Читать книгу Operation Alpha - Justine Davis - Страница 14
ОглавлениеLiam was a little surprised at how easily it all came together. Within two days Ria had the okay for him to utilize the school’s gym for after-school meetings starting on Monday.
He looked at her, sitting in a shaft of sunlight at the outdoor coffee stand a couple of miles down the road from the Cove Academy, where they’d met to work out the details before he arrived at the school. The plan was to spend this weekend working up his approach and to get as many tips from her about teaching as he could. It was only Saturday and he already knew he was going to regret that plan.
“That was quick,” he said when she told him things were set.
“All I had to do was ask,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee. A vanilla blend, he noted, wondering if it was significant. He hadn’t slept worth a damn, so went for a double shot of espresso.
Her hair gleamed dark and smooth, those blue eyes were thankfully—or maybe not, since he couldn’t tell where she was looking—masked with sunglasses. Since he was wearing them, as well, they could easily be staring at each other and neither of them would know it.
“Your Head of School knows I’m not really a teacher, right? Just a guy who knows some stuff?”
Ria nodded. “She knows. And she wants to meet you first, of course. But I think what really sold her was your little speech.”
He blinked. “What?”
“I quoted it to her. She was intrigued.”
“Oh.” He wasn’t sure what to say to that. Or the fact that she remembered enough to quote him. “I’d say your boss trusts you.”
“Dr. Halvorson picks instructors very carefully,” she told him. “She knows what she wants, and she generally gets it.”
No, he thought, she wouldn’t be staring at him. That seemed to be only his problem. Despite convincing himself she really wasn’t all that, and that his reaction had been a fluke. He’d even thought about calling a couple of casual female acquaintances, thinking maybe an unfussy, no-strings date would set him to rights again. But when he realized how long it had been, he discarded that idea as unwise. He wasn’t sure he was interested anyway.
“How did you end up as a teacher?” he asked, trying to divert his thoughts.
He saw her brows rise above the dark glasses. “I ended up as a teacher because that was always my goal.”
“Always?”
She nodded. “It’s all I ever wanted to be, since sixth grade and Mr. Matta. He made everything come so alive that kids ran to get to class not because they were late but because they loved it. That’s the kind of teacher I try to be.”
And if I’d had you, I might have paid more attention...
“From what Emily has said, you are.”
“I hope so. I’m lucky to be at Cove. Once we get through Dr. Halvorson’s lengthy process, we pretty much have free rein. And she’s always open to suggestions like this one.” She flashed a grin that nearly stopped his breath. Again. “And that you’re volunteering helps on the budget end.”
“Things are tight?”
“Not really, but she does have an administrative board to account to.” She took another sip of coffee. “How does Foxworth do that, anyway? Do what they do, for free?”
Glad for the ordinary question, Liam answered easily. “Quinn’s sister. Financial genius. Took the insurance money from their parents and parlayed it into enough to keep them going probably forever.”
“What a sad way to start but a wonderful tribute.”
He nodded. “They’re good people. The best.”
“How did you end up there?”
“Long story.”
She studied him silently for a moment. And he realized sunglasses didn’t matter when you could actually feel someone’s gaze on you.
“Unpleasant story?” she finally asked.
“Could have been.”
He was dodging, he knew it. How he’d come to Foxworth wasn’t something he dwelt on often. And then it struck him that this might be the perfect way to get that distance he wanted between them. Because he could already tell Ria Connelly was generally a straight-arrow sort, had probably never been in trouble in her life. If he told her the truth, she’d put the distance there herself.
If he told the full truth, she’d probably get up, walk away and never look back.
But then the whole case would be compromised. He’d be letting Foxworth down and, worse, Emily, which he had a feeling Quinn would not forget soon.
The sunglasses didn’t mask at all that she was staring at him now. It was as if her steady gaze had some sort of tangible energy, and he could feel it flowing toward him.
“Not into mutual sharing, huh?” She said it lightly, but he had a feeling there was a sting in it anyway. “Dr. Halvorson may ask, you know. She’s very thorough. Besides, once you’re there Quinn thinks it will speed things up with Dylan if he thinks we’re friends. And a friend would know that.”
He let out a breath. Went for the digest version. “I’m good with computers. Good enough to get into some trouble. I was on a wrong path. Quinn gave me a chance to go another way.”
There was more to it than that, so much more, but he couldn’t go there now. He had a job to do, Foxworth had trusted him with it and he would get it done.
“And you took it.”
“Quinn is...very convincing.”
And the thought of being locked up was pretty persuasive, too.
“He seems like a very solid guy.”
“He is. Like a rock. I owe him—” he had to unexpectedly stop, swallow, before he could finish “—everything.”
She smiled at him then, a soft, warm kind of smile that, like her stare, he felt in an almost physical way. “Obviously you justified his faith. You should be proud.”
Well, that wasn’t the result he’d intended. “I was sitting in lockup, looking at serious jail time,” he pointed out. “I’m just grateful.”
“Which also takes a certain amount of grace and class, Liam Burnett. Whether you admit it or not, it wasn’t all Quinn.”
He nearly gaped at her. How had she turned that around? He tells her he nearly went to jail—in fact, he had for a couple of days before Quinn had stepped in—and she’s complimenting him?
“You must be a heck of a teacher,” he said with a rueful quirk of his mouth.
“I’m good,” she said easily. “Very good.”
She said it with a quiet, humble sort of confidence, the kind that had nothing to prove. And he found himself smiling at her.
“I believe that.”
“I assume you hacked somebody?” she asked. “Who? Or what?”
Again the possibilities raced through his mind. He could tell her about the time he hacked school systems, to tweak the grades of student customers who paid him according to what grade they wanted. Or later when he’d rigged a contest’s random draw to win. Or more, all strictly for personal benefit. The ones he wasn’t proud of.
Or he could tell her about the ones that had made Quinn think he might fit at Foxworth. When he’d screwed with the records of his hometown’s biggest bully and the guy had ended up on a community service road crew, taking bullying from guys much bigger and tougher than him. Or the county guy who kept harassing his parents over a property line, despite their irrefutable proof he was wrong. Or the bank that happened to be run by the county guy’s brother-in-law and had started giving his folks grief.
But the last answer was the one that explained everything, so, with a wry expression and raised brows, he gave it to her.
“At one point... Foxworth.”
She blinked. Reached up and pulled off her sunglasses as if to stare at him more incredulously.
“You hacked Foxworth?”
He nodded. “I didn’t believe anybody would really do what they do—fight for people in the right, big or small, and do it for only the promise of help in turn down the line.” His mouth curved into a smile as he remembered his own disbelief. “But they do,” he added softly.
“Let me get this right...you hacked Foxworth, and Quinn hired you?”
“Crazy, huh?”
“Or very, very smart,” she said. “His gamble obviously paid off.”
“But it’ll never be paid back.” He grinned. “My folks think he walks on water. They were sure I was headed straight to hell. I was the black sheep of the family, no doubt.”
“Siblings?”
“Two of each. Couple of successful corporate types, an oil exec and a doctor.”
“So you really were the problem child.”
“That I was.”
“They must be relieved.”
“They are. And I’m sorry I gave them so much trouble. They’re good, good people. It wasn’t their fault. Sometimes, if you’re good at something, it can get you in trouble. You follow the path because it’s easy for you, and sometimes you’re in over your head before you realize it.”
He realized then that he’d been sitting here sharing his life story with her, easily, without even thinking about it. How had she managed that? She’d given him one tiny bit of her own history, and suddenly he was pouring his own out by the bucket? When what he’d meant to do was get that distance between them?
“I’m surprised that Dylan didn’t pour his soul out to you on request,” he said with a grimace.
“I can have that effect,” she said with a laugh. “It’s my honest face.”
Yeah, your face is honest. Among other things. Like beautiful. Fascinating.
Trouble.
“I only wish Dylan would,” she went on. “I’m worried about him.”
Time to get down to business, Liam thought. Quickly he updated her on what they’d learned, which wasn’t much more than he’d gleaned that first day. Quinn had advised him to leave it there for now, until he got a feel for things after he met Dylan. His assessment, Quinn had said, would determine if they picked up the pace.
“Tell me more about him,” he said then. “The more I know, the better chance I have of getting through. And maybe, more important, of not having him shut down on me.”
She looked thoughtful. “You’re bringing the dog, right? That will help.”
He nodded. “Cutter’s mine for the operation. Already have his go bag in my truck.”
Her eyes widened. “The dog has a go bag?”
He gave her a crooked grin. “He’s one of the team. And, believe me, it won’t seem strange once you get to know him.”
“What’s strange was how he greeted Emily, as though they were friends already.”
“I noticed that. And like I said, once you get to know him, you’ll find out I’ve been right about him all along.”
“Right about him?”
“I’ve been telling them since he got here that he’s not a dog. He’s a smart alien in a dog suit.”
She laughed, and that made him feel much better than it should have.
It was going to be a long weekend.
