Out Of Time. Cliff Ryder

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      “Okay, then. Good luck chatting with Alex.” Kate rose, tucking the folder under one arm and pushing open the door. Once outside, she shoved the door shut and Denny sighed, then disconnected from his virtual office.

      They both knew it was as good as decided.

      Alex would take the job. He was too white-hat not to.

      4

      Alex was folded over a cup of coffee, his gaze turned inward, when Brin joined him. She was dressed for work, not a hair out of place, her brown eyes bright and dazzling. He was the opposite—careless hair, unshaved, vision murky. When he wasn’t on a job, he was unkempt and relaxed. He kept it casual. He loved that Brin could roll out of bed looking perfect. Her gorgeous blond hair always looked sexy, either smooth and perfect or playful and tussled, his favorite, the way she looked after sex. Or was it just that his love affected his vision?

      Brin eased into the chair opposite his and rubbed his hand for a moment. “Sleep well?”

      He looked up at her with a smile and a wink. “Always do, first night home.” He hadn’t told her that he’d been back for almost a month, staying in a nearby hotel until the doctors had finished working him over. It had been incredibly hard not to race right home, to see her and their daughter, but he wanted to know what was going on before he allowed himself the luxury of the feelings his family aroused in him.

      “Me, too.” She let loose an uncharacteristically girlish giggle.

      Alex took a long sip of his coffee, studying her face over the rim of the cup. He held it in both hands, just in case the tremors returned. So far, they had only affected one hand at a time. He could always steady one hand with the other.

      “Things went okay in Mexico, then?” She fiddled with her briefcase latch. “You were gone longer than I thought you’d be.”

      “Took longer than I thought,” Alex said. “They don’t have a lot of the resources we do here, but it turned out all right. No worries.” Brin had no idea what Alex really did for a living. She thought he was some sort of security expert, doing contract work all over the world. He wasn’t sure if she’d have been able to handle all the alone time if she’d really known what he was doing in those faraway places. But he couldn’t tell her anything without putting her in danger and he liked the image that she had of him now. Besides, she might actually take exception to his killing people for a living. Quite a few people seemed to think that it wasn’t the most honorable line of work.

      “Glad to hear it.” She turned a bit in her chair, so that she was facing him, and cupped her chin in one hand. “So, how long do we have you for this time?”

      “Right up to the moment you get tired of me. There’s nothing on the radar, so I guess I’ve been gifted with some major downtime.”

      “Good. Savannah will be happy to hear that, too. She misses her big old daddy bear when he’s gone.”

      If there was anything sexier than Brin talking baby talk, Alex couldn’t imagine what it was. “I miss her, too. Like I’d miss the air.” He reached for his coffee and a sigh slipped out before he could cut it short.

      “Alex, are you all right?”

      Confused, his arm paused halfway to his mouth and he frowned at her across the table. “Fine. Why?”

      Her arms were folded and crossed on the table. She nodded toward his hand in a quick jerk of her head and the frown deepened.

      Alex looked at his hand, holding the coffee cup almost to his lips, and his breath caught in his chest. It was shaking, and not just a little, but a lot. Coffee sloshed gently against the sides of the cup. Quickly, he transferred the cup to his left hand and put it back on the table.

      “I’m fine, really. I’m just still a little tired from the trip and all the excitement. Guess I just didn’t realize how tired I was.”

      Brin’s face was etched in worry, strained.

      “Are you sure? Maybe you should see a doctor or something. I don’t think I’ve ever seen your hands shake like that.”

      Her tone changed from concerned wife to scientist. He knew that he needed to move on to something else or she would sit and analyze until she uncovered the truth. Part of the problem with being married to a Ph.D. was that sometimes she was too observant for his own good.

      “I’m sure. Now, come here, wife!” He held out his arms to her and she rose instantly, slipping around the table.

      Alex grabbed her by the hips and swept her into his lap in one easy movement. His lips found hers from experience, resting there as they had done a thousand times before. When he released her, his eyes sparkled.

      “If I were sick, could I still do that?” Another wink and a smile.

      Brin giggled again and nuzzled his neck. “I guess not. Now, you have to let me go before I’m late for work. You get some rest today. Promise me?”

      “Yes, Mother.” He swatted her on the backside, a little too roughly perhaps, but with good humor and great results. “Love you.”

      5

      With Brin safely off to work and Savannah hugged, kissed and off to day care, Alex was alone with his misery. He tried to focus, to find a positive he could cling to that would help him map out the next few months or weeks. Days? Nothing worked. He finished his coffee, then puttered aimlessly about the kitchen before pouring another cup.

      He tried thinking about the house, his family and planning for the future, but it was hopeless. In many ways, they were fortunate—far more so than many of the people he’d seen in other countries. The house was paid for and a college fund for Savannah was already in place, accruing interest. He had more money tucked away than the family would ever need, and, in all reality, Brin didn’t actually need it. The research lab she ran was on the cutting edge of the hunt to cure a dozen or more degenerative diseases. She made plenty of money on her own.

      Sometimes he thought it was marriage to him that held her back from a Nobel Prize or more. And she was a wonder with Savannah. It was true that the girl loved her Daddy, but it was Brin who got the call when knees were scraped or a stuffy nose kept the girl from sleeping.

      He couldn’t shake the feeling of frustration that he wasn’t going to be part of building their family, their life—he was going to be a burden on it.

      One thing was certain. He couldn’t put off telling Denny Talbot that he was done as a Room 59 agent. They would have to replace him, and quickly. His personal life might have gone into a slide, but he knew the world wouldn’t pay a bit of attention to that. He might even have saved it once or twice—it was all the same to Mother Earth.

      Alex stalked to his desk. The computer monitor was dark. He punched the power button and brought the machine to life. As it booted up, he plopped into the leather chair and stared at the screen.

      He didn’t even know what he’d say when he logged in. He had his final report on the Mexican operation to upload, but they already knew the details. He’d given Denny a quick debrief when he’d returned. Nothing was really news to Kate or Denny. They probably also knew that he’d nearly screwed СКАЧАТЬ