e doesn’t take his eyes off me. Without hesitation, I
walk around his desk, and he turns in his chair to face me, frowning. I can tell
he’s thinking what does she want? When I crawl onto his lap, his eyebrows
shoot up in surprise. I put my arms around his neck and cuddle into him.
Gingerly, he puts his arm around me.
“Um . . . yes, Barney. Could you hold one moment?” He cups the phone
against his shoulder.
“Ana, what’s wrong?”
I shake my head. Tipping my chin up, he gazes into my eyes. I pull my head
free from his hold, tuck it beneath his chin, and curl up smaller on his lap.
Bemused, he wraps his free arm more tightly around me and kisses the top
of my head.
“Okay, Barney, what were you saying?” He continues, wedging the phone
between his ear and his shoulder, and taps a key on his laptop. A grainy
black and white CCTV image appears on the screen . . . a man with dark
hair wearing pale coveralls comes on the screen. Christian presses another
key, and the man walks toward the camera, but with his head bowed. When
the man is closer to the camera, Christian freezes the frame. He’s standing
in a bright white room with what looks like a long line of tall black cabinets to
his left. This must be GEH’s server room.
“Okay Barney, one more time.”
The screen springs to life. A box appears around the head of the man in the
CCTV footage and suddenly we zoom in. I sit up, fascinated.
“Is Barney doing this?” I ask quietly.
“Yes,” Christian answers. “Can you sharpen the picture at all?” he says to
Barney.
The picture blurs, then refocuses moderately sharper of the man consciously
gazing down and a一voiding the CCTV camera. As I stare at him, a chill of
recognition sweeps up my spine. There is something familiar in the line of his
jaw. He has scruffy short black hair that looks odd and unkempt . . . and in the
newly sharpened picture, I see an earring, a small hoop.
Holy crap! I know who it is.
“Christian,” I whisper. “That’s Jack Hyde.”
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E L JAMES