Page 82 of Sky Song
Neither Terrance nor Salty were paying her any attention. Cricket moved the cursor and stealthily navigated the path she had taken with Lyle to get to the research files. She didn’t know what she sought to accomplish except maybe prove to herself that she hadn’t imagined them.
The files… were there. Once tapped, the directory titled Research opened, and Cricket beheld a long list of publicationswritten by various doctors on multiple medical topics. No encryption. No gibberish.
Puzzled, she clicked on one, and it took her to the summary. Something orthopedic, about bunions and bone spurs.
She stared at the screen in confusion. “Am I going crazy?” she whispered to herself.
“I’m ready for the reports.” Yanet was standing next to Cricket, looking in the direction of the screen.
Hastily, Cricket backed out of Research and brought up the reporting program. “Let me show you.” She explained to Yanet what to do.
“Clear as mud.” The nurse pulled up a stool. “I only have two hours before I’m scheduled to help Dr. Ragberg with a procedure,” she warned. Her hair was sleek once again, her top strategically unbuttoned. In other words, Yanet as usual, but Cricket couldn't shake off a feeling of disquiet.
As she moved out of the way, she gave Yanet’s back another assessing glance, noticing how her roomy top bulged on one side where the thin material revealed the outline of the stunner Yanet still had on her.
Her house was dark and felt empty when Cricket came home, and Hipper stayed quiet next door. But Paloma was knocking on her door the minute Cricket turned on the lights.
“Hey. What are you up to?”
A bit discombobulated, Cricket faltered. “Well, I’m about to start dinner. Then clean and do laundry.”
Paloma waved her list of tasks away. “In other words, nothing important. Good! We’re going to Atticus.”
“That place again?” Cricket couldn't suppress a shudder.
“It’s a great place. Nothing but opportunities.”
“I’m happy to miss them.”
“Not tonight. We’re meeting someone about the files.”
Cricket pursed her lips. “About the files. I’m afraid we’ve bothered you for nothing. I was able to open them at work, and they aren’t what we thought they were going to be.”
Paloma’s eyes narrowed. “Really.”
“Yeah. Something must’ve glitched in the system, but things are back to normal now.”
Paloma didn’t reply right away. “Normal, huh. Have you told that to Lyle?”
“I haven’t seen him since morning,” Cricket admitted, and her cheeks grew warm. She could picture their morning so vividly, his bulky but taut flesh pressed against her, his callused, strong fingers sliding against her bare skin…
Paloma’s expression was carefully blank. “At this point, the files have been cracked, so we have to retrieve them.”
Cricket groped around for an excuse for not going to Atticus. “I’ll discuss it with Lyle when I see him.”
“You’ll see him at Atticus. Come on, let’s go.”
Paloma ordered a rider since Cricket flatly refused to pay for one.
“But we can’t walk there - it’s too far.” The violet eyes flashed with annoyance from underneath the curly fringe.
“Yeah, that’s a problem. We can always not go.”
“Fine, be difficult. I’ll put the ride on the Rix’s tab. He already owes me, so he’ll just owe me more.”
Mark the orc impersonator leered at them as they passed through the darkened club door he was guarding like some schmugly territorial beast. He made them brush past him by refusing to move fully out of the way, and Paloma flipped him a bird. Unimpressed, he snarled and flipped her off right back.
“Charming,” Cricket remarked.
