Double Dose (Research & Desire)

by Katie Allen

  Frowning, Banner examined the scene, his fists planted on his hips. “Secure everyone until we get this figured out,” he told the agents streaming in behind him. Banner had apparently brought an army. They spread out, using zip-ties to secure the hands of the lab agents behind their backs.

  Daphne squirmed, trying to get Ari to put her on her feet, but his grip just tightened. “Ari,” she complained. “Put me down. I’m okay.”

  He reluctantly lowered her until she was standing, although his hands kept a firm grip on her arms. She was actually grateful for the support, since her legs felt wobbly beneath her. As soon as she was upright, Benjy pulled her into a hug.

  “Hi,” she said softly, her face pressed against his chest. Ari stepped closer so his chest was against her back, sandwiching her in a three-way embrace. “Thanks for the save.”

  Benjy cleared his throat. “No problem.” Although his voice was rusty, it was a wonderful sound.

  Pulling back a little, she ran her fingers over his throat and then cupped his cheek. “It’s good to finally hear you.”

  “Fuck yeah, it is.” Ari palmed the back of Benjy’s head and brought their foreheads together above Daphne’s head. “Welcome back, buddy.”

  “Hollister?” an unfamiliar male voice interrupted their cocoon of happiness. “Jeff Hollister?”

  All three turned to see a dark-haired FBI agent, who was staring at Ari as if he were a ghost.

  “Shit!” the FBI agent exclaimed, a huge grin stretching over his face. “It is you!” He took a step forward and grabbed Ari in a hug.

  Ari looked startled and uncomfortable, holding himself stiffly as the other man slapped him heartily on the back. “Where’ve you been hiding, you evasive bastard? I’ve been trying to track you down for years!”

  “Don’t hug them, Cassidy,” Banner yelled, striding over. “Secure them.”

  “This is First Lieutenant Jeffrey Hollister, U.S. Army,” Cassidy said, still grinning and keeping an arm wrapped around Ari’s shoulders. “He doesn’t need securing. This guy saved my ass more times than I can count.”

  Ari was staring at Agent Cassidy, his eyes intent. “Jeffrey Hollister,” he repeated quietly. Daphne’s eyes filled with tears as she realized the jubilant FBI agent was the key to finding out about Ari’s past.

  “Where’d you disappear to?” Cassidy asked, giving Ari’s shoulders a shake. “I assumed you were tagged for some supersecret shit, but you just vanished and no one would talk about where you’d gone. Crazy Wiley thought you’d been abducted by aliens or some shit. Man, it’s good to see you again.”

  In the pause that followed, Cassidy’s grin started to fade. Ari finally spoke. “I...uh, I have some memory problems, but could we get together and talk?” He waved a hand at the chaos around them. “After this is settled, I mean?”

  “I think we’ll be having that talk sooner rather than later,” Banner broke in before Cassidy could answer. “As soon as we get this clusterfuck sorted and get everyone to the closest field office, we’ll be having a discussion. For now, Cassidy, go help get everyone secured.”

  “You got it boss. Hollister... I can’t believe it.” With a final grin, Cassidy turned and headed toward a cluster of FBI agents methodically handcuffing the guys from the lab.

  Ari stared after him as Daphne grabbed his hand. “I can’t believe that just happened,” she said, feeling dazed.

  “What exactly just happened?” Banner snapped. “Someone needs to start talking.”

  “Benjy already did,” Daphne said, giggling. Ari caught her chin with his hand so he could turn her head and look into her eyes. It would’ve been romantic, except that she was pretty sure he was checking for head trauma rather than gazing into her soul.

  “I’m okay,” she said, tugging her chin gently out of his grip. “I didn’t hit my head or anything. Either that agent cut off my air for a few seconds too long, or I just fainted from the shock of everything, but there’s no permanent damage. There’s not even any temporary damage.”

  He still looked unconvinced.

  Giving him a smile that was supposed to be reassuring but probably came off more shaky than anything, Daphne glanced at the line of FBI vehicles—and then did a double take when she spotted a familiar face seated in the back of one of the cars.

  “Wait. Has my brain been jiggled around too much or is that Brett?”

  “We ran into him—almost literally—on the way up your driveway,” Banner said dryly. “He must’ve been running from the war zone going on up here. He tried to do some off-roading to get away from us, but he ripped the shit out of his rental car’s underbelly on some rocks. After that, he pretty much gave up.”

  “Nice,” she said, not able to hold back a smile at the thought of Brett finally getting what he deserved.

  Banner shook off the distraction, and his hard-eyed look returned.

  “You know,” Daphne said to Ari, “if you don’t tell Agent Banner what happened, I think he might arrest you.”

  After giving her another penetrating stare as if rechecking her pupil size, Ari turned to the FBI agent, although he kept a hand wrapped around Daphne’s wrist. He rattled off a succinct explanation that impressed her with how he summed up the last two hours of chaos in a few concise sentences. She was tempted to tell him that he should write CliffsNotes, but she didn’t want him to start checking her pupil size again because she was sharing random thoughts.

  “Who are you guys?” Banner finally asked after a full minute of shocked silence.

  “Not sure.” Ari shrugged. “Cassidy might have some clues on that.” Turning away from the agent, he pulled Daphne toward where the medic was working on Ed. Benjy was already crouched next to Claire, as were Darwin and Tom.

  “Where are you going?” Banner called after them.

  “Checking on my brother.” Ari didn’t slow or turn around.

  When Daphne saw Claire’s bloodshot eyes and the tracks of tears on her face, her stomach clenched. Turning frantic eyes to Ed, she was relieved to see he was conscious and wore a familiar scowl on his face. He was trying to move out of the medic’s reach, and only Claire’s grip on his hand kept him from getting very far.

  “Guess what?” she asked Claire, crouching down and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “That agent over there,” Daphne jerked her chin at Cassidy, “knows Ari. From before.”

  There was a synchronized intake of breath from all the guys clustered around Ed. Claire blinked at her dumbly, as if the shocks of the day had taken their toll. “What?” she finally said. “Before? You mean...” A huge smile lit up her face.

  From six feet away came a high-pitched shriek. “What?!” Lauren grabbed her head and winced. “Ow.”

  “Shit, Laur,” Cal groaned, pressing his hand to the ear closest to Lauren’s mouth. His other arm was wrapped tightly around her. “Fucking ‘ow’ is right.”

  “Didn’t you hear what Daphne said?” Lauren asked, trying to stand. “Cal, let me go. I need to hear this.”

  “Fine,” he grumbled, picking her up and carrying her closer to the rest of them. “Why you care so much that Ari found a friend...oh shit!” Daphne could almost see the light bulb illuminating above his head. “From before the lab?”

  “Yeah.” Ari was actually grinning—a huge, happy grin. It almost looked odd on him, as if someone had Photoshopped the smile on his face. It was...disconcerting. Despite the weirdness, Daphne’s stomach warmed, and she stood so she could hug his arm against her side. “My name, apparently, is Jeffrey Hollister.”

  Everyone took a second to digest this, before Darwin moved around Ed and the medic to grab Ari in a hard hug. “That’s incredible, A—I mean, Jeffrey. You’d better go by Jeff, though. Jeffrey makes you sound like a butler with a stick up his ass.”

  “Well, the stick-up-the-ass part fits,” Cal
said, but he was smiling. A happy expression looked even stranger on him than Ari.

  Ed pushed to his feet, shaking off the medic’s protests. “I’m fine. Get off,” he grumbled, before helping Claire to stand. He grabbed Ari’s upper arm and squeezed, giving him a silent nod that Ari returned. Claire threw her arms around A in a hug, clinging as he patted her back awkwardly with the hand not in Daphne’s custody.

  When she finally pulled away, Claire was crying again. “That’s so awesome,” she sobbed as Ed tugged her against his chest. “So amazing. I’m a little annoyed with you, though. All those hours of research I did on memory and how human brains function, and you randomly bump into an old friend and solve the mystery?”

  “It’s not really solved,” Ari said, his smile dimming again. “I don’t know how much Cassidy knows about me, or if there’s a link between my past and all of yours.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Darwin waved off the other man’s worries, his grin as wide as ever. “This is a huge step. We’ll figure the rest out somehow. And have you guys noticed that we kicked some serious lab-agent ass?” He gestured around them, and everyone looked to see FBI agents escorting their stumbling, half-awake charges toward their impressive lineup of vehicles. Banner was on his cell phone, pacing.

  “We did,” Lauren agreed. “Especially us tranquilizer snipers. We were pretty badass, if I do say so myself.”

  Benjy had worked his way around the circle so he could pull Daphne back against him with his arm around her upper chest. “Yeah, you were,” he said quietly, lightly kissing her ear.

  Everyone stared.

  “Um...” Lauren was the first to regain the use of her voice. “How hard was I hit on the head? Because I swear I just heard Benjy speak.”

  “Yeah.” Leaning her head back against his chest, Daphne gave his enveloping arm a squeeze. “We forgot to mention that. Benjy found his voice.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Banner insisted that they join the convoy to the closest FBI field office, although thankfully zip-tie free. Despite objections from Cal and Claire, no one had ended up going to the hospital. Ed’s unconscious state had been caused by a tranquilizer dart from one of the lab agents’ guns, and he shook off the effects fairly quickly once he woke.

  It turned out he and Claire had sheltered in one of the bunkers when the alarm had sounded. The communications in that particular bunker weren’t working, so after an hour and a half of waiting for the all-clear, they ventured out to check the status of the situation. Everything seemed quiet, until Ed was downed by a tranquilizer dart outside the lodge. Darwin, who’d been methodically checking each bunker for the pair, heard Claire’s yells and came running.

  At the FBI office, four hours of questioning followed, which abruptly ended when Daphne put her head down on her folded arms and fell asleep. Ari and Benjy had refused to be separated from her. Although Banner hadn’t been happy, he’d grudgingly allowed it, on the basis that they were victims rather than suspects. He and the other FBI agents had been confused about how to treat the five lab escapees, especially after they ran their fingerprints and found no previous records for any of the men, so they’d settled on an uneasy mix of wariness and careful protectiveness.

  Daphne was roused from her momentary nap by Benjy and Ari’s chairs scraping back across the floor as they simultaneously stood.

  “We’re done,” Ari stated, reaching down to help Daphne to her feet. When she swayed, Benjy picked her up, holding her bride-style. Banner opened his mouth as if to object, but he looked back and forth between the two men’s implacable expressions and closed it again, giving a short nod instead.

  “Do you need a place to stay tonight?” Banner asked, moving to hold open the door of the interview room.

  “We’ll go back to the lodge. Thanks.”

  “That’s an active crime scene,” Banner said, shaking his head. “It’s going to be a few days before you can return.”

  Ari’s lips compressed in a tight line, but he just jerked his head in a nod. “Fine. Hotel rooms, then. Four.”

  Banner had confiscated all the IDs that they had on them, including Daphne’s, even though hers was the only real one of the bunch. Although they had enough cash between the nine of them to afford to stay at a hotel, their options would be extremely limited without ID. The reminder made Daphne lift her head from B’s shoulder as a thought occurred to her.

  “They’re not going to be charged with anything because of the fake IDs, are they?” she asked Banner. “That was just to hide from the lab.”

  Banner shook his head. “We won’t pursue that. This is enough of a cluster without pushing for minor charges against the victims.”

  At the word “victims,” Daphne felt relief rush through her that Banner had taken them out of the “persons of interest” camp and put them firmly in the “wronged” category. “Do you think you’ll be able to track down the main players in this? They won’t be able to keep doing what they’re doing, right?”

  “We’re working on that,” Banner said. “The majority of the suspects we brought in were happy to talk, once they woke up and realized they were in a world of shit. Hired muscle, most of them, but they gave us names, including Dr. Etta Kolhzahki, and locations. As soon as we got the information, we mobilized agents at the two main bases.”

  “Kansas?” Ari asked, and Banner nodded. It had come out earlier in questioning that Kansas was where the men had been kept in the lab.

  “If there are more people...kept there,” Ari said, “you can give them our information. In case they want to talk to us or need help.”

  Benjy’s arms tightened around Daphne, and she looped an arm around his neck in a small, reassuring hug.

  “Will do.” Banner nodded solemnly. “I’ll round up the others and get you all settled at a hotel, so you can get some sleep.”

  Unable to hold back a smile, Daphne tucked her face against B’s neck and closed her eyes. Sleep sounded wonderful.

  * * *

  Daphne collapsed on the bed with a groan, then bounced as Benjy threw himself onto the mattress next to her.

  “I need a shower,” Ari said, yanking his shirt over his head. The sight of him stripping woke her, and she propped herself up on an elbow so she’d have a better view. With a laugh, Benjy pulled her back against him.

  “Perv,” he murmured in her ear. She shivered. Each time he spoke, she got a thrill. Daphne wondered how long it would take to get used to hearing his husky voice.

  Ari was watching them with hooded eyes as he unfastened his jeans and shoved them down his legs without ceremony.

  “Who taught you to strip?” Daphne teased. “You’re all down to business with none of the foreplay.”

  “You think you can do better?” Ari asked, standing in nothing but his boxer briefs.

  A simmering heat rose in her at the thought of stripping in front of the two men. She slowly pushed into a seated position and then slid off the bed. Benjy let her go, although his hand trailed across her body as she moved, electrifying her skin, even through her clothes.

  Walking the few steps to Ari, she put her hands on his arms. In a way that she hoped was seductive and not silly, she turned his compliant body around and gave him a push toward the bed. He allowed her to steer him until he was sitting next to Benjy. Both men were staring at her with hot eyes, their obvious hunger making her shiver.

  She’d pulled off her coat and boots when she’d entered the hotel room, but she still had on plenty of layers. Starting with her hoodie, she lowered the zipper one notch at a time, never taking her eyes off her two guys. Benjy sat up and A leaned forward, as if they were unconsciously getting as close to her as they could get.

  Once the zipper slipped apart, she lowered her arms and gave a little shimmy, so the overlarge sweatshirt slid off and landed on the floor behind her. Altho
ugh the hoodie couldn’t be considered a sexy piece of clothing, its removal caught and held the men’s attention.

  Her long-sleeved shirt was next. Crossing her arms over her front and grabbing the hem with both hands, she turned so her back was facing the bed and slowly inched the fabric up her torso, gradually exposing the skin of her back. Pulling the shirt past her shoulders and over her head, she peeled it off her arms until it dangled from one hand.

  Unable to resist a classic stripper move, she swung the shirt like a lasso for several circles before letting it fly. Behind her, one of the guys grunted, but she wasn’t sure if it was laughter or arousal that caused the sound. Without turning around, she unfastened her jeans, twitching her hips from side to side as she worked them down her legs.

  She couldn’t think of a sexy way to remove her socks, so she just pushed them off with her jeans, leaving everything in a pile on the floor. Her hands went to the back clasp of her bra but then she paused as shyness returned.

  Large, calloused hands wrapped over her bare shoulders as Ari’s lips brushed the back of her neck. He slid his fingers over her shoulder blades, unhooking her bra so quickly that she didn’t even feel the motion, just the release of tension in the elastic circling her chest. His hands rose again to brush the straps off her shoulders and down her arms, until the bra dropped to the floor to join the rest of her clothes.

  Benjy stepped in front of her before she had time to become self-conscious about standing in nothing but her panties. He cupped her face in both hands and lowered his lips to hers. She could feel the restraint in his kiss, the tight grip he had on his hunger, and she wanted to break that hold, to truly drive him wild. Sucking his bottom lip into her mouth, she bit down, just hard enough to make him growl.

  He was practically vibrating with tension, but he stubbornly kept his kisses light, brushing his lips against her chin, cheeks and jaw—everywhere except her mouth, the place where she desperately wanted him to be. It was her turn to growl as she chased his lips with hers.