Jennifer Rardin - [Jaz Parks 1] - Once Bitten, Twice Shy

'No, I can't.' Can't, can't, can't…

'So relax. I promise you, I will not probe. I will not intrude. Your thoughts, your memories, are still your own.'

'… Okay.' I took a deep breath and sat back.

'I would like to ask you something, however.'

Crap! 'What?'

'Why did you rearrange the furniture again?'

'Well, I wanted to work out and… again?'

'Remember Ethiopia? And Germany? And Hong Kong?'

'Yeah. So?'

'So, you have rearranged the furniture in every apartment, hotel and hut we have stayed in since I have known you. And always the same way. I just wondered why.'

'Oh,' I laughed weakly, wracking my brain for a plausible excuse. 'Well, that's the way it always was growing up. No matter what house we were living in, Mom arranged the furniture the same way to make it feel like home.'

A damn fine explanation, I must say, and one Vayl swallowed whole.

'I was just wondering.'

'Let's go kick somebody's butt,' I suggested, thinking it would sure make me feel better. 'I feel like I really could throw a bad guy across the room.'

'And suddenly we have so many from which to choose.' Vayl thought a moment, giving me time to rearrange my brain. Like the furniture, it made no sense to me, but I did recover most of my scattered control. 'Any ideas?' he asked.

'Assan comes immediately to mind.'

'I am sure it will be a pleasure ending his existence. But he is more valuable to us as he is right now, oblivious and unbruised. First we need to find out where he and Aidyn are storing the virus.'

'And how they're making it,' I added. 'Do you suppose they're keeping their notes at Assan's place?'

'Possibly. Though Aidyn seems to be the creator. We need to ascertain where he is staying as well.'

'Sure would be handy if we had a contact on the inside,' I said. 'But Assan's staff is unapproachable.'

'What about his family?'

'You mean the wife?' We shared a knowing look. 'You mean the jealous wife who's hired a private investigator?' We both nodded. With the butt-kicking officially tabled, I moved across the pit to a mauve arm chair beside which stood an end table with a phone on top, a drawer for the phone book and a lamp to read her by.

Most men I meet through work tend to avoid that whole Live-Like-A-Normal-Guy gig. In fact, most guys I meet through work want to kill me. So when I found Cole's name and number listed in the white pages I felt a sudden urge to giggle. It went away just as quickly. I'd met a normal guy. Big whoop. That didn't make me any more normal.

He answered his phone on the first ring. 'Cole Bemont.'

'Cole! This is Lucille Robinson. We met—'

'Last night!'

'You remembered.'

'Are you kidding? I've been kicking myself all day for not getting your number.' We stopped speaking for a moment, homage to the kisses.

'Cole, I have a problem I wondered if you could help me with.' I kept my voice businesslike since Vayl sat three feet away, and I honestly didn't want to lead Cole any further astray.

'Sure,' Cole said.

'Um, don't you want to hear what it is first?'

'Doesn't matter. You saved my hide yesterday. Plus my lips are still tingling. At this point, I'm prepared to do just about anything you suggest.'

Yipes! What have I unleashed? I wanted to say, 'Cole, maybe you haven't heard, but I'm an idiot. The C.I.A. has tried its best to bury that fact since they did hire me. But here's the deal. Despite my actions last night I am not looking for a relationship with you. I can't maintain a relationship with you due to the fact that I don't want to. Also, I'll be traveling a lot and my boss is a vampire who I may be falling for (already have?) which is a whole other kettle of crap I'm so not ready to deal with. At any rate, these life choices don't make me a good candidate for pet owner, much less girlfriend.' But I needed Cole to help me get information, which meant I needed him interested for just awhile longer. Damn, damn, damn.

'Can my partner and I meet you somewhere in say, half an hour?'

'Your… partner?'

'It's kind of impossible to explain over the phone.'

'Okay. How about Umberto's? It's semi-private and the food's great.'

'Fine.' Cole gave me directions and we hung up. I looked at Vayl. 'It's set.'