noncommittal noise, neither confirming nor denying her assumption. He had never been a particularly good liar, but then he’d never had everything riding on his ability to keep a poker face. She studied him while he held his breath. He could ask others, but Alice was possibly the most discreet and the most softhearted. Plus, she had some working familiarity with the programming that went into surveillance. She’d shown some interest in it in the beginning, so he’d given her a crash course and even assigned an agent or two to her before she’d decided to focus exclusively on back-end technology development.
“I guess I can. But you owe me for tearing me away from this new project right when I got it started. And your agents better not wake me up too much in the middle of the night, or I’m going to cut them loose.”
He nodded solemnly, recognizing the bluff for what it was. Alice was so warmly maternal, she’d probably pester his agents checking in on them at the slightest sign of trouble.
“Try to keep it quiet, please.” It wouldn’t take long for people to realize he was gone, but he’d delay the inevitable gossip for as long as he could.
“Very well.”
He unclipped his handheld, and with a couple of taps of his finger, transferred all of his agents, save Jules, over to Alice. The handheld beeped as it received the information.
She sighed. “I must say, I was hoping I’d left this work behind. It’s so much easier to focus on lab stuff in here than it is to be on the front lines out there, isn’t it? Even virtually.”
Preaching to the choir. “Thanks again, Alice. I owe you.”
“You certainly do.” With a grim smile, she picked up the handheld, swiveled on her stool and stood. “I’m taking over your office while I do this so I don’t have to strain my eyes on this itty-bitty thing.”
“That’s fine. Move everything else in there to the side.” All of his projects could be shoved to the back burner.
After she left, James returned to his bedroom, his mind clicking away. With at least a two-day trip ahead of him, he needed to maximize every hour of daylight. He would utilize the next few hours to prepare, and head out in the wee hours of the day. He would have to see about appropriating a car…
The smart thing, the least suicidal thing to do, is wait and see if Jules checks in soon. Like Gabriel said.
His fingers curled, and he had to clench his teeth. Normally he had no problem listening to the dictates of his brain. He was a reasonable man. Only once before, in his entire life, had his every instinct clamored for him to override his common sense.
James took a deep breath and headed for his closet. He would plan. That was his specialty, after all, and he wouldn’t think of all the things that could be going wrong at this moment. And this moment. And this moment…
He shoved aside visions of a broken and bloody Jules, replacing them with an exasperated Jules driving back to California in a borrowed car.
Nor would he consider the dangers that awaited him outside, should that scenario not pan out. He wouldn’t think about the fact that all of his knowledge of the world waiting outside the bunker walls was theoretical.
Think of the destination, not the journey.
Think of Jules.
Chapter Six
If there was one thing Jules missed from her childhood, it was the luxury of waking in slow increments. Not that there had been very much to wake up to. On the weekends, back when her mother had been alive, the most Jules could hope for was that the woman had thought to stock the kitchen with foods that her child could make on her own before going off on one of her benders. Still, the harsh reality of life awaiting her had made the experience of leaving her dream world slowly even more wonderful.
Since she’d been on her own, she’d gotten into the habit of jerking awake in a flash, ready to move or flee at a second’s notice. Trained instinct now clashed with her body’s abnormally
“I guess I can. But you owe me for tearing me away from this new project right when I got it started. And your agents better not wake me up too much in the middle of the night, or I’m going to cut them loose.”
He nodded solemnly, recognizing the bluff for what it was. Alice was so warmly maternal, she’d probably pester his agents checking in on them at the slightest sign of trouble.
“Try to keep it quiet, please.” It wouldn’t take long for people to realize he was gone, but he’d delay the inevitable gossip for as long as he could.
“Very well.”
He unclipped his handheld, and with a couple of taps of his finger, transferred all of his agents, save Jules, over to Alice. The handheld beeped as it received the information.
She sighed. “I must say, I was hoping I’d left this work behind. It’s so much easier to focus on lab stuff in here than it is to be on the front lines out there, isn’t it? Even virtually.”
Preaching to the choir. “Thanks again, Alice. I owe you.”
“You certainly do.” With a grim smile, she picked up the handheld, swiveled on her stool and stood. “I’m taking over your office while I do this so I don’t have to strain my eyes on this itty-bitty thing.”
“That’s fine. Move everything else in there to the side.” All of his projects could be shoved to the back burner.
After she left, James returned to his bedroom, his mind clicking away. With at least a two-day trip ahead of him, he needed to maximize every hour of daylight. He would utilize the next few hours to prepare, and head out in the wee hours of the day. He would have to see about appropriating a car…
The smart thing, the least suicidal thing to do, is wait and see if Jules checks in soon. Like Gabriel said.
His fingers curled, and he had to clench his teeth. Normally he had no problem listening to the dictates of his brain. He was a reasonable man. Only once before, in his entire life, had his every instinct clamored for him to override his common sense.
James took a deep breath and headed for his closet. He would plan. That was his specialty, after all, and he wouldn’t think of all the things that could be going wrong at this moment. And this moment. And this moment…
He shoved aside visions of a broken and bloody Jules, replacing them with an exasperated Jules driving back to California in a borrowed car.
Nor would he consider the dangers that awaited him outside, should that scenario not pan out. He wouldn’t think about the fact that all of his knowledge of the world waiting outside the bunker walls was theoretical.
Think of the destination, not the journey.
Think of Jules.
Chapter Six
If there was one thing Jules missed from her childhood, it was the luxury of waking in slow increments. Not that there had been very much to wake up to. On the weekends, back when her mother had been alive, the most Jules could hope for was that the woman had thought to stock the kitchen with foods that her child could make on her own before going off on one of her benders. Still, the harsh reality of life awaiting her had made the experience of leaving her dream world slowly even more wonderful.
Since she’d been on her own, she’d gotten into the habit of jerking awake in a flash, ready to move or flee at a second’s notice. Trained instinct now clashed with her body’s abnormally
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