Free The Nature of the Beast by G.M. Ford

said.
    “I’m blown away,” she admitted. Her eyes crinkled. “Figuratively speaking, of course,” she joked.
    Bomb jokes. Now he really liked her.
    “All I’ve got to do is keep my distance from swimming pools.”
    “Doesn’t like water?”
    “Rain or snow is fine but it doesn’t like being totally immersed. Synaptic response goes all to hell. I look like I’m playing air guitar.”
    She had a rich, warm laugh. “We’ll make it a point to keep you dry then.”
    Craig’s phone began to buzz in his pant’s pocket. As if to show off his manual dexterity he retrieved it with his artificial hand. He used the articulated thumb to push buttons and then stood for a moment staring at the screen.
    “We are officially summoned,” he said.
    She reached out and put a hand on his arm. “Hey listen…” she said. “There’s something…something I need to…”
    Craig once again pocketed the phone. She was having difficulty spitting out whatever it was she wanted to say. She shifted her weight from foot to foot and then blurted it out. “I can’t figure out why I’ve been assigned to this. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
    Craig held up a single myoelectric finger. “First off, Special Agent Williams don’t ever try to figure out men like Bobby Duggan. They lie for a living. They’re duplicitous beyond your wildest dreams. Any notion that you understand their motives is just flat-out dangerous to yourself and others.”
    She nodded that she understood. She watched as an idea crossed his mind.
    “What’s your current standing within the organization,” he asked, seemingly out of the blue.
    “My…I’m…I’m a Special Agent in Training,” she stammered.
    “Not your rank,” he corrected. “Your standing . Are you one of their golden children or are you ensconced somewhere among the masses? By now you must know where you stand. They make it pretty damn clear.”
    “Black sheep,” Audrey answered immediately. “Definitely black sheep. Not at all sure I’m going to get promoted next month.”
    “Of course,” Craig muttered.
    “I was getting a dressing down when they offered me this. It was either hook up with you or get reassigned way out in the boonies somewhere.”
    “What was your transgression?” he inquired.
    She told him all about it.
    “Eyesore and earsore. That’s us,” he said with a chuckle.
    “Your missing hand and my big mouth.”
    “Exactly,” Craig said. “I want to return to regular duty and you’re having trouble remaining anonymous.”
    “The only thing that matters is the Browning family,” she said after a moment. “They sound like nice people. They deserve our best efforts.”
    “Well then let’s get at it,” Craig said.

15
    He stood in the doorway trying to cope with the mad bustle of the place. The din turned the inside of his head into a fun house. Sounded like a symphony, played loud, played backwards. He put his fingers in his ears but the noise blared unabated.
    She ’ d cut her hair. Made her look thinner, he thought. Not better but thinner.
    “ How you been? ” she tried.
    “ Tired, ” he said. His eyes scanned the place like a searchlight.
    “ You okay? ”
    He ignored the question. “ You get it? ” he asked.
    “ As always, ” she said. “ One of your numbers has recently taken a little trip, ” she said nodding at the shopping bag on the floor. “ Seems to have landed in beautiful Arizona. ”
    The look in his eyes scared the hell out of her. She ’ d seen the look before. On the Science Channel. Shark Week.
    “ Is there a problem? ” he asked.
    She nodded and leaned in even closer. “ I ’ m moving, ” she whispered. “ Permanently. Starting over. Trashing all my equipment and finding a new crib. ”
    “ How come? ”
    “ The identity source we ’ ve been using is suddenly very hot, ” she whispered. “ When I went in this time something was eating up my bandwidth faster than I ’ ve ever experienced before. It embedded