Page 1 of The Mouse and the Maestro

Chapter 1

Jane was a nervous person. But she was also accustomed to living in large cities, to taking care of herself and keeping safe. When she saw the man behind her, she knew she was being followed. What she didn’t know was what to do about it.

At first she tried to lose him, quickly darting inside a shop and hiding behind a clothes rack until she was certain he must be gone. When she emerged from the store and saw no sign of him, she thought she’d succeeded. And then, to her consternation, she saw him ahead of her, paused as if he were looking at the magazine stand. Jane knew better; he was waiting for her.Now what?Should she scream for help? The only time she had ever screamed was once when anOxford English Dictionaryfell on her little toe. The one that went wee-wee-wee all the way home wee’d for certain on that day. Now if she screamed, who would help? Worse, who would care? The falafel cart guy? Not likely.

She passed the tattooed man, and he resumed walking behind her. Not too close, not close enough for her to draw attention to his presence, to push him or yell at him to go away.But close enough so she knew he was there and felt vaguely threatened. His right arm was covered in colorful tattoos. Jane had no tattoos. Everyone she knew had them, including her ninety-year-old grandmother who had recently gotten one on her foot. But for Jane they still signaled danger and rebellion, and Jane was neither dangerous nor rebellious. She should get the opposite of a tattoo to signal how mild-mannered and conformist she was, but the only thing she could think of was a minivan, and she was saving that until she got married and had kids.

Two blocks later, the crowds thinned and the man was still following her. Jane hurried her step, so close to work and safety she could taste it. A glance behind showed the man hurrying, too. Finally she saw the museum in the distance. She could practically smell the comforting must of artifacts from here.Home,she thought, so close, so easy to reach as long as she made it there before the man who was tailing her.

She darted inside and sprinted to the elevator. No way would she risk getting trapped in a stairwell with the psycho who’d been stalking behind her. The elevator was safer as long as it arrived quickly. Her finger jabbed the button again as she shot a glance over her shoulder. No one was there; she was safe.

The elevator finally arrived. Jane darted inside, breathing a sigh of relief, but as the doors began to close, a hand slid between them, almost like a horror movie. She stifled a scream as the tattooed man stepped inside and gave her a chilling smile. His arm reached out, but now she was ready. She withdrew the pepper spray from her purse and sent a pulse directly into his eyes. He dropped to the ground, writhing in agony. Jane choked as the cloud of pepper spray enveloped the elevator. Her eyes were streaming too, but it was worth it. She was safe.

The door opened onto her floor. An entire group of strangers stood staring at her, and Jane remembered why she’d beenin such a hurry this morning. The team of federal agents was coming today to meet with her. One of them stepped forward and held out his hand.

“Dr. Dunbar, I’m Cameron Ridge, senior director of the team. It appears you’ve already met our hacker, Blue.”

On the floor of the elevator, the man with the blue hair and tattoos moaned, rocking back and forth in agony, his hands clawing at his face.

Cameron Ridge turned to the blond woman standing behind him. “Hon, can you take Blue to the bathroom and get him cleaned up?”

Meekly, she stepped forward and helped the blue-haired man off the floor, putting her arm around him as they stumbled to the bathroom. Jane turned her attention to Cameron Ridge, her face flooded with heat. To deflect from her embarrassment, she focused on the next thing that grabbed her attention.

“Do you always call your employees ‘hon,’ Mr. Ridge?” she asked, her tone icy and affronted.

“Only the ones I’m married to, Dr. Dunbar. Why don’t you take a moment to get yourself together and we’ll meet in the conference room in ten,” he suggested. He turned his back on her and walked away, and Jane had the sinking feeling she’d been dismissed, possibly forever.

Chapter 2

“Holy banshees, what is that woman’s problem?” Blue asked.

“They warned us she was…different,” Maggie said. She bathed Blue’s eyes with cool water as he hunched over the sink like some kind of macabre beauty salon.

“I didn’t do anything, I swear. I was reaching for the button to close the door, and she sprayed me. No warning, nothing. She’s psychotic.”

“I know,” Maggie said, patting his back soothingly.

Now he groaned for a whole different reason. It wasn’t ideal to have feelings for a woman who was married to another man. He was doing his best to get over her, but it went better when she wasn’t touching him, caring for him, cleaning pepper juice out of his eyes.

“Maybe you need to go to the hospital,” Maggie said, misinterpreting his groan of misery for continued eye pain. Eye pain was easy. He’d take it any day to heartache. He was so over feeling sad and lonely.

“I’ll be fine,” he assured her.

“You don’t have to pretend to be okay all the time. I know something’s been bothering you for a while, but you keep telling me you’re fine,” she said.

“I’m a hacker, Maggie. It’s our nature to stuff things inside and only let them out in virtual reality. You should see my avatar. Guy never stops weeping.”

She laughed, and it was another dagger in his heart. He loved to hear her laugh, to make her laugh. It was warm and infectious, like a rain shower on a warm summer day. He groaned again. He was seriously pathetic.

“Blue, you’re worrying me,” Maggie said, again with the back patting.

He stood, easing himself out of her reach. She handed him a wad of paper towels, and he pressed them to his eyes. “It’s better, thanks.” When he removed the towels from his face, she was standing a few inches away, staring at him with big, worried eyes. She grasped his forearms.

“You could go home. Ridge would understand.”

“No he wouldn’t, and I’ll be fine, really.”

She squeezed his arms. “Don’t be macho.”

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