The Operator

Unless upon gaining Peri, Helen let it slip that Michael would never be accelerated. Bill’s tension rose until he hid his agitation behind a sip of that cold, overly sweet coffee Sean kept pushing on him. If Helen had her, there was a danger that Peri would be wiped. But he knew his girl. She’d never cave. Not for pain, not for love. Not for anything.

He needed more. “What is this about, Michael?” Bill prompted, and Michael pulled himself out of his thoughtful stare.

“Nothing. What do you want me to do with Harmony and Jack?”

Interesting topic shift. Perhaps Peri had offered Michael her original vial of accelerator, telling him she had a ready supply of Evocane to go with it, and she needed someone to fetch it for her. If so, it wouldn’t hurt to further Peri’s aim and confuse the man a little more.

“Why don’t you move them into a more permanent installation?” he said lightly, wanting to give Peri the help she was asking for. “We can’t trust Jack anymore, and it’s time to start thinking about the possibility that Peri isn’t going to come around. Hell, Michael,” he said with a chuckle. “At this point, if I had any accelerator, I’d be tempted to give it to you myself.”

Michael’s frown deepened, and a secondary thrill rose up in a whirlwind through Bill. Giving Michael access to the accelerator she’d stolen was exactly what Peri had offered him. If Bill could verify that she had the only viable stash, Michael would act on it. Taking on a bland look, Bill took another sip of cold coffee to hide his rising excitement. “Helen confiscated my entire store of it when we shut down the med wing. I got nothing, Michael, and that’s likely not going to change. She’s turning me into a damn administrator.”

Michael didn’t move, and Bill spun his Opti ring, stopping when he realized he was doing it. It had been the right thing to say. And now a layer of bullshit to hide the poison pill, he thought. “Speaking of which, I want your help tomorrow. I’ve got Peri’s location narrowed to a hundred-mile circle, and I need feet on the ground.”

“Where?”

Bill stifled a smile at the hint of angst in his voice. He had made these gods, and they were his to control. “I’m sending you to Buffalo,” he said, putting the search far away from where Helen had probably stashed her. “She’d go where she could duck over the border if she needed to.” Which was a lie, but Michael wouldn’t know that.

Michael’s sudden disinterest hit Bill like a slap. “Sure,” the tall man said, his subtle shifting as telling as the incongruity of Michael coming to see him at all. “You want me to move Harmony and Jack tonight so I have tomorrow free?”

How cooperative of you. “If you like. I’m in no hurry.” He stood to force Michael to stand as well. He wanted him out. Out and gone so he could put his own plan into action. “Sean is bringing up Denier’s info. It might help narrow her position down.”

“Sounds good,” Michael said, but the usual cocky man was hunched slightly, and Bill’s jaw clenched. Son of a bitch. Helen had Denier as well. If Peri didn’t take care of this in twenty-four hours, he’d be dead in forty-eight. But he didn’t think it would come to that. He was betting his life on it.

“Okay. I’ll call you tomorrow,” Michael said, jerking Bill out of his thoughts. “I’ll be on the road if something comes up between then and now.”

“Thank you, Michael. Leave the door open, will you?”

Bobbing his head, Michael left. Bill stood at his desk, unmoving as he listened to the two men in the outer office exchange a word, and then Michael’s shoes on the imported tile. Finally the hermetically sealed door in the outer office hissed shut.

“Sean!” he shouted, making a fist when he realized his hands were trembling.

“Sir, I’ve got the first of Denier’s info,” the small man said as he hustled in. “And Chang’s is on the way. I’ve got an ETA for dinner of forty minutes, but I promised them a twenty tip if they could make it in thirty.”

“I want you to shred this,” Bill said as he gathered up Peri’s info. “Shred the office. Everything. We are out of here in twenty minutes. You’re driving.”

“Sir, what about Chang’s?”

Bill hesitated. “Thirty, then. Start with these,” he said, handing him Peri’s info.

“Yes, sir.” Juggling the papers, Sean turned and calmly walked out of the room.

The adrenaline tingled down to his toes, and Bill went to stand before the window, smiling when the shredder whirled to life. Helen was cutting out the middle man. Thank God Michael was as simple as a four-year-old when it came to office politics. Thirty minutes was a negligible risk; chances were good that Michael wouldn’t tell her of this meeting at all since he was probably thinking of betraying her himself.

Money, he thought, running through his own checklist as he twisted his Opti ring, working it over his thick finger to try to get it off. Resources. Places I’ve cleared but never used, and one kick-ass assistant who knows the power of a cup of coffee and blind obedience. A smile began to grow, and he spun, anxious to wipe the room and shut the door for the last time. Tomorrow he would be free of Michael and have Peri back at his side.

It’s going to be a good day, he thought as his Opti ring finally worked over his knuckle and he set it on the empty desk as if it were a resignation letter. And the best part? He didn’t have to do a thing but sit back and watch.