The War Gate by Chris Stevenson

the fans when the show is over.”
    “But the performance is tonight.”
    “That’s the point. It’s already a winner, just like you. I hope you don’t feel bad about what happened. I’ve torn my pants, gone headlong off the stage, even lit my sleeves on fire. The act is full of hazards, I can tell you.”
    “You’re gonna have me spitting gravy here in a minute. You don’t seem like the type to make mistakes. I hope you’re not saying that to make me feel better. Although, I am over it. It was kind of funny. Except for that weird route I took.”
    “I thought about that. I figure the trapdoor dropped, then recycled faster than normal. It’s spring-loaded with a damper piston. The piston valve might be defective. A little maintenance will take care of it.”
    “I’m glad to hear that it was something normal. But it still doesn’t explain how I ended up outside the theater.”
    “You probably got confused. You just went the wrong way or something.”
    She was seeing another side of him. He had a light in his eyes when he looked at her. His voice had a serious tone to it. It didn’t take a genius to know that he had more than feelings of friendship on his mind. He seemed to say all the right things. He could delight her one minute, amaze her the next. She’d had similar feelings toward him from the moment she had met him, knowing deep down she might return those affections. Her mind said, “Danger,” but her heart wanted to race ahead.
    The silence grew thick between them until they finished the meal.
    “I think I’m going crazy,” Avy blurted. “How would you feel if your assistant was a blithering mental case? What if I told you I have a truckload of skeletons in my closet? I’ve been preoccupied with something I can’t shake. I won’t lie to you.”
    He answered while discarding their empty food containers. “Then I would say skeletons need rattling. If you’re on a mission of some type, you ought to see it through. Take whatever time you need. If you have something that doesn’t sit right in your guts you should purge it. If you feel like dumping some trash, just remember my ears work.”
    “It’s a complicated story,” she warned. “I don’t even smoke, but I wish I had a cigarette right now.”
    “Un-complicate it for me.”
    She told him about her mother, including all the horrid details. She didn’t leave anything out—she even explained her visit with Chubby. She admitted ignorance of her birth father, explaining how she came to be adopted by Drake, outlining all of the personality clashes she’d had with him. The confession spilled like a torrent. After it was over, she felt somehow unburdened. Purged.
    Sebastian blew out a whistling sigh. “Damn, girl. Makes my life on the road look like a Sunday in the park playing pitch ’n catch. I’m sorry about what happened to your mother. It must have been a living hell. Drake sounds like a real scumbag. Enough to raise anybody’s hackles. As for Janus, I think that might be a coincidence. Just my two cents worth.”
    “I’m going to the library, Sebastian. Would you like to come along? It won’t take long.”
    “Sure.” He winked. “If you let me drive that little Samurai. I haven’t got a thing to do except feed the doves and bunnies later.”
    He was lonely too, she realized.
    They made it to the library with Sebastian at the wheel. Of course, he had to present the clerk with a handful of fantasy flowers. Abigail Folger squealed with delight. She mentioned that she recognized him from a time she’d attended one his shows.
    Avy found an unoccupied computer. She brought out a piece of paper that contained her pass code. Drake had allowed her special visiting privileges to tour the plant, giving her access. In addition, he had given her authorization to inside security features through the main website. It was a code level two clearance, not the highest, but it would be enough for what she wanted to find out. The code had never