My muscles sag with relief. Tears burn the back of my eyes. “They’re okay?”
Indy touches my arm. “They’re okay. Worried, but glad to know you’re safe. Tyler—he’s our tech guy—is working on getting a secure phone to them. And we have one for you, too. So you’ll be able to call without worrying that the lines?—”
Pink touches his cheeks. “Anyway,” he hurries to add. “Hopefully by tomorrow, you can talk to them yourself.”
I swallow hard against the emotion welling up. “Thank you. I’ve been really worried.”
“Shit, Bea. I’m sorry I didn’t say something sooner.” He looks at me appraisingly, then says, “Why don’t we go sit down for a few minutes?”
“I don’t want to go back to the apartment yet.” I’d rather be out here, learning about this place, talking to Indy and feeling closer to normal than I have since I woke up.
“Just the living room.” His hand comes to my back again, this time urging me back the way we came. “We can turn on the fireplace. Just relax a bit.”
“Okay.” I allow myself to be led back into the living room, suddenly tired again. Which is ridiculous, I’ve been out of the apartment for ten, fifteen minutes at most, when I’m usually on my feet all day.
Once we’re back in the living room, Indy grabs the remote and adjusts the flames so they’re dancing merrily in the fireplace, glowing amber and gold and crimson. Then we head to the couch and sink down on two adjacent cushions. Not touching, but close enough to catch the fresh citrus scent of his soap.
“What other questions do you have?” Indy asks after several moments of silence. “I’m sure you have plenty.”
“Where to start?” I ask wryly. “I have so many, I’m not sure I can remember all of them.”
“You can always stop by my place if you think of something. Or call. Tyler should have your phone all set up?—”
“Did I hear my name?” A tall man with brown hair and a serious expression exits the hallway leading to the offices and heads in our direction. He walks with a slight limp, but I think I only notice because I’m trained to. He looks at Indy first and gives him a quick chin lift, then turns his attention to me.
“You must be Bea,” he says as he approaches. “I’m Tyler.” His forehead creases with concern. “How are you feeling?”
Unconsciously, I shift closer to Indy. Not that I think this man—Tyler—will hurt me, but there’s just something undeniably comforting about Indy, regardless of my conflicted feelings about him.
Indy throws a quick look at me. There’s an unspoken question in his eyes.
More anger seeps away.
“I’m okay.” I tell Tyler. “Indy was just showing me around”
“Good.” Tyler smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “A concussion, that’s not fun. And after everything…” He stops. Reaches into his pocket and pulls out a phone. “I just got this all set up. So I’m glad I’m seeing you.”
As I take the phone from him, Tyler explains, “It’s completely secure. So you can browse the web, watch videos… nothing can be tracked. No emails, but that’s more of a security issue on the recipient’s side than yours. And once your parents have their phone, you can call them any time you like.”
Indy smiles at Tyler. “Thanks. That’ll help a lot. What about the app for her implants? Is that all set up?”
I look at Indy in surprise. “You got the app?” My old phone, which is probably in police custody now, has a special app that allows me to control the settings of my implants. Without it, I can still use them, but the functionality isn’t as good as I’m used to. Indy found me a charger for them, which is necessary, but I wasn’t expecting more.
“Of course,” he says. “I remember you saying how you would need to adjust the volume sometimes. Or that you’d connect with the TV so you could hear a movie better.” He glances back at Tyler. “Can we get the thing for her TV? So she can?—”
“You don’t have to do that,” I interrupt. “It’s not usually a problem.”
“Bea.” A fierceness fills Indy’s eyes. “If it makes things easier for you, we’ll get it.”
Oh.
It’s really getting hard to stay mad at him.
“If Indy didn’t mention, I’m kind of the tech expert of the group,” Tyler adds. “And I understand wanting—needing—techto make your life easier. So if there’s anything you think of, just let me know.”
“Thank you,” I repeat. A lump lodges in my throat. “You don’t have to do all this, but… thank you.”
Indy looks at me for a long moment. Then he says, “Since Tyler’s heading up the online research portion of our investigation, he might be able to answer some of your questions.”
