Read Never Say Spy for Free Online

carjacked and the police are working on it, but leave out any mention of INSET and spies.”
    I shuddered.  I didn’t even want to think about INSET and spies.

Chapter 5  
     
    I willed myself not to shriek and lunge for the wheel when the cab driver turned yet again to make eye contact with me in the back seat, waving both hands and driving with his knee while he delivered a philosophical monologue.
    By the time I stumbled out of the taxi and paid the driver to go away, it was all I could do not to collapse into a blob of quivering jelly in my driveway.
    The wound in my leg throbbed, my head seemed trapped in a slowly-tightening vise, and every single muscle I owned ached.  In fact, I was willing to swear I had brand-new, previously-undiscovered muscles that were also aching.
    I dragged myself up the front steps and let myself in the door, automatically going to the security panel.  I had almost finished punching in my code before I realized the panel wasn’t beeping with my keystrokes, and all the lights were dark.
    Dead.
    “Noooooooo,” I whined.
    I shuffled to the phone, half-expecting no dial tone, but it buzzed reassuringly when I picked up the receiver.  I paced while the security company’s on-hold music abraded my already-raw nerves.
    Dammit, could this day get any worse?  First some wacko tries to abduct me at gunpoint and then my security system mysteriously packs it in.  By the time the dispatcher answered, I had switched to yoga belly breathing, willing calm.
    “When can you have someone come out and look at this?” I asked anxiously after explaining the situation.
    “Our techs go off duty at six o’clock.”
    I glanced at my watch.  Seven-ten.  Shit.
    “We could have someone there at nine o’clock tomorrow morning.”
    “I’m leaving at nine o’clock tomorrow morning.  I really need this fixed now.  Is there anybody there who can help me?” I begged.
    “‘We’ll do the best we can for you tomorrow morning,” he assured me.  “But we just don’t have anyone available now.”
    Translation:  You are completely hooped.
    I said goodbye and hung up in despair.  Maybe I should go to a hotel.
    But even a cheap hotel by Calgary standards would strain my budget.  I could stay with a friend, as Kane had suggested, but the thought of all the explanations and exclamations made my head ache even more fiercely.  I’d had more than enough human contact for one day.
    I jittered back and forth in the echoing living room.  With the walkout basement and three glass-panelled exterior doors on two levels, the place was a security nightmare.  I didn’t even have my crowbar with me.  I wouldn’t sleep a wink without some kind of warning system.
    I blew out a long sigh and locked the door behind me before forcing my protesting muscles into a semblance of a brisk walk to the nearby dollar store.
    Characteristically, I realized as I arrived that I was still wearing my bloodstained jeans and sneakers.  I endured looks that ranged from curiosity to alarm, and bought tape, string, pins, and some cheap tins.
    Trudging back into the house, I set up a booby trap inside each exterior door, feeling foolish.  On the latch side, I stuck a pin between the trim board and the wall.  I taped several tins onto the end of a short length of string and tied the free end of the string to the doorknob.  Supported only by the sagging pin, the tins would slide off and clatter against the door at the slightest movement.  I hoped it would be enough to wake me.
    As I considered it, I threw in a hope that the pin wouldn’t let go on its own in the middle of the night.  I’d probably have a heart attack if it did.
    I double-checked all the deadbolts on the doors and windows before stiffly climbing the stairs to the master bedroom.  It had a privacy lock on the door, so I locked that behind me.  It wouldn’t stop anybody, but it might buy me a few seconds in a pinch.
    Lying in bed, my eyes refused to close