Dark Seduction (5 page)

“I’m fine.”

She slowly shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

He dragged his hand down his face. “The Cerebral Voices project is my main concern right now.”

“You need rest to be on top of your game, Logan.” She trailed her fingers along his forearm. “You know that I can help you relax.”

“Hey.” He offered her a smile. “I said I’m fine.” He moved from the corner of his desk, away from her touch. “I’d better get to work.”

She nodded as her fingers slipped from his arm. “How is the project going?”

“Nothing has changed.” Logan frowned. “Of course the government still wants the technology, but I’m not ready to finalize anything just yet.”

“I have faith in you.” She moved forward to him again, reached up and brushed her lips over his cheek. “I’m here if you need me.”

“Thanks.” As he looked into her eyes he stroked her hair over her shoulder like he had so many times before. But then he took a step back.

Damn it.
He didn’t need the drama of a relationship with Carla. He had too much to think about, too much to take care of.

“How about dinner tonight?” She tilted her head to the side. “TGIF and all that.”

“What happened to the man you were dating?” Logan asked. “Bruce something.”

“I ended it.” She gave a delicate shrug then smiled at him. “So, dinner?”

It was Friday night and he had never been able to reach Tori. Why the hell not? “Sure. I’ll pick you up. Seven?”

“Sounds great.” She smiled. “I’d better get back to the lab.”

She walked out the door and he watched the sensual way that she moved. Sensuality was inherent in everything about her.

“Damn,” he said out loud when she was gone. The last thing he needed was another relationship with her.

Donna, his assistant, appeared in the doorway. “Two CIA agents are here.”

Great.
As if he had time to deal with them. Logan moved around his desk and sat. “Send them in.”

“Yes, sir.” She vanished. Moments later she appeared again, this time escorting a short, nearly baldheaded man and a tall blonde woman, presumably the agents.

Logan stood and shook hands with each of the agents.

“Special Agent Brent Mallory.” The female agent nodded to the male. “And I’m Special Agent Susan Taylor.”

Logan gestured to the seats in front of his desk before sinking into his leather office chair. He waited until they were seated. “What can I do for you?”

Taylor perched on the edge of her chair. “We have new intel indicating that a faction from the Middle East is targeting the Cerebral Voices project.”

“We cannot have this technology fall into the wrong hands. The government wants the project.” Mallory said.

A Middle East faction after the CVP? Damn.
“We have the best security in the world in my building,” Logan said. “Only authorized individuals can even enter the building, and we screen every employee thoroughly before hiring them. Our computer security is the best.”

“That’s not good enough.” Taylor’s expression hardened. “We believe your employees could be compromised.”

Logan shook his head. “Everyone must pass the Cerebral Voices interview. There’s no getting by that test.”

“An employee could have been reached after employment,” Mallory said. “That is entirely possible.”

Logan studied them for a moment. “All right. We’ll re-administer the CVP test. It will take some time as I have a few hundred employees.”

“Start with those closest to the project,” Taylor said. “Those are the individuals we are most concerned with.”

“We’ll start today.” Logan didn’t like the tone being used by the agents. “I’m not required to take orders from the government. I’m doing this voluntarily.”

“Just see that you do it.” Taylor stood followed by Mallory. “We’ll see ourselves out.”

Logan rose from his chair and bit back words he wanted to say, and instead watched the agents leave. He wanted to go to the door and shut it hard enough to rattle the windowpanes.

“Aimy.” He spoke aloud to the computer. “Notify Donna to hold all calls.”

“Yes, Mr. Savage,” the computer said and almost immediately added, “Donna has been notified.”

“Send Kenneth Jones to my office.” Logan sat again. Absently he picked up the pen he used to sign documents and started tapping it on his desktop.

“Yes, Mr. Savage,” Aimy said, and then a moment later, “Kenneth is on his way.”

Three minutes later, Kenneth stuck his head in the room. “You rang?”

Logan gestured to the young genius scientist to come in. He didn’t invite him to sit, however.

“I need you to re-administer the Cerebral Voices to every employee in the company.” Logan watched the slight widening of Kenneth’s eyes.

“Every employee?” Kenneth repeated.

Logan gave a brief nod. “Start immediately and begin with those closest to the project.” He dismissed Kenneth with a gesture.

“You’ve got it.” Kenneth started toward the door. He paused and turned back. “Even the executives and managers?”

“Yes,” Logan said. “As a matter of fact, start with them.”

Kenneth gave a nod before heading out of the office.

Logan mentally shook his head as he spoke out loud. “Aimy, call a meeting for senior executives and top level managers in the executive boardroom.”

“What time would you like to set the appointment?” the computer asked.

“In thirty minutes.” Logan glanced at the door to his office. Clear.

He was a Walker. Time to walk.

Logan’s body shimmered and a cooling sensation chilled his body.

He vanished.

Chapter 6

As Carla, Tori moved from the hallway back toward the lab where her office was located. For the last fifteen minutes, she’d taken the form of one of the techs who had left for lunch, and had explored what areas she could as that tech.

Unfortunately, over the past two weeks she had yet to get close to the CVP. It was too closely monitored.

Early on, she had tried to take Logan’s form when he wasn’t around. Unfortunately, he was one of those rare individuals and she hadn’t been able to take his form at all, which was entirely unexplainable, as far as she knew. It was inconvenient, but sometimes that was just the way it was when it came to being a Changeling.

At least from Carla she’d learned some important information on exactly what the CVP was. Something that was both intriguing and dangerous. Intriguing in what it was capable of… Dangerous—extremely dangerous—if it was sold to the wrong people or fell into the wrong hands.

It was vital that the PIA get the CVP out of the hands of Savage Industries. Whoever possessed the device could read the minds of important people: presidents; the head of the joint chief of staff; nuclear physicists… Those who had the CVP could learn how to get into secure areas; obtain codes; learn where to locate the President… It could be used for countless things that would put the U.S. and even their allies in danger.

She slipped into the employee restroom and locked the door behind her. It only took her a few moments to shift from the tech to Carla. As she shifted, she ignored the pain. Her mind was busy thinking about the job she was here to do.

Once she had shifted back to her Carla form, from her pocket she slipped out the secured cell phone she used to contact the PIA. It was small, about the size of a credit card but a little thicker. She pressed the button that would send her directly to the agency.

Out of habit she glanced around the restroom even though she knew there were no recorders or cameras. She’d made sure of that two weeks ago.

“Mike’s Auto Shop,” came the voice on the other line.

“I’d like to see if my Toyota is ready to pick up,” Tori said, giving the code response.

“Just one moment and I will check for you.”

A click, a pause, and then Janice came on the secured line. “Based on current intelligence, I have new instructions for you beyond gathering information.”

“All right.” Tori looked in the restroom mirror and smoothed the blonde hair.

“At this time your job is to get the specs for the project,” she said. “According to the PIA’s intel, a way to hack into the CVP’s computer system has been created.”

Tori raised her brows. “How?”

“That’s not important.”

Probably another agent on the inside,
Tori thought.

“You are to approach a junior scientist who works with the project, a Jeremy Farrell.”

She had seen Jeremy several times and he always looked at her—Carla—as though he had an enormous crush on her. That was certainly a plus.

“Does he work for the agency?” Tori leaned up against the sink as she spoke, meaning the PIA.

“No,” Janice said. “But he has been identified as an individual with the ability to perform the task. As Carla Winston, you are to do everything you can to gain the information from Jeremy.”

Tori nodded to herself. “Consider it done.”

“Good,” Janice said and disconnected the call.

So now she just had to figure out how to convince Jeremy Farrell to break into his company’s computer system.

She listened at the door to the restroom to make sure she didn’t hear voices or footsteps then opened the door. The hallway was clear. She straightened and headed toward her lab.

Fortunately, being in management meant she didn’t do a whole lot of hands-on work. Her department was working on only a small part of the Cerebral Voices project and she had employees who did the actual work. The knowledge she’d obtained was limited, especially thanks to Carla being in a coma. But it would have to do.

Just as she returned to her lab, the clean, sterile smell meeting her senses. The door closed behind her and then Aimy, the computer generated system, told her that senior executives and managers were due to be in a meeting, including when and where. Damn. She hadn’t heard the announcement because she’d been off pretending to be someone else.

At least she’d returned while there was still time. Hopefully this meant she’d get some fresh information.

An ice-cold sensation flowed over her from her scalp to her toes. For a moment, she felt like someone was behind her, watching her. She slowly looked over her shoulder but no one was there. Her body warmed again, as if the presence had moved away.

Her mind turned back to her assignment. So far she believed she was “in” with Logan, which was the most important step at this time.

The door to the lab opened behind her and she whirled to see Logan standing just inside the doorway. Her heart beat faster and her belly flipped as the door closed behind him. He looked so damned good.

The bastard.
Why did she have to fall for the enemy?

She gave him a smile and worked for it to appear genuine. “What can I do for you?”

He returned her smile with a sexy grin that made her melt. “Stopped by to see if you got the message about the meeting.”

She nodded. “I did.”

This had to be about him wanting to see her. Aimy didn’t make mistakes in notifying the staff. She located them by their badges. Of course she hadn’t been wearing hers when she shifted into another staff member, but he wouldn’t have known that.

He sat on the edge of her desk and watched her. “What happened to you and whatshisname—Bruce?”

As Carla she’d broken up with Bruce and had told him she was still in love with Logan. It hadn’t been a stretch. Carla loved Logan in her own way…just not enough to make their relationship permanent.

She moved her gaze from Logan, not ready to tell him that she—Carla, of course—was in love with him. When she felt the time was right, when it would have the most impact she would say it.

“Bruce wasn’t what I’ve been looking for,” she finally said when she met Logan’s eyes again. “I want something that he can’t give me.”

“What’s that?” He took her hands and drew her close so that she was standing between his thighs.

She looked down then raised her gaze to meet his again and didn’t know if it was her talking or that part of her that was now Carla. “He’s not you.”

Logan eased to his feet and took her into his embrace. He felt solid and good with his arms wrapped around her. She tilted her head up and he brought his mouth to hers.

She sighed, his kiss reminding her of their weekend together and she moved her palms to his chest. He was so masterful and strong when she was used to being the strong one in anything she did. He tasted good, masculine and warm and his scent made her think of being in his bed all weekend long.

As much as she’d tried to hate him, the past two weeks had made it so much harder. When she was around him, he didn’t seem like the monster that he was made out to be. He was intelligent and levelheaded, tough but kind, abrupt at times but caring. He seemed like a real down-to-earth guy who was pleasant to be around. And even though Carla had broken up with him, he hadn’t been uptight with her, but she could tell he still cared for her in some way. Most important, he didn’t seem to have intent to sell anything to the bad guys, but over the years she’d known that surface observations meant little.