Dragonflies by Andy Straka

Author:Andy Straka [Straka, Andy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781475602043
Publisher: LLW Media
Published: 2013-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

15

Frum University was a top-ranked, private liberal arts school with Division I athletics and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research grants, among many other things. It didn’t hurt that the campus was situated within a stone’s throw of the nation’s capital beltway.

The sun angled lower in the sky as Tye walked across the University Commons in the waning afternoon light. He stopped for a moment to watch a gaggle of Smurfs, Angry Birds, and princesses–kids in their costumes–working some of the dorms for early trick or treating.

Tye wasn’t that familiar with the school. He probably never could have gained admission, let alone have afforded the tuition. He wondered if undergraduates giving out candy had become a Halloween tradition. Regardless, the college’s administration must have supported it. Such gestures must have made for good “town-and-gown” relations–the students, from mostly wealthy backgrounds and from out-of-state, connecting with the locals in a way that made up for noisy wee hours partying that no doubt created problems with their neighbors.

The weather was especially nice for trick-or-treaters this year, too, with the temperature hovering near the sixty-five degree mark, warm for the end of October. Judging by the number of kids in evidence, parents must have liked bringing their kids on campus for the annual candy orgy too, maybe because they could get the bulk of their night’s work done all in one place and before dark.

“Did you bring your bag for treats?” Raina teased him through his hidden earphone.

“Wish I did,” he said.

He wondered what the parents with their trick-or-treaters would think if they knew a nearly invisible watch bird was keeping an eye on their every move overhead. Raina was camped out a block from campus with her computers and joysticks in a different van they’d rented thanks to Williamson’s seemingly unlimited budget. They were still waiting to hear back from Williamson about Raina’s encounters with Homeland. According to Raina, there’d been no more contacts from her incongruously benevolent Homeland captors either, so they were still all systems go with their plan.

It had taken the better part of the day to set things up. Raina never complained, even when helping as best she could with the grunt work of moving the computers. What made her so beautiful, Tye realized, wasn’t just her figure or face, attractive as they were despite the scars. It was something else–deep, dark, and dangerous, burning within her soul. Tye wished he could identify its source. He was afraid he might never get near it, let alone understand it. She’d pitched right in and pulled her weight when it came to setting up the van and all of her equipment.

Tye was on his way to try to meet Derek Kurn face-to face before the party. Since the younger Kurn was the current president of his fraternity chapter, Tye wanted Derek to feel comfortable with him so no suspicions would be raised later. The idea of setting someone up for a takedown made Tye uncomfortable, but he realized he better get used to it if he were going to be effective at this line of work.

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