This is a work of fiction, using characters from the film, “Proof of Life”.  No insult or invasion of privacy or infringement of copyright is intended. The story is for readers over the age of 18 only, and contains adult language. The writer is not responsible for any "discomfort" caused to the reader by this language and these situations.

The Lady and the Cipher

©02/2009  by: Ree

Chapter Five

Wayne Tyler hated to lose. Win the skirmish, win the battle, win the war. He wouldn’t even let his boy win at childhood games. His ex used to rag him for it, but he had to toughen the kid up, didn’t he?  Bad enough he was stuck with the nickname “Little Wayne,” for fuck’s sake.

As he sat in his office, he seethed that so little damage had been inflicted on Thorne and McTierney. And someone had to answer for it.

“Duke, what happened?”  He itched to make Duke Trainor the scapegoat, but that would waste a year’s recruitment efforts. “You knew what their game plan was, why did they change it?”

Duke straightened in his chair. “They must have intercepted the transmission to the Nationals. They have a good staff back in New York, I thought they might. But after that, Dino must have improvised. You know he works from the gut.”

“McTierney,” Tyler’s lips curled in disgust. “Fucker. Are our tracks covered on that transmission?”

“I think so.”

“You think so?”

Duke’s mouth drew into a line. “I trained their staff, I know what they can do. But they’re undermanned. Should they spend the resources to dig how far they’d have to dig?  No,” Duke shook his head, “I don’t see them springing for that.”

“That’s something. Still, EnTech said ‘thanks but no thanks’ for any future work.”

“For now.”

“For now,” Tyler grinned at the Duke’s expression. He wanted them down as much as he did. Good. “We just need to bait a better trap next time. Death by a thousand cuts is too slow for me.”

“But it’s effective.”

Tyler arched an eyebrow. “I prefer quick and effective.” Before he could say more, he felt his phone tingle in his pocket. He swiveled his back to Duke after he read the ID.

“Hey, you caught me in the office.”

“I see. I’ll be brief then. Things are falling into place here.”

Wayne heard Duke rise, and twisted around to gesture to him to wait. “How long do you think it’ll take?”

“A few weeks.”

“That long?” He laughed.

“You think heating your coffee in the microwave takes too long! Slow is good, baby.”

Tyler cleared his throat. “I trust your judgment. However, it would be better if we could review your plans first. When can you get here?” 

“Take another Ritalin and have patience, Wayne. I can meet you for breakfast on Monday.”

“Good, that works.”

I’ve a meeting now.”

“Okay that’s . . . ” The connection ended. “. . . fine.”  He drew his fingertips down the phone then turned around to face Duke again. “Sorry, lots of irons in the fire these days.”

“Business is good.”

“Business is good.” Tyler rose and walked to the front of his desk, leaned against it. “Could be better. You know how those bastards work, Duke. From the inside out. Find something we can use. I’ll make it worth your while.”

“You know what I want.”

“I do. Bring them down, Duke, and you’ll get a piece. A la mode.”

Duke rose, straight-backed, jerked a nod and exited. Tyler narrowed his eyes as he watched the proud man leave. Yes, Duke Trainor was an excellent soldier, but he was no general. He thought he was going to have a piece of the pie? Foolish man. Didn’t he know? Wayne Tyler not only hated to lose; he hated to share his pie.

~*~

“Do it again.” Dino placed a hand on Jane’s shoulder and leaned over to look at the monitor more closely. “Hoh yeah, these droids are fucking amazing. You can tell that marine’s religion!”  He laughed. “And they can’t detect this?”  Jane had angled her head   to see if she could confirm Dino’s statement. “Can they, Jane?”

“You’re right, you can tell. What? Oh, not now, although if I keep up this joy-riding, they might.” Jane flipped out of the program and maximized a secondary window. “No, there’s no trace here. The secret is to keep changing how I piggy-back. It’s just normal network traffic as far as anyone knows.”

“You and your brother did this, huh?” Dino laughed. “Helluva family project, hacking into the Department of Defense.”

“It’s not a straight hack, there are layers, it took a long time.”

Terry arched his brow. “Was this work you did at the Bureau?”

Jane paused; she needed to tread lightly. “I worked in computer crimes, yes. It’s an idea I had when working there, but didn’t have a chance to work it.”

“Computer crimes,” Dino snorted. “Committing or preventing?”

Jane frowned, she hadn’t expected teasing. “Neither. Listen, it was a one-time lucky fluke, let’s leave it at that, okay?”  She turned her back and feigned a return to her normal work.

Dino turned her chair around. “Let’s not. Where else can you get in?”

“I haven’t really tested . . .”

“Bullshit!”  Jane's eyes widened then narrowed.  “Pardon my french, honey, but I don’t buy that for a second.”

“Bullshit’s not a french word.”

“You know what I mean.”

“That a mild epithet would offend my delicate ears?” Jane rolled her eyes and stood, moving around to mask her annoyance.

“Aw geez . . . ” Dino began, “you’re not going to go all feminist on me are you?”

“Feminist? Now this is just the kind of thinking that . . . ” She clamped her mouth shut, biting her tongue to stay silent.

“Temper, temper, you two,” Terry broke in, a sly smile creeping over his face. “Now mate, I think we may have underestimated our quiet Lady Jane.”

“If she doesn’t want to be underestimated, she should show us what she’s got and stop playing these coy girl-games.”

“Girl-games? My God!”

Before her anger vented more, Catherine cracked open the door.

“Are you all finished? I have a checklist to run through.” Jane walked over and held the door from opening completely.

“We’re not quite done. I can do the checklist for you if you want to go home.”

The Duchess eyed her with curiosity, but Jane’s mouth was set firm. “Are you sure?”  Jane replied with a nod. “Everything okay?”

“It’s personal, Catherine, okay?”

“Personal? They’re not still giving you a hard time about this morning, are they? Because I have a thing or two to say about if that were the case.” She said it loudly so the others could hear.

“Don’t worry, Duchess, we’ve nothing but respect for our Lady Jane, isn’t that right, Terry? ” Catherine shot a glance over each of the room’s occupants. Something was hot, but she sized up that they weren’t going to tell her. Not yet, anyway. “Very well. The notes are on my unit. Don’t forget.”

“I won’t, thanks. See you Monday.”

Jane closed the door, and leaned against it, pondering how to proceed. Her eyes fell to Terry; his eyes were burning into her. She withstood his gaze. What was it about him that made her feel nervous and secure at the same time? “Trust,” he’d said. It was a risk she hadn’t taken too often in her life. Was it time now? “Look, I’d wanted to do this when I was ready, when I was sure it was right, that I was sure I could . . .” she looked at Dino and bit back her words again. “When it was right.”

“Could what? Trust us? We sure as hell trusted you last week.”

“You did. And did I let you down?”  In all her time at the CMP, she’d never borne the brunt of Dino McTierney’s wrath, now it seemed she was making up for it all in one day.

“No. Can’t say that you did.” He sat against a desk, the wind out of his sails. “Okay, let’s back up here. Just tell us what’s on your mind, Jane. We don’t care if it’s not perfect and polished. You can give us a whole dog and pony show later, if it’ll make you feel better.”

Silent again, Jane made her way back to her keyboard and punched at keys until the screen changed. She rolled her chair away and gestured to the monitor. The two partners leaned in for a closer look.

“Hey, that’s the DMV!”

“You’re not going to be able to renew your registration, mate,” Terry said with a chuckle.  “Clever, but is that system very hard to get into?”

“I see. Tough audience,” she said with a mirthless chuckle. “Give me a minute.” She pulled out her cell and texted. “I need to wait for the answer,” she explained.

“Get into Terry’s records while you’re there, then.” Her mouth curled up despite her nerves and she poked a few more keys. Dino scanned the results. “Shit, nothing. Fucking boy scout you are.”

“The secret’s not getting caught, mate,” Terry looked back up at Jane. “Well?”

“Let me call.” She turned her back and entered the phone number. “C’mon, c’mon, pick up” 

“Yeah?”  Her brother always sounded surprised when she called him.

“Did you get my text?”

“I see it now.”

“Well? Can you do it?”

“All right, all right. I’m working here. Jesus, why don’t I just show you how to do this yourself?”

Jane snorted impatiently, but hearing a chirp, lowered her handset to read an incoming text before putting it back up to her ear. “That’s just gross, Michael. I’m your sister for God’s sake.” Michael laughed naughtily and hung up. “He lives to gross me out,” Jane explained to the raised eyebrows that watched her. She sat and rolled up her sleeves and began to type. “There ya go.”  She rolled away again to clear the view.

Dino gave a low whistle. “Those are the company’s accounts. Banking system? No, no, no, you can’t.”

“I can. Now I’ve only monitored,” she added quickly, reassuring them. “I haven’t done any transactions, not that there’s much to transact here,” she said under her breath.

“Your brother works for the bank, he gave you access codes?  That doesn’t seem right.”

“These aren’t NationsBank accounts. But no, he doesn’t really pay attention to who owns it, just which coding system it is. I do it this way so that I can’t get in all by myself.”

“I’m not sure if that makes me feel better,”  Dino said with a laugh.

“I know,” she said, falling silent again. “In the wrong hands, this is a dangerous thing.”

Terry reached over and turned off the monitor; he wasn’t sure if he liked that Jane was poking about in their business, but the skill to achieve it had intrigued him. “Somehow I don’t think yours are the wrong hands, Jane. Your brother is trustworthy?”

Jane nodded. “Yes, he’s an odd duck, he just likes breaking the code. If it doesn’t have anything to do with his current obsession, he could care less.”

“Obsession?”

“SimWorld. When he was younger he hacked into WireSoft to download an early version of one of their releases. I had to intervene before he got arrested.”

“But now?”

“Now it’s just a game with us.”

“Some game.” Dino stood, paced. “What are we supposed to do with this?  You’re sitting here telling us you could commit the crime of the century and get away with it.”

“But I wouldn’t. I was FBI.”

“So? You could still be an asshole.”

Terry sat, his elbows on his knees, his fingers pressed together. “Security audits.”

“What, we call up our bank and tell them we can hack in?  That’ll go over real well.”

“We could do it with more finesse than that, mate. But we’re not really set up operationally for that.”

“Yes, you’d need more specialized staff. And I can see you can’t exactly bankroll it at the moment.” Jane said.

“Wayne Tyler has a division that does this. Why didn’t Duke take you with him?”

“I told you, Duke didn’t know about this. And all I knew was that he wanted to travel and play the world’s great golf courses. I didn’t know he’d go to the competition.”

The three of them fell silent, pondering what was going on with their friend and colleague.

Jane’s thoughts also raced to the opportunity at hand. She had wanted to be better prepared, make a more formal presentation, but her courage was up. They were listening now. “I was  thinking . . . would EnTech want a security audit? They had some leaks, right?  I could start it on my own, use Catherine. If they bite, it could help finance another hire. Or . . . I could invest in it.”

Dino shot a look at Terry, whose brows had knit together. They’d been united in their decision not to accept any more partners. Two could gang up on the third; it was a scenario fraught with land mines. They were better off hashing things out between themselves.   “Tell you what, Jane. It’s six o’clock on a Friday. I got plans, and sure as hell Terry does, don’t ya?”  He rapped his friend on the knee. “Lily’s getting back tonight, isn’t she?”

“Late flight, yeah.” He turned to Jane. “You’ve given us a lot to consider, Jane. But I think we all need to clear our heads. It’ll keep until next week, won’t it?”

Jane tried to keep her shoulders from drooping. What had she expected? For them to bring out the champagne and toast a deal?  Instead she nodded, turned on her monitor, and flipped over to her work. She had Catherine’s checklist to go through, her own, and, as an appointment reminder bounced into view, someone to meet. A date she agreed to ten days prior. A lifetime ago, practically. She gulped and turned her back to the screen, obstructing the view of the reminder.

“Next week is fine, I’d planned on it keeping a lot longer, remember?” She replied, as calmly as she could while calculating how long it would take her to get ready. “I’d like to get out of here too, so if you don’t mind . . .” She waved at them dismissively and returned to her work. Dino and Terry retired to their office.

“Have time for a drink, mate?”  Terry asked, opening the cabinet that housed a bottle of single malt. He was happy to discover that one of their aides had filled the ice bucket as well.

“Jesus, what do we do with this? Do you think she’s for real, Ter’?  Or is she pulling one over on us?”

“You hired her, what do you think?”

“Duke hired her, I just rubber stamped it. I know, I know, bad idea. But it was Duke, for fuck’s sake. Her resume checked out, I remember that. And they were holed up downstairs, I didn’t get down there much. Shit! How could I have missed her?”  He slapped his forehead, hard enough to jerk his head back.

“Go on, I love it when you do my work for me,” Terry said, a wry smile on his lips. “Here, drink this.”

“Duke didn’t know either, though. How could he not?”

“I don’t know, mate, but apparently she’s skilled at staying under the radar.”

“But why appear on it now?  I don’t get it.”

Terry sat down and swirled his drink, watched the ice cubes shimmer. “Maybe she woke up one day and wanted things to be different. Haven’t you ever done that?”

“You getting all philosophical on me, hermano? Nah, what would I want to be different? Okay, maybe not having our business go down the tubes.”

“We could take a risk.”

“We could seriously fuck Wayne Tyler off,” Dino laughed. “Jesus, wouldn’t that be great?  No other partners though, Terry, we said.”

“We did. We’ll think of something.”

Dino sipped his drink, the thought of getting back at Tyler made him grin. But at what risk? “Wish I knew more about our surprising Lady Jane, though. Too many secrets there.”

“Are they secrets, mate? Or did we just not notice what was in front of us?”

“Whatever it is, I feel like we need to know more.” He glanced down at his watch. “Damn. I gotta go.”

“Then go, we’ll take this up on Monday.”

“Maybe tomorrow, meet me at the gym, we could . . .”

“Monday, mate.”

“Not working on the weekend? What, did you wake up one morning and decide things should be different?”

Terry chuckled. “Something like that. Go on, don’t keep her waiting.”

“No, that would be a good end to this day, and Lord knows I need it. Best to Lily.” Dino grabbed his jacket and rushed out the door.

Terry took his drink and walked over to the window to look out at the city. What had they stumbled onto? Was she their life line or their noose?  And then there was Lily. With her job and the EnTech operation, they’d been apart for nearly three weeks. She’d be on the plane now, hopefully thinking of their reunion later that evening. He smiled, thinking of the reception he’d planned at her flat. He idly poked through the papers on his desk, his heart not really in it. He had a good five hours to kill, he might as well try to be productive. He reckoned it wouldn’t do to get tired, so he put his scotch away and headed to the kitchenette for a fresh cup of coffee. As he exited, he spied Jane exiting the ladies, shimmying uncomfortably in the same sheath dress she’d worn to Duke’s retirement party. Curiosity got the better of him, and he made his way to her office and watched as she gathered her things.

“Glad to see you have other hobbies, Jane.”

She jumped in surprise, hitting her elbow on her desk. “Shit!” She exclaimed, rubbing at it. “I thought you’d left.”

“That was Dino. Plans?”

“I’m meeting someone for a drink.”

He sipped his coffee. “Ah, first date then?”  She nodded uneasily. “Have you met the bloke before?”

“We’ve chatted. Online.”

“Online,” he said with a dismissive cluck of the tongue. “Whatever works, I reckon. It’s drinks then dinner if you hit it off?

“Yes, one of those types of dates. And I’m going to be late.” She squeezed past him in the doorway.

“Hold on, you’re um . . .” he pointed to his lips.

“Too much? I was in such a hurry.” She reached over to the tissue box and dabbed at her mouth.

“Just kiss it a few times, luv, the excess’ll come off without smearing.”

She gave him a dubious glance, but gave the tissue a peck and looked at it. Seeing the pattern of her lips on it, she gave it a few more tries. Terry watched, intrigued as her lips softly caressed the kleenex. She looked up at him expectantly. Her hair was down, and the sheath dress clung to some very attractive curves.

“That’ll do. Lucky bloke you’re meeting.” He put his hand on her shoulder for reassurance. “Hope you make it to dinner, luv.”

“Thanks.” Jane was mortified at being discovered, and his appraising look did nothing to calm her nerves. “Have a good weekend.”

Terry watched her rush out, then turned to look at the empty office. It wasn’t that long ago that people would routinely be working late. There was a buzz then, the feeling that something essential was being done. Now it was strictly nine to five. Setting his jaw, he returned to the office determined to get a few hours in before meeting Lily. It was impossible to get through a single document without his mind wandering. First the day’s events, then the evening’s. He conjured up her smell, the softness of her skin, the way her hair framed her face as she looked down on him, how his hand fit against her curves, how the peek-a-boo dimple would show when she smiled. Wait, that wasn’t Lily with the dimple. He shook his head, trying to reset the image. “Jesus, she’s been away too long, ” he murmured to himself. He placed the paperwork in neat piles on his desk. Work could wait; he needed to clear his head, that was all.

He locked up the office and descended to the street, grateful for the cool breeze that hit his face when he walked out the front. Friday night, and there were plenty of people out, rushing home to families, meeting friends for dinner. Inside the restaurants he passed, he could see the couples doing the seduction dance, talking low over candlelit tables. He saw that Il Destino was still doing good business. It was unassuming compared to the higher scale establishments about, but the type of place where the bartender always remembered what you were drinking, and the Italian cuisine was top notch. It was as good a place as any to clear the head. He walked in and was immediately greeted by a familiar face.

“Well if it isn’t Mr. Thorne. Buona sera, signore, or should I say g’day?”

Terry laughed at the man’s attempt to mimic his accent. “Buona sera, Gino, come stai?”

“Bene. What’s it to be tonight, Terry, a VB or a JB?”

“Better stick with the VB tonight, mate, thanks.” He sat on the stool and gave the bar a quick rap as he looked around. “Still doing a good business I see.”

“Oh yeah, our business model’s tried and true.”

Terry noted to himself that they didn’t waste money on frivolities as cosmetic improvement either. “Good onya, glad to see it.” Gino handed him his drink, and he turned around to see if he recognized any patrons. From across the room, a flash of blond hair caught his eye, as did the rich blue dress. He wasn’t surprised that she wasn’t talking, Jane wasn’t one to hasten to fill quiet spots in a conversation. But it seemed her companion wasn’t giving her many. He sized up her date. Fair enough looking bloke: light brown hair, dark blue suit, light colored shirt, tie. He chuckled to see her steal a glimpse into her purse, no doubt her phone. After a couple of peeks she dared to bring it out and gesture to it. She was asking to use it? Getting a favorable acknowledgement, she started texting.

“Ah, the texting. I see that all the time now.” Terry turned to see that Gino had followed his line of sight. “Mostly the women. Me, I’d be pissed. I’m with someone, I want them to pay attention to me.”

“Yeah, but that bloke doesn’t look like he would notice one way or the other,” Terry replied with a chuckle. “You know him?”

“Don’t remember him. Now her, I’d remember seeing her before. Propria bella, that one. Doesn’t seem to be taken with him, does she?” Gino laughed when Jane propped her hand on her chin.

“Yeah, too bad. And he hasn’t a clue.”

“She’s looking down at her phone again! What d’ya wanna bet she’s getting an emergency call any minute?”

“Not taking that bet, mate. Wait for it.”

They waited several minutes until Gino was called away by customers. Terry felt a twinge of annoyance. What was that bloke thinking?  He had a lovely, interesting woman across the table from him and he was boring her stupid. Her attention obviously waning, she started to look around the room. Her eyes popped wide when she recognized him. He acknowledged her look by toasting her with his beer bottle. She quickly looked back at her companion, then stole a sly look back. If there was one thing Terry knew, it was a “help me” look. He downed the rest of the bottle and headed over.

“Jane? Jane, is that you?”

“Oh, hi Terry,” she said uneasily.

“How could you?!”  He frowned at her date, then back at her. Would she take the bait? Her eyes flashed wildly from surprise to inspiration.

“How could I? How could I not after finding you with my personal trainer?!”

Ah, she was a game one. He struggled not to laugh. “But you just ran out; didn’t give me a chance to explain. And who’s this?”

“Oh, excuse me, this is Ted. Ted, this is Terry.”

Ted stood up, offered his hand.

“G’day Ted. You’ll excuse me, I need to talk to Jane.”

“Why? To explain? What I saw you and Dave doing was explanation enough.” She crossed her arms and tossed her head away from him. People from the surrounding tables were starting to stare. “And don’t think you can start on Ted, he’s with me.”

“Sorry, Jane, you didn’t tell me you were in a relationship,” Ted stammered.

“Because I’m not!  I’m starved, could we order dinner now?”

“Jane, please, can’t we talk about this?”  Terry got down on a knee and took her hand. Her look was stern but her eyes glittered.

Ted spoke up again. “Perhaps we can reschedule when you’ve worked this out . . . ”

“No, there’s nothing to work out. Go away, Terry, I’m on a date here.”

“You sure, luv? Dave said . . . he wants to work it out too.” He gave her a significant look.

“Oh he does? Really?”  She smiled, her dimple giving her playful look. It took all Terry’s  concentration not to break his cover.

“Wait, what is this, is this a joke?”  Ted looked earnestly between them.

“I’m sorry, Ted. This has been lovely, but perhaps it’s best if I go now.”

“That’s my girl.” Terry held out his hand and Jane took it. “Sorry, mate.” He gave Ted a wink and walked Jane briskly out to the sidewalk. They didn’t dare say a word until they’d gotten a block away, then they dissolved in giggles.

“Oh my God,” Jane had to bend over, she was losing her breath. “What possessed you to do that?!”

“I popped in for a drink and saw you. You looked bored, luv.”

“So you thought you would make it interesting?”

“You’re the one who made it interesting. I was just trying to give you a graceful out.”

“People were looking at us. Oh no, do they know you in there?”

“They know me better now, I reckon,” he laughed.

“I’m sorry!”

“No worries, those that know me know better.”

“Okay, good.” She looked back at the restaurant. “Oh well, guess that one got away.”

“Good thing, plenty of other blokes.” Without thinking, they had begun to stroll toward their office building. “Can I give you a lift home?”

“I can take a cab, you have somewhere to be yourself, don’t you?”

“Not for hours yet. C’mon.” He waved her on and they descended the stairs to his parking spot. She eyed his car with admiration.

“Nice ride,” she said, slipping into the passenger’s car. “And no speeding tickets?”

“Never,” he gunned the engine and grinned. He was tempted to take her the long way home, but gave into the practicality of the straight drive to hers. For a Friday night, the traffic was surprisingly light and within minutes they were at her building.

“Thanks for the ride, Terry.” She smiled at him, starting to laugh again. “And the entertainment.” She laughed louder after her stomach rumbled loudly. “Your timing was lousy though, you could have waited until after I got a meal out of it.”

He laughed. “Let me take you to dinner then, to make up for my grievous error.”

“I’m just teasing. I’ll fix myself something. Thanks.”

“I make a ripper of an egg sandwich, luv.”

“Are you kidding?”

Terry shrugged. “Like I said, got time to kill. And wouldn’t mind meeting that brother of yours, if he’s home.”

“Ohhh,” she replied, his meaning becoming clear. “I don’t know, it’s been a long day.”

“You don’t want me to meet him?”

“You met him at Duke’s party.”

He scowled. “Barely.” Her expression had hardened again and he felt his opportunity slipping away. He forced a smile to his lips. “Been pushing at ya all day, haven’t I?  No worries about your brother, some other time.”

“Sure. I’ll have him stop by after work.”

“Still owe you dinner though. Sure I can’t make you that sammie?”

“Terry Thorne wants to make me a sammie?”  His pulse quickened to hear her laugh again. What was it about a woman’s laughter than made his heart lighter? “You have a reputation to maintain, Mr. Boss-man.”

“Fuck that. Any place I can park here?”

“Sure there’s guest parking in the garage. Turn right up there, my pass will get us in.”

They pulled in and found an open place. Terry reckoned it must be a posh building to have so many available, given the prices of parking spaces in the city. That impression was confirmed when they stepped into the elevator, clad in polished granite and mahogany.

“I forgot how fancy these elevators were, I usually take the stairs,” Jane said.

“You grew up here?”

“No, my mom and stepdad moved in here when I was in college. I still feel like I’m visiting sometimes,” she said with a wry chuckle. The elevator stopped and opened up into a lobby, similarly decked out in expensive stone and wood. The door was key coded and she pressed a few buttons and they were in. The small foyer opened out to a large living room exquisitely decorated in Orientals and antique furniture, all upholstered in a soft white. There was a large picture window that offered a view of Madison Square Park. Jane watched Terry’s reaction to the room.

“It’s like something out of a magazine, isn’t it?  They had an eye for decorating.  The Condo Association even uses pictures of this room when they want to market an open unit.”

“I can see why, especially with the park views.”

“It’s really come back to life. it used to have a bad rep when I was growing up.”

“Your parents must have done well.”

“They worked for an investment firm and luckily for Michael, they believed in life insurance.” She walked out of the living room and put down her things in the hallway. “There are two wings on this floor. My brother stays down there,” she said, pointing to the right, “and I take the wing my parents used. Common kitchen, dining, and living room, although neither of us spend much time there. Too fancy for us kids,” she added with a chuckle.

“So your mother and stepfather passed. Some sort of accident?”

“You could say that; a plane crash.”

“I see,” he said, nodding sympathetically.

“Yeah, right into the 80th floor.” She drew her hand across in front of her, mimicking the path of an airplane.

“Ah,” he said, realizing what she meant. “September 11.”

“South Tower. They didn’t have a chance. Here’s the kitchen. I think I’m stocked, unless Michael got crazy hungry.”

He was taken off guard by her sudden change of subject. “I’m sorry doesn’t seem to cover it, but . . . ”

“It wasn’t just our loss though, was it? It was the city’s. The country’s.”

“The world’s.”

“We were just a small part. And look, we didn’t make out half bad, now did we?”  The bitterness in her voice told him she’d heard that comment more than once.

“Were you here then?”

“No, I was at Quantico. But I took a leave and came up. I was all he had. He was all I had. Eh, ancient history now.”

“Not so ancient, it’s a terrible loss, Jane. I’m sorry.”

“But what can you do? You go on. Listen, do you mind if I get changed? I’m beginning to think this dress is bad luck.”

“Don’t let me stop you; make yourself at home, Jane,” Terry laughed. “Is there a place I could wash up?”

“Two doors up on the left. I’ll be right back.”

She took her things and padded down the hall. Terry shirked off his jacket and placed it carefully over a chair. Rolling up his sleeves, he sauntered down the hallway after her. The walls were adorned with family photos on one side, scenic ones on the other. Vacation spots, he supposed. At the end of the hall, a bedroom door was ajar, and the sight of her dress draped over the bed told him it was hers. She was in the lav washing up herself, he reckoned, hearing the sink running. He took a quick appraisal of the room; it also was elegantly furnished and not a bit was out of place. Across the hall was another door and he softly opened it. “Ah,” he said to himself. “this is hers.” It was an office, with an entire wall covered with monitors. He heard the water stop and backtracked out of the room, careful not to make noise. The bathroom was the next door down, as fancy as any hotel he’d been in. When he returned to the kitchen, she was already there, barefoot and in jeans and a simple white t-shirt. It was one of his favorite outfits for a woman, and she wore the look well. He swallowed hard before entering the room.

“You look comfy now.”

“I am. Why don’t you let me make the eggs,” she offered.

“No, I don’t break my word. Step aside.” He’d no sooner taken his place at the counter when the other resident showed up, draped around a young woman who must have been a foot shorter than him. Jane stared at the couple.

“Michael?  I didn’t know you had a visitor tonight.”

They stopped in their tracks. The girl had the grace enough to extricate herself from Michael’s embrace and extend her hand.

“Hi, you must be Janey. I’m Debbie.” Debbie was a sprite of a girl: short, jet black hair, heavy kohl under her eyes, with a variety of studs and hoops adorning her lobes and eyebrows.

“Debbie? Ah, Michael’s Venus, huh?”

“That’s just the game, I’m not whacko enough to go by my screen nick. Just call me Debbie.”

“Pleased to meet you Debbie.”

Michael looked disagreeable. “Janey, you said you had a date and not to wait up for you. You didn’t say you were bringing him home.”

“Date? Oh, no, no, this is Terry, my boss. I ran into him when I was out.”

“I thought you worked for that red-haired guy.”

“That’s Dino; this is his partner.”

“Cheers Michael, Debbie” Terry added with a nod to the other guest.

“So what are you doing?”  Jane asked pointedly.

“Getting some beer.” Michael said, heading for the fridge. “Going back down the hall.”

“Michael . . . ”

“We’re watching a movie, Austin Powers. Wanna join us?”  Debbie asked.

Jane looked like she didn’t hear the question, she was busy looking between the couple, her mouth slack in disbelief. Terry thought he should answer. “Thanks for the invite, but you two go ahead.”

“Good, I didn’t want them.”

“Michael, don’t be like that.”

“What? I should lie and ask them to watch when I don’t want it? That’s stupid.”

Debbie giggled, “He’s so cute,” and let him drape around her again as they left with their bottles.

“Well. So that’s you’re brother. Direct, isn’t he?”

“Always. He has a date. Jesus.”

“Why wouldn’t he?”  Terry laughed and helped himself to the ingredients in the refrigerator. “Good looking bloke, he should be fighting off the sheilas.”

“He hasn’t a clue how to meet girls. It’s the game. That’s how he met her. Well, she doesn’t seem hung up on it like he is, so that’s a good thing.” Jane reached into the refrigerator herself and brought out a bottle of white wine. “I need wine. Want some?”  Terry accepted her offered glass.

“Computer game? That one he hacked before?”

“Yeah. SimWorld. It’s a game. It’s a virtual reality community. It’s two, two, two addictions in one. But he’s met people through it so I suppose it’s good.”

“I don’t understand.”  He had started searching for a skillet and utensils. Guessing his intent, Jane pulled the required items out from their drawers and handed them to him.

“Michael was never an ordinary kid.” She sat on a stool and sipped her drink, sighed. “I wonder what he’s told Debbie, he probably doesn’t even think about it.” Terry arched an inquiring eye at her. She shrugged. “He’s wired differently. He can break any code in the known universe but he can’t understand the code of normal human interaction.”

“Not so unusual with smart blokes, is it?”

“No, it’s not. But it’s been hard for him to make his way, very hard.” She sighed and rubbed her eyes.

“He seemed to be making it just fine right now.”

She had a wistful look. “I hope he won’t get hurt. I hope he won’t hurt her, she seems nice. ” She shook her head again. “My God, Michael’s with a pierced girl. Bet she has tats, too.”

“On her ankle at least.”

“Yeah? How did I miss that?”

“Dunno, but hold on I have to flip this.” With a quick snap of the wrist, the eggs flopped over. 

“I’m impressed.” It made Jane smile to see him, a picture of concentration at something far removed from briefing meetings.  

“Ta, now where’s the bread?” 

“I’ll get it.” She pulled some rolls from the breadbox and set them on a plate. Terry divided the omelet in two and slid them on, garnishing the plate with grapes from the fridge. “Want to eat on the balcony, Terry? It’s a beautiful night out.”

“Okie dokie,” he said, balancing the plates as he followed her out through the dining room. The balcony looked a little more lived in, with well worn cushions on weathered rattan chairs. The streetlights from the park provided enough light.

“They’re having a good time,” Jane said, remarking on the faint laughter that could be heard from the open windows a few rooms away. “That’s good.” She plopped down in a chair, exhaling deeply and gestured to another for Terry to sit. “Ah, finally,” she closed her eyes and took another sip of her drink. “Now let’s see if this tastes as good as it smells.”

“Hope there aren’t too many onions for you.”

“Mmm,” she closed her eyes in enjoyment. “it’s yummy. Onions are fine, it doesn’t much matter tonight anyway,” she added.

“That Ted bloke? Surely you weren’t considering more than dinner with him.”

“The way this day had been going? I don’t know.”

“Right.” He caught her eye, but she lowered her lids. “Didn’t think we’d suss out anything?”

“No, well I hoped anyway.”

“Why? Devil of a secret you had there.”

She put down the sandwich and picked up the wine glass, curled her legs up underneath her. “It didn’t seem so big before. Just something I did here. Me and Michael that is. But when I told you, when I saw your faces . . . it hit me. This could be dangerous.”

“Not if we use it right. It’s like explosives, a little bit at the right time can do good.”

“Or it could blow up in your face. Perfect analogy.” She wrapped her arms around herself and squeezed tight.

“It’s better you spoke up. Trust, remember?”

She sighed, her shoulders relaxed a little. “I have to, now.” A sudden look of worry crossed her face. “Your girlfriend’s a lawyer, you won’t tell her, will you?”

“She’s a lawyer, but she’s not our lawyer. It’ll stay between us for now, Janey, all right?” She looked up sharply at her name. “I like it better than the other nickname, d’ya mind?”

“No I don’t mind,” her lips turned up, not quite a smile, but not annoyance either. Then she frowned. “Either the movie stopped being funny or . . . ” Terry walked to the edge of the balcony and angled his head.

“No telly either.” He laughed. “I’m not sure what you’re worried about with him, Janey, seems like a normal red-blooded young man to me.”

“Oh, God, here?”  She rushed back into the apartment and down the other wing. The lounge was empty, the television off, but two pairs of shoes remained. She looked down the hall, his door was shut. “Damn. I don’t know how I’m going to face them in the morning.”

“I’m sure you’ll manage.” He looked with surprise at the time on the telly. “And I’ve got to go too. Sorry to leave you with the dishes.”

“Don’t be silly, you cooked. Let me see you out.” Jane stood at the door in silence while Terry fetched his jacket.

“Does it really bother you, him having someone over? He’s 25, luv.”

“I know, I mean it’s good, I guess. But . . I don’t know, I was the one with the date tonight!”

“Maybe Debbie has a brother.”

“Oh great, thanks a lot, aren’t you late now?” She opened the door and leaned against it. “Thanks again for the sammie.”

“Thanks for the company.” She looked up at him hesitatingly. It tugged at him to see her look so weary, the weight of the world on her and no one to bear it with. He touched her shoulder, squeezed it, and turned for the elevator.

“Hey!” He turned around, she was in the doorway, smiling. “You know? I never actually asked you up, you just said ‘I owe you dinner, where’s a parking spot.’”

Terry smiled and shrugged. “Reckon you didn’t.”

“That a negotiator’s trick? Not giving me a chance to say no?  Pretty damn slick, and I fell for it.”

“You didn’t want a chance to say no, that’s all.”

“Maybe I didn’t. Thanks, Terry.”

“No worries. G’night Janey.” The elevator door opened and he stepped in; the phone rang halfway down the ride to the garage.

“Hi baby. The driver just pulled up, I’ll be at my place soon. Have you been terribly lonely, waiting for me?”

Terry paused, considered. How to explain the evening to Lily? No, it was too complicated. It was best to keep things simple. He could make it to hers first if he rushed.

“I can’t begin to tell you. See you soon.”

Chapter Six