Page 6 of Bearing North
Alex knew how to kick ass in five fighting styles and could balance the books and get stuff done, but she wasn’t really that great at making friends. She should trust Sandra on this. Maybe, as Orson settled in a little, Alex would find a new place in the company that she liked.
Would it be so bad to have a figurehead that wasn’t her?
Alex didn’t want to have to follow him around wiping his butt and cleaning up his messes, but there was a lot to the day-to-day running of a security company that she would happily have delegated to someone who could handle it. Sandra didn’t have a head for figures or the drive to get things done that she did, or Alex would have promoted her long ago. She wouldn’t mind having days off again, and it would be nice to use the vacation time she’d been accruing. Maybe evendate,which was something Alex hadn’t done in years.
Alex accidentally thought about Orson’s hot body and Sandra’s seduction suggestion.
“I’m not wearing heels on a road trip up the haul road,” she said. “I barely made it through our tour without twisting an ankle.”
“Tight jeans will work,” Sandra assured her. “And do something with your hair.”
“I did do something with my hair!” Alex protested. “I brushed it!”
Sandra gave a suffering sigh.
“Forget my hair,” Alex said. “Did you find anything about that missing detonator?” They had a small selection of training devices for disarming bombs, and one had fallen off the inventory list.
Sandra shook her head. “I’m sure it got used in a demonstration and someone didn’t cancel it from the stock list correctly.” She didn’t seem bothered by the discrepancy, but the last thing Alex needed was any minor inconsistency while their records were being scrutinized.
“Keep looking for it,” Alex commanded. “I’ll go make sure Mr. Davison doesn’t hook something up to the network that shouldn’t be on it. The last thing we need is some porno site virus crashing our system.”
It would complicate things too much to have an affair with her new boss, Alex decided reluctantly. She’d have to come up with other ways to ensure her employment.
5
ORSON
Yelling at people was the hardest part of Orson’s act. It wasn’t so bad keeping the jokes to a running commentary in his head—he had swallowed so manythat’s what she saidreplies that he was surprised that they weren’t falling out of his ears. He would have liked to mock himself for pronouncing Valdez wrong.
But trying to be pushy in public and roaring with ire instead of laughter was a huge challenge. It didn’t seem natural to Orson to point out errors and order people around. He kept wanting to apologize or make people laugh so they didn’t feel bad.
His bear wasn’t helping, either. He just wanted to wrestle Alexandra down and roll in wildflowers or rotting fish or something.Our mate,he said joyfully, every time Orson saw her. He kept suggesting sex positions and food to feed her.
I don’t need your help,Orson told him the next morning, when the two of them had gotten through the airport security and were boarding the plane.
You should be making cubs right now,his bear protested.
I don’t think Alexandra is interested in joining the mile high club.
She was just as simpering and chatty as she’d been the day before, but to Orson’s relief, she was mostly talking with the stewardess, so he didn’t have to do much but grunt and accept snacks. Sandra had booked him a first class window seat, and Alexandra was on the aisle next to him. She was wearing more practical clothing—ass-hugging jeans and a company T-shirt, with sturdy hiking boots. Her luggage was small and simple.
To Orson’s surprise, the flight was only forty-five minutes—no time for more than a takeoff, a quick soda and a bag of pretzel twists, and then they were landing. His phone had helpfully informed him that it was a five and a half hour drive, so he had anticipated more time in the air. He brought his laptop and a copy of a road guide called the Milepost to familiarize himself with the trip, but didn’t have time to crack either of them open.
The view was astounding. Once they were above the clouds, it was all jagged mountains, some of them snow-capped. Then they were descending sharply to a river delta between ridges.
“Here we are!” Alexandra sang, as they disembarked. The terminal was tiny and they got off the airplane on a set of rickety stairs. It was windy and little stabbing drops of rain blew against Orson’s bare skin. A T-shirt had been the wrong thing to wear, but it had been warm and sunny in Anchorage. Alexandra produced a windbreaker from her bag and looked prepared. Orson wasn’t going to shiver or complain, so he just scowled and stomped down the stairs after her.
A car was waiting to drive them to Valdez; the airport was several miles from the town.
Alexandra pointed out the sights as they drove, talking about the pipeline terminal and the fishing and the mountains and the glaciers. “The port here never freezes!” she said cheerfully. “So three to five tankers leave every week all year! Tee hee hee!” She slithered expertly out of each attempt Orson made to ask her questions aboutherself.
Well, they had a few days to get to know each other.Alone.Orson hoped she would open up on their long drive.
There were birds on the Valdez docks. Not just ravens, staring at him with one eye in a clear request for food, but also bald eagles—a dozen of them! They were perched all around the parking lots like vultures and no one seemed the slightest bit awed by their presence. Orson pretended to ignore them like everyone else.
The security office in Valdez was one wild-eyed guy at a computer monitor in a tiny rented room. He was wearing a T-shirt that said “May the (m*a) be with you” and Orson desperately wanted to laugh at it with him, but remembered at the last moment that he wasn’t supposed to have a sense of humor and only grunted and shook his hand.
The geek kept looking curiously at Alexandra, and Orson intercepted a discreet shake of her head in warning. When she saw Orson glance at her, her smile got even wider and she gave an airheaded, “Tee hee hee! We don’t have a lot of time to stay, Craig. We want to stop at the terminal here and then head up to Tok.”
