Page 45

“Maybe she overslept,” Charles said.

But Bea had a horrible feeling that she hadn’t.

She made her excuses and went as fast as she could without running up the stairs to the wing where the programmers were accommodated. The first few doors had names on them, the fifth didn’t. Alli had been a late addition, she remembered.

She threw open the door without knocking and then drew a full breath to calm herself. Clothes were strewn over the desk. The bed hadn’t been made. If Alli had left, she’d taken nothingwith her. And that didn’t seem like Alli at all.

If she was still here, where was she?

Bea sat down on the edge of the bed to think, unconsciously sniffing, drinking in Alli’s guava scent. The smell calmed her and excited her at the same time. She found herself smiling and promptly wiped it off her face.

Which was when she heard noises from above. Doors slamming. She grinned. She knew where to find Alli.

???

Alli turned at the end of the corridor. She was all out of doors. Which was when she saw the figure coming toward her. She growled. “What do you want?”

“What are you doing?” Bea asked.

“Looking for Daria, what are you doing?”

“Same,” Bea said, but she was obviously lying.

“Right. Looking for me, more like it. What are you up to?” asked Alli suspiciously.

“Why aren’t you gone?” Bea came a little closer.

“What business is it of yours?”

“I was just wondering,” Bea said. “Since Daria seems to be gone, I thought you might have gone together, or maybe…” She trailed off.

Alli laughed. “You thought I’d kidnapped her? I might if I ever see the bitch again. She stole my money.”

“What?” Bea stopped about a meter away.

Alli hadn’t meant to confess this, hadn’t wanted to tell anyone. She was ashamed now, and the shame made her angry. “The bitch made me pay her to get out of here and then ran off with my money. Happy now?”

“No,” Bea said slowly.

“Going to cry about it, then?” asked Alli. “You do a lot of crying.”

“I do not.”

Alli stepped closer. “I’ve seen you cry twice and I’ve only been here three days.”

“I don’t cry a lot,” Bea said. Her cheeks were starting to flush, she was getting angry too. The thought pushed Alli forward.

“Do you not? You look like a crybaby to me. And now you’re interfering with my life. Why don’t you get out of here and leave me alone?”

“Why don’t you ask nicely?” Bea said.

Alli took another step forward and Bea blinked but didn’t move. “I don’t get you. You seem all meek and mild and yet you don’t seem to have a problem snapping at me, do you? Why is that, do you think?” Alli kept her voice cool, calm. She was going to snap soon, she was sure, she could feel the anger in her belly, the heat of it.

“You bring out the worst in me,” said Bea, taking one step back now and finding the wall behind her.

Alli stepped in so that she was centimeters from Bea’s nose. “Oh, I do, do I?” she purred.

And Bea was just standing there, her eyes dark and flashing, her cheeks pink, her hair tickling at Alli’s nose and suddenly Alli felt a shift inside her. Suddenly she felt a heat building that had nothing to do with anger and everything to do with… something else.