Heated Match

by Lynne Silver

  “Will you be taking a blood test, or will more be involved?” he asked, hoping he wouldn’t have to spell his wishes outright, but he wanted Blacker to disappear.

  “Hmm, Keel. Do I hear anticipation in your voice? Are you hoping this Blacker doesn’t return to Beltsville?”

  “It would make my life easier,” he admitted. Shep had originally planned to send Gavin to London, but he’d convinced him Adam would be better suited to weed out Chase’s attacker and look into the fertility clinic. “You’ve got the flight info? They’re sending Xander on a private plane. Blacker will actually be on United flight 958 getting into Heathrow tomorrow. Only insiders know that information. Get this job done right.”

  “Don’t order me around, Keel. You should see your money tomorrow evening if all goes as planned and Adam Blacker will be my permanent guest.”

  Dear William,

  I think Adam lost his virginity last night. He thinks I don’t know, but I still remember what it sounds like when two bodies lay together on an old sofa. Part of me is sad he lost his innocence to a girl who is not his destiny and part of me is thrilled to pieces. He won’t be bound by the same rules that governed us when you took my virginity on an old couch. Not if I can help it.

  Diane

  First Choice Fertility Clinic, just outside London

  Today couldn’t be his day to die. He always expected death on the job, but damn it, Adam refused to accept it now that someone waited for him back home. Loren’s soft, loving eyes swept into his mind and he closed his eyes to relive his last moments with her.

  Things had gone according to plan at first. He’d exited his plane at Heathrow with no issues, got the rental car and headed to the hotel. Step three was where things went to hell in the proverbial hand basket. He’d slid his card key into his hotel room door, entered, and something stabbed him in the side, knocking him out nearly at once. Hard. When he’d come to, he’d been trussed, lying on a gurney totally nude in what looked like an operating room.

  His abduction only confirmed his suspicion there was a traitor in his circle. The question now was who on the team of insiders knew he’d ditched the private jet with Xander to fly economy on United to Heathrow? None of those guys were stupid. They obviously didn’t expect him to return alive to squeal so they’d felt comfortable selling him out.

  Fuck.

  His wrists and ankles chafed badly by the unworn leather locked around them, but it didn’t stop him from struggling against them. He planned to go down fighting. Maybe he’d die also, but he’d take as many of his unknown enemies with him. They had to unlock him sometime, if only to let him go to the bathroom. Then again, he was naked so perhaps they didn’t care what he did about his bodily functions.

  “He’s awake.” A gigantic, apelike man in a fancy suit with a navy striped tie, said. A thick North London accent made a mockery of the smooth power-player image.

  Adam eyed the stranger, choosing to remain silent and see what came his way. Another man, also in a suit, but with a red tie came over to stand above him.

  His attackers may have been twins, since Adam could barely distinguish them apart other than their clothes. They each stood over six feet four inches with hands the size and approximate shape of baseball mitts. They didn’t relate to each other like brothers, but then, both did little more than grunt.

  They could be the same crew who attacked Chase, but Chase hadn’t mentioned Bond Street dressers or North London accents. But then, he’d been attacked from behind and may have been out before catching or hearing a glimpse of his attackers.

  He waited for them to speak, but Red Tie left the room, mentioning something about a doctor. “Don’t see what the big deal is.” Striped Tie grinned down at him with an overly long look at his exposed genitals.

  Adam gazed back at the stranger, trying to show no fear or annoyance at being exposed like this.

  “Where am I?” Adam strived for a conversational tone. If he thought showing fear or anger would’ve accomplished anything, he would’ve done it, but the suited men seemed like bullies and would get their rocks off on Adam’s fear.

  “Shut yer mouf.”

  His question earned him a jab in the side above his hip. Adam vowed to sever the man’s spine as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Keep calm. Stay alive long enough to create an opportunity. He studied his surroundings, no detail too small for his trained eye. Two doors. One was the exit, the other was likely the bathroom. Shep had demanded every operative be trained relentlessly for a hostage situation, so that SOP became rote. Adam remembered bitching and moaning about sleeping on cold concrete floors tied in ropes, but now he was grateful for every second he’d rehearsed. By pretending his current situation was nothing more than a dress rehearsal, he felt a miniscule glimmer of hope he’d be back in Beltsville in bed with Loren by the end of the week. It was enough to keep him fighting.

  Adam turned his head as best he could when the door opened and a woman in scrubs entered the room. Unexpected, to say the least. Extreme fear pulsed in his gut. A medical professional could do a lot of damage and still keep him alive to feel every bit of pain. A minute later, the door opened again and Red Tie entered, escorting an older man. The doctor and the suited apes he could take out no problem, but attacking a senior citizen was like hitting a woman or a puppy. But he knew treachery came in all shapes, sizes and ages. This old man could be the most dangerous of all, despite his fragile appearance.

  Red Tie escorted the man to a plush chair that was pulled from a corner and assisted him down. Then Red Tie took up the position on the side of the armchair as a sentry.

  “Soldier.” The old man acknowledged him with an inclined head and a modicum of respect.

  Adam raised a brow and waited.

  “Have you figured out why you’re here yet?” the old man asked.

  Adam stared. Give nothing away, not even his panic about what torture they had on the agenda.

  “What do you think of my creations? Your brethren?” The old man gestured to his sides at his guards.

  Adam allowed one eye to flicker at the two ape sentries. Brethren? He channeled Chase’s bravado and insouciance from across the pond. “They seem fine. It’ll be a shame when I kill them,” he drawled, trying to relax back on the hospital bed as if he’d been interrupted from nap time.

  The old man scowled and Red Tie took a step toward him. He’d poked a hot spot.

  “Don’t mock them, they are stronger then you’ll ever be. My science was always more advanced than Rovinsky’s pursuit of ethical humanity.”

  Adam forced himself to take a breath, though it took every ounce of discipline not to shout at the old man and demand answers. “You mentioned Doctor Rovinsky’s name, so I assume you know who and what I am.” He forced his tone to be even and calm, but shock penetrated every pore as recognition dawned. The old man had to be Doctor Paulson, cofounder of the Program. Rumor had it he was an unethical megalomaniac, but then, history was written by the winners.

  “I see you’ve figured out who I am,” Doctor Paulson told him.

  Adam gave a slight nod. What in hell could Doctor Paulson want with him? He could think of only a few possibilities, none of them good. He struggled against the restraints at his wrists and ankles even harder. “How did you know I was going to be in London?” Adam asked, dying to know who’d ratted him out.

  “Easy.” The doctor shrugged. “We have our resources, but they’ve been loyal to us, so we’ll show our spy the same courtesy. I suppose we can tell you where you are, since you’ll never be leaving. I brought you to my fertility clinic, because I need your help. All these years I’ve watched Doctor Rovinsky’s creations perform missions without failure. Certain organizations have as well. The Program was the worst-kept secret in the circles your government labels terrorists. Those organizations wanted their own enhanced soldiers and they came to me, but time and again, my creations displayed appalling deficits in creative thinking and had a tendency toward being sociopaths. T
hey were un-trainable and unsellable. I now know, and am ashamed to admit that my former colleague, Rovinsky, was right. Children need parents, and I give them parents. For the recommended first year anyway.”

  Horror filled Adam as he processed Paulson’s words. It was worse than any scenario he could’ve imagined. Talk about sociopath. Paulson was creating an army and selling it to the highest bidder, not to mention, ripping apart families. The idea of terrorist groups owning genetically enhanced soldiers sent a shock wave of panic through him. He had to get out of here. Shep needed to know. Hell, the president needed to know. For a horrible minute, his highly functioning brain froze, but he forced a breath and concentrated on the shortest path to escape. “Why am I here?” he asked conversationally. “Sounds like you’ve got a system down since you’ve got Ambassador Christenson’s kid, right?”

  Paulson didn’t confirm or deny Adam’s suspicion about Christenson’s son. “Our last sperm donor was too weak. The results were subpar. Your sperm will be strong enough.”

  He forgot about the restraints for one blinding moment and tried to sit up, only to get about an inch off the table.

  “There’s no need to panic,” Paulson said. “We’ll try to make it as pleasurable as possible.”

  “You can’t force me.” He struggled to shout over his tightening lungs.

  Paulson slowly gained his feet and approached the table. “I think you’ll find we can, Mr. Blacker.” He turned to the woman in the lab coat and murmured something to her that Adam couldn’t catch. Then Paulson and his goons walked toward the exit.

  “Joke’s on you, Paulson. My DNA is flawed. Any soldiers you breed from me may be too,” he shouted at their backs.

  Neither Paulson nor the bodyguards turned at his words, leaving him alone with his mounting panic.

  Chapter Eleven

  Loren jogged up to the main office, hoping to get any sort of status update on Adam’s mission. She hated living with this worry for Adam, who hadn’t checked in even once yet. She found Gavin, Shep and Commander Keel lounging in the lobby of the main office building. A glass pitcher of iced tea stood sweating on the wooden table. As soon as she appeared, Gavin rose to greet her and give her his seat. She ignored his hospitality and faced the three men with a frown.

  “Loren, how’re you doing?” Shep asked amiably.

  His complacency annoyed her. How dare he hang around sipping iced tea when Adam remained in danger? The three men should be standing in a dark room filled with monitoring computers like on TV. “Fine. I’m fine, but I’m really worried about Adam. Have you heard from him?”

  “Not yet.” Shep shrugged. The three men exchanged glances that had her balling her fists and holding down a yell of annoyance.

  “I’m sure Adam’s okay. The RFID on his suitcase is tracking in the hotel room, where he’s supposed to be. He’d call if he needed backup. And Xander’s with him.”

  “But what if he can’t call?” she asked.

  Again with the looks.

  This time Keel tried in a reasonable tone. “Ms. Stanton, this is not a combat mission for Adam. It’s a research trip. Thanks to Chase’s attack, Adam and Xander know to be on guard. He’ll call when he has something to report. It’s common for our soldiers to go off-line, especially if they don’t want calls to the Washington metro area tracked.”

  She took a deep breath, comforted a bit that the experts were relaxed. She decided to trust them. If they weren’t worried she wouldn’t be either and would do something useful like visit her brother.

  *

  “Give Adam a break,” Chase advised. He sat up in bed, eating a large late breakfast. His bruises faded away as rapidly as the pancakes on his plate. “He knows what he’s doing. Stop worrying.”

  She’d hoped Chase would take her mind off the nagging fear Adam was in trouble. She bit her lip. Maybe she wasn’t cut out to be a military girlfriend or wife, smiling at overseas missions and cooing over injuries upon the male’s return. It was a nice goal in principle, but in practice, she wanted to pace and panic over the gut knowledge he was in danger.

  She hated that when she’d spoken of her concern, Adam had not texted or called her. Commander Shepard dismissed her and reminded her Adam was one of the best operatives who would surely proceed with standard alerting practices if he were in danger. But Loren knew he was in a place where he couldn’t contact the home base.

  “Hey. Did you hear me?” Chase nudged her thigh with his toe. “If you can’t handle this life, you need to get out now.”

  She looked at her brother, understanding his position all too clearly. Chase understood the meaning of broken family better than anyone else she knew. He made a good point. It wasn’t fair to lead Adam on. “I’m not sure how serious it is though. Adam is totally opposed to marriage and children. Maybe it’s just sex.”

  Chase winced. “Please don’t use the s-word about yourself. It’s like you’re my sister or something. But don’t bullshit yourself. I see the way the two of you look at each other. You’re cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs for each other.”

  Loren gave a reluctant smile at his offbeat humor. “I can’t seem to shake the feeling something is wrong and Adam is in trouble.”

  The door cracked open and Rowan peeked his head around. “Chase?” His gaze found Loren’s and brightened. “Hey, girl.” He entered the room fully, shutting the door behind him.

  “What are you doing here?” Rowan and Loren both asked each other at the same time.

  “Chase is my brother.”

  “I didn’t know that. I got a message he wanted to see me.”

  Rowan walked over to one of the many chairs now circling Chase’s bed and collapsed into it. “What’s up, dude? I’m Rowan. Adam’s brother.”

  The two men eyed each other. “Why did you want to see me?” Rowan asked.

  Chase shrugged, his movement much smoother now as he healed. “Boredom. I never knew Adam had a brother and I consider him a good friend.”

  If his words hurt Rowan, he didn’t show it. “Nice to meet you. What happened to you? Car accident?”

  Chase smiled. “Something like that.”

  Rowan frowned. “Will Adam look like he’s been in an accident whenever he gets back from wherever he’s disappeared to?”

  Loren shuddered and Chase scowled.

  “Watch your mouth, man. She’s been moaning all morning about how worried she is about your brother.”

  Rowan faced her. “I’m sick of all the mystery around here. I finally know where my brother lives and works, but I’m still kept in the dark. Do you know where he went?”

  She nodded.

  “Is it a dangerous mission?”

  “Well, it shouldn’t be. But I can’t shake the feeling something’s wrong.”

  Rowan sat up straight. “You’re his match, right?”

  “What?”

  “I’ve only been here a day, but I’ve been briefed. Have you slept with him?”

  She rolled her eyes. “What is it with everyone thinking they have a right to my personal life today?”

  “I have a right if it means helping my brother,” Rowan said with a hard edge in his voice.

  “How would our sleeping together help him?”

  “Because you’re connected,” Chase said. “Rowan’s right. Maybe we shouldn’t be dismissive of her fear Adam’s in trouble.”

  “I agree,” Rowan said.

  “What do we do?” she asked.

  “Go see Shep,” Chase advised.

  “Already done. He totally ignored my concerns.”

  “Then we take it on ourselves and go on a rescue mission if needed,” Rowan said, already on his feet and at the door. “Nice meeting you, Chase. I’ll be back later.”

  Loren followed Rowan to the door then turned to her brother. “Let’s try Shep one more time. Maybe if I remind him about the match intuition thing, he’ll listen.”

  They raced down the hall to where she’d last seen Shep throwing back iced tea, but he was no longer
there. They checked his office to no avail, and then heard voices from one of the conference rooms. Rowan threw open the door and gestured she should enter. The room was filled to capacity and every computer screen was on and half the men in the room spoke in low voices on cell phones while Shep, Gavin and Adam’s dad huddled around the center conference table speaking in low, harsh whispers.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  All heads turned her way then bent back over their work. Shep strode over. “You need to leave.”

  “What? Why?” Anger and fear started boiling low in her belly.

  “Because you are not an official member of this organization.” He turned away from her, but she latched on to his forearm.

  “Tell me, is it Adam? Is he all right?”

  For a moment Shep’s gaze softened. “We had a call from Xander. Adam did not show at their preplanned meeting spot. He is not in the hotel room either.”

  The air whooshed out of her lungs and she swayed on her feet, but forced herself to stay standing. If she showed weakness, they’d never let her stay. Rowan stepped forward with dark shadows clouding his expression. “What are you doing to find him?”

  “Everything we can. I promise you,” Shep said.

  “Are you checking out the fertility clinic?” Loren asked.

  “For now our focus is on the hotel room. Adam checked in, and we will be sending a team to sweep it for any clues.”

  “You don’t need to waste time doing that. He’s at the fertility clinic. I know it.” Her grip on Shep’s arm tightened.

  He removed his arm from her claw-like grasp. “Loren, you’re a civilian journalist. We are the professionals. Let us do our jobs. Please leave us to it.” He turned back to the assembled men, obviously dismissing the two of them.

  “If I were his wife, would you let me stay? Would you listen to me?”

  Shep glanced back. “If you were his wife, we would certainly keep you informed every step of the way. As you’ve made no formal commitment to the Program or Adam, we owe you nothing.”