Skin Deep

CHAPTER 24

A BENEFIT LAURA enjoyed with staying at Sinclair’s apartment was one less glamour transition at the Guildhouse. Instead of arriving at work as Laura Blackstone and contriving excuses to Saffin for absences, she arrived as Janice Crawford and took care of business. Leaving her SWAT-team gear in the duffel, she glamoured a simple, ill-fitting suit that reflected Janice’s inattention to clothing. Within ten minutes of pulling in to the Guildhouse garage, she knocked on the door to Mariel Tate’s office suite.

Liam acknowledged her as she came in the door. “Can I help you?”

“I’m Janice Crawford. I have a ten o’clock with Mariel Tate,” she said.

Liam made a show of looking at his watch. “You’re early. She’s out of the office at the moment, but she’ll return shortly. Take a seat-there’s coffee if you want it.”

Laura took one of the leather armchairs. Since Mariel and Genda operated as outside consultants, neither tended to have large meetings. The reception area had room enough for only two or three people to sit.

Laura sorted through magazines on the low coffee table. Liam engaged in a number of sports, including skiing and rock climbing, and brought in old copies from his subscriptions. She noticed he didn’t always rip off his mailing address labels. Mariel wouldn’t like that. It made the Guild look cheap and was bad form for someone in InterSec to be so casual about personal information.

She pushed aside both the sports and business mags and found the general interest ones. Fortunately, the current editions were there, so she was able to catch up on pop culture. She planned to kill half an hour before giving up on Mariel. It was a game she had to play rarely, one glamour supposedly meeting another. Janice Crawford didn’t have much shelf life left as a persona, but given the level of investigation with the drug raid, she wanted the file to reflect a clean investigation with no questions.

She made herself a cup of coffee and settled in to read book and movie reviews. Laura read, sometimes voraciously, but did not have much time or energy to go to movies. Occasionally, she would rent one, but most films bored her. Television fared even worse on her entertainment schedule. It wasn’t the programs so much as the rampant, aggressive advertising. Having lived through several wars, she had a strong sense of the meanings of want and need. Consumer culture made her uncomfortable.

Liam answered the telephone and handled general office tasks. He had little to do for Mariel, so most calls were for Genda. Laura made a mental note for Mariel to have lunch with Genda while she was in town. Despite glaring conversational voids when they touched on their respective jobs, they found things to talk about to while away an hour or so. With not much of a social life, Laura enjoyed the company.

Genda arrived in a flutter of white hair and undulating wings. She was a Danann fairy, not a royal family member but still part of the ruling clan of the Seelie Court. She wasn’t considered powerful in the essence department, but even a low-powered Danann was formidable. She gave Laura a cursory look as she passed, then leaned in to ask Liam if he had seen Mariel.

Liam glanced at Laura. “No. She’s running late for an appointment.”

“Tell her to stop in if she has a chance.” Genda disappeared into her office without another look at Laura.

Laura checked her watch more frequently. At first she did it to mimic impatience, but after a while, she did it because she was bored and wanted to leave. The phone rang, and Liam answered it. Out of habit, Laura focused attention on his words when he dropped his voice. When people dropped their voices, it was generally something they didn’t want others to hear. “I don’t know,” he said, then, “I haven’t seen her in three days… She doesn’t always tell me her schedule… I put it back… No, I’m not. I’m uncomfortable about what happened… If it was a coincidence, then fine… I’ll see what I can find out. I have to go.”

He hung up and didn’t move. Curious, Laura glanced over. She didn’t think he had a girlfriend, but his tone sounded evasive and defensive. When their eyes met, he acted self-conscious, as if he had forgotten she was there. He turned to his computer.

“Excuse me, but has Ms. Tate called or anything?” she asked.

Liam continued typing without looking up again. “No. She’s usually on time. She’ll be here.”

Laura looked pointedly at her watch. “I have a doctor’s appointment that I don’t want to miss. At this point, I don’t think I’ll have time, so can I reschedule this?”

He did turn then. “Is it over at InterSec? I can have Mariel rearrange that for you.”

Liam’s intuition made sense. He facilitated the job with Foyle, so he knew she was InterSec. “Um… that’s kind of personal, but thanks. I’ll call Ms. Tate to reschedule.”

She left the anteroom and rode the rear elevator to the seventh floor. Entering her room through the back hallway, she shed the Janice glamour, including the outfit. Catching sight of her jeans, she rejected the idea of another plain outfit for the day. Saffin would be sure to mention it, and even more sure to be disappointed in Laura. If Laura allowed herself any indulgence, it was an expensive wardrobe for her public-relations work. She changed into a designer label, a lightweight caramel-colored pantsuit with a black-and-white horizontal-striped blouse.

As she fixed her hair, she put her phone on speaker and called Saffin. “Hi, Saf. It’s me. Can you do me a favor and see if I left a folder at Rhys’s office? I was down there this morning, and now I can’t find it.”

“Sure. Are you coming in?” Saffin asked.

“Yeah. I’m down grabbing a coffee and will be right up.”

“Got it.” Saffin hung up.

Laura repacked her overnight bag for later and dropped it in the closet on her way through to her office. She called the reception desk on the Guildmaster’s floor. “Hi, it’s Laura Blackstone. Saffin’s on the way up. When she gets there, can you tell her I found the file I was looking for?”

The receptionist acknowledged and hung up. Laura hated manipulating Saffin. Between her natural tendency to please and her brownie predilection to accomplish tasks at all costs, Saffin’s compliance bordered on submission. After working together so many years, Laura knew the woman had bonded with her, and the connection was strong. It was a level of trust that Laura did not take lightly.

Saffin breezed into the office. “Hi. Did Rhys rewrite his speech again?”

Laura rolled her eyes. “He wants to impress our special guest.”

Saffin nodded. “Speaking of which, Secret Service sent over another revision on the outside security. They’re closing down Constitution Avenue during the speeches.”

In the original plan, the secretary of state was to represent the U.S. at the Archives ceremony. She would still speak, but High Queen Maeve had a major fan in the current president. He had sent word to be put on the program as a surprise guest. Of course, the presence of the media and his desire to expand mutual security initiatives with the Seelie Court had plenty to do with it.

“And speaking of the speeches, have you heard the news?” said Laura. “Hornbeck got what he wanted. Tylo Blume’s in. The chief archivist is going on first, so let’s stick Blume right after him. He gets five minutes. With any luck, everyone will have forgotten he was there by the time the president arrives.”

Saffin grinned. “I love when you do stuff like that.”

Laura scrunched her nose. “I hate all the gamesmanship, but it’s part of the, um, game in this town.”

“I’m going to go to the Archives this afternoon for an event run-through. Anything you want me to focus on?” Saffin asked.

Laura shook her head. “Use your judgment. You probably know more than I do at this point.”

“Can I have a company car?” Saffin asked.

Amused, Laura shook her head. “No. It’s five blocks.”

Saffin giggled as she left. With a touch of envy, Laura watched her leave. Despite all the evident frustrations of dealing with Laura’s odd schedule, Saffin loved her job-the big personalities, the complicated schedules, the politics and drama, even the mysteries of her boss’s unexplained absences. Laura wouldn’t trade her as an assistant for anything.

She finished up her email and checked her watch. Time to put in one last glamoured visit at the Guildhouse before focusing on other matters. She closed down her computer and retrieved her overnight bag. Down in the parking garage, she stepped into the security-camera blind spot and activated the Janice glamour, walked to the SUV, and left the bag in the back. Returning to the elevator, she hit the blind spot, swapped Janice for Mariel, and went back up to InterSec.

Liam jumped up when she entered the anteroom. “You just missed Janice Crawford.”

Laura frowned as she checked the time and continued into her office. She kept up the annoyed attitude to reduce Liam’s hang-around time. “I was in a meeting I couldn’t get out of. When did she leave?”

“About twenty minutes ago,” he said from the doorway.

She pulled her chair up to the desk and started her computer. “Call her and get her back in here. If you get her voicemail, give her my work cell and tell her she’s to call immediately.”

“Got it,” he said.

Janice Crawford’s cell phone vibrated. Laura checked the number to confirm it was Liam. With that out of the way, she removed the crystal-sphere paperweight from a pile of mail and sorted through correspondence.

When the political nuances of her career as Laura Blackstone exhausted her, the intellectual challenge of Mariel Tate’s position came as a welcome relief. Mariel played corporate politics like anyone else, but the nature of her diplomatic missions were more research-oriented and in-house consultancy. She advised, and other people took the matter from there. It was nice not to have final responsibility.

She separated out a number of white papers to read at home and collected the correspondence that needed responses. The rest of the mail she organized, returned to her in-box, and placed the paperweight on top of it.

She leaned back in her chair, scrolling through email. In the middle of everything, Terryn was passing Mariel Tate an invitation to a summit meeting of defense executives next month. He had a remarkable ability to compartmentalize projects. He mentioned hard-copy correspondence he had sent, and she pulled the in-box toward her.

As she reached for the paperweight, she paused, her hand hovering an inch away from the clear crystal. She dropped her hand beside the in-box and stared. Essence accumulated with repeated contact and dissipated with the lack of it. Since her sensing ability worked at all times-was effectively always “on”-she sensed the faint trace of Mariel’s body signature on the paperweight. Too faint, though. Crystals worked as essence capacitors, and she used the Mariel persona frequently enough for there to be significant buildup on the paperweight. There wasn’t. She boosted more essence into her sensing ability to fine focus and found only enough essence from moving the crystal moments before. It should have had more. Much more.

Her eyes shot to the door to her office. Liam’s comment on the phone earlier became clear. “I put it back,” she remembered him saying. Last time she was in the office, she hadn’t forgotten taking the paperweight to her room. She hadn’t taken it at all.

She picked up the phone. “This is Mariel Tate, Suite 835. I need a security agent.”

“Is there a problem?” the dispatch asked.

“No. But there will be in a moment.” She hung up.

“Liam, I need you,” she called. She watched him come around his desk. “Close the door and have a seat.”

He smiled at her seriousness and complied. “What’s up?”

She picked up the paperweight and placed it on the edge of the desk in front of him. “Explain.”

He paled. “What?”

“Are you going to tell me you didn’t take this from my office recently?” she asked.

He shifted in his seat and licked his lips. “Uh, no. I use it when you’re not here. I should have asked. I’m sorry.”

His words registered heavily as untrue. “That would be plausible if your essence was on it and mine wasn’t completely stripped. Neither is the case. You have no fey abilities to do that. Who did you give it to?”

A knock sounded on the door. “Come in,” Laura said.

A Danann security agent entered, his wings flared open and glowing white with charged essence. The Guild’s elite force wore black uniforms designed to intimidate and a chrome helmet that completely covered the head and hid identity. They were highly trained, faithful, and utterly discreet. If possible, Liam turned even more pale.

“Let me repeat my question. Who did you give my paperweight to?” asked Laura.

“Mariel, I don’t understand what’s going on,” he said.

Laura tapped her inner essence until her eyes glittered with shots of white and gold. She slapped her hand on the desktop. The wood cracked. “Answer me!”

Liam flinched. “He said his name was Sean Frye. He’s an Inverni that works for the Guildmaster’s office. I checked.”

“What did he want?” she asked.

Liam shifted his eyes between Laura and the security guard. “He said you had been implicated in acts against the Guild, and they needed a sample of your essence. I checked with the Guildmaster’s office, and they confirmed who he was.”

“He lied, Liam. Sean Frye is a false name the Guildmaster’s office uses for undercover agents. You didn’t go through proper channels,” she said.

Sweat broke out on Liam’s upper lip. “He came to my apartment, Mariel. He scared the hell out of me.”

“What else did you give him?”

“Your schedule. He said they needed to set up surveillance to see who you were passing information to.”

Laura went cold with realization. “What schedule did you give him, Liam?”

“Your appointments in Anacostia and the one at the FBI,” he said.

She wanted to lash out in rage. “What else?”

Liam shifted agitatedly. “Nothing. He called this morning. He wanted your updated schedule. I didn’t give it to him.”

“How do you contact him?”

“He gave me a phone number,” Liam said.

Laura slid paper and a pen across the desk. “Write it down and give me your cell phone.” He did as she asked. When he placed the cell on her desk, Laura let the essence retreat from her eyes. “You should have gone through channels, Liam. You should have called Terryn macCullen.”

Liam was on the verge of tears. “I was going to. After that bomb went off at the FBI, I didn’t know what to do. I was afraid the Inverni had tried to kill you, and I was afraid you might have set it off to kill that agent. I was going to call Mr. macCullen today.”

The fear and truth in his voice pained Laura. She slumped back in her chair. “You thought I set off a bomb that killed an FBI agent?”

Still afraid, he became defensive. “I don’t know what the hell you do, Mariel. You disappear for days and weeks at a time. I never know where or why. You could be an assassin for all I know. I thought that guy checked out, but I screwed up.”

She felt sick to her stomach. And angry. “Do you know what happened at the FBI building, Liam? Let me tell you…”

“I heard about the bomb,” he said.

Laura stood and trembled. She dropped her voice low and deadly. “Do not interrupt me. I’ll tell you want happened at the FBI, Liam. I was early for my appointment with Lawrence Scales, a husband and father of two young children. We talked and I left, Liam. You know what happened then? A package with essence radiating off it was delivered. I went to warn Scales, and the bomb blew. My essence triggered it, Liam. The bomber used my essence from this paperweight to set a trigger.”

She slammed the crystal sphere on the desk. “A man is dead because you didn’t make the right fucking phone call.”

Laura nodded to the agent. “Detain him until you hear from me.”

The agent stepped forward, giving Liam the opportunity to stand on his own. Tears streaming down his face, Liam didn’t hesitate to join him. “I’m sorry, Mariel. If there’s anything I can do to make up for it, I will.”

He meant it. She didn’t care. Showing no emotion, she turned to her computer. “Get out.”

The door closed behind them. They were gone. Laura’s fingers trembled as she reached for the keyboard. She had trusted Liam. She thought he liked her. She thought the Mariel persona was above suspicion for everyone, especially her own assistant. To think that someone so near found her so unknowable nauseated her. Had she become so lost in her personas that nothing of her true self showed? Had she become so shut off from her own self-awareness, she didn’t even recognize herself anymore?

She brushed a tear off her cheek and thought of Sinclair. What was he seeing? Did he really want to get involved with someone like her? Why would he? Why would anyone? She shoved her fears aside and took a deep breath. She was Laura Blackstone. That much she knew. That she could hold on to. Laura Blackstone knew how to get a job done. She would worry about who she was later.

If there was a later.