?”

“Feeding.”

“Ah. Right. Well, I have a surprise for you.”

Rachel wasn’t too enthused. “Oh joy. At this time of night it must be a fun one.”

“Oh yeah. We’re coming to visit.”

“Okay, I’m free tomorrow. But why are you calling me now to tell me this? What if I was asleep?”

“Well,” Angela said. “That would be because I’m not coming tomorrow. I’m coming now.”

“Run that by me one more time,” Rachel said.

“Something went down at the embassy today with Noah and one of the other new guards. He’s confined to quarters, and he thinks things are starting to move. He said he was uncomfortable with me being alone. So I told him I’d come stay with you.”

Rachel made a noise of understanding. “Okay, see you soon. You know where the spare key is. I can’t promise I’ll still be up. The spare room is all ready, crib’s still there too of course. If you need anything, help yourself. You know where it all is.”

“Thank you. We’ll be quiet.”

“Yep. Be safe,” Rachel said, then they hung up.

Angela was lucky to have a friend like Rachel. Never once had she asked what was going on, or why Angela had to arrive at such an ungodly hour. Her friend needed her, and she was going to be there for Angela. It was that simple. The hour of the morning did not matter, though it certainly had made it easier that she was already awake.

With her bag packed, and a bag for Cooper as well, she called a cab. Only then while she was waiting did she glance outside. It was snowing heavily. Three inches at least had already fallen, and the pure white of the sky told her it wasn’t likely to stop any time soon.

“Oh lovely.”

She let Cooper sleep until the last possible moment, only waking him when the cab finally pulled up front, windshield wipers slowly going back and forth, clearing the window of the big, wet flakes of snow that constantly landed on it. She woke him, bundling him gently in winter clothing and gathering up all her stuff. With the help of the cab driver, a delightful older gentleman, she got everything stowed, carseat fixed, and everything ready to go.

“Thank you so much,” she said as they headed off into the storm at a painfully slow rate.

“You’re very welcome, miss,” he said cheerfully, peering through the glass.

“It’s bad out,” she remarked.

“Very. But don’t you worry, I’ll get you there in one piece.”

She settled back into the seat, reassured by the man’s confidence. They took the roads slowly, only speeding up slightly in the inner “core” of Cloud Lake, where the streets were somewhat more traveled and ruts had already been worn for the tires. But they slowed again once they passed through that, headed for the north end of town.

The driver took a corner and the car started to slide around it. She panicked and sat upright stiffly, but the driver just chuckled as they came to a halt halfway through the intersection, straddling the lanes going both ways.

“Nothing to worry about, ma’am. Not at this time of night at least,” he said, giving it a little gas. The winter tires crunched over snow and they started forward once more, getting into the proper lane. The driver looked over his shoulder and flashed her a reassuring grin.

At the same moment the headlights stopped piercing the snow, showing only a wall of white. For an instant she thought it was a whiteout so bad they would have to simply stop and wait. But then the snow moved, and she realized it wasn’t snow at all, but a gargantuan polar bear rearing up in front of them.

Angela screamed. A paw the size of an extra-large pizza slammed into the side of the car. The lack of traction and the sudden shift in direction sent them into a spin. The driver was yelling and trying to slam on the brakes, but that was the wrong move. The spin got worse.

A roar sounded from behind them and Angela turned to see the polar bear come charging out of the snow-darkened night, giving the car another slam from the back. Cooper began to wail and she joined her son as the car went off the edge of the road and down into the ditch.

She slammed forward into the seat, and blackness claimed her.