The Life We Lead: Ascending (24 page)

Tim paused a moment and then shook James’s
hand with both of his, still smiling.

“Korey, can you let Scott know …” James said,
breaking free of Tim’s grip.

“I’ll take care of it,” she said with a
smile.

***

Andy was not a heavyset man, but he certainly
had a heavy top to him. His broad shoulders and little neck sat
upon what had once been a very built chest. It appeared that Andy
had neglected to work on his legs, however, as they looked like
spindles that could crack at any moment. He had dark grayish eyes
and jet black hair that was just starting to gray. His dimpled chin
suited his rather round head, and he apparently suffered from
eczema, given how his skin always looked.

“Tim is really excited, James.” Andy gestured
for James to sit. “You did well with him.”

“I can’t stay. Running late as it is.” James
wanted to make it clear that he wanted Andy to get to the point and
save the accolades for a different day.

“I see. I’m not going to fund any side
projects involving that fortress,” Andy said, getting straight to
the point.

James mind exploded with thoughts as it
always did. He had his comment ready, but he literally bit his
tongue to prevent himself from voicing it. He knew the silence was
better.

Andy knew what he was doing. “You can keep
your silence, hoping I’ll rethink what I just said. I won’t. I know
you had Tim get those drawings together so you could front some
type of attack or siege or whatever. I also know you need $115,000
in bonds that we have little chance of recovering, as well as men
and equipment.”

James remained silent and stared into Andy’s
eyes.

Andy went on. “The objective is Spara, not
this trafficking thing. At least not right now. I need your focus
on Spara. This is the biggest thing we have going and you’ve been
phenomenal, as always. Finish this, and then we move on. Okay?”

James’s mind raced along its spider web
paths, recalculating his answer. He came out with, “Okay, Spara is
the focus. Got it. I have to run.”

Andy had clearly expected some type of
argument. “Oh, okay. Thanks. I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

James headed for the door but stopped. “I’ll
be taking Tim’s drawings for safekeeping, as this is still my case.
Unless, of course, you’re going to give it to another team that
hasn’t been there or established any type of relationship. Speaking
of, I don’t think Tim would be willing, nor would he be a smart bet
to send back.”

Andy gave a curt nod and closed the door.

James stopped to gather the drawings. The
room was empty, so he made short work of it and was off, a solid
fifteen minutes behind in a drive that would take ninety
minutes.

He made it to Pittsburgh in eighty minutes
with a bit of high-speed driving and luck that no police were on
Route 22 that day.

Things were coming together. James made
arrangements to see Carissa while doing some upcoming customer
visits and training at the Aberdeen office. His colleague Dennis
had spoken highly of James’s ability to turn around a critical
field trial, and that customer had specifically requested that
James be involved from here on out.

James couldn’t help but reflect that he’d
really only given the customer what he wanted, a simple enough
concept that apparently got lost in the day-to-day flurry of
activity for most businesses.

He’d also gotten some preliminary information
about Yan that required a trip to the UK. Yan had spent two years
at the University of Cambridge studying magnetic fields. It just so
happened that the leading researcher in the field, a professor Yan
would no doubt have had, was giving a lecture the first week of
James’s trip. Attending it would be a great way to gain some
insight.

Now it was moving day from his parent’s home
to the “Big City,” as his dad called Pittsburgh. His buddy Mark
agreed to help. They loaded up James’s rusty Ford Tempo, the
trailer on his dad’s truck, and a few things into Mark’s car and
set off.

The day was hot. The hottest of the year, and
the air conditioning in the Tempo wasn’t the best. Combined with
hitting a traffic jam before the Squirrel Hill tunnels made for a
long journey, though it was only a hundred miles. When they arrived
at the apartment on Brown’s Lane and walked inside, it felt like an
oven.

The apartment was a studio on the top floor
of an old brick building. Sunshine poured in through two small
windows, and the air conditioning unit was shut off. James
immediately put down the box he was carrying and turned on the unit
to try to cool the place off. That wouldn’t happen until about
fourteen hours later, around 6 a.m.

“You would pick the hottest day of the year
to move into the hottest damn apartment you could find,” Mark
commented, dripping with sweat.

“Whatever. I don’t want to hear about heat
and you. You had the heat in the freshmen dorms on so high it felt
like this year round,” James retorted.

Mark flipped him off in an amicable sort of
way and walked out to get another load.

James’s dad was unstrapping the bed, couch,
computer desk, dresser, and two small tables. He worked quietly
until they got the first things up to the apartment.

“How much is this place a month?” he asked,
but before James could answer, he said, “Never mind, I don’t want
to know.” He then sat down on the air conditioner. He would do this
for a minute after each load of things they brought up.

Since James didn’t have much, the unloading
went quickly. When they finished, they all could have used a shower
to cool down, but that wasn’t in the making, since all the towels
were being used as packing blankets. Besides, Mark and James were
hungry. Mark planned to stay the night, and James was taking him to
dinner.

“We’re starving. Want to grab some food,
Dad?” James pointed to his own wallet to indicate he was
paying.

“Not really, no. I want to get back on the
road and home. Besides, the A/C in my truck works a lot better than
this thing.” He patted the unit he was once again sitting on.

They said goodbye downstairs, and his dad was
off. Then James and Mark walked to a small shopping center next to
the apartment building. Entering the mall doors felt amazing as
they got a blast of frozen air. They both gave a sigh of relief,
then laughed to see the other one doing the same thing. They had
spent so much time together they were as much brothers as
friends.

They grabbed some pizza from the café and
talked about a lot of nothing for an hour, enjoying the well-earned
break, then decided to buy some fabric to cover the windows.

That turned out to be a disaster. They had no
idea on the size and guessed. Since they didn’t know how to hang
curtains, they did some on-the-spot engineering until the windows
were mostly covered. It took them well over an hour and the sun
beat directly on them the entire time.

“Can it get any hotter?” Mark kept
asking.

James snapped back, “Yes, every time you say
something.”

This merely started an argument. After
getting the covers up, they decided to go to the grocery store to
get refreshments and cool off again. When they got back, the
apartment was slightly less hot. Then they got to work,
unpacking.

Mostly they worked in silence with the radio
in the background. It was too hot to sleep, so they ended up
working through the night until everything was done and even
James’s “big ass” computer desk was in place. They both grabbed
quick showers and crashed as the sun came up.

It had been an irritating sort of day, James
thought as he dropped off to sleep, but he recognized that Mark was
a true friend to stick with him until the job was done. As he often
did, James dreamed.

He was dropping to his knees and reaching
for something in dim light. He felt happy, but shouldn’t. There
were footsteps coming as he grasped what he needed and started to
come out from behind the curtain-like cloth …

After a few hours of crappy sleep, James and
Mark got up. They fixed the windows properly and went out for
breakfast, and then Mark headed for home. Alone at last, James
called Carissa, who had tried to call him twice since he’d left his
parents.

“Well, hello there, how’s you?” came her
sweet voice on the other end of the phone.

“Brilliant. How are you, beautiful?” James
melted inside at the sound of her voice.

Carissa gave a little giggle he had not
previously heard. “I wager not many have seen how adorable you
are.”

“I am not taking that one; the odds are
stacked against me, and as far as I’m concerned, you are the only
person deserving to see it,” James said in a sheepish tone.

“Love, you have no idea how that makes me
feel to hear you say that. And I truly believe that is how you
feel, too. Thank you.” She made a kissing sound over the phone.

James paused for a moment, letting that
feeling he was starting to associate with her wash over him. It was
a sensation like a slightly too warm day, but with a gentle breeze
blowing over him, creating that perfect feeling of contentment and
relaxation.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to take your calls.
I hope it wasn’t anything urgent.”

“Actually, John, I do need something, and it
is a bit urgent,” Carissa said.

James snapped immediately to attention.
“Risa, what’s wrong?”

Carissa laughed. “Nothing is wrong, Love, but
tae be honest, it’s nice tae hear you almost spring through the
phone tae help. You know I have the opportunity and such with the
bank, yeah?”

James relaxed slightly. “Aye.”

“Well, they want me tae move a bit faster
than I was thinking they would.”

“I don’t blame them. They don’t want to lose
you now that they have you. Smart lot,” James said.

Carissa paused a moment. “Makes this easier
tae ask you now that you say that. Would you want a flat mate for a
bit until I can find something else? I will pay the full rent for
the time I am with ya and me stuff will go tae storage. I know you
travel all the time so I thought this would be all right all
around, you know.” She said all of this without taking a
breath.

“Wow,” James said to give himself extra time.
His brain had already spider webbed in its decision path, and he
was surprised at his extreme emotional response. To make this work,
he’d need to establish a place and the utilities under John’s
name. That part was simple. Paying for it was another matter, as he
tried to avoid tapping into resources he had access to for
non-operational things. He was perfectly free to use funds as he
saw fit, but still. However, if she were covering the rent, then he
just had the other bills.

The hesitation in his response was emotional
on two fronts. He wanted to say yes with every inch of him, and for
all the right reasons, but she still thought he was John. This
didn’t seem the right time to tell her otherwise, but if not now,
when? The longer they saw each other, the harder it would be to
tell her and for her to accept it.

“I’m sorry if that is tae much. No worries, I
will manage something. Just thought ... Anyhow, how is your ...”
Carissa had taken his three seconds of silence incorrectly.

Interrupting her, James said with a frog in
his throat, “I think it’s a brilliant idea, and I truly would love
for nothing more.”

“John,” she said slowly and James actually
cringed. He felt uncustomarily guilty that she didn’t know his real
name.

“Are you sure? I don’t want tae pressure you.
I understand if you are not comfortable with this.”

“When are you moving in?” James asked.

Silence followed by a slight sniff.

“Are you crying? There’s no reason to cry,”
James said.

Carissa laughed and said, “No, I am not
having a cry. I was having a think for a mo’ and my nose itched. I
am not a basket case type. Is that the kinda of girls you
like?”

“Cheeky. Well then, my fair lady, I think we
are in agreement. When are you moving?”

“I was thinking on that and want tae do it
whilst you are home over a weekend. And if you can help that would
be just about the best thing ever.”

“’Course. Want to do it the first weekend I
am back, early Saturday morn’?” On the other end of the line, James
heard a door slam in the background.

“Perfect. I have tae run, Love, but we can
get the smaller stuff out of the way later. Judy doesn’t normally
slam doors, but she just returned from hospital, so I don’t think
it was good news.”

“Right. Talk soon then, Risa.” James was glad
to end the call, as he would have had to do some fancy talking to
avoid giving the address he didn’t yet have.

“Bye, Love,” Carissa said gently before the
line went silent.

This was one of those times that being a
member of the group was extremely useful. James placed a phone call
to Korey and explained that he needed a one-bedroom apartment
furnished with a few basics in a decent part of Aberdeen,
preferably newer construction, under his alias of John Arthur Boyd.
He also asked her to specifically select places where the neighbors
kept mostly to themselves.

Korey called back asking for birthplace
information for John, which caught James by surprise. He said to
list the place of birth at Glencoe but to say the family homestead
was at Inverbervie. He explained John would have traveled a lot as
a child.

The next day, he called Carissa and gave her
the address. He wouldn’t actually see the apartment until he
arrived himself, but he would have a few days to get whatever he
needed and make the place seem reasonably lived in.

With these essential details taken care of,
James finally began to relax. Yes, things were falling into
place.

***