Page 85 of Blow Me Down
Holder turned his glare on Corbin. “You think I don’t see that you’re trying to get your hand under the back of her bodice?”
Corbin stopped trying to do that very thing, looking behind me at where his hand was working its way under the leather and linen. “How could you see that?”
“I couldn’t,” Holder said, looking abashed for a moment. “But that’s what I’d be doing if I was in your place. If you two would try to keep your hands off each other long enough for us to have a rational discussion, I would appreciate it.”
“I thought you wanted us together.” I said, squirming slightly when Corbin’s fingers found a way under the bodice. He caressed a line up my spine that had me suddenly thinking of all the hours that had passed since Corbin and I had had dessert.
“I do, but not when we’re trying to have a conversation. Sit still, would you?”
“Get on with it, Holder,” Corbin said, clearly thinking thoughts along the same path as mine.
“Fine. Amy, you said that you grilled Bart, and he clearly was a computer player, correct?”
I smiled a slow, seductive smile at Corbin. “Hmm? Grilled might be too harsh a word. I’ve talked to Bart a lot, and he’s always been very piratey and never broken character. Corbin, do you know that you have the most adorable Adam’s apple? I love how it bobbles around when I when I touch you right here—”
“No touching!” Holder said, leaping up out of his chair. Before I could protest he yanked me off the bed and shoved me down into the chair, taking the one Corbin had vacated at the desk. “Lord above, you two are insatiable!”
“Yes, we are,” Corbin said, smiling back at me, his eyes alight with love and passion and a host of other emotions that made my heart soar. “Make your point, Holder, then get the hell out of my cabin.”
“My point, you lust-riddled dolt, is that Bart could well be Paul. And if he is, it’s likely we’re all in danger right this very moment.”
Chapter 21
Go and do your best endeavour,
And before all links we sever,
We will say farewell for-ever.
—Ibid, Act II
I stopped batting my lashes at Corbin to gawk at Holder. Corbin frowned at his friend. “Danger? What sort of danger? We’re already trapped here.”
“Exactly. Paul has us trapped here, all of us, with no clear way to escape, and no way to find him. And now Bart has done virtually the same thing—he has us trapped, together, stuck in this blockade and unable to find him. Makes sense that this was part of his plan all along. And given that, I’m not expecting him to show up and throw us a party with balloon animals and ice cream.”
“Hmm.” Corbin stroked his chin, something I noticed he did when thinking hard. “He has a point, love.”
“Granted, but I just told you both that I’ve talked to Bart, and he seems very much a computer character.”
Holder waggled a finger at me. “No. You said that you’ve talked to him a lot, but you didn’t grill him. There’s a difference between having casual intercourse with a character”— he shot Corbin a look—“socialintercourse with a character, and trying to determine if they are a player or not.”
“But… don’t you guys know whether you created Bart or not?”
“Sure we do,” Corbin said. “Bart was created to be a nemesis to players—I told you that. But given Paul’s programming abilities, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to guess he’s taken over the character and is now running it himself.”
“True.” I chewed my lower lip while I mentally ran over all my conversations with Bart. “You’re right. I don’t think I ever did really ask him a pointed question. He’s always seemed so perfect for the role, I guess I never questioned that he could be anything but a computer character.”
“The prosecution rests its case,” Holder said, leaning back in the chair.
“Now, wait—just because I didn’t ask him about his childhood doesn’t mean he’s this Paul guy.” I looked from Holder to Corbin, who was looking thoughtful. “For Pete’s sake, Renata has acted much more suspicious than Bart.
In addition, there must be other people in the game you haven’t tracked down yet to talk to.”
Corbin nodded. “We’ve done about ninety-five percent of the people on Mongoose, but not all of them. You said you’ve done the same?”
“No, I’ve talked to all forty-seven inhabitants of Turtle’s Back. None of them are anything but what they seem.”
“Except Bart,” Holder said, a stubborn expression on his face.
