Read Online Code of Conduct by Kristine Smith - Free Book Online Page A

This dress is perfect.” He chucked her under the chin. “Goes with the face.” His hand lingered near her cheek. “I’m getting used to it. It fits you. Very ‘Queen of the Nile.’” He hesitated, then leaned close and hugged her lightly, as though he feared she’d pull away. “We’ll be fine. You’ll see.” His breath smelled of wine; his neck, of the haygrass-scented cologne he’d always favored. Jani broke the embrace before she wanted to and rushed out the door beforehe could say good night. She walked back to her cabin in the grip of the sensation that she’d just skimmed over a land mine.
    I have to play this at arm’s length . She hated to admit how good it felt to talk to Evan, to someone who knew the long-submerged Jani Kilian and, if outward signs could be believed, still cared about her as well. It wouldn’t take long to become used to nice dinners and pleasant conversation again. And anything else that might reasonably follow . Soon, the roots would go so deep that when the time came to cut and run, she’d be fixed in place by indecision and fear of what she would lose. I can’t afford to relax . Especially now, with Ridgeway watching her every move.
    She turned the corner in time to see her steward emerge from her cabin.
    â€œMa’am?” He brushed a hank of hair from his sweaty brow. “There’s a problem with the climate control on this deck. I’ve notified Environmental, but they may not be able to return it to full function until we stop at Padi.”
    â€œOh please!” Jani sagged against the wall. She looked at the name tag on his left breast pocket. “Mister Ostern. Can’t this wait until morning?”
    Ostern thrust a small touchbox toward her. “Oh, everything’s under control for now, ma’am. I’ve jury-rigged a bypass.” His face glowed with pride. Look what I made, Mommy !
    Jani accepted the small device with the hesitation of someone who’d learned long ago there was no such thing as “free.” She looked again at Ostern, shifting from his blinding smile to his eyes. Dark brown, like chocolate. A warm color, normally. When brown eyes chilled, the cold came from within.
    Her steward had cold brown eyes.
    â€œI can show you how it works, if you like?” Ostern’s voice, a pleasant tenor, still sounded boyish, but the examining look he gave the documents case aged him several stony decades.
    â€œNo, Mister Ostern, it’s all right.” Jani hoisted the case and, smiling sweetly, pushed past him and palmed her way into her cabin.
    â€œAre you sure, ma’am? I—”
    â€œIt’s all right ,” she said as the door slid closed. “I think I can figure things out.” She paused in the entryway and sniffed the air. It did smell vaguely metallic and dusty, as though various things had gone plonk in the depths of the ventilation system.
    She removed her shoes. Blessedly barefoot, she knelt in the middle of the sitting room and positioned Ostern’s little box on the carpet in front of her. Using one of the spindly heels like a hammer, she smashed the device to bits.
    After she tossed the fragments down the trash chute, Jani rooted through her duffel. She pushed aside her magnispecs, assorted scanpack parts twined through a holder of braided red cloth, broken UV styluses, and cracked touchpads, until she reached the scanproof false bottom, beneath which lay her shooter and her devices.
    Her sensor looked like a UV stylus, except that the light at its pointed end blinked yellow instead of blue, and it had cost more than such things did when purchased through the usual channels. One does what one has to . As long as she’d never hurt anyone but herself, what difference did it make?
    She flicked the device on. Holding it before her like a glow stick, she took a turn about the sitting room. If I were an insect, where would I hide