by Cherrie Lynn
And she discovered, as time crept past at a snail’s pace, that she sucked at this. She wasn’t a person who could sit in one place for very long…at least not in a car, staring at one door because she feared she might miss something if she looked anywhere else. This was boring as hell. Jace had the patience of a saint.
“So your parents are nice,” he said after silence stretched out for so long that she almost nodded off.
“Oh. Thanks. Yeah, they’re not so bad.”
“I guess you had to put up with a lot of nudge-nudge-wink-wink. Sorry about that. I didn’t realize when I accepted the offer.”
“So you saw, huh? You get it now?” She could feel the color rising in her cheeks as he chuckled.
“Oh yeah, I get it.”
God, how frigging embarrassing. Poor single girl who couldn’t get or keep a man. Thing was, as much as she’d like to make her parents’ dreams of grandchildren come true someday, it wasn’t a need she felt on some primal level of her being. If someone came along, wonderful. Awesome. But if he didn’t, then whatever. She wasn’t out desperately seeking male companionship. And while she wanted to tell him all that, it would probably only ring hollow.
Yeah, sure. Like you wouldn’t jump his bones right this minute if he offered.
Okay, so she would. That was beside the point. It wouldn’t mean anything, only sex.
“Have they tried roping all your boyfriends in like that?”
“The couple I let them meet, yeah. Same thing.”
“So tell me about the exes,” he said casually, his eyes still on the front doors of the building. “What’s your type?”
“Um…I don’t think I have a type. I try to keep an open mind. I dated a police officer who my sister knew once. That didn’t last very long. I dated a guy from work. But he quit and moved away and didn’t have any interest in keeping up the relationship. Neither did I, frankly.”
“That it?”
“What, you want my entire history?”
He glanced at her briefly, but his sunglasses shielded his eyes from her. “No, I only figured you had something more serious in there somewhere.”
“I don’t. I haven’t had a relationship that lasted longer than three or four months.”
“So. Is it them, or is it you?”
“It was never either of us,” she said, her voice rising more than she’d meant it to. “I don’t know, reasons have ranged from no chemistry to nothing in common to just no damn reason to keep going.” She shrugged. “No excitement, I guess. And hey, why am I always under the gun? What about your exes? This I can’t wait to hear.”
“I lost my virginity when one of my foster sisters crawled into bed with me one night,” he said conversationally. “Do you want to hear about that?”
“God no! I didn’t ask anything about sex. Oh my God. That’s horrible, Jace.”
“Hey, I didn’t find it so horrible. I was a horny sixteen-year-old. She was seventeen. It was pretty awesome.”
“I don’t want to hear about how awesome it was.”
“Aw, why not?”
His cocky grin was not having the desired effect this time. Instead of setting her on fire, it was pissing her the hell off. Maybe because all she’d been thinking about was having awesome sex with him, and it made her a little jealous to think of all the women who had come before. Pun intended, her mind added, and she dropped her forehead into her palm with a chuckle.
“What’s so funny?”
“Never mind. I’m over here making myself laugh.”
“I can’t be in on the joke?”
“Nope.” How long was she going to have to sit in this car with him? He was awful. “You’re a bad man, aren’t you?”
“Damn right I am.” It was said with no bravado whatsoever.
“If we got irrefutable evidence that she’s in there right now, what would you do?”
“Me? You’re the one talking about storming the place. What would you do? I want to hear this.”
“I would get myself killed. You’re the military man. So, tell me?”
“I’d get her, Linz. Never you mind how.” That was said with even less bravado. It was a cold, hard fact.
“What are they waiting for?” she asked miserably, feeling the helpless rush that accompanied the question every time it flickered through her mind. “And do they really even exist?”
Jace sighed, running a hand through his hair. He left a little tuft sticking up, one she immediately wanted to smooth back down. “I haven’t quite told you everything,” he said. “I’m debating whether to tell you at all, because I’m not one hundred percent about it.”
“What?” she asked, turning in her seat to face him.
“I’m not going into any more detail than I divulge right here in this car, Lindsey, and if it leaves this car…” He trailed off, and if he couldn’t even finish that thought, she knew she didn’t want to chase it down.
“Okay,” she said quickly. “It won’t leave this car.”
“I’m part of a team. We’ll leave it at that. This team has an ex-member who left under bad—under extremely bad circumstances. You asked about enemies once? I have one. This enemy knows about Lena. If he’s the one who got her, then he’s the one who was in her apartment, which means he would know about you. What he’s doing, or what he’s after, I can’t even guess at right now. If I knew, I would tell you, I promise. I have no idea what he’s waiting on, but whatever his reasons, they can’t be good.”
“Oh my God, Jace. You think he’s only using my sister and me to get to you? I mean…okay, but why? Why bring us into it?”
“None of us on the team was squeaky clean to begin with. Hell, you know what I did. Some of the others have done way worse. Rhys—he was one who’d done way worse. Thing is, he didn’t stop. And the last straw, the last thing he did—I beat him to within an inch of his life. If he has a beef with anyone, it’s with me.”
“What did he do?” she asked softly, fearing to know even as she asked.
He sighed and put both hands on the steering wheel, and she noticed how white his knuckles went as he gripped it. “He killed seven people by hacking into their pacemakers. Only one of them was a target. But the same way I changed several students’ grades to protect Lena and myself, he took out innocent civilians to cover his tracks. My friend—my brother—who wrote the code had no idea he was going to do that.”
Her hands went to her mouth in horror. “That’s even possible?”
“Oh yeah. It’s possible.”
“Jesus Christ. And this is the guy behind this whole thing. Holy shit, Jace.”
“Lindsey, I don’t know. That’s what I want to find out. That’s why we’re here. He’s been off the map for a few years now. I figured he had skipped the country. I told him if I ever saw him again, I would finish the job I started.”
“I can’t believe this is happening,” she whispered, staring out at the obscenely bright day. Up above, the sun was shining, the sky was blue, the ground was blanketed with beautiful new fallen snow from the night before. And there were fucking awful things happening in the world, right under their noses. “I don’t know what to say. But we have to hurry. He could be hurting her.”
“If it’s any consolation, and don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t see why he would think hurting her would be any kind of revenge on me. I’m no fan of hers, as he well knows.”
“That makes sense, I guess.”
“When I cleaned her computer, looking for the exploit that gave him access to her webcam, I uncovered a message. It was to me and used my call sign.”
“Which he would also know.”
“Exactly.”
“You say you don’t know it’s him, but it sounds pretty certain.”
“It’s—I don’t know. It seems obvious. But he’s making it too obvious, you k
now? I would expect more cat-and-mouse from him.”
“Maybe you’re jaded. This seems pretty cat-and-mouse to me.”
He looked over at her then, reaching over to take her hand in his. “I’m sorry. This has been stewing in the back of my mind. I debated telling you, like I said. At the end of the day, though, it’s at least some insight as to why this is happening to you, and to her. If this is true, then it’s all my fault, and I’m so sorry for that.”
She stared down at their joined hands, absorbing the warmth and the strength of his, then placing her other over it to give it a squeeze. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known.”
“I can make you this promise: I’ll get that son of a bitch. It’s the only way I can pay the debt.”
“Thank you. That’s all I ask. And I promise, your secret is safe with me. I won’t tell a soul, ever.”
He didn’t let go of her hand even after they fell silent for the better part of an hour. The sun kept the interior tolerably warm, but soon enough it went behind a cloud, and Lindsey’s breath began to frost in the air. Jace cranked the car to run the heater, but only briefly.
Pacemakers, she thought, still chilled from that confession. Her father had a pacemaker for his bradycardia. If Lena could be a target, why couldn’t he?
“My dad has a pacemaker, Jace. I’m scared.”
He looked over at her, stroking her hand with his thumb. “Shit, Lindsey. I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
“How can you be sure, though? He struck out at Lena. If he’s that evil, then he could be after me, my dad, any other members of my family, just for the hell of it. Now I feel like I need to warn them all somehow, but I can’t.”
“There isn’t anything you can do. It isn’t as if you can tell your dad to have his pacemaker removed. But maybe you shouldn’t stay at your apartment anymore.”
“I’ll be okay.” Even though she didn’t feel like she would be—ever again. The phantom breath on the back of her neck—it followed her everywhere. But he thought she was pathetic enough, so she tried to inject some steely confidence into her voice. “Security is good at my place. Better than Lena’s. I don’t think there’s any way someone could get me there. And I mostly telecommute, so I’m not going in and out all the time. Besides, I don’t even know where I’d stay.”
“We have extra room.” He looked at her for a minute, then chuckled. “I can kind of see your parents’ concern. Do you want to turn into the old cat lady?”
“I’m allergic to cats,” she said smartly.
“All right, fine. You get my point.”
“I like staying home, damn it. I’m not agoraphobic; I’m here with you. I go out when I need or want to freaking go out. I’m fine.”
“All right,” he drawled, a playful little smile teasing at his lips. He hadn’t shaved this morning, and the dark scruff on his jaw boosted his virility into atmospheric levels. She’d love to feel it chafing her in places she shouldn’t be thinking about.
Not while on a stakeout where I may need to save my sister.
Jace lifted his camera and snapped a photo of someone entering—he’d parked at an angle that assured them a good view of the faces of anyone going in. There hadn’t been anyone she’d recognized.
More time ticked past. Her stomach rumbled, and she shifted in her seat, hoping he hadn’t heard. But he had. “Maybe we should take a break.”
“Whatever you think. I’m good.”
“Are you sure?”
It had become a vendetta. If they left this spot, they would miss something. “You said you have a team. Why isn’t your team helping out on this?”
“We tend to deal with our own problems until they become too big to handle on our own.”
“Could this one be becoming too big? If this is someone who betrayed your team?”
Jace scratched disconsolately at his jaw. “It could very well be. I wanted concrete proof before I went to them with this. The guy I’m closest to—Helix—I’ve already fucked him up by even mentioning it. He’s the one who wrote the code.”
“Jace, maybe it’s time. Things seem concrete to me. I’d be willing to gamble on this being the guy, whether you think it seems legit or not. Even if it isn’t him…don’t they have the right to know? To help?”
She didn’t have to know him well to see his stubbornness. “It’s all on me,” he said quietly, gazing out his window. “I’m the reason there’s trouble.”
“Will they see it that way?”
“No. They won’t. But I do.”
“You’re being unreasonable. You’re not putting the needs of the team ahead of your own personal issues. I don’t even know them, but even I see that.”
“Astute, aren’t you?”
“Well, I try to be.”
“Let’s go grab some lunch,” he said, cranking the engine in a burst of motion that almost startled her. Had she pissed him off?
“Are we coming back?”
“You’re determined, aren’t you?”
“This is our only lead! If this doesn’t pan out, what then? I can’t stand the thought of sitting around and waiting anymore. Aren’t you still wanting to get inside?”
“You’re working your way around to something,” he accused, pushing his sunglasses to the top of his head and then putting the car in gear.
“Maybe. But—” She grabbed his arm. “Stop!”
“What?” He whipped his head around, and she pointed at the dark-haired man striding to the front doors. “That’s Griffin! Jace. That’s him.” Jace lifted his camera and snapped a picture, and then was quiet for so long she nearly smacked him. “What is it? Do you know him? Is that Rhys?” How horrifying to think the enemy had been tracking her down.
Griffin pulled open the door and walked in, disappearing from their sight.
“No,” Jace said then, sounding forlorn. “Never seen him before in my life.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Oh, we’re going in, dude,” Helix said. “No doubt about it now. There’s no way you’re keeping us from it.”
Jace nodded, accepting his fate—or all their fates. After their discovery today, he’d assembled the team and explained the situation. Everyone had sat in stunned silence through most of it. Everyone except Helix, who already knew his suspicions. The only thing Jace had left out was Lena’s CIA connection. Only once he’d gotten assent from every one of them had he brought Lindsey in, introducing them all.
“I can’t believe you didn’t bring us in on this the second you had a suspicion,” Sully said, shaking her head. “Not cool, Jace. This affects all of us. You put us in danger by having to be little glory boy all the time.”
“What the fuck did you say?” he snapped, not in the mood for any of her shit today.
“You heard me. You always have to be the man, rushing in before anyone else. And in the meantime, we had no idea about any of this. You think Rhys planted the code that led you to this place, and you went without telling us, knowing full well if he’s behind it, he could have picked us off like sitting ducks any time he wanted.”
“News flash, Sully, Rhys can pick your ass off whether you know he’s there or not. Today, tomorrow, hell, thirty minutes from now. Instead, he’s playing with us.”
“At least I would’ve had the chance to—”
Lindsey sat quietly at his side, her head down. She’d remained all but silent the whole time they’d been hashing this out. He tuned out Sully’s ranting and focused on her, hoping she was okay.
None of this should be her burden, none of this was her fault in any way whatsoever, but the slope of her shoulders told him that she felt otherwise. “Are you okay?” he asked for her ears only, leaning in a little closer. Dumb question, but he would get her out of here if she wanted to go.
She nodded. Instinctively, he put an
arm around her, catching the notice of the others, who exchanged glances. He didn’t give a shit. Let them think what they wanted. Lindsey leaned into him, only a little, and he found that she fit perfectly there.
And she could stay there as long as she damn well wanted to.
“Sorry you’re going through all this,” Drake said to her now. “It’s a shitty deal all around.”
“It is,” she agreed softly. “Thank you.”
“We got your back,” Helix said.
“Absolutely,” Sully put in, though she was still giving Jace a death look. “We would’ve had it all along. You don’t have to go through any of this by yourself.”
“She isn’t,” Jace snapped.
Lindsey looked up at them all through her lashes. “I am, though. I appreciate everyone, I do. But this is the most isolated and helpless I’ve ever felt.”
Jace gave her shoulder a squeeze. She wouldn’t want to hear it right now, but he knew that feeling all too well and had for most of his life. Until the Air Force, until the Nest, until this team. “It won’t last forever,” he assured her.
“We’re a family,” Sully said. “Like all families, sometimes we fight, sometimes we dislike one another for a while. But like all families, we take care of one another; we’d fight and die for one another. As of now, that includes you, too. If Jace says you’re good people, that’s enough for us.”
“Until you fuck us over, at least,” Helix muttered.
“Hey,” Jace snapped at him.
“Hey, I’m just saying. Rhys wouldn’t argue with me, would he?”
“Can we use that name as little as possible?” Drake asked. “Asking for a friend.”
“Better get used to it,” Sully told him. “I have a feeling you’re going to be hearing it a lot. Somehow I always knew that fucknut was gonna show his face again.”
“Who is this Griffin guy, though?” Helix said. “We need to figure out how he fits into everything.”
“Okay. What do we know?”
“He claims to be my sister’s friend, maybe more,” Lindsey said. “He showed up literally minutes after I found her apartment trashed.”
