Chapter Ten
Jed didn’t like it that he had to put Elena through virtual reality so soon after Frankfurt. This was supposed to be her downtime and she hadn’t actually been resting, dammit. He had plans—
He tamped down his sudden burst of irritation.
Everyone had plans. His job was to make sure he was in control, no matter how the plans changed.
He should have thought of the CIA’s hand in this matter; after all, he’d practically grown up within its many programs. They didn’t let go of their children easily.
Not even him, who’d been one of their own before the transfer.
Helen must have impressed them during her training in their remote-viewing program, so much so they were sending in their own remote viewers to check up on her.
Probably because of what happened in Frankfurt too.
She was the only remote viewer who had ever successfully RVed, pinpointed a location, and completed an operation without canvassing an avalanche of red tape, reviews, generals, interdepartmental consent, and body count.
Jed wasn’t surprised about the covert meddling.
The CIA had been known to ignore interagency agreements before.
The SSS program was supposedly koshered by all the department heads and everyone had agreed to leave the chosen candidate and her winning agency alone for at least a year.
They had agreed to come to COMCEN if they needed to use the supersoldier-spy for their individual cloaked activities.
That was why the candidate was so damn important and why everyone worked so hard to win.
The winning agency had dibs to special allocated funds and certain power over the other agencies’ agendas.
This definitely had the smelly smell of the CIA.
Jed nodded cursorily at a passing operative’s greeting as he reached the set of elevators that would take him to the secured levels.
Several conclusions came to mind. A, the CIA was either trying to understand what they did with Elena that was different.
Or B, the rogue CIA rats needed information, which meant COMCEN was doing its job, slowly cutting off the many heads of the serpent, and with Jack Cummings and his wife their latest casualties, they must be desperate.
Or C, they were experimenting with their own version of the supersoldier-spy and coming to COMCEN for information.
His gut pointed to conclusion B. The events in Frankfurt suggested it.
If they had wanted Elena, they could have had a better chance with a surprise attack at the beginning of the operation, before they’d entered Deutsche Internationale.
But they appeared to know about Cummings already and knew that Elena was after the device, and deliberately waited until after she’d located and retrieved it.
Jed needed answers and he needed them quickly.
He had no choice but to get Elena into TIVRRV again.
She would be out of it afterwards for sure.
He was going to have to get hold of T ASAP.
She needed to know what was happening. There was no way he was going to allow any of their enemies to slip away.
Not when COMCEN and GEM were this close to achieving their goal.
He slid his security card in the slot and keyed in his code.
As the scanner took his thumb print, he activated the screen so he could check up on Elena at Medic.
One of the perks of high security clearance in this place, he thought dispassionately, then smiled at what he saw.
She was licking her fingers like a kid while Kirkland was taking blood from one arm.
She didn’t seem tired. Yes, she was chomping at the bit to meet him in VR again.
Out of habit, he changed the view to see what was taking the elevator so damn long to reach him. His eyebrows shot up.
“Speak of the devil,” he murmured. It was T. Cornered by Alex. Usually his friend was smart enough to use his own secured code to deactivate access, but he was obviously too distracted at the moment.
Jed executed a few more access codes and inserted his earpiece. A slow smile formed on his lips as he listened in. “And how are you going to escape him this time, dearest T?”
“I heard Nikki Harden’s pregnant,” Alex’s voice came through.
Jed frowned. Somehow he hadn’t gotten that news.
“Yes, she is,” T said, her eyes trained on the lights above the elevator door.
“Will she be taking time off soon?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to her.”
“If I were Rick Harden, she’d be.”
Jed watched Alex reach out toward the elevator control panel. Probably remembering now about overriding the microeyes. Sorry, pal, I got to you first. A man had to be entertained sometimes. Besides, he wanted to hear more about Nikki’s pregnancy. Jed keyed a command to Eight Ball to zoom in.
“What are you doing?” T’s voice sounded husky and unsure.
“I was thinking of you pregnant with my baby.”
Jed blinked in surprise. From T’s frozen expression, she must be as astonished as he was. This must be the first time the operating chief of GEM was rendered speechless.
“It isn’t going to happen,” she finally said. Alex took a step toward her. “Don’t come any closer.”
“That’s going to stop a Virus, T,” Jed murmured, amused. As if he heard him, Alex took another step.
“You agreed if I transferred back you’d keep your distance,” T reminded him tensely.
“I changed my mind.”
They were whispering, but COMCEN micro-mics were state of the art and Jed was also an excellent lip-reader.
He watched T move her hand, jamming one finger on the red button. The alarm started. COMCEN elevators were also self-programmed to restart when they detected no problem.
“That’s going to stop a Virus,” Jed repeated, smiling now.
Oblivious to the shrill alarm, Alex crowded her against the corner of the elevator, obscuring Jed’s view.
His hands braced against both sides of the walls, trapping T, as he leaned into her.
Jed couldn’t see their expressions now but he would bet that T wasn’t a happy camper at the moment.
Perhaps he should save her. He needed her in a good mood.
“Unchange it.” Her demand was muffled.
Was that the best she could do? Jed shook his head. He fingered the pad next to the elevator.
“But I like the thought of you pregnant,” Alex murmured.
The elevator door opened. Jed walked in.
“Go take another elevator,” Alex said, not turning around.
“Don’t mind me,” Jed said, “I’m just the service man. By the way, don’t you think you two should at least use the places where the microeyes aren’t trained on you? T, I need to talk to you later. Important mission stuff.”
With an indiscernible reply, T gave Alex a push and he stepped back, giving her room to get away. They walked out of the elevator, leaving Jed.
Jed pressed his floor and then turned and looked dead straight at the microeye. He pulled out his ear piece. “Eight Ball, I’m ashamed of you,” he mocked quietly, “letting me listen in on them like that.”
“Dude,” the computer’s voice mimicked his voice to perfection. “Information is everything.”
“Erase that from file.” Jed gave the password for the command.
“Password received. File erased.”
Nikki pregnant. He released a soft sigh. He was happy for her.
HELEN LOOKED UP AT the sound of the knock. It was Flyboy. He was giving her the kind of smile that made a girl spontaneously smile back, but she was supposed to be angry at him, so she schooled her expression.
“Can I come in?”
“I’ve been ordered to digest my food before my VR session. I suppose I can talk while that’s happening,” she said dryly.
She couldn’t help but lie back and admire appreciatively as he bent over to pick the tray of food out of the chair, moving it to the table by the window. She eyed the back view equally appreciatively.
Flyboy was gorgeous with a capital G. Of all the commandos, he had been the friendliest and most accessible, but now she wasn’t sure whether that was an act or not.
“Why are you here?” she asked.
“Armando called me, said he’s in trouble and needed to talk to me. He gave a quick version of what had happened. I’m just checking to make sure you’re okay before I see him.”
“Huh, good to know I’m more important than Armando,” Helen said, with a smile. “He won’t be happy about that.”
Flyboy sat down by her. His deep blue eyes slid over her body. “He’ll get over it. You haven’t answered my question. How are you?”
“Besides re-injuring my leg, I’m okay. Jed thinks a remote viewer was invading our territory and somehow Armando and I felt his presence.” Helen shrugged. “Too science fictiony to explain.”
“But you’re buying it.”
Her eyes met his. “I’m a remote viewer. I’ve also experienced several very strange happenings lately.” And she didn’t mean just the incident in the stairwell. Her stare hardened. “I hardly have any room to be skeptical at this point.”
He studied her for a second then sighed. “Okay, so I’m guilty of knowing who your trainer was. I was ordered not to reveal his identity till he said so.”
“So our friendship was just a game?” Helen crossed her arms. “I’m just an assignment, right? You were to be my ‘friendly companion’, so you could watch over me.”
He smiled, shaking his head. “No, not a game, Hell. But yes, I was told to keep an eye on you, make sure you have someone to talk to.” He leaned closer. “I wasn’t pretending to like you, if that’s what’s making you mad.”
“No, no, no, what I’m mad at is that you, and the rest of the guys, were doing your best to confuse me enough not to figure out which of you is my trainer,” Hell said, with a sniff. “That’s typical male behavior, covering the ass of one of your own while he does his nefarious deeds.”
“You mean women don’t cover their female friends’ nefarious deeds?” Flyboy countered reasonably.
She chose to ignore that. She had every right to be angry and wasn’t going to let the man get off with reasoned arguments. “You and the others went along with him against me, the newest member of your team. How’s that supposed to make me feel?”