“Holly. It’s me, Sydney.” She paused. “I can’t really talk now, but can you come over to my place later tonight? There’s something I have to tell you.” Again she waited for a response. “I don’t think it would be a good idea to get into details right now, but I’ll explain everything when I see you, I promise.” Silence.
“Yes, I’m fine, and yes, I will. I’m beginning to have my doubts about this place too…”
That got Jack’s attention. Who was she talking to and what doubts was she having? A slow smile tugged the corners of his mouth. Maybe he’d just found his new target. He didn’t know if he could trust her or not, but the simple fact that she’d voiced her uncertainty in the company she worked for was enough for him to see if she was at least willing to listen to him.
When she stuffed her communicator back into her purse, she moved as if she were going back into the building. Thinking quickly on his feet, he reached out from behind the tree and grasped her hand, pulling her close.
Her eyes widened and her lips formed an “o,” poised to scream, but he put his hand over her mouth. “Don’t make any noise.”
Instead of the reasonable fear he expected, her eyes shot daggers at him. She didn’t seem scared; in fact, she looked pissed.
Her heart pounded so fast and loud she was sure it would burst through her chest. Who was the psychopath with the menacing eye patch and the mammoth-sized hand covering her mouth? There was no way she was going to let some maniac kill her in broad daylight.
She brought her heel down on his foot. Hard.
That made him lower his hand but his grip remained tight around her waist.
“Ouch. You little vixen!”
Sydney balled her hand into a fist, prepared to deliver a blow, but he was too quick for her. With his free hand, he caught her wrist and applied enough pressure to make her gasp.
“Let me go, you son of a bitch!” She began to struggle in earnest, but instead of letting her go, he scooped her off her feet and carried her to the side of the building.
She looked around to see if there was anyone who could aid her, but there was no one. Why couldn’t she have waited to talk to Holly later instead of coming outside?
There had been news that renegades were lurking around the city and bringing harm to the peace-loving citizen. If this jerk thought she’d stand for being a victim, he’d soon learn she wasn’t going down without a fight.
“If you stop wiggling, and promise not to run off screaming, I’ll put you down. I won’t hurt you, but I need to talk to you.” His deep throaty voice was like velvet.
Murderers weren’t supposed to sound like this. Or be so big, solid, and toned.
Regardless of his assurance, she didn’t want to take the chance on his not trying something. Maybe if she played along with him to see what he’d do next and then when the opportunity presented itself, she could make a clean break from this goon.
This very disturbingly sexy goon.
- 14 -
Stop it, girl
. Victims of violent crimes weren’t supposed to think of their attackers in that manner.
“Okay. I won’t run,” she lied, going still.
“If you try to bolt, I will catch you. I’m bigger and faster than you.” She shot him a glare. “You’re a big bully. If you wanted to talk to me, you should have approached me like a normal human being.”
As he lowered Sydney to her feet, her body slid down his hard length. A rush of warmth swept through her body and her nipples pebbled against her blouse. Damn, why hadn’t she worn a bra today?
“Would you have been receptive to what I had to say if I’d simply walked up to you?”
She shrugged, her eyes darting from side to side as she tried to map out an escape plan. “I don’t know. Probably not. I don’t normally make a habit of speaking to strange men who look like vagabonds,” she muttered.
To her surprise, Tall, Dark, and Devastatingly Sexy threw his head back and laughed. It was a great sound, but she wouldn’t have admitted it out loud if her life depended on it. Here was her opportunity, to escape.
Raising her knee, she jammed it toward his crotch. Unfortunately his quick reflexes saved him again. He moved enough for her blow to connect with his thigh instead of her intended target.
Before she realized what was happening, he had her pinned against the wall, his body pressing into hers. He grasped her wrists in one of his massive hands and pinioned them above her head.
Just as she was about to scream, his mouth covered hers in a suffocating kiss. The moment his lips hit hers, she was paralyzed with surprise. Internally she knew she should be fighting for her life, but something happened that she hadn’t counted on. A wave of sheer desire washed over her.
- 15 -
No! This wasn’t right. She wasn’t supposed to be turned on by some random man off the street, and a dangerous one at that. Her sense of battle roused, she bucked against him in an attempt to push him off, but he was too strong.
She was sure the kiss had started out as a way for him to silence her, but it soon became more. He moved his mouth over hers, as though trying to find the perfect way for their lips to fit together. Then his tongue came forward, pushing past her teeth and plundering inside, seeking, exploring and tasting her. The sensitive peaks of her breasts rubbed painfully against the silk material of her blouse and moisture pooled between her thighs.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been this excited by anyone. How was it that this man -- someone unknown to her a few minutes ago -- could wring such an immediate response from her body? Hell, she still didn’t know him, yet in that moment it didn’t matter.
Losing all common sense, she returned his hunger, giving as he took and savoring his pure masculine flavor. Frissons of heat shot up her spine. Dear Sweet Goodness! This man could kiss.
Releasing her wrists, he dropped his hands to cup the sides of her breasts.
Sydney twined her fingers through his thick black locks, reveling in their silkiness. To her utter shame it was the stranger who broke away from her, a knowing grin on his face.
She wanted to smack him.
Trying to salvage what little of her pride she had left, she raised her chin defiantly. “Don’t ever touch me again.”
“Or what?” One onyx-colored eye gleamed with what she determined to be amusement. “Look, Sydney --”
She stiffened. “How did you know my name?”
“I overheard you talking on your communicator.”
- 16 -
“And do you make it a habit to know all of your victims’ names before you kill them? Someone may come looking for me any minute now. I’ve been gone longer than I should have.”
“First off, I’m not going to kill you. Offing beautiful women isn’t something I relish.”
“Then why did you grab and molest me?”
He grinned, revealing large white teeth. “It’s only molestation if the advances are unwanted and from where I was standing, you liked it. Probably a lot more than you care to admit.”
She closed her eyes briefly to get a hold of her breathing and then slowly opened them again. “If you don’t want to hurt me, then why did you pull me behind the building?”
“I’m trying to figure that out myself, beautiful.”
“Don’t call me that. You don’t know me.”
His mouth slanted to a half-grin. “But I’d like to. The name’s Jack. Now that we’ve been formally introduced does that make you feel better?” This man was insufferable. Sydney narrowed her eyes, hoping her expression conveyed her annoyance with him.
His facial expression became serious all of a sudden, a frown marring his forehead. “Do you know a man named Dexter Weems?” The name rang a bell, but she couldn’t figure out why. “I don’t know him but…”
“You’ve heard of him haven’t you?”
“He sounds vaguely familiar.”
“He works for Cryo Cor.”
That’s where she’d heard of him. “When I started here a few weeks ago, the office was abuzz because the word was that he was embezzling money. But lately I’ve heard whispers that he actually had some type of breakdown and was sent to an asylum.”
- 17 -
He moved away from her and raked his fingers through his hair. “Shit. They got to him.”
Sydney took advantage of the distance he put between the two of them to straighten her clothes. She didn’t know why, but instinct told her, despite his imposing appearance, he wouldn’t hurt her. Studying him from under her lashes she noted his tall, lean cut length. Being six feet tall herself, it wasn’t often she met a man who she literally looked up to. He had at least five or six inches on her.
With a square chiseled jaw and a cleft in his chin he was all man. Added to that, the eye patch resting over his left eye gave him the hint of danger most women would have found exciting.
Maybe she should be more wary of this man if he could make her give in to him in an instant. Sydney trembled when she thought of what it would be like, trapped beneath this powerful man’s body.
She shook her head, trying to rid her mind of the thought. Now was the time to get the hell out of here. “Look, I have to go.” Sydney slowly inched away from him, but his hand shot out to keep her from fleeing.
“Wait. How long have you worked for Cryo Cor?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but three weeks. Look, I promise I won’t blow the whistle on you, but you have to let me go.”
“You seemed upset about something when you came out of the building. Did something happen?”
Sydney yanked her arm away from him. “Are you nuts? Why are you asking me all these weird questions?”
“Because our lives depend on it. Yours, mine, everyone’s. If I had time to find someone else, I would, but the Cyrellians somehow got to our contact. For all I know, they could have killed him already.”
The intensity burning in his obsidian eye chilled her to the core. Regardless of whether she thought him crazy or not, he obviously believed what he was saying and that could be a danger in itself. “So what do you want me to do about it?”
- 18 -
“Help me -- our cause. We need someone on the inside to find the GXT file. It just might provide the evidence we need to prove to everyone that our alien pals aren’t so friendly. And I already have a sneaking suspicion you’re beginning to have your own worries about the precious company you work for.” She shook her head in denial. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Even to her ears, the words didn’t sound very convincing. After all, hadn’t she noticed things weren’t quite right herself?
He raised a brow. “Wanna pull the other one?”
Sydney pursed her lips, realizing there was no point in trying to convince him otherwise. “Look, even if I did get involved, how do I know I can trust you, or that I won’t end up like Weems?” She shook her head. “I can’t afford to get involved with a terrorist.”
“Is that what you think I am?”
“Blowing up clinics, disorderly conduct, destroying public property, and endangering people’s lives? Yeah, I’d call that terrorism.”
“One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”
“Whatever your aim, I want no part of it. My day was bad enough before you got involved. Please leave me alone. I can’t deal with this right now.” This time when she made a move to get away, he didn’t stop her.
Jack watched Sydney scurry away, noting the sway of her generous backside. At the sight of that luscious rump, his cock jumped to attention, straining uncomfortably against the rough material of his pants. What the hell had made him practically make love to her against the very building he was supposed to be staking out?
Not only that, why in the world had he risked discovery by telling her more than she needed to know before he could assess whether she was trustworthy? As much as he wanted to stick around and find out more about the mysterious Sydney, he needed to get out of here.
But one thing was certain, he would be back.
“Are you fucking kidding me? What the hell is wrong with you, man? Not only could you have been caught, but you might have blown our entire operation in the process, over some pussy no less,” Chase raged, striding back and forth along the strategy room.
Jack tensed, trying not to snap back at his friend and second in command. These weren’t grievances he hadn’t already tortured himself with. “I only had a few seconds to make a decision, and took the risk. Whether it pays off or not is yet to be seen.” Chase slammed his fist against the closest wall. “You spent weeks scoping the place and determining that Weems was our guy and when that blew up in your face you should have come back here so we could reevaluate what needed to be done.” Jack had had enough of being lectured like a child. Raising a brow and meeting Chase’s angry brown gaze he said coldly, “The way you’re going on, one would think you were in charge instead of me.”
A furious red color crept into the other man’s face. “Don’t give me that shit!” Chase stalked toward Jack and poked him in the chest with his index finger. “You might be the leader, but this is a team and you said yourself we can’t succeed unless we work together. When you decide to make decisions without consulting the rest of us then you go against your own rules, or do you think you’re above them?” Jack clenched and unclenched his jaw, breathing deeply and letting his own fury slowly leave him before replying. He sighed. “You’re right. Had it been you, I’d probably be pissed too. I shouldn’t have shared confidential information with someone I wasn’t sure about, but she…”
“What?”
“There was something about her. She doesn’t seem like the type to --”
- 20 -
“Blow our cover? Remember the last person we trusted who betrayed us? Those bastards destroyed our compound and we lost three good men because of it. I’m not going to let that happen again because you’re thinking with the little head instead of the big one.”
“Oh yeah, and you haven’t had those moments? What about that redhead you told me about. If you hadn’t been so caught up in her, you might have gotten away without almost blowing your cover.”
This time when Chase blushed it wasn’t from anger. Obviously embarrassed at being caught in his own trap, he offered a sheepish grin. “Okay, so we both had our dumbass moments, but at least I didn’t give away more information than I should have.”
“To be honest, I didn’t really tell her much. Only that the company she’s working for isn’t as great as she thinks it is. And I put the idea to her about replacing Weems.”
“Yes, but by giving that away, you could have cost Weems his life. For all we know, he’s already being processed and sold. He might already be digested by now.”
“No. The spy working in that sector says he’s still alive. The Cyrellians are probably going to torture as much information out of him as possible.” Chase pursed his lips and rubbed his chin in his silent musings. “Hmm, it might be a good idea to move camp again.”
Jack grimaced at the prospect, but what option did they have? “It’s too bad. I was beginning to like this place. It’s spacious and the proximity to the city is ideal.”
“We’ll send Anna out to scout new locations. She found this place. I’m sure she can get us something comparable or even better.” At the mention of Anna’s name Jack cringed. He knew he’d hurt her, which made living in such close proximity awkward. The once easy friendship they’d shared was almost nonexistent. Whenever their paths crossed, it was all business. Ever the consummate professionals, they put aside their differences to work together. Still, something had to give before things got beyond the point they were now.
“Earth to Jack.” Chase waved his hand in Jack’s face.
- 21 -
With a start he broke out of his thoughts. “Sorry.”
“Where did you go?”
“Just thinking about what I’m going to do about the Anna situation.” Chase shot him an I-told-you-so look, but thankfully didn’t verbalize what he was probably thinking. “Damn, I wish you would have kept your damn mouth shut about our operation,” he muttered.
Jack’s annoyance began to grow. “Okay, I get it. I made a mistake. We’ve established who’s to blame, so if we all get blown to smithereens I take full responsibility. It’s time to move on.”
“I’m sorry. I’m being an ass aren’t I?”
Jack chuckled, never one to hold a grudge. “A little.”
“I just have all this nervous energy inside of me right now. We’ve been planning this coup for months, and it’s frustrating to know they got to Weems. We’ll have to bust him out. He didn’t deserve to be dragged down for getting involved with us.”
“You’re right. We’ll get the search and rescue team on that. Will you be heading it up?”
Chase nodded. “Will do. What about the woman?”
“Sydney?”
“Is that her name?”
“Yes. What about her?”
“It stands to reason if someone found out about Weems’s involvement with us, then they could have also noticed Sydney talking to you. As far as we know they could already be setting her up.”
Jack rubbed his chin. “I never thought about that. You’re right. What do you suggest we do?”
“If it’s not too late, we’ll need to warn her. Let her know to lay low for a while.”
“I’ll do it.”
Chase shook his head. “Uh uh. You were swayed by her pretty face once before. I don’t want it to happen again.”
- 22 -
Jack snorted. “What the hell do you think I’ll do? I know better this time around.
Anyway, it’s my mistake so I’ll be the one to fix it.” Chase’s uncertainty was clear, but before he had time to reply the door flew open. “Jack, Chase, there’s something I think you need to see.” Anna walked into the room, her gaze not making contact with Jack.
Jack wished she’d look at him when she spoke. At least then he wouldn’t feel like a class A asshole. “What is it?”
“We’ve intercepted some strange signal coming from space. I can’t quite get a lock on the coordinates, but whatever it is seems to be getting closer.” Chase frowned. “More Cyrellians?”
She shook her head, making the long blonde braid dangling behind her swing. “I don’t think so. It seems like some kind of distress call. Another odd thing about it is whoever is sending it is making sure the communication is sent outside the city, almost as if they don’t want the Cyrellians to know of their arrival.” Jack furrowed his brows together. “More aliens? As far as I know, if some kind of signal is being sent, anyone with the proper equipment can pick it up.” Anna nodded, still keeping her attention focused on Chase. “Yes, but our communicators show it’s only hitting outside of the city. If they’re able to target where they want to send a message, their technology might be way beyond even that of the Cyrellians.”
“I see,” Chase murmured, although it seemed clear that he didn’t. “I think you’d better show us what you’re talking about.” Turning on his heel, he was the first to walk out of the room.
Anna was close behind, but Jack halted her progress, grabbing her by the elbow.
“Wait.”
She stared pointedly at his hand. “What do you want, Jack?” A wary expression crept into her crystal blue eyes.
Jack wished more than anything he hadn’t crossed that line of friendship between them. He’d known she liked him as more than a friend and a commander, yet
- 23 -
he’d taken advantage of her trust in him. Granted, he’d been honest and told her he’d wanted a no-strings-attached affair, and Anna had agreed, but he should have known better.
“I’m sorry,” he said finally.
She pulled her elbow out of his grasp. “Forget about it. We need to go.”
“I know things can’t go back to the way they used to be with us, but couldn’t we at least try to gain some ground back? There was a time when we had no problem communicating.”
A tear spilled from the corner of her eye, which she angrily wiped away. “I don’t want to talk about this. We’ve already established it’s my fault anyway. I was the fool for thinking I could tame the great Jack Rogers. You discard women without an afterthought, so who was I to believe that I’d be any different?” The bitterness rang clear in her voice and each word cut him to the core.
He closed his eye briefly and then opened it. “You were more than that to me.”
“Oh yeah? From my perspective you couldn’t wait to kick me out of your bed.”
“I’m sorry if that’s the way you felt, but that’s not how it was. If I can take back anything, it’s that I hurt you.”
“Well, it’s too late and you did. This conversation is over and I’d rather you not bring it up again.”
“Regardless of what you think, I do care about you.”
“Bullshit.”
“Anna --”
She held up her hand with a shake of her head. “If you care about me like you claim, then please respect my wishes. We have no choice but to work together toward a common goal, however I’d rather any further communications between us be business only.”
Jack knew there was no arguing with that line of logic and he couldn’t say he blamed her. He nodded in agreement. “If that’s what you want.”
“It is.”
- 24 -
Jack followed her out of the room. Lately, it seemed as if women were complicating his life more than they should. First it was Anna, and then it was Sydney.
If their paths crossed again, he wasn’t sure how he’d be able to keep his hands to himself. He should have learned his lesson with the Anna debacle, but he’d always been told he was hard-headed.
* * *
Sydney watched the clock, her heart pounding in time with its ticking. A wave of paranoia hit her. If she was caught going through these confidential files, there was no telling what would happen to her. But now that she’d come this far there was no turning back.
She slid the access pass along the sensor and waited for the green light signaling the door could be opened. Were those footsteps? She rushed into the room and ducked behind the wall. Not having the proper clearance to enter this sector of the building she knew if someone found her in here, she’d be fired for sure -- or worse.
Since her encounter with Jack, she hadn’t been able to shake what he’d said, and unfortunately, she was beginning to agree with him. Something definitely wasn’t right at Cryo Cor. Sydney had already come to the company with doubts Holly had planted, but coupled with some of the strange things she’d witnessed in her first week at the office, she began to wonder.
The strangeness started with Dexter Weems. He was already gone by the time she’d arrived, but a few looked fearful about his dismissal when they spoke of it. It had been said he was fired for absconding with company funds, but Sydney had overheard a heated conversation that stated otherwise.
“They got to him, I know it,” whispered a nervous looking man with a yellowish tint to his skin.
“You shouldn’t say that too loud. They might hear you.” A woman with an equally yellowish hue looked over her shoulder as though expecting someone to round the corner any minute.
- 25 -
Sydney had backed away before the two could see her, but their conversation had added fuel to her growing concerns. What the hell were they so frightened of? Or who?
She’d chalked it up to an overactive imagination, but when she’d shared her observations with Holly later that night, the redhead didn’t seem to think so.
“I knew it! I told you things were strange at that company. Maybe they had that poor man killed.”
“We don’t know that, Holly. It could be one of those things. You know how office gossip is.”
“But didn’t you tell me how the Cyrellians supply you workers with their food in the cafeteria and how snacks are put out in the break rooms -- for free? What place of business does that… all the time?”
Sydney had rolled her eyes. “Because heaven forbid that a corporation actually takes care of its employees.”
“Yet everyone who works there seems to be off-color. I’d say that it’s more than a coincidence. If your colleagues are filling their bodies with that junk it could be having harmful side effects. Not only that, I know people who buy their stuff all the time, and they’re in no better shape. One guy died from it.”
“Of a heart attack. Cryo Cor can hardly be blamed for that.”
“Can’t they? Look, I’m keeping my end of the bargain and not trying to discourage you from working there, but I caution you: keep your eyes open. Please do that for me at least.”
Sydney had agreed and had done just that. In most circumstances she would have enjoyed her job as a financial analyst, but she began to notice more peculiar incidents. Whenever she spoke to a co-worker they always had some company provided snack in their hand. It was almost like an addiction.
Honestly, she’d never eaten their foods before because she was a vegetarian and rarely ate junk food. Curiosity made her wonder what it was about this stuff that had
- 26 -
people craving it to the point where they’d get up in the middle of a project and go get a snack before returning to their task.
When she’d tasted it, there was nothing spectacular about the flavor that would make one want more. Shrugging it off, Sydney didn’t give it another thought until a few hours later. A hunger like she’d never experienced before hit her. It was odd, because she instinctively knew her usual fruits weren’t going to hit the spot this time. She needed… Cryo Chips.
She ate an entire bag, hardly noticing the taste, but her craving had been fulfilled.
Sydney didn’t realize the effect of the snack on her until later. Maybe there was something to this food. She vowed not to touch the stuff, planning on sticking with what she brought to the office, although she’d broken out into a cold sweat wanting it later that night. That had led to a major headache the next day. It took a couple days until her longing to have it stopped, but from then on she never so much as glanced at the products.