Kyla’s Secret

After she’d gotten sick, Kyla slept through the night without changing into a sleep shirt first. She wouldn’t even budge when Corrine woke her for the late dinner she’d gotten them from the cafeteria. When she finally did awaken, it was just after five on Tuesday morning. Corrine was asleep in the recliner, a Kindle lying on her abdomen. The sound of her using the bathroom caused the German-French woman to stir as she stretched her arms overhead when Kyla exited the bathroom. “Hello, ma chérie,” said Corrine. “Feeling better this morning?” “Much. I really needed the sleep I got and in a real bed, too.” Corrine yawned and then smiled, and Kyla suddenly felt bad for her. “I feel bad for you, though. You must have been really uncomfortable in that chair all night.” “Oh, no, not at all. I’ll go home and get more sleep in my comfortable bed soon enough. If anything, it’s getting used to the new hours that’s going to take some time.” “You don’t normally work graves, huh?” Corrine shook her head. “I was on day shift. Remember passing by me on the sidewalk when you first came here?” Kyla thought about it and vaguely remembered the coppery redhead who flashed her a smile when she and Hillary crossed paths with her. “Come to think of it, I think I do.” Corrine rose from the chair and headed for the bathroom. When she came back out, Kyla said, “Sorry if I’m making your life harder for you.” “Don’t be sorry. I volunteered. Besides, different isn’t necessarily harder. Once I get used to the new hours, sitting around here with you should be much easier, and definitely much more interesting than patrolling the grounds and doing senseless paperwork that never seems to end.” “I’m more worried about me, actually. I’m the one who has to be here all the time. I’m going to go crazy cooped up in this little room, even with intelligent conversation and good-looking company.” Corrine smiled almost in an amused kind of way. Hey, the woman really did look great in uniform and probably would out of one as well. “I’ve been thinking of becoming more active, but I guess that will have to wait, won’t it?” “No,” said Corrine. “I’m sure arrangements can be made to use the gym. You’re not a criminal in jail, even if you may feel like you are at times. As long as an officer is with you, you can go to certain places. You don’t have to be cooped up in here all the time. Just hang in there for the day and I’ll try to work something out, ok?” Kyla nodded appreciatively. “Thanks, Corrine.” A knock on the door sounded promptly at six. “Back in twelve hours,” said Corrine. “I’ll be here.” ________________________________________ The day seemed to drag on forever. Because she’d slept for nine hours, she was unable to return to sleep and didn’t feel comfortable doing so with Joe sitting there anyway. Joe mostly kept to himself, and that’s the way Kyla liked him to be. They exchanged a few friendly words and scattered small talk, but for the most part, Joe read the paper and watched TV while she used her laptop. She swapped brief messages with a few people but didn’t update her blog. Since she was supposed to stay out of the public eye both in and out of cyberspace, she decided to keep a journal in Word. It was her only safe outlet that would allow her to vent in ways she found therapeutic. Her life wasn’t bad and she wasn’t unhappy; she was just bored and frustrated that the sickos who were still on the run had to come and make such a mess of her plans. On the other hand, her assignment was still complete. She’d done what she’d come for and had set out to accomplish. Also, as pointless as it may be since they lived an ocean apart, the circumstances had connected her and Corrine. She missed Zoey at times and wondered how she was doing, but not as much since meeting Corrine. Hot, sexy Corrine with her equally sexy accent that sort of added to the turn-on. It sent waves of warmth throughout her just thinking about the woman. By lunchtime, Kyla thought she would go stir-crazy. “Hey, Joe?” Joe glanced up from his paper. “Think you could take me for a walk before I lose my mind?” He looked hesitant a moment, then said, “Well, I’m not really supposed to take you out of the room, but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to walk around the grounds a bit.” Kyla grinned. “Thanks, Joe.” Joe nodded. “Ok, but only for a few minutes.” They quietly strolled around the grounds, and the sunlight suddenly seemed more intense than usual to Kyla. She had to squint. Even so, it was much too soon before they returned to the little room that was partially shaded by giant oak trees behind the main building. At a little past three, Kyla noticed she had an email message waiting for her from an unknown sender and opened it. “Hello, sexy lady. Enjoying California still?” “What the hell?” “Something wrong?” asked Joe. “I don’t know. I just got the strangest email.” “Someone you know?” “Nope. They’ve just got Secret Admirer for their first and last name, and the email address is from true2u.” “What’s it say?” Kyla read Joe the message. “Hmm… someone back home?” Joe asked. “I don’t know. I can’t think of anyone I know personally who would contact me anonymously like this. It doesn’t strike me as anything anyone I’ve met here would do unless one of the bad guys somehow managed to find my email address.” Joe rose from the recliner and peered over her shoulder. “Hmm,” he said again. “Then again, getting my email address is a no-brainer if you go through my blog.” “Save the message and let someone know if any more come in.” “I will. But should I reply to it?” Joe looked thoughtful for a moment. “Yeah, give it a try and see what response you may get out of it.” “What do I say?” “Just ask who it is. Remember not to disclose your location while you’re at it, though.” “Ok,” Kyla said as she typed and then clicked send. ________________________________________ They were finishing up dinner later on when Kyla glanced at the clock in anticipation of seeing Corrine. She found herself checking her reflection after using the bathroom, aware that she’d suddenly become self-conscious. Where she didn’t normally put much thought into her appearance, she was now questioning the way she looked. Was her hair in place? Was her makeup too heavy? Did she look fat in the jeans and red tee she wore? She told herself not to worry so much and that it didn’t matter what Corrine, a woman she’d never see again once she returned home, thought of her appearance. She headed out into the main room, long thick black braid running down her back. When Corrine finally relieved Joe of his duties, Kyla felt her heart doing double time at the sight of the attractive officer who wore her hair in a French braid. Kyla guessed that if it were down loose it would fall to the middle of her back. “Bonsoir. How was your day, sweetie?” “Boring as hell.” Corrine smiled. “Aw, too bad.” “Joe took me for a quick walk, but other than that, every hour seems like five.” “It does?” She hung her jacket over the chair. “Well, since you’ve been wanting to take up running, I thought we could sneak into the gym later on when people start heading home or to their dorms.” “Cool.” “Anything else exciting happen today?” “Yeah, I did some writing offline, I waited for you, and then I got a strange email.” Corrine laughed. “Strange email, huh?” Kyla nodded. “From an unknown sender. Joe said to ask who it was and see if I got a reply. Without disclosing my whereabouts, of course, but nothing came back.” “What did they say, kiddo?” Kyla gave a quick laugh. “Kiddo?” Corrine shrugged and said, “Well, I am nearly a decade older than you.” “Nothing wrong with that,” said Kyla. “Anyway, they just said something like, ‘Hi, sexy lady. Still enjoying California?’” “Hmm,” said Corrine. “Spooky.” “Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to call it spooky, but I’d definitely call it strange. No one I know would contact me anonymously like that, and so I’m guessing it’s someone who went through my blog. I still have the message.” “Hang on to them and let me know if you get any more.” “I will.” “For now, do you mind if I have a look at the message?” “No, not at all. Here, let me bring it up.” Kyla stepped over to her laptop and brought it up. Corrine sat down in front of it and tapped some keys. “What are you doing?” “Seeing if I can locate its origin.” After a minute, Kyla asked, “Anything?” “No. Doesn’t look like it. Looks like they did a good job of covering their tracks through a proxy.” “How can you tell?” “Just by the header info for starters.” “You’re pretty computer savvy, huh?” “No, not really.” “Oh. Joe said he was a bit of a nerd, but not like you are.” Corrine made a slight smile of sarcasm along with a snort and said, “Well, Joe is a bit naïve and doesn’t know me that well.” “What do we do now, boss?” “We enjoy some homemade cookies I made, then we go run them off in the gym.” “You’re on,” Kyla said with a smile of enthusiasm. And then it hit her. When had she mentioned to Corrine that she wanted to take up running? Had she even mentioned it in her blog? Perhaps she had at some point, though Kyla honestly couldn’t remember doing so.