Chapter 28
“Do you have any lube?” Kane growled, his voice rough with hunger while his gaze flicked meaningfully toward my purse.
“I… I…” Swallowing hard, I rummaged through it. “Um… I don’t know… Maybe.”
He moved closer so that when I activated the bug detector inside my purse we could both see the flashing red light.
“Is it in your luggage?” he prompted.
“Uh…”
“Go and check. I’ll be right there.”
He turned to ransack his suitcase, and after an instant of dazed incomprehension, I brained up and hurried back down the hall.
Stepping inside my room, I checked the bug detector again. Solid green light.
“What the hell?” I muttered.
As I stood staring at it, the green light changed to red. A long interval stretched between the first and second flash, then shorter between the second and third, followed by shorter and shorter intervals as though it was a timer counting down to an explosion…
A thump on the door made me bite back a cry and spin, my hand swooping toward my holster. More thumps followed, and I gasped a silent breath of relief when I realized it was Kane knocking.
And the bug detector was flashing the same rapid cadence as when we had stood here together.
He was bugged.
“Dammit,” I breathed, afraid to speak aloud in case the bug was sensitive enough to hear me through the door. “I’ll be right there,” I called, then stood immobilized in thought.
Was it only an audio bug, or video as well? Was it even possible to make a camera small enough to hide on a person without their knowledge?
Or maybe he knew about it. Was he intentionally wearing or carrying a recording device? Was he working undercover? If so, for whom? It couldn’t be for the Department; Stemp would have briefed me if he’d known…
Kane knocked again. “Hurry up… or have you changed your mind?” he asked playfully.
I gulped. “Sorry, I’m coming…”
No, I sure as hell wasn’t coming. Not tonight, and not with him. But I still needed to keep up appearances for the sake of our audience. And having him in my bed might keep me from screaming in my sleep. Maybe.
I drew a deep breath and opened the door.
He stepped inside and swept me into another embrace, and a few more scorching kisses weakened my resolve.
I trusted him, didn’t I? He wouldn’t make me the unwitting star of yet another humiliating porn video. If he knew we were under video surveillance he wouldn’t undress me.
…Would he?
His fingers fumbled at the front of my blouse, unbuttoning it down to my waist. Kicking off his shoes beside the door, he walked me slowly backward across the huge room, kissing me all the way.
The backs of my knees hit the bed and I sat abruptly. He rolled onto the bed beside me, pulling me over on top of him.
“What did you find in that giant purse of yours?” he inquired huskily.
Somehow I managed a teasing grin. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” I opened the purse slowly as if tantalizing him, and reached inside.
When the red light of the bug detector flashed, I gaped at it.
Slower cadence. The bug was farther away.
Inspiration hit.
“Here, you dig for it,” I instructed, passing Kane the purse and palming the bug detector. “I forgot to lock the door.”
Hopping off the bed, I hurried toward Kane’s shoes. As I turned the deadbolt lock with a heavy clunk, I swooped the bug detector down toward the shoes. Sure enough, the light glowed solid red.
“Oh, gross, there’s a giant spider!” I yelped.
Kane was off the bed in an instant. “Where?”
“It went under your shoe!” I raised my voice to a frantic squawk, gesturing with the hand that held the bug detector. “Oh! There it goes! God, I hate spiders! Squish it!”
Kane dropped to his knees, turning his shoes this way and that. Tucked unobtrusively near one of the tongues we spotted the small electronic dot.
Kane dropped the shoe upside-down, likely making our listeners wince in pain. I spared an uncharitable hope that they were wearing headphones and they’d just lost an eardrum or two.
“Got it!” Kane exclaimed. “Wow, it’s a big one. Hand me a tissue and I’ll flush it.”
I bent, holding the bug detector next to the shoe. It still glowed solid red, but at least now I knew it was audio-only.
I slumped in relief. Nobody was watching us.
As I reached for the bugged shoe, Kane clamped a hand on my wrist. Surprised, I looked up to see his headshake. He waited for my nod of understanding before releasing me, then strode across to the bathroom. A moment later the toilet flushed and he returned, smiling.
“Now, where were we?” he asked, his voice deepening into a seductive rumble.
“Um…” I hesitated.
He had known he was bugged. So who was on the other end? I imagined somebody like Holt listening with cynical amusement, and the memory of his knowing grin dried up the last vestiges of my desire.
“That was, um… kind of a buzzkill,” I mumbled. “I really hate spiders.”
“Oh.” Kane managed to infuse the syllable with a heavy dose of disappointment. “Well, now I hate spiders, too.” He heaved a sigh, then ducked back into the bathroom to emerge moments later with a bottle of the rich lotion that was one of the guesthouse’s many amenities. “Come and lie down.” He rolled the bottle between his fingers, giving me a look that sizzled with invitation. “I’ll give you a massage that’ll make you forget that spider ever existed.”
“If you can do that, I’ll be amazed.”
“Prepare to be amazed.” He led me toward the bed.
“Actually…” I halted a few paces away and rebuttoned my blouse. “I’ll take you up on that a bit later. I need to do some work, and then a massage will feel twice as good.”
I reached for the small pad of paper and pen that lay beside the suite’s phone, but Kane forestalled my attempt at written communication by sweeping me into another kiss.
Frustrated, I pulled away just far enough to mouth, “Why not?” at him.
He gave an almost-imperceptible headshake, and kissed me again before turning me loose.
“All right,” he said aloud. “I’ll give you half an hour, but after that you’re mine. You work too hard. It’s time to play a bit.”
I channelled Arlene Widdenback the hardass. “I’m not yours or anybody else’s, and I’ll work as long as I want.” His smile faded into an unreadable mask, and I added teasingly, “It likely won’t be more than half an hour anyway, and after that you’re mine. Go warm up that bed.”
“Hmm.” The seductive rumble was back. “I see we need to review the power structure here. You can have your half hour. But after that…” His voice deepened and hardened to a tone of effortless dominance that chased a shiver down my spine. “…you will be mine.”
“We’ll see about that.” My words came out in a feeble croak and I turned away to set up my laptop, hoping he couldn’t see my hands shaking.
Dammit, what game was he playing?
My stomach dropped in sudden realization. Of course; he was playing the bad-guy role I had assigned to him ‘way back when we had first gone undercover at Harchman’s nearly a year and a half ago. My own damning words replayed in my brain.
He forced me to do the most perverted things, you can’t imagine. And he hurt me…
Oh, shit.
With Kane’s veiled threat echoing in my brain and his silent presence looming on the bed behind me, I spent several minutes staring blankly at the screen before I recovered enough presence of mind to concentrate. Finally I gave my head a shake and considered Kane’s actions.
If he didn’t want to take a chance on communicating in writing, that must mean he still suspected we were being watched.
Chilly fingers of fear brushed my spine.
From where? And by whom?
But we couldn’t be. I had cleared the room. There was no wall or panel that could conceal non-electronic surveillance; and if Kane was tagged with any other bugs, the bug detector would have maintained its fast cadence close to him. The audio-only shoe bug had to be the only one.
So why the hell wasn’t he trying harder to communicate with me? He knew damn well I was in the middle of an op and I’d need all available intel.
And why was he here at all when he had been so adamant about being there for Daniel? It was well past eight o’clock. Daniel would be screaming for his father…
I sneaked a glance over to where Kane reclined comfortably on the bed, arms tucked behind his head.
Watching me, with a tiny smile quirking the corner of his mouth.
Unnerved, I turned back to my screen and pretended to read.
He had been a top agent. He must know what he was doing; I just had to trust him.
Just trust him and concentrate on my mission.
I squared my shoulders. Time to go looking for a brainwave-driven virtual reality network, if there was one.
Then I stared at the screen some more, procrastinating while I tried to screw up my courage. If there was a network and I got into it, coming out was going to hurt like hell. And what if I discovered another horrific torture simulation in progress?
A shudder shook me.
A touch on my shoulder made me start and corkscrew around to discover Kane’s concerned face behind me. “How’s it going?” he inquired, with the subtext of ‘Are you okay?’ clear in his expression.
I blew out a breath that was half relief, half tension. “Not great.”
“Why don’t you lie down for a while?” he offered. “I’ll give you a massage and then you can go back to work with a fresh eye.”
Inspiration dawned. When I came out of the network I could muffle my pain-filled obscenities in the pillow. I gave him a grateful “Okay” and headed for the bed.
As I was about to lie down, strong hands landed on my shoulders and the heat of Kane’s body warmed my back. “Just slip off your blouse,” he coaxed, brushing a few convincing kisses down the side of my neck. “Here…”
He unbuttoned my blouse and eased it off my shoulders.
“Um… thanks…” I pulled away and flopped facedown on the bed, hoping with all my heart that I was right and nobody was watching.
Squirming into a comfortable position, I bunched the pillow under the side of my face so I wouldn’t suffocate when my body went slack on entering the virtual network. The mattress dipped as Kane swung astride my hips, settling himself lightly.
But if he wanted to immobilize me, he could do it in an instant by simply shifting his weight…
I swallowed hard and fought the irrational fear. This was Kane. I had trusted him with my life over and over. I could trust him now.
“You won’t need your bra, either,” he murmured, unhooking it.
Twisting around, I shot him a look over my shoulder. He gave me a tiny calm-down wink in return. Nothing to worry about. Just playing to the audience.
I settled myself again, mortifying memories of my fake porn-star career making me cringe inwardly. If we were being recorded and this hit the internet, I’d have to move to a mountain in Tibet that was only accessible by yak-train…
Kane warmed a small amount of lotion between his palms before applying it to my back in long smooth strokes.
It didn’t take any acting ability to react appreciatively. “Ohhhh… my… God… That feels so good…” I groaned and sank deeper into the luxurious bedding, remembering not to bury my face in the pillow in case I smothered.
As his stroking changed to gentle kneading, I allowed myself a few moments to drift in sheer bliss. Then my eyes popped open.
“What?” Kane asked.
“Uh?”
“You tensed up.”
“Oh. Sorry. Just thinking…” I subsided on the pillow again as he switched back to long relaxing strokes.
Eyes wide, I checked and re-checked the logic of the plan I’d just hatched. If Harchman was running an internal virtual reality network, and if his other internal networks were accessible from it, I might be able to knock out the surveillance cameras covering the route to the server room. And if I did have to sneak down there, I had just figured out how to conceal my departure from my room, too.
But I really didn’t want to implement my plan…
Stop procrastinating.
I closed my eyes and sought the familiar white void, concentrating on being invisible.
When I stepped into it, my virtual stomach clenched. Damn Harchman. I had been clinging to the hope that I wouldn’t find anything. That I wouldn’t have to make the perilous trek to the server room at all.
But no; the little shit was running an unauthorized brainwave-driven network, and now I had to find out why.
I eyed the featureless white corridor that represented the network and swallowed hard. The doors that lined the virtual corridor each gave access to a simulation that might or might not be active. What was inside?
Innocent spa users?
Kinky porn?
Gruesome torture and violent death?
Steeling myself for what I might find, I drifted soundlessly to the first door and willed a small transparent window into it. A quick peek inside revealed only a blank white room.
I let out a virtual breath that I didn’t actually need to draw or release, and drifted to the next door to repeat the process.
Then the next. And the next.
When I discovered an active sim a few doors down, I jerked back from my viewport wishing I could unsee what I’d just seen: Harchman and Tawny in the throes of passion. Ew. She really was ‘the best wife ever’ if she let him do what he was currently doing.
Then comprehension dawned and my lips turned up in a grin that was half cynicism, half admiration. Tawny was friggin’ brilliant. She’d probably never slept with Harchman at all.
Instead, she could use a real-life kiss to distract him while she stuck one of Fuzzy Bunny’s special network access keys on him. That would pop him unknowingly into a sim, where he could satisfy all his twisted cravings with a construct that looked exactly like her. She wouldn’t even have to participate because the construct would react according to Harchman’s expectations. He’d never know it wasn’t real.
Clever, clever girl.
And let that be a reminder not to underestimate her.
Sobering, I moved on.
The next few sims were inactive, but I soon came upon another occupied room. This time it was Riel, and I watched for only a few moments. He was receiving a massage from an impossibly gorgeous scantily-clad woman, and I recognized her Barbie-doll-like proportions as one of Harchman’s spa-sim constructs.
Unlike Harchman, Riel didn’t seem interested in taking advantage of the situation. Eyes closed, he lay enjoying his massage like a perfect gentleman, the towel across his hips undisturbed by any sign of arousal. Either he didn’t know he could have his every fantasy fulfilled here; or else an expert massage was his fantasy.
Lucky I hadn’t tried to seduce him. If he was behaving himself in private with Masseuse-Barbie, I wouldn’t have had a prayer.
Storing that knowledge away for future reference, I moved on.
When I peeked into the next room I recoiled, my heart hammering at the sight of its occupants.
Kane again.