Act of Surrender: An Immortal Ops World Novel (PSI-Ops / Immortal Ops Book 2) (10 page)

Laney snorted. “Way to channel a motivational speaker in an attempt to get me to masturbate.”

“I’m a sex goddess,” teased Harmony. “Do that funky thing you do. You know, the whole trance-and-spill-tidbits thing. I want to know if one day I’ll be worshiped by millions of adoring men. Divine my future, oh great seer. Tell me of all the hotties I’ll collect.”

Laney wasn’t comfortable with that side of herself—the trance bit—as Harmony liked to call it. The side that scared her. She never felt in control of herself and she certainly couldn’t do it on command. The first time it had happened in front of Harmony, Laney thought it would be the end of their friendship. That Harmony wouldn’t want to hang out with the freak who said weird, cryptic things at random times.

Harmony had given her an odd look before smiling wide and informing her that they needed to get her a crystal ball and some tarot cards.

Stat.

“I don’t think we need me to divine anything. My guess, it will be a broken-hearts club they’re joining in regards to you.”
 

Harmony laughed.

“You’re going to be proud of me. I have a date with him tonight. It’s just coffee, but still,” said Laney, her shoulders going back as her posture straightened.

Harmony squealed. “Yay! Ohmygod, my girlie has a date. A real, live date. I’m so proud. I’ve taught you well. You going to sleep with him?”
 

Laney processed all of what Harmony had rattled off at such a fast pace, and without a breath, that Laney still wasn’t sure how the girl did it. As she put together what she’d been asked, she sucked in a big breath. “What? No!”

“Lighten up. I was joking,” said Harmony with the same attitude she had about most things. “I’m just happy you’re going to shower and get out of that hacking cave. I bet you’re starting to smell. Have computer wires grown up and around you like spider webs, trying to reclaim you—their mothership of weird?”

“Eat me and my mothership,” said Laney.

“I’ll leave that for LabLupus,” teased Harmony, a suggestive note hanging in the air. “Or you could try out the toys I brought you.”

“Horn ball.”

“Thanks. Oh, and here are some valuable dating tips from an expert. Dress less
Laney
and be less conspiracy theorist, okay? He’s a doctor. Impress him. Don’t scare him with your talk of secret government agencies. Save that for date two.”

“He already knows about my radical ideas,” Laney returned. She entertained hanging up on her friend, but that would only prompt Harmony to show up on her doorstep. Harmony hated where Laney lived and the fact that the building was filled with what Harmony thought were vagabonds. “And I don’t think he cares what I wear.”
 

Harmony ignored her. “Wear that black mini skirt you have and that cute off-the-shoulder matching top.”

“The fact that you memorize my wardrobe is really weird,” added Laney, still typing, adding a few more lines to her post-in-progress. It would open the world’s eyes to what was really going on. Or, at the very least, make them think and wonder.

She couldn’t ask for more.

Harmony grunted. “You barely own any clothes, so it doesn’t take long.”
 

Fair point.

Laney grinned.

“Call me when you get to the coffee shop and text me several times so I know he didn’t murder you or anything,” said Harmony, a certain parental tone evident. “If you vanish, I’m going to have to publish that folder you keep—the
in the event of my death
one.”

“My folder is a brilliant idea,” challenged Laney. “Should
the Man
actually get me, everyone should know the truth. You remember where my backup system is, right?”

“Well, you only show me and remind me of it monthly. Someday, I’m going to meet this
man
you’re so against and I’m going to kick him in the nuts just for making me hear about him for so long. Until then, I’ll let you run with your bag of crazy because you’re my sista from another mother.”
 

“Gee, thanks,” said Laney.

“What are friends for?” Harmony was quiet a moment. “Hey, random thought, but what if wolf guy is really working for the same people you’re trying to track down information on? What if he is tricking you into a meeting to cut you up in little pieces?”
 

“Thanks for the awesome show of support. And thanks for freaking me the hell out before I get ready for my first date.” Laney shook off the unease Harmony’s question had brought about. There was no way Hagen was part of what she was investigating. She trusted him.
 

“I’m a stone-cold, back-up bitch,” said Harmony. “Keep me on speed dial and my ass will be showing up there with the police in tow. They’d come marching in, guns a-blazing, ready to protect my girlie girl.”
 

“Uh, not them. Not the police. They’re part of the establishment,” said Laney. “I’ll be fine. He’s a good guy. I have a great feeling about him.”

“Like a great enough feeling to want him to make your Va-jay-jay quiver with delight?” asked Harmony with a laugh. “He could totally talk dirty to you by just explaining his computer set up. You’d be moaning, groaning, thinking of ways to trick it out. Bling his system. Uh oh, talk syntax to me, baby.”

Laney paused, her full attention going to the conversation. She wasn’t really sure how to be a sex kitten, and the idea of embarrassing herself with a guy like Hagen didn’t sit well with her. “You don’t think he’s going to expect me to sleep with him on the first date, do you?”
 

“He’s male,” answered Harmon flatly. “Besides, we need to get your V-card punched, girlie.” Harmony laughed. “You’re twenty-two and a virgin. That isn’t weird to you? It freaks me the hell out.”

“No. I happen to like my V-card intact,” returned Laney, sitting back in her chair. The dim, pale greenish-colored lighting in her computer room made her skin appear even paler than it was. “And I’m not about to hand it to just anyone.”

Though Hagen isn’t just anyone.

Harmony snorted. “So, no hanging chads on your V-card?”

“If anyone has anything hanging I shouldn’t see, I’m gonna be sick.” With a groan, Laney touched her desktop. Her friend was something else. But in all honestly, the idea of Hagen’s man bits did sort of excite her. “For realz, Harm.”

“For
real-zy
,” Harmony returned. “And let’s be honest, LabLupus could be a hot stud and you could find yourself begging him to do you.”

“Bitch.”

“You know it,” she added with a laugh. “If the Fates feel the need to throw a hottie your way, you should take him. Though, at this point, I’m thinking you’ve fallen off the Fates’ radar. I think you might be in the giant bin of lost causes. Probably why they made our paths cross. I’m there too, but for other digressions.”
 

She had a way of objectifying men that made Laney blush, even when she was alone in her workspace. “Love ya like a sister, but you are a real piece of work.”
 

“Well, it gives me something to do. Life is hard,” said Harmony.

“Oh yeah,” joked Laney. “Up in the mansion with how many sports cars and staff? Tell me again, how many maids cleaned your room this morning?”
 

Harmony clucked her tongue. “I cannot help my father is loaded. He spends money like it grows on trees.”
 

“I know. I think you slum it with me to spite him,” added Laney. There was truth to her words. She had a feeling that in the beginning that was exactly what Harmony did. The friendship became real and their shared love of hacking cemented a bond between them that had only strengthened over the years, despite their differences.
 

“Daddy doesn’t know we’re friends. You made me swear not to tell anyone. Freak.”
 

“You know it. Gotta stay off
the Man’s
radar,” said Laney. “Big Brother is always watching.”

“Oh, let’s give him a show. We could wear sexy nighties and rub each other with lotion. I bet that will turn him on.”

Laney groaned. “Not funny. You don’t want to be on their radar, Harmony. You don’t want them watching you and looking into every aspect of your life.”

Well, before you break out the tinfoil hat—“

“Don’t joke about it,” said Laney sternly.

“Okay, okay, but can you come let me in before— Ugh. Never mind.”

“Wait, you’re here?” asked Laney.

“Yes, and Captain Black has found me,” said Harmony, the line going dead.

Laney laughed and hung up the phone. Whenever Harmony grew brave enough to stop by unannounced, she normally had to deal with Casey, or Captain Black as Harmony liked to call him because of all his facial hair and long, black hair. The proper thing to do as a friend was to go down to the lowest floor of the old hotel, which no longer was operating as such, and meet Harmony. The funnier option was to let Casey escort her.

Casey was a mystery to Laney, but she cared for him as if he were family. He had certain fatherly aspects about him, but he wasn’t nearly old enough to have fathered her. She wasn’t exactly sure of his age because he hid behind a lot of facial hair, but she thought he was probably in his late twenties, early thirties.

He, like the rest of the men she often referred to as her boys, lived in the old hotel with her. Casey seemed as if he could function on his own in the real world, unlike the others, but he didn’t leave much that she knew of. He was a recluse of sorts.

“Get your hands off me.” Harmony’s voice filtered through the halls.

“Keep walking, blondie,” said a gruff voice. “And stop shaking your backside at me or I’m going to spank it.”

“I’ll bite you,” Harmony responded.

“I like a little pain with my sex.”
 

Harmony snorted. “Me too, Captain Black.”

Laughing, Laney stood and headed out of her computer cave to meet Harmony at the door. The place wasn’t much. At one point it had been a fancy room with a small kitchen and two bedrooms. Years and neglect had left it looking a little worse for wear, but it was home. She and the others lived rent and utilities free because of her hacking skills.
 

She made it to the door and opened it in time to see a perky blonde trying, but failing, to get her elbow free from a man with tousled black hair and a beard that was so long and scruffy that it was hard to make out much of his face. He wore a seventies rock band t-shirt that was threadbare and had a few holes in it. Harmony had on designer clothing from head to toe.

Such a contrast in her two friends.

Casey held Harmony by the arm as he led her to Laney’s door. “Did you lose this?”

Laney snorted. “No, but thanks for bringing her up. She tends to freak out when the other guys say hello to her.”
 

“One of them still thinks he’s in Vietnam,” said Harmony quickly. “He’s always trying to get me to duck and cover right before he asks me if I want a hit of acid. And that other one, he just stares all weird at me.”
 

Laney sighed. “Gus stares at everyone. It’s what he does. He’s a gentle soul but he doesn’t speak. That doesn’t mean he’s dangerous.”
 

Casey grunted. “And it’s not Bill’s fault that he often thinks he’s back in Nam. It’s all the shit the government did to him back then. Fucking LSD experiments. You really have no idea how much the government has done on people, testing-wise, on people without the world knowing.”
 

Harmony rolled her eyes and gave Laney a pointed stare. “You’re a freaky conspiracy theorist because you live with a bunch of them.”
 

“Like attracts like,” replied Laney with a smile. “Thanks for bringing her up, Casey.”
 

“You can stop touching me now, Neanderthal,” snapped Harmony.

Casey kept hold of her. “Say please, Princess.”

Harmony growled and it sounded ridiculous. Even Casey cracked a smile, something he didn’t do too often.

“You’re infuriating,” said Harmony, though her voice lacked malice.

“And you’re a fucking ray of sunshine,” Casey shot back. He released Harmony and she made quite the production of rubbing her elbow. Laney knew Casey hadn’t harmed her friend. Harmony had a flare for the dramatics. He looked to Laney. “We’re still on for a session, right?”
 

Laney bit her inner cheek, forgetting she’d agreed to another self-defense training lesson from Casey. He was very big on her learning to handle herself. She wasn’t sure why. All she did know was when she’d started nosing around and asking him questions about the stories he’d once told her—of men who could shift into animals—he’d started making her meet him weekly for sessions. “Well, I need to reschedule.”
 

He lifted a brow.

Harmony plastered a smile to her face, her blue eyes dancing with delight. She shook her chest a bit and swayed her hips. “Our little girlie here has a date tonight.”
 

Casey’s face went blank—totally unreadable. “With?”
 

“A guy she met on the internet,” replied Harmony, not helping the situation any.

Laney could feel the disapproval leaking off Casey. He locked gazes with her, dark brown eyes holding concern. “Is that wise?”

“No,” said Harmony. “But look at her. She’s a social leper. If she doesn’t meet a man online, she’ll never meet one.”

Laney put her hands on her hips. “Really, you two. I’ll be fine. He’s very sweet and a gentleman and he’s funny. We’re meeting for coffee. Somewhere public.”
 

“Laney,” Casey said, his voice even. “What have I told you again and again?”
 

She groaned. “Don’t trust anyone. Ever.”

“Wow. You guys are like total freaks,” said Harmony, shoving at Casey but not budging him. “Go. I have to help her get ready for her date and you’re in the way.”

He stared at her and looked her over slowly. “How did the two of you end up friends?”

“She needed style sense,” said Harmony.

Laney grinned. “And she needed to know how to boost a car.”

Casey shook his head as he left Laney’s place. Harmony shut the door behind him and then put her back to it, sighing loudly. “Why does he have to be such a jerkwad and so yummy?”