Deadlock

by Cherrie Lynn

  Hell, she’d been running on so much adrenaline and blind panic lately that she couldn’t take comfort in that. She couldn’t piece together any sense of her sister’s well-being among all the noise in her mind. Besides, the eerie connection had only happened that one time.

  She couldn’t keep imagining the worst. Those were the thoughts Jace would tell her not to let in.

  Lindsey went back to bed, but those doubts simply wouldn’t stop. She tossed and turned the rest of the night, and when a cold, gray day finally greeted her, she felt as if she hadn’t slept in years.

  …

  “I know you’ve vowed a dozen times you’re only friends, but are you sure that—”

  “Mom. Yes. God, please. Stop asking me about him.” Lindsey wanted to crawl under the table, certain her face was blazing bright red at her mother’s inquisition. But it was the first time they’d talked since the dinner. When her mother invited her out to lunch today, Lindsey knew what the topic of conversation would be. So far she’d managed to steer it in a couple of different directions, but it always came back to Jace.

  She dragged her fork through her salad and checked her watch, hoping her mother wouldn’t notice how little of an appetite she had. In a couple of hours, she would be meeting him, and every bite she took set her stomach to roiling.

  Watching the snow in the silent predawn hours had put her in an odd mood, longing for simpler days long past. Just now she noted how the lines had deepened on her mother’s dear, lovely face, and worry for both her parents chilled her blood.

  I have to keep them safe. Whatever it takes.

  Lena had been targeted—why not the rest of them? She found her blood could run a few degrees colder, and every eye in the restaurant seemed to focus on her. Her imagination, of course, but…she wondered if she would ever be free of feeling as if she were being watched. It was like that webcam light still glowed in her mind. Even in her sleep.

  “Your dad really liked him, too. Imagine that,” her mother said innocently.

  “Mom, at this point, Dad would probably like a gang member.”

  “You know, you’ve never gone for brawn before. I was surprised.”

  “Stop trying to trap me. I’m not going for him.”

  Her mom shook her head almost sadly. “Honey, you’re blind if you don’t go for that.”

  Lindsey’s jaw dropped. Of the very few men she’d brought around her parents, this was a first. “Mom.”

  “What? It was all I could do not to squeeze his muscles. I even told your dad that after you two left.”

  “You did not!”

  “I did so. Just because I’ve been married forty years doesn’t mean I don’t know hot when I see it. So I have to ask again, and you’ve been avoiding the issue, but I want an answer. What’s the problem?”

  She didn’t have Jace’s stone-faced skill of crafting a background out of thin air. Or at least, she never had before. But she’d never tried it. “He isn’t interested…like that.”

  “That’s utter nonsense. He hung on every word you said at dinner.”

  He’s a good actor. Lindsey frowned down at her barely touched salad. “I didn’t notice that.”

  “Well, that figures, since you hardly looked at him, but the man barely took his eyes off you all night. Now, the untrained eye would think you’re the one not interested, but I know you better than that. You get bashful when you like someone. Lindsey, I simply don’t think you should pass this up. If no one has made a move yet, maybe you should try.”

  “You only met him once. I swear, I am never bringing a man around you and Dad again.”

  “Dad said he was at your apartment rather early for—”

  “I am not sleeping with him, and I would not talk to you about it if I were.”

  Her mom laughed. “If you refuse to talk to me about it, then how do I know you’re really not sleeping with him?”

  Lindsey dropped her forehead into her palm. “Stop, just…stop. This is so gross.”

  “Why? Because I want to see my daughter happy? The one daughter who seems capable of it?”

  That snapped her head back up. “What do you mean?”

  Mom sighed and absently smoothed the napkin in her lap. “I’ve given up on Lena. Every time I have high hopes for her…she seems to delight in letting them crash. Sometimes I think her lifestyle must make her happy, so I try to be at peace with that. But if I know her as well as I hope I do—as well as I know you—I worry that’s not the case. Why does she have to escape so often? Why does she run, and where does she go?”

  “I wish I knew,” Lindsey said softly. Now more than ever.

  “But you—you’re my stable child. You would make a warm, loving home for a happy family. So when a man stares at you like he sees how precious you are, and you’re blushing and fidgeting and doing all the things you do when you’re attracted to someone, I have to ask. Yet again. What’s the problem? Why just friends?”

  It was a most inopportune time to remember the kiss at Jace’s front door. The angry, savage burn of his mouth on hers.

  Precious? Hardly.

  Pure hatred had raged in his eyes. It wasn’t there anymore, thank God. Her mom hadn’t seen the way he’d been with her then or heard all the rude things he’d said the night they went to Lena’s apartment.

  Jace had only been acting for her parents’ benefit, putting on the mask of a man they wouldn’t mind their daughter bringing home. And why did that hurt so much?

  “I don’t know what to tell you, Mom. It isn’t going to happen.”

  “Why? I mean, my God, Lindsey, is he married? Entering the priesthood? Leaving the country for good? What is it?” She reached across the table to take Lindsey’s hand. “I wish you would talk to me. I must have the most private daughters in the world.”

  Squeezing her mom’s hand, Lindsey’s heart broke for her mom, and a little for herself, too. She had been taking up Lena’s slack for so damn long—was she now becoming just as bad in her own way? “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make you worry about me, but please don’t.” She drew a deep breath. “About Jace…you’re right, I like him. No, he’s not married or moving or celibate that I know of. I don’t think he’s interested, but who knows? Maybe I’ll take your advice and make a move.

  “But until then, I don’t want to be pressured about it. If and when it’s right, I’ll know.”

  Her mom gave a little smile, a little nod, and sat back in her chair. “He does have great shoulders, doesn’t he? I’ve always had a thing for shoulders.”

  “Mom. At this point I’m starting to think I need to worry about you moving in on him.”

  At that, her mother laughed. “Nah. He only had eyes for you, my dear.”

  Lindsey wished she would stop saying that. The ache gnawed its way a little deeper every time.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Are you nervous?” Jace asked her on the tense ride to the former N-Tech.

  “Yes,” she admitted.

  “That’s not a bad thing,” he said. “Keeps you on your toes.”

  She didn’t tell him she hadn’t slept a wink the night before, the fear and nightmares a constant companion. She’d always loved living alone, but lately, it seemed to have lost its charm. And as weird as her mood had been before, her mother had made it darker.

  Can’t imagine why.

  “There’s a night security guard at the front desk,” he said, flipping his turn signal. “All Sully wants at this point is for you to get to his system and install your code. Keeping him occupied is her job. She’s very good at it.”

  Now that the time had come and they were really doing this, Lindsey was struggling to hide her nerves. Jace was wary enough about getting her involved. She didn’t need to give him a reason to abort the mission. “I’m surprised she doesn’t want to do this part herself.”

&nb
sp; He shook his head. “I’m sure she would, but she also loves being the diversion. Playing with people’s heads is her thing.”

  She wished that made her feel better. Her sister would probably love this, too—she was made for it. Lindsey slipped a finger under the brunette wig she wore and rubbed at her scalp. “This thing itches,” she complained.

  “It looks good on you,” he said. “Don’t mess it up.”

  “Do you have a thing for brunettes?” she teased.

  Jace glanced at her with his devastating grin in full effect. “Could be. Think you’ll have less fun?”

  “Oh, is this fun?”

  “It can be.” His expression sobered as he saw something she didn’t want him to see. “This is what you asked for.”

  “I know I did. And I’m doing it.” If he saw how her hands were shaking, it might be all over.

  “You’re right, but if you want to back out, now’s the time, Lindsey. Say the word before it’s too late.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not backing out. Never.”

  For the briefest moment, his expression faltered with a resignation that frightened her. He didn’t want her doing this, but that was one of the reasons she had to. Didn’t he see that?

  “When you feel weak,” he said, “think about Lena and how she’s counting on you, and maybe she doesn’t even know it. Think about how proud she’ll be when she learned the part you played in saving her. Think about how proud of yourself you’ll be. And how proud I’ll be.”

  “Really?”

  “Damn straight. I think you’re an amazing person, Lindsey Morris. In my life, I haven’t known many of them.”

  She couldn’t say the compliment chased her nerves away, but with those words, a sudden surge of confidence thrummed through her. I have to be Lena. How incredible it would feel to saunter into that place and do what needed to be done without even sweating over it. I can do that. I will. She had the skills. And now they might save her sister’s life.

  The car pulled to the curb, even farther back than they’d sat while staking it out the day before. Clouds blocked any light from the moon. Only more snow, glowing a ghastly orange in the overhead street lights. She was bundled in two sweaters, a coat, scarf, and gloves. Usually she handled the cold well, but today it had seeped into her bones, chilling her to the marrow.

  Lindsey hadn’t been let in on every part of the plan. She wasn’t one of the team. Jace stared down at his cell phone, utterly silent, and they hadn’t sat in the idling car for thirty seconds when he stepped lightly on the gas, paused when they were nearest to the glass front doors, and said simply, “Go.”

  Everything had been impeccably timed, she realized, right down to their arrival. Wow. But she didn’t have time to marvel. She bailed out of the car and did exactly as she’d been instructed. Head down, hood up over her wig, her legs ate up the distance, and she was inside.

  Nothing remarkable greeted her. After the dimness of outside, it was glaringly bright. Sparsely decorated. The air smelled sterile, like window cleaner and Lysol. A large U-shaped desk sat at the far end opposite the doors, hallways branching off to the right and left. Lindsey made for the single terminal on the desk, her heartbeat raging in her ears.

  Even though she felt like the only person in the world in this too-bright, too-clean room, she knew she wasn’t. An entire team was close by, ready to bust in and get her out if she got into trouble. She knew the signal if she needed to make a break for the front door. All she had to do was install her code. It shouldn’t take even two minutes.

  The monitor showed security footage around the premises on four screens. The guard checked on whatever suspicious activity Sully had set up, his flashlight sweeping around. Other than that, all was quiet.

  But even her breath sounded too loud. She plugged her flash drive into the USB port, and even that tiny sound seemed to echo. Her .exe file popped up; she ran it, keeping one eye on that window that showed her the guard’s whereabouts.

  The progress bar crept across the screen at a snail’s pace—God, how old was this computer? It shouldn’t be taking this long. Lindsey glanced over her shoulder down one hallway, then craned her neck around the monitor to see down the other. She expected Griffin to jump out at any moment, whoever the hell he was. She looked back at her screen.

  Error installing program.

  “What?” she whispered out loud. Had she done something wrong? “Oh, you piece of shit.”

  All the pride Jace talked about everyone feeling for her efforts fell to ashes. As good as it would feel to succeed, she would be doubly disappointed to fail. She couldn’t leave here without doing what she came to do.

  The blinding white walls seemed to pulse and push in on her. She took a calming breath and did the simplest thing she could think of. She unplugged the tower and plugged it back in. It took fucking forever to reboot, and she almost voiced her frustrations out loud to no one.

  No way anyone who could hack Lena’s webcam would have this dinosaur at the front freaking desk.

  As soon as it came back up, she pulled up the security software and froze. She could no longer see the guard. “Okay,” she whispered, uttering a prayer to the technology gods as she ran her program again. With each second that passed, her entire being focused on that progress bar, her heart rate went up a notch. She chewed at a fingernail. She shoved her hood back, suddenly sweltering. Come on, come on.

  The bar passed the point where it had errored out earlier, and wild, breathless hope blossomed in her chest. Come on! And suddenly it raced across the screen to the end point, and her most primitive of fixes had miraculously worked.

  Program Installed Successfully.

  Lindsey exhaled a long breath, with thanks and eternal gratefulness to the gods of technology. Grabbing her flash drive, she sprang from the chair, sending it in circles on its pedestal, and bolted for the front door.

  And she might have made it. Whether he came around the corner and saw the spinning chair or caught the barest glimpse of her wig just before she went out, a booming voice belted out behind her, “HEY!”

  Shit oh shit oh shit…

  Rough hands grabbed her as soon as she hit the frigid night air, but when Jace’s and Helix’s faces swam out of the shadows, she managed to catch her scream before it escaped. “This way,” Jace hissed, taking her in the direction of where the car was parked. Their feet crunched over the snow, slowing them, and the muscles in her thighs burned as she pushed them to their limits. Behind them, she heard the front doors burst open again and more shouting from the agitated security guard.

  Helix intercepted him. “Hey, my man, you got a light?”

  “What the fuck are you doing out here?”

  “Strollin’.”

  “Did you see a woman run past?”

  “Nah, man.”

  “You stay right here.”

  “Whatever you say, chief.”

  Their conversation faded as Jace forced her to keep running forever through the damnable snow. He was supposed to pick her up at the front. What the hell had happened? She’d taken too long, that’s what.

  She struggled to keep up with his pace, cursing herself for not having any kind of gym membership. Who would’ve thought it would ever come to this? One day you sit at a desk until your ass goes numb, and the next you’re staking out buildings, running from security in a mad panic. Her heart pounded; her lungs burned. Jace pushed her harder, faster, and suddenly the car swung into view, sitting in an empty lot…thirty feet away, twenty, ten, five—

  When he snatched open the back door instead of the front and shoved her inside, she didn’t even have time to ask what he was doing. He dove in after her, slammed the door shut, ripped off her wig, and kissed her furiously.

  Oh God. Stunned, she fell backward under him, something shaking loose inside her as she plunged her hands into his hair. Her he
art began pounding for an entirely different reason, lust trumping adrenaline.

  His mouth was hot, so hot, and his tongue dove past her lips, tasting, exploring. The weight of him pressed her uncomfortably into the door handle behind her, but the pain barely registered amid the firestorm assaulting her senses. Her hands roamed his shoulders, taking in the measure of him, the firmness of his muscles, while her lips savored the softness of his mouth, his tongue, the delicious burn of him, the way he didn’t let her come up for air—

  A sharp banging on the window broke the spell. “Hey! Hello! Hey, you can’t be here! What the hell are you doing?” the muffled voice raged from the other side of the glass.

  Jace lifted his head from her, giving her a crooked grin that he dropped a split second before turning to look into the blinding light of the guard’s flashlight through the window. He struggled to a sitting position, untangling their limbs. Lindsey tried to bring her mind and heart back down from the stratosphere.

  Jesus Christ, he can kiss.

  She already knew that, of course, but it had been a stark reminder.

  Jace opened the door and climbed out, maintaining a sheepish facade with the irate security guard while Lindsey straightened her clothes and tried not to stagger as she got out behind him.

  “Are you all right, lady?” the guard demanded, looking her up and down from under a thick set of black eyebrows. He had an even thicker mustache and a fleshy, wrinkled face, ruddy from chasing them…or from whatever he’d been drinking beforehand. She could smell alcohol. It was probably why he hadn’t been able to catch them.

  “Fine,” she said, trying to force all the assurance she could muster into the word because she could only imagine how she must look…red-faced and shaking and freaked the fuck out. Her lips still tingled from the pressure of Jace’s, and she licked them to collect what remained of the taste of him. God, it was good. Like all at once having everything you wanted but thought you’d never get. Her knees still quaked.

  “I suppose you were too busy to see if a woman just ran past here,” the guard said, dripping with contempt.