Chapter 17

 

WHEN I GOT back to the villa, Frei was on her cell phone to someone that was getting right under her skin. I say guessed because she was speaking fast in what I assumed was German.

I leaned against the kitchen counter, watching as she talked, her hands flicked through the air as if oblivious to my presence. I’d never seen her so animated before. It was fascinating.

She shot some words into the mouthpiece, hung up, and muttered something that sounded like a very rude cuss word up at the ceiling.

She raised her hand like she was about to hurl the phone at the wall so I covered my head and cleared my throat.

“Problem?”

She spun on her heel, fixed me with a look of pure rage, then slammed shut her eyes.

She took long deep breaths but then so did I to try and calm the panic pounding through me. Man, she was scary. Note to self, never rile up Frankenfrei.

“How did it go?” she asked, opening her eyes, all trace of emotion gone from her face and voice.

“I guess a lot better than your conversation with . . . er . . . Huber? Or at least somebody to do with him.”

She glared at me but I shrugged. I had no idea how I knew but I did.

She sighed. “Your talents are meant to be offline.”

Now I was being referred to like a computer, nice. “Hey, you fire off that amount of emotion and I don’t need to be online to pick it up.” I waved my hands about like she had. “Something up?”

“It’s Huber’s mistress.” Frei slid her phone in her pocket. “She doesn’t like me and she hates Renee. She’s livid we’re involved.”

“Why?”

“Quick version, she is jealous because Huber loves me.” She shrugged. “Huber hasn’t made as much money since I left.”

“Ah, so she’s mad Renee stole you?”

Frei raised her blonde eyebrows. “Yes.”

Women were way too complicated for me. “So why is she a problem if she’s just a mistress?”

Frei shoved her hands on her belt like she was about to duel at high noon. “The deal was that Huber would cover us. Megan is powerful in her own right. She knows people.” She sighed. “Jäger has Huber’s word that you and Renee are trustworthy.”

“And?” I didn’t like the sound of that.

“Megan is threatening to let Jäger know Renee isn’t.”

Now I was panicking. “But Huber promised.”

“He did and his word is worth a lot more to Jäger than hers.” She met my eyes. “Megan likes to push my buttons.”

“Sounds like my mother.”

Frei laughed, a burst of shocked laughter that made me jump. “You might be right.”

“She called just to threaten you?” I headed to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. It was so dusty here.

“Smyth got the letter threatening the kids.” She tapped a piece of paper on the breakfast counter. “So naturally, Jäger has issued a warning.”

That didn’t sound pleasant. He’d said nothing to me. “So you were trying to get hold of Huber?”

Frei sighed. “And reacquainted myself with Megan, yes.”

“Is she going to be a problem?”

Frei slumped onto the stool at the breakfast bar as I offered her a bottle. “Yes.”

I cracked open mine and downed it, thankful for the cool liquid. How were we going to get out safe?

“As long as Renee doesn’t start digging, we’ll be fine.” Frei put her hands on the countertop and I noticed she had a lot of nick marks. Faint scars that seemed to cover her arms.

“Why would she?” Yes, I knew these guys were slave traders but Renee didn’t. Frei wasn’t telling me something.

“I walked away and Renee got hurt.” Frei sighed. “I stuck up for someone who she didn’t understand. I got them to safety, which she threatened to arrest me for.”

Loyalty. I could hear it in her voice. I took a seat next to her and we both stared at the fridge.

“In Serenity, I knew this girl called Lynne. She’d done things that made Sam look like a gentleman.” I shook my head. “She was the most volatile, nasty piece of work you’d ever wish to meet. Everybody was terrified of her.”

It felt like such a long time ago now that even talking about it made it feel so far away.

“This skinny, scared little runt got locked up in a cell with her. Nobody expected me to last the night.”

Frei looked at me. Her eyes tracked over my cheek but I focused on the fridge.

“I liked her. She liked me. She was so nice and funny. She taught me to look after myself, to lift weights. She protected me and even took care of me when I was sick.” I smiled at Frei. “A vicious lunatic she was, that was something neither of us could change, but there was enough good in her to help out a lost and lonely kid.”

“What happened?” Frei leaned on her fist. Gone was the bored nonchalance.

“She decided that she didn’t like the color of a guard’s hair one day. She’d get in them moods sometimes.” I sighed. “She took out eight of them before they sedated her.” I shook my head. “Never did know where they moved her.”

“She was never bad to you?” Frei studied me like she needed to know something.

“No, but then when she got in a mood like that, I stayed out of her way.” I turned to Frei. “What I’m saying is, I weren’t Lynne, I hadn’t lived her life. I couldn’t say I’d be any different if I’d been dealt her cards.” I tapped the counter. “Think she found it refreshing that I just took her as I saw her.”

Frei shook her head, a gentle smile on her face. “No wonder it’s hard for her to get over you.”

“Who?” Had I missed a page? “Lynne?”

“No,” Frei said with a chuckle. “I just meant . . . You . . .” She sighed. “It’s easy to like you.” She looked down at her hands. “It takes a lot to see a person’s faults and love them anyway.”

I smiled. “Actually, in my book, that is love.” A light dinged in my head as I said it. That had been the theme of my meditations. I’d been working on them every day. It was illuminating. “Love is unconditional.”

“Amen to that.” She got up and wandered to the study where there was a liquor cabinet.

“Are you teasing me?” I knew Renee was supportive of my meditations but I weren’t sure how other people would react.

“No. One Corinthians chapter thirteen verse five: it does not dishonor others, it’s not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” She smiled with warmth as she poured a glass.

“So I can get you to recite scripture to me?” I was teasing now but I was impressed. It felt nice to know something about her. It was nice to know that she had layers.

“Sure, just don’t expect it to be accurate. It’s been a while since I memorized passages.” She sipped her drink. “Funny that they pop up in your memory when you need them.” She wandered to the ice bucket and dropped a couple of cubes in.

“They do?”

She sipped her drink again and let out a satisfied sigh. I didn’t get how she could sip the stuff like it was pop. “They do. What’s with the new kid you adopted?”

I frowned, confused by the switch in conversation. I was enjoying getting to know her but it sounded like she was done sharing. “Huh?”

“The fainter. You were on the bench having a heart-to-heart.”

I turned to look at the closed door. We couldn’t see the quadrant from the villa.

Frei wandered to our living room and tapped a laptop that sat open on the coffee table. “I’m the boss.” She perched on the edge of her chair. “And someone needs to keep an eye on you.” She narrowed her eyes at the screen. “And scramble the bugs.”

“Right.” I had no idea CIG had that kind of technology. “Guess I need to censor, huh?”

“That was my next point. Back to the kid.” She raised her eyebrows, expectant.

“He’s cleverer than he lets on. He’s . . . he needs my help. I can’t explain it. I have to help him.”

Frei sipped away, watching me. “You don’t have to explain it. If you think he’s special, he is.” The ice chinked in her glass as she rested it on the edge of the armrest. “Build up his calves.”

“Huh?”

Her blue eyes softened as she smiled. “It helps the flow of blood returning to his heart. Kid has Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.” She tapped her legs. “The stronger they are, the more it will help him. It won’t cure it, but it’ll go a long way to helping.”

“How did you know . . . ?” I glanced at the door and back to her. How?

“Andrews sends his reports to me.” She sipped again, never taking her eyes off me. Amusement filled them as I stared at her. “You want to take a picture for your wall, Lorelei?”

I opened and closed my mouth, trying to think of something to say.

“Give him salt. Make sure he has plenty of water.” Frei cocked her head. She sat in silence, watching me stare at her like a dimwit. “Quit drooling. Jäger is on his way. He’s got his eye on you. Don’t stare at him too much.”

“I don’t stare . . . do I?”

She took her glass, her laptop, and wandered down the hall toward the stairs. “Quit wooing the locals or I’m going to need a ticketing system for the admirers.”

I tensed, turning to the door. Jäger. I didn’t want to face him.

Then I heard her laugh. A laugh that sounded like she was up to something. I peeked through the window. Jäger was nowhere to be seen.

“Why do I get the feeling that you were just done sharing?” I called up the stairs.

The ice chinked again. “We’ll make an investigator out of you yet.”

I doubted it.

I went back to the door and checked outside, just to be sure. Why I was attractive to him at all, I didn’t know. Frei, I got why he’d like her. I could understand if he liked Renee or Owens even but me?

What was it with me and psychopathic lunatics anyway? Did I wear some kind of scent? Eau de maniac.

It would take somebody unhinged to be interested in me, in a romantic sense anyhow.

Maybe I did need to work on not staring. I was sure that I was getting worse. Not having my burdens meant I was playing catch-up. Frei had me trying to figure her out.

How normal folks had time for slushy stuff, I didn’t know.

Nope, I had a weed to help grow into a big strong tree. A healthy, fit and . . . well . . . valuable tree.

I sighed and shut the door behind me. I wondered if CIG had room for a weed with a fainting problem.