He continued to watch her when K8 slid into his field of vision. He raised an eyebrow at her, wondering if he was seeing one or two of her, when he noticed her two different colored eyes. That told him she was singular.
“Hey. I got my hands on someOuter Limitsvideotapes. Want to come over Sunday and watch them with us?”
“Us? Who else will be there?” The question was moot. What was more important was the little write-on wipe-off board she produced from inside her blouse.
F8 has info
“Oh, the usual bunch,” the young woman answered, keeping her back to those in the office so they wouldn’t be aware of the second messaging going on between them. They had to obfuscate any and all subliminal conversations, to prevent those watching, observing, and listening in on everything they said and did.
N8 gave a nod. “Sure. I’d like to. What time?”
She shoved the slate back inside her blouse. “Seven. Right after dinner.”
“Gotcha.”
He got to his feet as the others departed the office. Casting one last glance over at Cydney, he noticed her intently watching him. He wasn’t able to read her expression. Not this far away from her. But what he’d sensed from her earlier gave him hope for a more positive interaction in the future.
The very near future.
2Investig8
They usually playedshirts ‘n skins, with the women keeping theirs on while the guys stripped theirs off. Because there were more males than females, whoever played on the girls’ side kept his t-shirt on. And the men always took turns being the women’s teammate. That evening, N8 volunteered to be the odd man out, not because he felt inclined to step up, but because of the cryptic message Kate had given him.
F8 has info
T8 and G8 were already inside the gym. He noticed they’d lowered the nets and were now throwing balls into the hoops. K8 and P8 entered from the opposite side, and joined the other two, running patterns and practicing their slam dunks.
“I’ll take shirts!” N8 announced. His voice rang off the walls and metal beams hanging overhead. It joined the noise of the bouncing balls and the occasional shout. This was where they came whenever they needed to talk without being overheard, because the resonating sounds effectively masked their short conversations.
When F8 finally joined them, they went straight into a huddle to supposedly flip a coin.
“Are they watching?” P8 whispered.
“Always,” F8 answered, her head down as she bounced one of the balls. “Mics, too.”
“Take north,” G8 announced, and F8 immediately feinted to the left. As G8 tried to head her off, she passed the ball to N8. The instant she did, she held up five fingers. He nodded, and raced for the hoop.
Five. There were five pairs of eyes and ears observing them at that very moment.He mentally shook his head. The split-second of not being focused on the game cost him, and T8 slammed the ball out of his grasp. He took off after the guy, but the ball was seamlessly slipped into G8’s hands, and a leap landed a three-point shot for the men’s team.
“Who’s keeping score?” K8 yelled.
“We all are!” F8 hollered back.
“Three-zip!” P8 bellowed, and threw the ball onto the court from the sidelines.
They played for another few minutes. Every so often F8 would flash a number.
Three.
One.
It was after K8 managed to make both her free shots after P8 fouled her that the woman gave them a thumbs-up.
Zero.
T8 made the familiar T symbol with his hands. “I call timeout! Let’s take a breather.”
With the exception of P8, they made their way over to the far wall and collapsed into a close huddle. P8 soon joined them, passing out bottles of water he’d collected from the dispenser on the other side of the gym.
