Free Spy High by Diane Henders Page B

actually been recovering from an attempt on his life
and he’d just left the woman he loved an ocean away. No wonder he’d
been in turmoil. He had probably been terrified that both Katya and
his parents would be in the line of fire if his enemies found out
he’d survived.
    “I know he loves you,” I repeated as
firmly as I could.
    “That’s…” Karma cleared his throat and
continued huskily. “You have no idea what that means to us. We
thought… we used to send him little gifts and photos but when he
moved, there was nothing of those things in his house. It was as
though he’d erased us from his life.”
    “I’m sure he didn’t want to do that,” I
insisted.
    He had done it, though, to protect
them. And he couldn’t explain without breaching his cover. Sympathy
for both Stemp and his parents tightened my chest, and I rummaged
for any small crumb of comfort.
    What could I say? They were right;
except for his plants, Stemp’s house had been barren. No personal
items at all except…
    I sucked in a breath, remembering the
single thing in the house that had seemed out of character. “Wait…
did you make him a dreamcatcher?”
    Fierce hope kindled in Moonbeam’s eyes.
“Yes. Blue beads and an eagle feather…”
    “He still has it.” My smile was so wide
it hurt my cheeks. “It’s hanging over his bed.”
    A different kind of hope lit Moonbeam’s
face, and I barely resisted the urge to smack myself in the
forehead.
    Shit. What possible reason could I give
for being in his bedroom? I couldn’t tell the truth about searching
his house…
    “We’re not…” I began.
    “It’s all right, Storm Cloud Dancer,
we’re delighted.” Moonbeam gave me a motherly smile.
    “No, we’re really not lovers,” I
repeated, cursing the heat rising in my cheeks.
    “I wondered why you hadn’t found a
young man here after all this time,” she mused. “It’s lovely that
you’re being faithful to Cosmic River Stone, but I doubt if it’s
necessary. Monogamy is an unnatural state, you know, and Cosmic
River Stone was never sexually inhibited-”
    “La-la-la-la-la-la!” I shouted,
clapping my hands over my ears before I could be scarred by any
more unwelcome revelations. “Sorry, I can’t hear you!
La-la-la-la…”
    I hopped off the table and made for the
exit.
    Karma’s laughter penetrated my barrier
of humming as he gently pulled my hand away from my ear. “Don’t
mind her,” he said. “We won’t pry. Moonbeam Meadow Sky sometimes
gets carried away…”
    “That’s true, I do,” Moonbeam
interrupted. “But remember, Storm Cloud Dancer, regular sexual
activity is normal and healthy, and it’s particularly important to
engage in it through menopause and beyond because-”
    “Uh, yeah right, thanks, good session,”
I babbled as I backed toward the tent flap. “Thanks again for the
energy work. I’ve got to go; I have to, um, do something… good
night…”
    I hurried out into the darkness.

Chapter
8
    Scuttling away from Moonbeam and
Karma’s tent, I gave quiet thanks to the stroke of luck or
benevolent Spirit that had provided a full moon with no clouds for
a change. The sky had been softening into evening twilight when I
had left my tent, and I’d forgotten to bring my powerful
flashlight.
    Moonlight barely penetrated the forest
canopy but it was still bright enough to keep me from running
face-first into a tree or tripping over the many roots that
crisscrossed the path, so I didn’t bother to extract the tiny LED
light I always kept in my waist pouch. Instead I moved quietly
through the darkness, regaining my composure.
    After a few moments my discomfort over
Moonbeam’s too-frank sex conversation faded into amusement, along
with a sneaking sympathy for Stemp. No wonder he had clashed with
his parents at a young age. His rigid reserve was so diametrically
opposed to their laid-back hippy ways…
    My steps slowed. Or maybe he was so
buttoned-up because of their hippy ways. The corners of