Restrained Recovery
Part Six
By owelpost (drakkar@rogers.com) and windrider (chelm@netwalk.com)

– x –

Shane could feel Susans eyes on them as they made their way to a side table. Rae was all but looking over her shoulder every step. She sat down carefully in the chair, fidgeting with one strand of hair that kept falling down her neck.

What is that, Rae? Shane slid her eyes sideways to look at Susans booth, then back to Rachel.

Rachel turned her glass around a few times, making a moist ring on the table. She shrugged. Nothing major.

Shane sighed, eyes searching Rachels face. One thing Shane knew was fear. And Rachel was afraid. She leaned forward, reached for Rachels hand.

Dont! Rachel pulled her hand into her lap. You cant do that, Shane.

Do what?

Touch me.

Shane raised her hands in exasperation. *****, Rae, I was just

It doesnt matter, Shane. She spoke very slowly. You. Cannot. Touch. Me. Not ever. Not here.

Shanes eyes clouded. Rae, what are you into?

Rachel looked away, fought the tears, struggled for control. What do you want, Shane?

Raes abruptness surprised her. Shane fell back against the seat of her chair. I wanna know what the ***** happened to you.

No. You dont.

Yes, I do!

Shane, you didnt come here for that. She glanced at her watch.

What? Are you on a timer? Shane asked sarcastically.

Something blazed in Rachels eyes. Susan is not a patient woman. She had begun to toy with her glass again.

Shane took a long drink from her own glass. Well, thats part of what I want to know.

What?

Susan. Whats she about?

Leave it alone, Shane. Please. The last word came out as a whisper.

Shane motioned to a waitress who gave her a startled look for reasons Shane was afraid to guess. Sorry. I cant do that, Rae.

Why not?

Do you know a girl named Lara Perkins? She ever come in here? Shane watched Rachels reactions carefully, the way she used to watch people on the street. Looking for fear, looking for weakness, looking for danger.

No. Her face was a carefully arranged blank.

Are you sure?

Fairly sure, Rachel said carefully. Why? Friend of yours?

Friend of a friend, actually. Shane tucked the stir stick in the corner of her mouth and worried it back and forth. Rae had always been fairly transparent. In the old days, the girl just couldnt lie to save her soul; thats why Shane had taken her under her wing out there. That she had developed this ability to completely mask off Shane felt a twinge of sorrow so deep, she couldnt even understand it. It felt like a death.

What makes you think she might have come here?

Susan.

Oh? Rachel was clearly nervous now.

Yeah, see, her name came up.

This–whats her name–Lara? Did she bring it up?

No.

Rachel breathed a soft sigh.

Well, Shane swallowed the rest of her drink. Im sorry to have interrupted your evening, Rae. I just thought you might be able to help me out.

Sorry. She actually was.

If you hear anything, let me know, OK? You still have my cell?

I think so.

Ok. Hope Susan doesnt think I took too much of your time.

Rachel looked across the room. I think itll be all right.

Somehow, I dont think so, Shane said sadly. I really dont. Rae, youre into somethin here way deep. And I understand that you cant tell me here and now. Ill help you. If I can. But you gotta talk to me.

I cant. Rae gave her a long look. She gripped her drink glass with both hands so Shane wouldnt see them shaking.

Yeah. I thought not. Shane gave her a small wave, walked away, hands jammed deep in her pockets to conceal the fact that shed knotted her fists tight enough to make her nails gouge flesh. She took no comfort from knowing that Rae had told her more than she wanted to know. Now what?

-x-

Marina watched Alice walk away, only slightly unsteady on her feet. She chewed her lower lip for a moment, closed her eyes, as if rifling through a collection of thoughts and memories. She walked quickly to the office, dialed a long and complicated series of numbers. She checked her watch. She knew Francesca was probably on set now. She left a four-word message on voice mail: Susan Birch. Call me.

-x-

Rachel walked back to the booth, waited for Susans nod before she sat down. So, Rachel, who is that interesting woman?

Someone I used to know. Rachel kept her voice neutral.

What did she want?

Rachel licked her upper lip with the tip of her tongue. It was a nervous trait that Susan knew all too well. She asked about you.

Really? Susan raised one eyebrow. What did she want to know?

Whatever I was willing to tell her. What our relationship was.

And what did you tell her, Rachel dear?

Nothing helpful. Rachel made full eye contact with Susan, just so she knew she was being truthful with her, before dropping her gaze to the table.

What else? Susans voice had acquired an edge. She lacked patience for playing twenty questions unless it was her idea.

She asked about Lara. Whether I knew her. Whether shed ever been in here. I told her no.

Susans eyes narrowed. Do tell!

Yes, Rachel sipped her drink, she said your name came up, but not from Lara. She was starting to feel pale and breathless. There was no telling where Susan would go with this.

Susan tapped her cell phone thoughtfully against her chin, quick-dialed Lee. Lee! So nice of you to loan me Rachel for the evening. She listened for a moment. Yes, well, I need to borrow her for the rest of the night.

Rachels eyes widened. Her heart thumped against her ribs.

No, no! Nothing like that, Lee. Shes been perfectly behaved. As always. But someone has caught my eye and Rachel knows her. She laughed. Exactly! Thank you dear. Have a good evening. I assume you have company. She laughed again. Yes, Ill drop her off on my way into the studio tomorrow. OK. Bye.

Susan snapped the cell phone shut. Now, Rachel, lets go home and talk about this friend of yours. Shane?

Rachel nodded unhappily.

– x –

Alice toted her coffee into her office, set it down on a coaster beside her computer and then fell back into her chair. It was morning now, sunlight streaming through the light curtains that framed her windows. She had spent a good three hours the previous night working on figuring out who had hacked her site. From early on it became clear to her that she had no idea how to go about doing that, so she had connected to an internet relay chat server and sought out would-be hackers. After chatting with a few overzealous anarchists, she finally settled on asking a seemingly soft-hearted, down to earth fellow, known only as UnclKrackz, for assistance.
He had carefully explained to her the ins and outs of hacking a website, pointed out that hers had minimal security and that he could easily fix it for her, if she wanted. Finally after several hours of head-splitting techno-babble–most of which Alice only feigned understanding–she had begged off, saying she needed sleep. He had been understanding and offered to attempt to find her hacker on his own. She had been elated and readily agreed.

And now Alice turned on her laptop, sipped her coffee, and opened her email program. She was disappointed to see nothing new from her hacker. There were emails from her editor, suggesting a few new story ideas and telling her that she had another deadline coming up. She made a scowling face. Deadline shmeadline!

Alice took up her coffee, had one more sip and made another face. Ick! She carried the coffee back to the kitchen, dumped the remaining in the sink and plodded her way to the bathroom. Coffee would have to wait until she reached The Planet. Alice showered quickly, dried her hair and sprayed it enough that the ends would stick out. She applied her face with expert efficiency and finished with a spray of eau de toilet. Forty five minutes after stepping into the bathroom she was satisfied to make a public appearance.

Whether she liked it or not, she really did have a deadline and Mark would be less than impressed if she missed it. She hadnt skipped a deadline yet, but there had been a few too many close calls. She made her way back to her office in order to gather up her computer and a few supplies. Alice noticed that her email icon was flashing in the taskbar. She opened the email to find the words: Messenger me! UnclKrackz.

With a sigh, Alice plunked down in her chair again, found her ill-used messenger service and opened it. She hemmed and hawed a few minutes, trying to remember her password. Snapping her fingers, she typed it in and then typed in UnclKrakzs screen name.

*Good morning,* Alice typed. *Are you around?*

She waited a few minutes. *Hey. Sorry, I was trying to get some work done,* he eventually replied.

*Sokay. Tell me you have news for me,* Alice fired.

*Well, theres some good and some bad. How do you want it?*

*Gimme the good news first.* Alice felt tiny butterflies of excitement in her stomach.

*Okay, heres what Ive got: Remember I told you about proxys? Theyre kind of like condoms for hackers…*

Alice impatiently nodded her head, then remembered that he couldnt see her and typed, *Yes.*

*Right. Well, whoever did this is very amateur. They didnt use a proxy, which means it was easy to trace back to the source. You were lucky in that your site actually logs all activity.*

Alice clapped her hands. Yes! she hooted. *Awesome!* she typed.

* This is where the problem occurs, hence the bad news. The trail stops cold at a place called Cybermart. Its a cyber caf. While your hacker was an amateur, it seems he or she was smart enough not to do it from home.*

Her stomach dropped. *****, *****! She had been so close.

*You still there?* beeped her machine.

*Yeah, sorry. I just Im a little disappointed.*

*I can understand. Look, if theres anything else I can do, let me know. Im very sorry.*

*No, no youve been a wonderful help. Thank you.*

*No problem. ;) I should get back to work, email me when you want to work on the security for your site. Have a good one!*

*I will. Take care!*

Alice sat back, frustration creeping through her body. She powered down the computer and folded it shut. She had been so excited to have the opportunity to provide a little supplemental information to whatever Shane may have eked out. Since that wasnt to be the case, Alice hoped that Shane had at the very least managed to come up with something. She always seemed to have better luck than Alice anyway.

– x –

End Part Six