Skin Deep

“I’ll talk to Terryn,” she said.

“Good. When you do, tell him Foyle talks to Alfie a lot.”

“His name’s Alfrey,” she said.

She hadn’t corrected him earlier. By the way Sinclair paused, she wondered if he caught it. If he did, he decided not to mention it. “He’s talked to Foyle a number of times about Triad.”

“He’s with Blume’s company?”

Sinclair shook his head. “Used to be a long time ago. They had some kind of falling-out, but Hornbeck’s been trying to get them back together. Alfrey’s consulting or something.”

“Just because Hornbeck or Foyle are involved doesn’t mean he’s a good guy.”

Sinclair frowned knowingly at her. “Oh, I definitely will keep that in mind.”

Laura reddened at the accusation. The microwave bell went off. She hit the door release. “Di

CHAPTER 24

A BENEFIT LAURA enjoyed with staying at Sinclair’s apartment was one less glamour transition at the Guildhouse. Instead of arriving at work as Laura Blackstone and contriving excuses to Saffin for absences, she arrived as Janice Crawford and took care of business. Leaving her SWAT-team gear in the duffel, she glamoured a simple, ill-fitting suit that reflected Janice’s inattention to clothing. Within ten minutes of pulling in to the Guildhouse garage, she knocked on the door to Mariel Tate’s office suite.

Liam acknowledged her as she came in the door. “Can I help you?”

“I’m Janice Crawford. I have a ten o’clock with Mariel Tate,” she said.

Liam made a show of looking at his watch. “You’re early. She’s out of the office at the moment, but she’ll return shortly. Take a seat-there’s coffee if you want it.”

Laura took one of the leather armchairs. Since Mariel and Genda operated as outside consultants, neither tended to have large meetings. The reception area had room enough for only two or three people to sit.

Laura sorted through magazines on the low coffee table. Liam engaged in a number of sports, including skiing and rock climbing, and brought in old copies from his subscriptions. She noticed he didn’t always rip off his mailing address labels. Mariel wouldn’t like that. It made the Guild look cheap and was bad form for someone in InterSec to be so casual about personal information.

She pushed aside both the sports and business mags and found the general interest ones. Fortunately, the current editions were there, so she was able to catch up on pop culture. She pla

She made herself a cup of coffee and settled in to read book and movie reviews. Laura read, sometimes voraciously, but did not have much time or energy to go to movies. Occasionally, she would rent one, but most films bored her. Television fared even worse on her entertainment schedule. It wasn’t the programs so much as the rampant, aggressive advertising. Having lived through several wars, she had a strong sense of the meanings of want and need. Consumer culture made her uncomfortable.

Liam answered the telephone and handled general office tasks. He had little to do for Mariel, so most calls were for Genda. Laura made a mental note for Mariel to have lunch with Genda while she was in town. Despite glaring conversational voids when they touched on their respective jobs, they found things to talk about to while away an hour or so. With not much of a social life, Laura enjoyed the company.

Genda arrived in a flutter of white hair and undulating wings. She was a Dana

Liam glanced at Laura. “No. She’s ru

“Tell her to stop in if she has a chance.” Genda disappeared into her office without another look at Laura.

Laura checked her watch more frequently. At first she did it to mimic impatience, but after a while, she did it because she was bored and wanted to leave. The phone rang, and Liam answered it. Out of habit, Laura focused attention on his words when he dropped his voice. When people dropped their voices, it was generally something they didn’t want others to hear. “I don’t know,” he said, then, “I haven’t seen her in three days… She doesn’t always tell me her schedule… I put it back… No, I’m not. I’m uncomfortable about what happened… If it was a coincidence, then fine… I’ll see what I can find out. I have to go.”

He hung up and didn’t move. Curious, Laura glanced over. She didn’t think he had a girlfriend, but his tone sounded evasive and defensive. When their eyes met, he acted self-conscious, as if he had forgotten she was there. He turned to his computer.

“Excuse me, but has Ms. Tate called or anything?” she asked.

Liam continued typing without looking up again. “No. She’s usually on time. She’ll be here.”

Laura looked pointedly at her watch. “I have a doctor’s appointment that I don’t want to miss. At this point, I don’t think I’ll have time, so can I reschedule this?”

He did turn then. “Is it over at InterSec? I can have Mariel rearrange that for you.”

Liam’s intuition made sense. He facilitated the job with Foyle, so he knew she was InterSec. “Um… that’s kind of personal, but thanks. I’ll call Ms. Tate to reschedule.”

She left the anteroom and rode the rear elevator to the seventh floor. Entering her room through the back hallway, she shed the Janice glamour, including the outfit. Catching sight of her jeans, she rejected the idea of another plain outfit for the day. Saffin would be sure to mention it, and even more sure to be disappointed in Laura. If Laura allowed herself any indulgence, it was an expensive wardrobe for her public-relations work. She changed into a designer label, a lightweight caramel-colored pantsuit with a black-and-white horizontal-striped blouse.

As she fixed her hair, she put her phone on speaker and called Saffin. “Hi, Saf. It’s me. Can you do me a favor and see if I left a folder at Rhys’s office? I was down there this morning, and now I can’t find it.”

“Sure. Are you coming in?” Saffin asked.

“Yeah. I’m down grabbing a coffee and will be right up.”

“Got it.” Saffin hung up.

Laura repacked her overnight bag for later and dropped it in the closet on her way through to her office. She called the reception desk on the Guildmaster’s floor. “Hi, it’s Laura Blackstone. Saffin’s on the way up. When she gets there, can you tell her I found the file I was looking for?”

The receptionist acknowledged and hung up. Laura hated manipulating Saffin. Between her natural tendency to please and her brownie predilection to accomplish tasks at all costs, Saffin’s compliance bordered on submission. After working together so many years, Laura knew the woman had bonded with her, and the co

Saffin breezed into the office. “Hi. Did Rhys rewrite his speech again?”

Laura rolled her eyes. “He wants to impress our special guest.”

Saffin nodded. “Speaking of which, Secret Service sent over another revision on the outside security. They’re closing down Constitution Avenue during the speeches.”

In the original plan, the secretary of state was to represent the U.S. at the Archives ceremony. She would still speak, but High Queen Maeve had a major fan in the current president. He had sent word to be put on the program as a surprise guest. Of course, the presence of the media and his desire to expand mutual security initiatives with the Seelie Court had plenty to do with it.