Serafina and the Virtual Man - By Marie Treanor Page 0,28
stepping out of a beaten-up old Citroen at Dale’s front door. It had been hard seeing Roxy so upset, and so, in desperation, he’d turned his attention to the outer cameras to look out at the grey clouds and misty rain instead.
This house had always been a mystery to Adam. He could understand Dale and Petra building something to their own taste, and he could understand their desire for country living and privacy. But the house stood out like a sore thumb, and now Dale seemed to have practically moved his entire operation here, dishing out projects in a piecemeal sort of way that might well bite him in the bum when it came to actual production. He seemed to have the big launch planned for spring.
It depressed him that Dale might mess up this baby, which was the most fantastic thing Adam had ever come up with or ever would. This would change the face of a lot more than just gaming, and yet Dale was risking its failure by excessive secrecy.
It further depressed him that he couldn’t help, that even alive he’d have had no right to, because, according to JK, he’d sold his share to Dale.
Why the fuck would I have done that?
And yet, stupidly, what hurt him most was the rejection of a stranger, who’d turned on him for an innocent and honest comment about her smile. Of course she’d already been freaked by his presence in the first place and by the fact that he could see her, but still…
Perversely, her overreaction only intrigued him more. He wanted and needed her help, and admittedly it was soul-numbingly boring hanging around Dale’s lab and shooting about his electronic circuits, but there was something about this beautiful girl with the deceptively hard eyes and voice…
He thought so again as she emerged from the scruffy car with her friend, presumably the psychic. They both looked at Roxy’s smart sports car—that was new. America must have gone well for Roxy. He was glad of that.
He couldn’t resist zooming in on JK’s face. She wore makeup like war paint, at once emphasising her beauty and masking her personality. The lipstick somehow hardened the lines of her mouth which, free of makeup, was one of her most appealing features—soft, expressive, and eminently kissable. Likewise, the sharp eyeliner and dark mascara lent her lovely if haunted blue eyes something the impression of a doll’s, without warmth or feeling. Yet when they were unadorned, as they were yesterday evening in the supposed privacy of her own home, you could more easily see the character and sheer intelligence shining out of them.
The hacker was hiding more than her illegal hobbies. The gamer in him was challenged.
And when she began asking Dale questions about the night he was shot, he found himself grinning at the monitor. If she’d come only to deal with the so-called poltergeist, surely they’d just get on with it? But JK was still investigating for him, and she’d got her supposedly psychic friend involved.
Which meant he could contact her again, according to his own sense of honour.
When they’d driven Dale and Petra out of the house and closed the door firmly behind them, the women linked arms and performed a short jig that made Adam smile.
“Okay, what’s the plan?” the other woman, Sera, said after only a few seconds of this horseplay.
JK dropped her arm and stood still. “I suppose you’d better try and get rid of the poltergeist. Do you need me, or can I snoop?”
“Oh, snoop, by all means,” Sera said. “I intend to do a bucketload myself. Where were Andy and George when they heard the shot? Which room?”
Andy and George? The burglars? How come the women were on first-name terms with them?
JK shook her head. “No idea. It’s a big house to search.” She picked up her laptop bag, fiddled unnecessarily with the strap on her shoulder. “What did you get off Roxy May?”
“She’s grieving and bewildered. It upset her coming here.”
Didn’t need to be psychic to spot that much, Adam thought derisively.
“And Dale?” JK pursued. “I actually thought I saw genuine affection, genuine loss today. I wasn’t sure of it before.”
“I’m still not,” Sera said flatly. “There’s truth and lies so muddled up in there, I doubt even he can separate them anymore. Grief, maybe; worry and excitement, definitely. You go and wiggle your way into his secret laboratory. I’m going to scare up a poltergeist and maybe even a vision or two.”