Embrace The Night (12 page)

Besides, he and Zoë didn’t have any sort of arrangement. He owed nothing to her, nor she to him—which she’d made very clear.

But right now, she was what he wanted. And he knew just where to find her.

Trying not to think about how much of a Pavlov’s dog he was being, Quent forced himself to saunter through the hotel and up to his room on the fifteenth floor.

He paused when he got to the door, and needed to take a deep breath before he opened it. The knob felt cold under his palms, and he settled a cool, amused smile on his face as he pushed the door and went in.

She wasn’t there.

He checked the bathroom, then settled on the bed to wait.

But after twenty minutes, Zoë still hadn’t arrived.

She was gone.

Drew’s dead.

—from Adventures in Juliedom, the blog of Julie Davis Beecher

Simon would have kept his distance if Lou hadn’t come into the Pub and, catching sight of him, gestured him over to the table.

Something must have happened, and although Simon could have found an excuse to stay by Ian Marck, he found himself unable to resist the pull. Curiosity.

Maybe a little bit of masochism too.

He sat down at the table next to Elliott, positioning himself so Sage and Theo were on the other end of the U-shape configuration and Lou was in the center next to Fence. Quent had disappeared after dancing with the blonde, and hopefully, Wyatt was getting laid.

“Anything?” Elliott asked, his voice muted by the music and low roar of voice around them.

“Marck claims he’s here for social purposes,” Simon replied. “I believe him, for now. He said his father’s no longer interested in Jade. And that the two of you are square.”

“I don’t trust him.”

“I don’t either. And he wouldn’t confirm whether Raul is dead or not. But I really don’t think he’s here to cause trouble.”

Elliott gave a short nod, and settled back in his chair as he shot Simon a glance. “I have a feeling you’d know.”

Simon took that for what it was worth—a subtle acknowledgment that his background might be unsavory, but that he wasn’t going to be asked for details. “If he is…”

“If he is,” Elliott said, “I’ll take care of him.” For a guy who was a doctor and had lived a fairly uneventful life—compared to Simon—he looked fully capable of doing so. Simon had seen that look on his own face, recognized it in many others.

“You won’t be alone,” he promised Elliott.

Then he turned his attention to Lou.

“You found something?” Theo was saying to his twin. He seemed relaxed and jovial, and a bit of smugness lurked in his eyes.

Simon thought he looked assy from a smear of lipstick near his mouth.

Did they even have lipstick now?

He supposed if they’d had makeup in Egyptian times, they could have it in post-cataclysmic eras too.

“Broke the code, of course,” Lou said. “Three hours and nine minutes.”

“That’s ’cause I loosened it for you, bro,” Theo replied. Sage laughed, and the sound rose above the sounds of revelry, catching Simon’s attention before he could stop it.

Even in the bar light, her hair glowed like rich, curling flames. Someone had piled it so loosely on her head that little curls escaped, brushing her ears and cheeks and the nape of her neck. Either that, or it had been neat and formal till the Geek Squad got his hands on her. The dress plunged, but not indecently, nor was it the loose sack she’d been wearing the other night. But Simon was only too aware of the shape beneath the pinkish orange dress. And, by now, he figured Dragon Boy was too.

Despite the fiery color of her clothing and matching hair, Sage’s eyes held an impression of innocence and even a bit of absentmindedness. Simon suspected that if he were able to crawl inside her mind, he’d find that instead of knowing how much attention she was garnering tonight, dressed to kill, Sage would be mentally filing through her latest research. And wishing she could be back in the lab.

As his attention split between Lou and Theo’s bantering, his normal scan of the crowded room, and the woman at the other end of the table, he noticed that her fingers were moving. And he realized she was typing.

Simon’s mouth twitched in a surprised grin and he entertained himself with the possibility that the movements of her hands at the back of Theo’s neck had been air-typing instead of a reaction to what was going on.

He tuned back into the conversation, which included a review of the files Lou had found on the flash drive. They huddled together to keep the conversation close, although the noise around them would act as a buffer.

“A list of contacts. Could be members of the Cult of Atlantis, or just his personal contacts,” Lou was saying. “Quent will want to see it, but I already glanced through. His father is on there. Also, Truth’s calendar. Might be interesting to look at.” He shrugged. “Not sure if there’s anything else that will help us.”

Simon wanted to see it too. Mancusi didn’t run in the mega-leagues like Parris Fielding or Remington Truth, but he needed to make sure.

“But the more we know about him—through his calendar and contacts, the better we’ll understand him. And anything could help us determine where he might be, or how he disappeared. Names, addresses…” Sage said. Her fingers were still, settled on the table as she leaned forward to talk to Lou. Simon caught a glimpse of her blue eyes, now sparkling with intent instead of clouded with thought.

“I’m not sure that addresses will help us with anything anymore,” Theo said with a little laugh. His arm rested around her waist and Simon could see the awkward stretch of her silky dress from its weight.

“It was an address that brought us to his place here in Envy,” Sage replied, arching her fine red brow. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t even have his flash drive.”

“True,” Theo replied. He looked down at her and tapped her pert little nose with a finger.
Vato.

Sage rolled her eyes but she didn’t appear offended. “Those documents will require a lot of study and analysis. Who knows what we’ll find.” She stood then, a bit clumsily. She must have tripped on Geek Squad’s boat feet. “I’ll be right back,” she said, smoothing her hands down the front and sides of her dress and looking everywhere but at Simon.

“Where are you going?” Theo asked. As well he should, after what had happened last night.

“Restroom. Back in a sec.”

Simon did not watch her toddle away on heels that she was obviously not used to. Instead, he made certain he was focused on the stage where Jade seemed to be wrapping up her set—in the opposite direction. A quick glance toward the bar told him that Ian Marck was still there, nursing a vodka. He turned back to the conversation.

“So you and Sage, huh?” Fence said as soon as she was out of earshot. His wide grin seemed even brighter because of his dark skin. “Nice job, brother. How long has this been going on?”

“I wondered the same thing myself,” Lou added, peering at his brother above his glasses. He wore an expression that was somewhere between awkwardness and appreciation.

Theo rubbed his chin and had the grace to look a little bashful. “It’s…in its early stages,” he said, shifting in his seat.

Bueno.
Simon nodded mentally, congratulating the
vato
for playing it cool. Maybe he wasn’t as much of an idiot as he thought.

Despite Fence’s inclination to probe for further details, Theo played the gentleman and changed the subject to the Internet-like network they were building of access points, filling in more details for those who weren’t involved. “The next stage would be to expand it to the north and west,” he said. “And then expand concentrically where we’ve already got a network.”

“How many people or locations are involved in the Resistance and the current network?” Simon asked.

“We have twenty NAPs set up, covering a geographic area of forty square miles, with Envy in the northwesternmost segment. At this time, they’re secret and we only have three members of the Resistance actually online with their own computers. They’re working to recruit more members and eventually we’ll set them up with their own computers,” Theo explained.

“But we have to be careful, keep it under wraps. After what happened with Charlie Venter, it’s imperative that we know who to trust,” Lou added.

“Charlie Venter?” asked Simon. “A snitch?”

Lou shook his head. “No, one of our technology experts. His wife was killed by a pack of
gangas
while a Stranger watched, and he came to Envy afterward. He lived here for four years, then about six months ago offered to be a satellite agent in Bracewood—to the south-east. He asked too many questions, and someone must have said something to a bounty hunter or a Stranger. His computers were taken and he disappeared. The assumption is that he’s dead.”

“Good guy,” Theo said soberly. “Smart as hell, but he hated the Strangers so much, it was hard for him to hide it. We’ve got to be even more careful now.”

“Especially you.” Lou looked at his brother. “You, Jade, and Elliott are now recognizable by Raul Marck, his son, and anyone else Preston communicated with during Jade’s rescue. As well, any information that might have been on Venter’s computer could identify you. You’re going to have to stay beneath the radar.”

Theo nodded. “More careful, but I’m not going to stop now. We need that network to grow a lot faster than it has been.”

“Word.”

“So, obviously expanding the network could help to find Remington Truth,” Simon commented. “If you could send out a broadcast of his picture and name, someone might recognize him.” He noticed that Ian Marck had disappeared, and that little warning prickle started over his shoulders.

Jade was off the stage. Marck was gone.

And so was Sage.

Simon nudged Elliott and nodded toward the bar.

As the other man stood abruptly, obviously to check on Jade, Simon looked toward the entrance of the Pub. That uneasy feeling crawled over him, and he nearly stood to go check things out in person. But then he saw Sage.

She was talking to someone just out of sight of the doorway, but at least he could see her and know that she wasn’t being dragged off into a dark corner. Her body language was one of awkwardness, but that didn’t surprise him—she was fairly shy, and not at all gregarious like her friend Jade.

Theo had slipped into a familiar argument with his brother about something geek related, and once plunged into that topic—which included terms such as bigtable and redundant storage—seemed to forget about everything around him.

Damn good thing Simon was there. Watching out for his girl.

Of course, that was what he was trained to do. Watch out for the other guy’s girl.

Sage shifted, and her hands fluttered in stiff animation. And then she moved again, and Simon saw whom she was talking to.

Ian Marck.

He was out of his seat in an instant. Striding through the Pub, he knew he appeared calm and casual, not a hair out of place…but inside, his muscles bunched and black violence stirred. He didn’t make the mistake of reaching for that nonexistent holster this time, but instead he felt for the knife that he’d tucked into the back of his belt, beneath a tattered jean jacket.

Marck saw him coming. To his credit, he didn’t flicker an eyelash. But their eyes met, understanding flashed between them, and then, when Simon was just out of earshot, Ian looked back at Sage. Said one more thing, leaned in much too closely and touched her arm, then turned and walked away.

Fuck-you
was stamped all over his swagger as the bounty hunter melded into the crowd.

Sage turned and started back toward the Pub. Simon would have let her walk past and gone after Marck, but she noticed him and halted.

“Following me again?” she said. Chill brushed her voice.

“Do you know him?”

“No. He caught me as I was coming back.” She seemed to rethink her coolness. “Do you?”

“That was Ian Marck.” He knew she’d be aware of the name, but wasn’t surprised she’d never seen a picture of him. The days of cell phone pics and Facebook were long gone.

Her eyes grew wide. “The bounty hunter?”

“What did he want?” But Marck’d already told him:
Same as you. Celebrating. Relaxing. Looking for a good lay.

Fucking
coño.

She started to speak, then stopped. “I think I’d better tell everyone at once.”

Sage led the way back to the table, fully aware of Simon trailing behind her. She needed to put some space between them. He seemed ready to…do something.

Why was her heart slamming so hard in her chest?

Probably because he’d just appeared, suddenly, as he’d done twice now. No, three times. But it was the expression on his face, the set, black expression, that affected her. How could such a beautiful countenance turn so dark and frightening? Was it simply because he hated Ian Marck for kidnapping Jade?

Back at the table, Sage had no choice but to sit next to Theo again, despite the fact that she felt acutely uncomfortable with his arm around her. In front of everyone—Lou, Fence, Elliott…and Simon.

Especially Lou.

And most especially Simon.

And now that Jade was approaching, the goggling surprise in her friend’s eyes was just too much. Sage felt her cheeks heat and she shifted slightly away from Theo, under the guise of adjusting the stupid heels Jade had insisted she wear.

Theo had sort of backed her into a corner outside the pub, and the look in his eyes had been so…intense. When he started to kiss her, Sage hadn’t pulled away. Even when she felt things get a little…intense.

Yes, that was the only way to describe the manner in which Theo had begun to act around her. Intense.

Obviously interested in more than just a few kisses.
Obviously.
Her cheeks heated even more and she realized her heart was thumping faster. The things he’d murmured into her ear, the way his hands settled around her waist, and the lingering way he looked at her. All of a sudden, things had changed.

Sage hadn’t realized he thought of her so…intensely. That made her a little nervous because she wasn’t feeling the same way. And she was curious, although she tried to keep things from getting too heavy. This was new. Why not? She’d be careful. Take things slow. This was a different Theo, and this…
thing
…with him felt a lot different than it had with Owen. Not overwhelming, but…nice. Not frightening.