“I’m sorry, Olivia. I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be back in a minute.”
She waves me off.
“Of course, darling. Don’t take too long, though. The coffee is good while it’s hot.” She blows on the steam rising from her cup and takes a delicate sip.
I rush across the floor and into the bathroom, as if I really do have an emergency. Which isn’t even a lie. The door doesn’t lock, which makes me feel uncomfortable, but at least I’m alone. I grip the edges of the sink and stare at myself in the mirror, looking at Zeth through my own eyes.
“You need to unmerge, take the USB stick, and go,”I tell him.“Right now. Take it to Tom.”
Zeth recoils inside me.
“I’m not leaving you alone with them. Olivia is dangerous. You have no idea! She’s the most dangerous of them all.”
“Let me handle her,”I say.“She’s just a meddling old lady. I don’t know what happened between the two of you when she was young, but right now she just wants to set me up with heruseless son. It’s better if you’re not here. You can’t be in her presence, which makes it almost impossible for me to interact normally with her. Trust me, Zeth, I’ll be fine.”
“What about Garrett? He’s on to you.”
“We don’t know that. Listen to me, you have to go. If you’re right and he’s on to me, then the last thing I need is him finding the USB stick in my bra. Take it and go.”
Zeth must relent because what I’m saying makes sense. This could be the end of our mission, and he knows I can stand my ground if I have to. After all, he trained me himself.
He starts to unmerge, but the process stops when there’s a knock on the bathroom door.
We’re both startled, but I recover quickly and urge Zeth to unmerge fast. He does, and just as Garrett barges through the door, Zeth is slithering through the vents in the ceiling. I notice that he’s taken the USB stick with him because it doesn’t poke me in the breast anymore.
I stare at Garrett.
Garrett stares back at me.
“What’s wrong with you?” I ask. “This is the ladies’ bathroom.”
He’s not impressed.
“Get out. I need to search you.”
“Are you insane? What for?”
He doesn’t answer. He grabs me by the arm and pulls me out of the bathroom, then turns me around and presses me face-first against the wall. I don’t fight him. I let him search me, and he does so thoroughly. His hands pat down my sides, my breasts, even between my legs.
I shrink back at that last part.
“Fuck you, have you lost your mind?”
Olivia hears us and comes over on quick feet. I honestly don’t know how she walks in those heels. She looks between us, her expression mildly concerned but not alarmed.
“What is going on here? Is this really necessary?”
Garrett turns to her.
“I have reason to believe Wren has had access to sensitive information. I think it’s best if I take her to a secure location.”
Olivia huffs and crosses her arms over her chest. For a moment, I think she’s going to take my side, but then she rolls her eyes.
“If that’s what you want to do, I won’t stop you. Might I suggest my apartment?”
Garrett nods. He pulls me toward the back door of the burger joint, and Olivia leads the way. I’m sweating profusely now, my shirt sticking to my back.
When we emerge into the sunlight, I see Dale and the golem waiting beside the usual black sedan. Dale has a bag in his hands that he passes to Garrett, and then it comes over my head before I can react.
