SAPPHIRE
Ichecked my watch anxiously as I sat in Zade’s car in the restaurant parking lot. I fidgeted with the bracelet on my wrist as I looked around. Zade’s hand covered mine and I felt his fingers close over mine.
“Relax, babe.”
“But what if he leaves before I get there?”
“He won’t. We’re watching him. He’s waiting for you.” His phone pinged and he looked down at it and gave a low whistle, before returning his attention to me. “And it looks like he’s upped the ante this time too. Has he ever had anyone else at any of your meetings?”
“No. It’s always been him alone.”
“Well, he’s got company tonight. I guess he is very desperate to expose them like this.”
“Expose what? Expose who?”
“You will see,” Zade said mysteriously.
I could not get anything else out of him so I peered through the windshield into the gathering dusk and recalled every phone call from Randy that I had deliberately missed as per Zade’s instructions. The voice messages reeked of panic. When I responded it was only to tell him I’d been busy with school, but I’d be seeing Zade on Friday night, and I’d let him know when I had something. I then called him around one on Saturday morning and whispered that I’d found a flash drive which I thought contained the program he wanted and managed to copy it. We made arrangements to meet.
And here I was, waiting in the wings like an actress awaiting my cue to enter the stage.
My phone rang, breaking into my thoughts. Randy. I looked at Zade.
“What do I tell him?”
“You’re five minutes away.”
I nodded and answered the phone.
“Sapphire? Where on earth are you?” Randy’s tone was almost shrill.
“Five minutes away. Got caught up in traffic. Sorry.”
I hung up before he could say anything else.
Zade ran his fingers along my cheek, his voice grave. “Are you sure you want to do this, Sapphire? As I said before, Randy is a dead man walking with or without this flash drive.”
“He killed my baby and stole four years of my life so I absolutely want and need to be part of his downfall.”
“Okay. He has company and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad thing, but I’m here and I’ll be watching like a hawk.”
“Stop worrying about me. I’ll be fine.”
I sat for a minute longer, taking deep breaths, then I turned to Zade and smiled. “It’s showtime.”
Zade nodded, but did not smile. I knew he wasn’t totally happy with my involvement in his revenge plans, but as I told him this decision was not his to take. Clutching the flash drive in my hand I got out of the car. I closed the door and suddenly I felt flustered and nervous. Maybe it was Zade’s anxiety that got to me or maybe I wasn’t cut out to be a double spy, but I felt like a nervous wreck. Ignoring the voice screaming for me to get back into the safety of Zade’s car I literally ran into the restaurant.
I almost screamed when I barreled into Randy in the foyer. His eyes flashed at me. All I could think of was that it was a good thing I had entered when I did. Otherwise, he would have seen me getting out of Zade’s car. And that would have been a dead giveaway.