Body Thief by C.J. Barry

you for a reason.”
    Ernest blushed. He reached into his pocket and handed Mercer a smartphone. “Use this when you don’t want to be monitored. The number to my secure cell phone is programmed in.”
    Cam glanced between the two of them. “Wait, I don’t get a phone?”
    “Sorry,” Ernest said. “I only got one. I didn’t want to draw suspicion.”
    Cam turned to Mercer. “And you were worried about our boy.”
    Mercer held her gaze as he said to Ernest, “Can you access information about the targets without getting caught?”
    “I’ll find a way,” Ernest said. “I’ll forward what I have to your phone in a few hours.”
    Cam slapped her palms on the table in victory. “Now see, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
    Mercer eyed her. “Haven’t gotten it yet.”
    She ignored him. “How’s my father doing?” she asked Ernest.
    He nodded. “He’s good. I guess. I’m not sure I’d know if he wasn’t.”
    I’d know, she thought, feeling the guilt to her bones. “He’s moving around okay?”
    “Sure. Although, I did kick his butt in chess.”
    Cam inhaled sharply. “For real?”
    “Oh yeah. It wasn’t easy. He’s pretty sharp for an old guy.”
    Her heart sunk. “He lost at chess.”
    Ernest turned from her to Mercer. “That’s what I said. It’s not a big deal.”
    It was a big deal. Her father knew every move there was to play. He’d memorized thousands of strategies. He was a virtual superhuman when it came to chess, to any game. He never lost, not even to the best computers. It made him a hell of a gambling partner.
    Maybe he was just tired, she told herself. Maybe it meant nothing. Or perhaps it was another sign that time was running out.

     
    Griffin drained spaghetti in the sink with his bugged cell phone cradled on his shoulder and pretended to be paying attention to his boss. “Our preliminary findings indicate that there are three separate teams. We plan to contact suspects tonight.”
    “How many suspects?” Harding asked. His condescending tone irked Griffin to no end. He couldn’t wait for this check-in to end.
    “Two,” he answered curtly. Hell, he had no idea, but it would shut Harding up.
    “That’s the best you can do?”
    Griffin set the pasta in the sink to finish draining and wiped his hands on a towel. A noise behind him brought his head around. Cam walked in, fresh from a shower and carrying three hours’worth of Ernest’s printed dossiers on the sites.
    “It takes time to track down suspects,” Griffin responded flatly.
    Cam eyed him with curiosity. He mouthed, “Harding,” and she rolled her eyes in disgust.
    “We have informants. Find a way to move faster,” Harding said.
    Griffin watched the way Cam’s hair separated into thick, red ringlets when it was wet and nearly forgot his train of thought. “We are finding some inconsistencies with the sites. Have the investigators noted anything unusual about the Shifters’ MO?”
    Cam’s eyes widened as she stared at him. Big, blue, and beautiful. He had to admit, she was the best-looking thing his dismal apartment had seen in a long time.
    “What the hell are you talking about? Since when do you think ?” Harding barked loud enough for Cam to hear. She gave Griffin a commiserating look.
    Harding continued, “You focus on your mission. I don’t need to remind you what is on the line for you and for our country.”
    Cam flipped Harding the finger.
    It was all Griffin could do not to laugh in Harding’s ear. And then, just because Harding was being such a prick, he said, “It could help our interrogation of the suspects.”
    “The only thing you need to worry about is getting that woman close enough to smell them.”
    “That woman” was glaring at the phone with murderous intent.
    “Concentrate on your own job. Remember, you can be replaced,” Harding said.
    Griffin felt the surge of humiliation flood over him. Heartbeat by heartbeat, he pushed the anger and resentment down beneath what was left