“Up to a fraction of light-speed, sure, but mass goes to infinity as you reach light speed. You can’t go beyond that.”
“I’ve heard of Einstein, Eric. I just think there are a lot of things scientists don’t know yet. It limits our thinking. What if we had a way to travel across a galaxy in the blink of an eye? Then we could all get together.”
“That’s why science fiction is so popular,” said Eric, and bit into a cookie. “No limits there, and good entertainment.”
“I think it’s fun to think about things like that,” said Nataly.
She leaned close, and munched a cookie between sips of tea. Her eyes fixed on his, flecks of emerald green swimming in dark brown. “You didn’t believe in auras either, until you saw mine. Didn’t that change you?”
Eric reached over and touched her cheek. “I don’t know what I saw, but I sure haven’t forgotten it.”
Her eyes widened. “You don’t need an explanation?”
“No.” He touched her chin with a finger, and she grabbed it. Her eyes seemed to darken, and flecks of green were enhanced by it. Eric felt a small ache in his chest.
“I don’t either,” she said, and kissed his finger. “When can you come over again?”
“I don’t know. The next few days look bad.”
“Oh.”
“I mean I’ll let you know in the morning. I might have to be out of town.”
“Okay.” She looked down at Eric’s fingers clenched in her hand. Eric wondered if she could feel his strong pulse in it.
“I’ll try, I promise. I want to come over. I like being with you, Nataly.” Oh, man, why did I say that?
Nataly brightened, squeezed his hand. “That’s what I really wanted to hear.” She reached out and caressed his cheek. Eric felt blood rush to his face, and for an instant time seemed to disappear as he experienced a brief lapse of consciousness like a waking dream.
Eric blinked. “Sleep was tough last night. I couldn’t turn off.”
“Dreams?”
“Yeah, that too. Bizarre stuff. I was flying in one of them, arms stretched out like I was a sailplane. Then I was talking to a guy with gold skin. We were having what I thought was a deep, philosophical conversation about something, but when I woke up I couldn’t remember any of it. Had trouble getting back to sleep after that, kept hearing every pop and creak in the house.”
Nataly frowned, and fumbled in her purse. “I can give you something to help you sleep. I use it myself.”
“I don’t use sleeping pills,” said Eric.
“Oh it’s not that. More of a relaxant. Here, try it tonight, two tablets at bedtime. It’s herbal.” Nataly took two pink tablets from a vial in her purse, wrapped them in a piece of paper napkin and handed it to him.
“Okay,” said Eric, and put the little package in his shirt pocket to appease her. Inwardly, he had no intentions of taking any pills for sleep. Deep sleep made you vulnerable. Deep sleep could make you dead.
They finished their tea, and rinsed out the cups. “I’ll call,” said Eric, tilted her chin up and kissed her softly. Nataly leaned into the kiss, and then grinned at him. Marie gave him another grin at the front of the shop when he left.
There were four cars in the parking lot. A man sat behind the wheel of a silver Mercedes. He’d been looking at Eric, but looked down when Eric saw him.
John Coulter.
Eric walked straight to the Mercedes, and tapped on the driver’s side window. Coulter looked up, smiled, rolled down the window.
“Well, Eric, how are you?”
“Are you following me?”
“No. I went next door to get my glasses adjusted, but the parking lot there was full. I see you’re discovering our new-age shops. Have you met the owner of this one?”
“Yes. Leon took me to a party at her home. You and I met there. Remember?”
“Isn’t she a beauty? I haven’t had the privilege of meeting her.”
“Well, I’ll have to introduce you sometime. Are we still on for Monday?”
“Ah, well, it’s actually fortunate us meeting like this. I was going to call. Can we put it off until Friday? Two other cancellations messed up my schedule. That’s why I’m in town today.”
Right. “Sure. Same time and place?”
“Yes.” Coulter smiled. “Bring a pen. I’ll have a contract for you to sign.”
“I’ll do that,” said Eric, and stepped back as Coulter started his car. The Mercedes backed up, turned, and headed south on 81A, tires spitting red scree in the parking lot.
Leon was in the office when Eric returned. Eric told him about meeting Coulter.
“I don’t like it,” said Leon. “He was supposed to be out of town. He might be watching us.”
Eric bit his tongue to keep from telling Leon what Mister Brown had said about Coulter. “He’s a dirty guy, Leon, hiring us to do dirty things. We have no reason to trust him.”
“I know. Eyes open, mouth closed. You armed?”
“Yes.”
“I did notice the hard lump when I brushed by you yesterday. Hear something?”
“No. It seemed like the right thing to do. You?”
Leon smiled, lifted a pants leg to show the Smith .41 holstered at his ankle. “Want me to follow you on Friday?”
“I don’t want to chance it, but you might want to pick him up after the meeting and see where he goes. We need to find out who he’s working for. If possible, we should put a twenty-four-hour tail on him.”
“There’s a gallery next to the restaurant. I’ll be in the parking lot, and follow him when he comes out. I won’t use the Humvee.”
Eric sat down on the edge of Leon’s desk. “Any progress on what happened to Johnson?”
“Not a clue,” said Leon. “Military round, standard weight bullet. Someone just out of boot camp could have fired it so accurately at that distance.”
“Someone young. He ran like a rabbit,” said Eric.
Leon blew out a breath of air. “Things are heating up, but I don’t see why. The only thing new is you coming here. What else could it be?”
Eric’s decision was made before he realized it. “Yeah, there is something. We got a new instruction manual for Sparrow.”
“I know that from Davis. It still isn’t complete,” said Leon.
“No, but there are some leads. I got inside Sparrow, Leon, opened it up. There’s some kind of strange energy field inside. We’re trying to identify it. People think I’m a wunderkind for opening it up, but it was just luck or intuition or both.”
Leon frowned. “I won’t ask when you did this; the answer would probably irritate me.”
“Yeah, it would.”
“Still don’t trust me?”
“I’m trying to. Davis is on the take, and you’re pretending, and now I’ve had an offer. We don’t get paid top dollar, Leon. I have no illusions about the temptations of bribery.”
Leon nodded. “Okay, that’s honest. Can’t say I haven’t had the same thoughts about you. I guess actions will have to speak for us. Let’s start with Friday.”
Leon held out a hand, and Eric grasped it. No limp greeting for the garden club ladies, the handshake was bone hard.
They went back to work at their desks, doing a mix of local cover and agency work. Eric had asked Gil for information on John Coulter, and sent a reminder. Two new portfolios were assembled and sent, and there was a call of thanks from an excited artist who’d just received a check for eighteen thousand dollars.
Eric followed Leon down Dry Creek Road, turned in first, and garaged the car. An overhead camera the size of a laundry marker watched him unlock the door to the house, and enter it. Four other cameras watched him move from room to room, checking the placement of hair-sized threads at strategic places. In the basement, he played the day’s recording of all cameras, and then erased them. Nothing was amiss. No phone calls had been received, and there was no electronic news from Gil.