planning on getting those?”
Shale breaks eye contact and looks away.
“You’ve told me so much already. This will work better if you trust me.”
“I know, but so far I haven’t betrayed anyone but myself. If I tell you much else, I’ll be bringing others into it.” He looks at me again.
“It will be easier for your mission to have someone inside BoTA to help. Someone who has a personal stake in this like I do. I have to get my sister out of the Asylum.” I put my hand next to his on the bed. “Shale, I can’t let her die there. It simply isn’t an option.”
After a long moment, just when I think he’ll never confide in me, Shale says, “The Rads have a contact at the Code Agency who can leave me a key to the records room in the basement. She’s sympathetic to our cause, but she isn’t willing to get involved past that stage. I was planning to get into the building using your card late one night to get access to the key.”
I process this for a moment and then nod. “I can go instead of you, and I can do it during working hours. It’s much less dangerous that way. Who was your contact?”
Shale hesitates again, but whatever he sees in my eyes must convince him I’m not about to phone the Escort Tip Line. “Celeste Walters. She sits at the very front of the room at the Code Agency. She’s the one you see right when you walk in.”
I think back to the unsmiling woman who called her boss when I asked for a copy of the code sheet. So it was all part of keeping up the ruse while she worked to help the Rads. Well, she didn’t know who I was then. Maybe now she’ll be a little less likely to inform on me.
“I know the one you’re talking about. Can you set it up so she meets me in front of the records room around ten tomorrow morning? It’s usually fairly quiet around that time of day.”
“Tomorrow?” Shale looks at me closely, as if he’s pondering whether I’ve lost my handle on reality. He can’t know how much I’ve overvalued reality thus far. “Do you want some time to think this over, Vika? If you get caught—”
“Let me worry about that. Please.” I’m flushed, as if I’m fevered. The need to do this burns within me.
Shale blows out a breath and hangs his head. I look at the short black hairs on the nape of his neck, something stirring deep in the pit of my stomach.
“Okay,” he says at last. “She’ll be there.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
I don’t sleep, and I can tell Shale doesn’t either, because I see his shadow under the door, pacing back and forth. At around eleven, he goes out, presumably to consult with the Rads on this new development. I wonder how many times he’s done that without my knowledge. Is that why he’s always asleep when I leave in the morning for work? At three o’clock, he still isn’t back, and I drift off into uneasy sleep.
When I wake up for the morning, as I get dressed for work, Shale knocks on my door. I open it once I’m decent.
He hands me a cup of tea. “Are you still sure you want to do this?”
“Absolutely.” I take the cup. “Thanks.”
“I arranged everything. Celeste will meet you there at ten, like we talked about.”
I nod and begin to go around him, but he grabs me by the shoulders and looks me deep in the eyes. I begin to find myself veering into an unsafe place I’ve never been before.
“Be careful,” he whispers.
Guilt pulls a mask over the face of the world. Every smile seems to me malicious, every look predatory. When two women on the bus whisper, I am sure they’re whispering about what I am about to do. The bus driver glances at me too often in the rearview mirror. In my office, a hush descends on the room when I walk in. I wait for the Escorts to come.
“You seem rather on edge today,” Moon says when I jump at the beeping of my computer terminal. “Everything alright?”
I force a smile. “Yes. I had a late night. Exhaustion will do that.”
She raises one green eyebrow. “So will
Shale breaks eye contact and looks away.
“You’ve told me so much already. This will work better if you trust me.”
“I know, but so far I haven’t betrayed anyone but myself. If I tell you much else, I’ll be bringing others into it.” He looks at me again.
“It will be easier for your mission to have someone inside BoTA to help. Someone who has a personal stake in this like I do. I have to get my sister out of the Asylum.” I put my hand next to his on the bed. “Shale, I can’t let her die there. It simply isn’t an option.”
After a long moment, just when I think he’ll never confide in me, Shale says, “The Rads have a contact at the Code Agency who can leave me a key to the records room in the basement. She’s sympathetic to our cause, but she isn’t willing to get involved past that stage. I was planning to get into the building using your card late one night to get access to the key.”
I process this for a moment and then nod. “I can go instead of you, and I can do it during working hours. It’s much less dangerous that way. Who was your contact?”
Shale hesitates again, but whatever he sees in my eyes must convince him I’m not about to phone the Escort Tip Line. “Celeste Walters. She sits at the very front of the room at the Code Agency. She’s the one you see right when you walk in.”
I think back to the unsmiling woman who called her boss when I asked for a copy of the code sheet. So it was all part of keeping up the ruse while she worked to help the Rads. Well, she didn’t know who I was then. Maybe now she’ll be a little less likely to inform on me.
“I know the one you’re talking about. Can you set it up so she meets me in front of the records room around ten tomorrow morning? It’s usually fairly quiet around that time of day.”
“Tomorrow?” Shale looks at me closely, as if he’s pondering whether I’ve lost my handle on reality. He can’t know how much I’ve overvalued reality thus far. “Do you want some time to think this over, Vika? If you get caught—”
“Let me worry about that. Please.” I’m flushed, as if I’m fevered. The need to do this burns within me.
Shale blows out a breath and hangs his head. I look at the short black hairs on the nape of his neck, something stirring deep in the pit of my stomach.
“Okay,” he says at last. “She’ll be there.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
I don’t sleep, and I can tell Shale doesn’t either, because I see his shadow under the door, pacing back and forth. At around eleven, he goes out, presumably to consult with the Rads on this new development. I wonder how many times he’s done that without my knowledge. Is that why he’s always asleep when I leave in the morning for work? At three o’clock, he still isn’t back, and I drift off into uneasy sleep.
When I wake up for the morning, as I get dressed for work, Shale knocks on my door. I open it once I’m decent.
He hands me a cup of tea. “Are you still sure you want to do this?”
“Absolutely.” I take the cup. “Thanks.”
“I arranged everything. Celeste will meet you there at ten, like we talked about.”
I nod and begin to go around him, but he grabs me by the shoulders and looks me deep in the eyes. I begin to find myself veering into an unsafe place I’ve never been before.
“Be careful,” he whispers.
Guilt pulls a mask over the face of the world. Every smile seems to me malicious, every look predatory. When two women on the bus whisper, I am sure they’re whispering about what I am about to do. The bus driver glances at me too often in the rearview mirror. In my office, a hush descends on the room when I walk in. I wait for the Escorts to come.
“You seem rather on edge today,” Moon says when I jump at the beeping of my computer terminal. “Everything alright?”
I force a smile. “Yes. I had a late night. Exhaustion will do that.”
She raises one green eyebrow. “So will
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