Page 48 of Off Her Game
“Who? I thought all his previous spies were dead.” Tori wondered if it was a gamer or one of the extraneous extras needed to haul equipment or a programmer. Wait a second, she saidhad.
“I heard him say Ravi or Tavi. Something like that,” Emma said.
“Indian kid. About twenty. Sweet guy, terrible at the early levels ofZoneworldbut pretty good beyond level five. He was always drinking neon-colored sodas. What about him?”
“Someone dumped his body in the Bronx early this morning. Official cause of death is heroin OD.” Emma nibbled one of her manicured nails.
“Oh God.” That could’ve been her. Later this week when she disappointed Symphis it might be her. Or it might be her sister or one of her roommates or Noah. No, it wouldn’t be Noah so long as she had the connection with him, which made him useful. But once she wasn’t useful anymore, once she couldn’t produce what Symphis needed or wanted, he’d eliminate her and maybe take out Noah as a way to wrap up a loose end. However, even if she gave him what he wanted, then she might not be valuable any more. The gears in her brain churned, searching for a solution, be it quasi-legal, illegal, or fear-based. “I warned them. These guys don’t care about laws or rules. Or human life.”
“They weren’t listening. Tom thinks heknowsthis guy because he took a few computer classes in college. And he took down a fantasy football league with heavy gambling that had turned dangerous in Boston last year.”
“I want to disappear to Europe or some Caribbean country for a few years. I’d even consider Siberia, but I won’t go to Asia or Africa. The snakes, you know.” She shivered. “You guys can take down Symphis and then let me know it’s safe to come back.”
“There’re snakes in the Caribbean, too, you know. Symphis will find you the second you logged in online. There’s no way you could spend two years off the grid. You’re safer here with us. With people in the government knowing what’s going on.” Emma didn’t look convinced.
“Like Ravi was safe? Bet they can’t pin anything on anyone, can they? Looks like another garden variety OD.” Tori wedged the heel of her hand to each side of her temple. Her butt slid down the wall to sit on the bathmat.
Emma knelt in front of her. “Your contact is Noah. You need to take your phone to him so he can get it to Tom or tell Noah in person so they can try to trace who phoned you.”
“I’m sure it was blocked or a burner phone.”
“You have to try. He phoned you. Based on what the FBI said that’s not his M.O. Wonder why he’s making this more personal.” Emma chewed on a nail. “Dammit, now I ruined a nail.”
“He better not have phoned me because I’m a girl.”
“Whatever the reason, you need to go talk to Noah tonight.”
“Okay. Is his place bugged, too?” She didn’t know what’d happen if she and Noah were alone again.
Emma shook her head. “Sam’s crew sweeps his place twice a week to be sure.”
“All right. I’ll go talk to him. Please, be careful.” She pulled herself to a stand.
“What took you and Noah so long to get to the meeting this morning?” Emma asked.
Her gaze popped up. She didn’t need to answer that. This was classic Emma distraction and redirection. She and everyone in that room knew they’d been doing something, probably suspected a blowjob.
“Look, we might’ve kissed. Made out for a bit, but we were gaming for a while, too.” Tori chewed her lower lip.
Emma’s lower jaw dropped. “You and my boss made out? What’s wrong with him? It’s like he got hit over the head by a dose of crazy since he met you in jail. Last week this man couldn’t talk to a woman. If he did, he’d fall apart with nervousness and eventually give up before he even drummed up the courage to ask her out, if he could figure out how. Now he’s making out in his office and going on dates. His drive for dates isn’t because he has to. He’s into it. Like really freaking into it…and you.”
Yeah, she liked him, too. Going to his place, phone excuse or not, might end in a lot more than kissing.
“Do you like Noah, or is this fangirl worship?” Emma asked.
“I didn’t make out with him because he’s a Game Lord. I only played the game with him because of it. It would’ve stayed a friends-only thing but he allowed me to play on his new virtual reality system today, which by the way is incredible and is going to make so much money for NJ Legacy. It was an amazing experience. Then we kissed and it almost spiraled, but he remembered the meeting.”That sounded totally implausible.“There’s some sort of super-warp chemistry between us.”
Emma held up her hand. “Hold up a second. Let’s rewind to where Noah showedyouhis virtual reality glasses.”
“They’re cool.”
“That project has been kept hush-hush. I haven’t even been invited to see the prototype. I think there’s maybe five people in the whole company who’ve been allowed to try it out. He must really like you to have let you into his top-secret domain.” Emma whistled.
“The system they developed is amazing.” Tori got back to her feet. She splashed water on her face and wiped it off, pausing to stare at herself in the mirror. Not her best look right now with frizzy, dark hair in a messy braid.
Emma sighed long and loud. “Out of all this crap comes something unexpected and maybe good. You really like him, don’t you?”
“It’s a dead-end that can’t start right now. We like each other, but I can’t handle the mind calisthenics necessary for a relationship on top of the Symphis thing.” She fingered the doorknob. “I’ll go to Noah’s and tell him about the call so he can pass along the info. I won’t make out with him again. I promise.”
