Drink Me

19. YOU SAY

YOU SAY

Riley stared at the screen for what seemed like an eternity.

CLASSIFIED

What the hell does it mean?

He glared at the screen for a little longer, slowly getting to terms with the fact that there wasn't much he could do and eventually closed the search engine as if by doing so, he could chase that unsettling discovery away. He tried to concentrate on his work but his mind was racing too quickly for him to focus on anything.

Whatever it was, it was big.

His next thought soon crept on him, adding to the already disconcerting situation. Why hadn't the agency approached him about Aidan? Riley assumed they would have talked to him about anything that could have been used as leverage against him, and yet nothing.

Maybe it wasn't as serious. Maybe there were different types of confidentiality he wasn't aware of. But the more he tried to make sense of the situation, the more his confusion grew and his conclusions became catastrophic. First the lack of information on Aidan's profile and now this.

Riley felt impotent and angry. He had tried to help Alice but he had only uncovered more questions. He knew he could have dug deeper but ending up in prison for hacking the GCHQ system wasn't an appealing scenario. He was already far past the line of legality. Riley cared about Aidan and Alice but he also cared about his freedom.

He had to drop it. He had tried, and he had lost.

As hard as it was, he had to move on and let Alice and his cousin work out things on their own.

***

As Riley left the pub and said goodbye to Simon, he called Alice. He hadn't talked to her since they had parted ways the evening before and wanted to check on her.

On the second ring, the line connected.

"Hey, baby!"

Riley stopped in his tracks. "Nicky?"

The girl giggled from the other line. "What's up?" Nicole asked, mimicking an American accent.

Riley resumed walking. "I was just checking on Alice, I didn't know you two were together..."

"I told you I was having a girls' night..." the girl replied.

"Yes, but you never mentioned it was with Alice." Riley sounded a bit too resentful.

Nicole chuckled. "Must have slipped my mind. Anyway, do you want to talk to her, hear her voice?"

Riley laughed nervously, he couldn't understand how much truth was in Nicole's teasing. "No, baby. If she's with you, then she's in safe hands," he said.

"Hey, Riley!" Alice's voice came from afar before the noise of a blender went off.

"Alice's making us frozen margaritas," Nicole declared.

"Riley loooves tequila," Alice yelled from a distance.

"Oh do you?" Nicole asked, curious. "I didn't know..."

Riley closed his eyes briefly.

Low blow, Alice.

"Are you already drunk, Nicky?" he teased, changing the subject.

"Maybe..."Nicole said dragging her vowels.

"OK then, I'll leave you two to your night," he let her go with a chuckle. "Behave, OK?"