“To us!” Caroline shouted over her
team, standing on a table, now dressed in a hippie skirt and wrap blouse. We
all quieted as the last of the champagne flutes were passed around. The gold in
her eyes shined brighter as she gazed around, seeming to compliment everyone’s
efforts in turn. “To a successful first broadcast. To everyone here. And to
Abs, for getting us out of there before a run-in with the wrong people.”
Drei smiled at me from across the
crowded room on the top floor of the warehouse. My cheeks flamed as everyone
else turned and smiled, those nearest me giving a friendly pat on the back. I
tried shrugging it off as though it were no big deal, but the attention was
quickly returning to Caroline, so it didn’t matter.
“Let’s drink to a better tomorrow!”
She downed the flute’s contents.
Someone started up some music and
more drinks were passed around. While people paired off to dance or grouped to
talk about the night and anything else, Caroline made her way towards me, Conan
and Ian not far behind her.
“Conan doubled back after everyone
cleared out,” she said, barely audible over the music. “Gov goons. If you
hadn’t noticed it, we all would have been locked up by now…” She let her voice
trail off, but I knew what was coming.
“You don’t owe me anything,” I said
before she could say what she wanted. Personally, I didn’t want her to owe me
anything. It would make when I left her operation that much easier.
Confusion and then some version of
relief crossed her features, followed by her business-like demeanor. “You say
that now, but everyone wants something sooner or later. I don’t forget my
debts.”
I nodded for lack of something
better to do; I wasn’t going to say what I was thinking.
Caroline stepped closer to me so
her next words were spoken directly into my ear, her breath warm and unnerving.
“I'm glad you signed on. I was wrong about you.”
She walked away. I knew what had
prompted the compliment; that was obvious. But it felt like there was something
else Caroline had been insinuating. Something I was missing. It worried me it
might be something that could make a mess of things, too.
“Congratulations,” Drei praised,
appearing beside me and interrupting my thoughts. He had left his flute behind
somewhere; I didn't blame him. The moment I found a table, I was ditching mine.
Alcohol was not what I needed; my thoughts were jumbled enough as it was.
“Thanks.” We were back to appearing
together but not in a relationship, and it wasn't easy. Part of me wanted to
let go of all the pretense and kiss him right there.
“I better head back that way,” he said
before I could talk myself into anything.
“Okay;” I offered a weak smile. I
knew he needed to bond with the other bodyguards if he wanted to be accepted by
them, but that didn't mean I wanted him to go. The words “stay with me” were on
the tip of my tongue, but I held them back. Part of not being together in
public was not giving people an excuse to think you were together. I think that
was the hardest part for me. I wanted so badly for us to be whoever we wanted
to be, and the kiss yesterday didn't help things any either.
Drei sauntered across the room,
gracefully slipping through the crowd as if the room were clear.
“That was amazing how you knew they
were coming,” Conan said from behind me. I turned and was greeted by his
sea-green eyes studying me curiously. “How did you know?”
“Ask C,” I said, having picked up
on the fact she ultimately knew everything. “If she'll divulge that
information.”
“Why can't you just tell me?” he
flirted, moving to clear hair off my shoulder and brushing my cheek in the
process.
Before I was unable to hide my
discomfort and disgust, I excused myself and walked away. Conan wasn't a bad
guy as far as I could tell, but I didn't enjoy the close proximity he took with
me. As far as I knew, I hadn't done anything to suggest I was interested, but
who knew? When you couldn't show off your boyfriend—or he you—things became
complicated.
There was a table of refreshments I
hadn't noticed earlier. That's where I left my champagne flute as I left the
room. The hallways on this floor were pleasantly dark and quiet, the noise of
the party muffled. Walking to the end, I leaned against the wall by a window,
the panes frosted slightly and fogging over upon impact with my breath. I drew
a heart in the condensation, remembering when my dad and I used to draw out
whole comics on the windows of our rooms during ski trips. Not for the first
time, I wondered how he was doing. He seemed to pop up in my thoughts every
once in a while and I felt guilty leaving him in the state I had.
After he had shared everything he
knew about my mom, he was a mess. The memories were still painful, even after
all these years. The next day I left without telling anyone, and I wondered if
he was as destroyed by my absence as he was by my mom's supposed death. My real
mom, not my adoptive mother who put me through the paces of high society.
I reached out my senses, hearing
the ocean roar in the distance. It took me a moment to realize there was
another sound that shouldn't be there.
I tried to remember if there was
anyone who hadn't showed up for the celebration. Counting the cars parked
below, I knew everyone was here. So then why were there cars approaching? This
stretch of the dock was pretty much abandoned, and I couldn’t fathom why a
caravan of vehicles would be coming out here so late.
I pulled the conversations from the
vehicles and found nothing but silence. These definitely weren't party goers. It
didn't seem possible the government would have been able to locate the
headquarters so quickly. Not after all the precautions they had taken.
Unless they had seen Conan circling
back and had someone follow him.
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