Authors: Maree Anderson
“Sixer.”
“Where are you now, Nessa?”
“Snapperton Motel,” uttered on an exhalation that was a borderline sob. “In the bathroom, so I don’t wake Chandler.”
“Snapperton.” That was… unexpected.
An unhappy laugh burst from the phone’s speaker. “Chandler insisted I try’n make amends with my folks again, so he drove me down last night.”
It couldn’t be easy revisiting the past—trying yet again to prove to the parents who had tossed you out, and turned their backs on you, that you’d changed for the better and were worthy of their trust. Full marks to Nessa for having the courage to try. And to Chandler, who cared so much for Nessa that he would to do his utmost to make this reconciliation happen. Jay believed the majority of his peers would have bailed on someone who carried as much baggage as Nessa did, long before now.
Nessa was still caught up in her explanation, the words tripping over themselves in her eagerness to get it all out. “Except I chickened out, coz, you know, the last time I visited them didn’t go so well.” A gross understatement if what Jay knew of the encounter was any indication. “But Chandler was really great about it, and he got us a room so I could go later this morning, but I couldn’t sleep so I got up to go for a walk and I’d gotten as far as the parking lot and that’s when I saw him, Jay. The guy who looked like Sixer. He… he was unlocking the door a few rooms down from ours. I-I think he’s staying here! God. He’s here, Jay. What do I do?”
Jay had no doubts that Nessa had correctly identified Cyborg Six-Point-0, AKA “Sixer”. She may not have gotten a good enough look at Sixer’s face to verify his identity beyond a doubt, but her subconscious had filled in the blanks and triggered an instinctive flight reaction. Nessa’s one and only face-to-face encounter with Sixer had been both prolonged and terrifying. One did not easily forget such an encounter.
Well, that neatly solved the problem of tracking Sixer down… and caused a number of other problems—the most pressing being how to extract Nessa from Snapperton, because Jay didn’t believe for a second that Sixer hadn’t sensed Nessa’s presence. The fact that he’d ignored her was a sign that she did not feature in his plans—for now, at least. But Jay wanted Nessa and Chandler safely out of the way. Humans had a habit of becoming collateral damage when Sixer was around and, despite a rocky start, Jay had become…
fond
of both Tyler’s ex and the unlikely young man who’d captured Nessa’s heart.
Three sharp raps echoed down the line, closely followed by Nessa’s gasp as Chandler called, “You okay, babe? You’re not sick from that burger last night or something?”
“Put Chandler on the phone, Nessa.”
“Wh-what are you gonna tell him? That I’m p-paranoid?”
Nessa’s voice sounded thick and miserable—as though she was on the verge of tears. But more worrisome than that was the underlying resignation in her tone. Jay felt a sharp twinge in her chest region. Nessa’s path hadn’t been an easy one, and her self-esteem had taken a massive hit. Rather than stand up for herself, she tended to accept—and even expect—poor treatment and put-downs.
Jay moderated and softened her tone. “I believe you, Nessa. I’m going to ask Chandler to drive you back home right now, okay? In fact, why don’t you put your cell phone on speaker so you can listen to what I tell him?”
“It’s okay. I trust you, Jay. You’re good people.”
“Thank you, Nessa. I appreciate that more than you could know. If Chandler asks for details, I’m going to cast our problem child in the role of a blackmailer I paid off on your behalf. In this case, I’m subscribing to the adage that the best lie contains elements of the truth. It’s up to you what else you choose to reveal to Chandler.”
There was a prolonged pause while Nessa absorbed this, and then she whispered, “Thanks, Jay.”
Jay cast a glance at Seth, who’d leaned back, legs dangling off the end of the mattress, torso elevated by his elbows. Curiosity burned in his eyes, turning them from an unexceptional mild gray to incisive silver.
She held up her hand, fingers and thumb outstretched, and mouthed,
Give me five.
He nodded, but didn’t shift his focus from her face, as though intent on guessing the nature of the drama playing out down the phone line, and Jay’s role in it.
“Jay needs to talk to you,” Jay heard Nessa announce, and then Chandler’s voice came on the line. “Hey, Jay. What’s up?”
Jay didn’t try to sugarcoat the situation, and stuck to as much of the truth as she was willing to reveal. Sometimes she thought it would be easier to simply tell Nessa and Chandler exactly what she was, and then deal with the fallout. But so much worse than the possibility of losing their friendship, was the prospect the revelation would endanger them. The fewer humans who knew what Jay was, the better for everyone.
Suppressing a sigh, and wondering how it had all gotten so very complicated, she said, “When Nessa last visited her parents, she encountered a young man who turned out to be a very unpleasant individual. He didn’t physically harm her but he scared her, and tried to blackmail her.”
Chandler’s indrawn breath and continued silence indicated Nessa hadn’t revealed anything about her encounter with Sixer. Since the truth of the incident didn’t portray Nessa in a particularly good light, Jay couldn’t blame her for keeping it quiet.
“Nessa came to me for help, and I paid him off,” Jay continued, careful not to mention Sixer’s name aloud. All she needed right now was for Seth to panic and do a runner. “I believed I’d made it worth his while to leave Nessa alone. Apparently I was mistaken.”
Chandler was aware that Jay was financially very well off. He should therefore conclude the pay-off had been in cash, and that the figure had been substantial.
“Yeah, I get what you’re saying,” he said. “So I’m guessing this asshole’s turned up again, right?”
His tone was belligerent, spiked with undercurrents of fear and worry. Chandler had never struck Jay as the kind of male who would lead with his fists without considering the pros and cons, however love did strange things to humans. She would have to quash any plans to hunt Sixer down and tear him limb from limb before they got off the ground. “Right,” she said. “Since he didn’t heed my message the first time around, he obviously needs further convincing.”
“Tell me his name and I’ll—”
“Put yourself at risk, thereby scaring the hell out of your girlfriend, who just so happens to be crazy in love with you. Leave this to me, Chandler. I have… resources.”
He was silent for so long that Jay ventured to say, “Please, Chandler.”
“Those ‘resources’ you mentioned better include paying someone to put some major hurt on this dude this time. I want him to suffer for what he’s doing to Ness, you hear what I’m saying?”
“I hear you. Consider it done.”
“Good.”
That had definitely been a snarl. Aware of Seth’s continued regard, Jay confined her reaction to a blink. Caro had labeled Chandler a “sweet guy with nerdish tendencies” and Jay had never before heard him sound so… so…
feral
, so prepared to inflict grievous bodily harm. Caro would doubtless have been shocked, whereas Jay approved wholeheartedly of Chandler’s transformation since becoming Nessa’s very significant other.
“One last thing, Chandler.”
“I’m listening.”
“Don’t grill Nessa about this. She doesn’t need to rehash the past—she’s been through enough with this creep. Can you please take her home right now? Just pack your stuff, get in the car and go. I need to know she’s left Snapperton and is safe with you.”
“He’s here, isn’t he? That’s why she’s so freaked.”
Chandler was too smart for his own good. Jay watched Seth minutely observing her and kept her expression neutral. “Something like that,” she said, holding her breath and hoping Chandler wouldn’t choose to be difficult.
“We’re outta here in five. I’ll get Nessa to text you when we’re home.”
“Have her phone me,” Jay told him. “Texts are too easy to fake.”
“Got it.”
“I have to go.”
“Jay? Be careful.”
“I always am.”
The instant she disconnected her cell phone rang again. It was not a number she recognized but she had a very good idea who it would be. “Hello, Adam.”
“I remain undecided about taking on that label,” Sixer said. “As I’m sure you are aware of that, I can only presume you are reluctant for whomever you are with to know you are speaking with me.”
It was a statement of fact and required no response so Jay merely asked, “Why are you ringing me?”
“Vanessa Ward saw me entering my room at the Snapperton Motel. Correct?”
“Correct.”
“I feel compelled to assure you that my purpose for being in Snapperton is not to harm or intimidate either Vanessa Ward or the Davidson family.”
Jay remained silent, goading him to speak.
“Do you not believe I am speaking the truth?” he asked.
“Actions speak louder than words, Adam. In this case, the actions I refer to are the continued wellbeing of Miss Ward, her current boyfriend, and the Davidson family. Have I made myself clear?”
And Cyborg Six-Point-0 surprised her by responding, “Crystal,” before disconnecting the call.
Not so long ago, Sixer’s programming would have made such a flip response inconceivable. The possibility that Sixer, too, was evolving beyond the parameters of his core programming was high. But that possibility wouldn’t stop Jay carrying out her plan. Sixer was still too much of an unknown quantity—too…
inhuman
and lacking in empathy. Ergo, he couldn’t be trusted to put the welfare of humans Jay cared about above his own.
The only thing that Jay could be sure Sixer respected was superiority. And he had bested her—albeit by unfair means—therefore, in Sixer’s eyes, she was inferior, and unworthy of his respect. For now, it suited Sixer to play along with her demands, but if his agenda changed, Jay had no doubts whatsoever that Tyler, his family, and Nessa, would simply become pawns in Sixer’s endgame.
Jay needed to earn Sixer’s respect by proving herself superior to him. Only then could she be sure that he would heed her demands.
She slipped the phone back into her pocket before pinning Seth to the spot with what Tyler called her “badass cyborg-chick” look. “I’d suggest you find some clothes.”
He scuttled off the mattress and rummaged on the floor beside the bed until he’d unearthed a pair of wrinkled khakis and a grubby, white button-down shirt. As he dressed, he shot glances at her that were doubtless meant to be surreptitious but completely failed in that regard.
She pointed to the loafers he’d tossed beside the wardrobe. When he’d stamped his sockless feet into them she said, “Spit it out.”
“Spit what out?”
He met her gaze but his attempt at faking confusion was laughable. She gazed back at him, unblinking. “You’ve been staring at me like I’m some lab-rat that’s just verbally informed a bunch of scientists it doesn’t appreciate being poked and prodded. Frankly, Seth, it’s getting old. I’m blessed—or cursed, depending on your point of view—with the ability to feel and emote. I have even been known to cry on occasion. However, in my current mood I’m more likely to kick someone’s ass than shed a tear, so you’ll simply have to take my word for it. Now, can we please move on?”
Seth shook his head in a way that indicated disbelief. “You’re pretty fucking incredible, you know that, Gamma?”
“You mean my
creator
was pretty fucking incredible. And my name is Jay.”
Planting his butt on the mattress, he waved a dismissive hand. “I’m not disputing Alexander Durham was a genius—your very existence is evidence of that. He might have built you, and made you look human—even programmed your brain to act like one when it was logical to do so—but not even a mad genius like Durham could give a cyborg a soul. You developed
that
all on your own.”
Jay rocked back on her heels. It felt like… like….
Like her stomach had plummeted to her toes, and her heart had performed a flip in her chest cavity. “You believe I have a soul?”
Seth gave her “Well, duh!” eyes. “Technically, Sixer’s built to the same specs as you—different genetic material of course, because yeah, Caine was that much of a narcissist—but that’s merely cosmetics.”
A buzz hijacked Jay’s brain, momentarily paralyzing her as the implications of Seth’s last statement seeped into her consciousness. If she’d been human, she would have presumed she was entering a state of mild shock.
“But the two of you might as well be different species,” he was saying, unaware of her inner turmoil. “Sixer’s a thinking, reasoning
machine
with all the empathy of an amoeba. You, on the other hand, have evolved into what’s essentially a human being that just happens to reside in a cyborg shell. You, my dear Gamma—”
“Jay,” she corrected automatically. “My name is Jay. Please use it.”
The still functioning part of her brain noted the triumphant “See? What did I tell you?” glint in his eyes. “You, my dear,
Jay
,” he said, speaking slowly, as though relishing each word, “are a fucking amazing gift from God—an artificial construct with a soul.”
Jay forced back the numbness of shock—or whatever it was that currently inhibited her ability to function. She sniffed in an affected manner, and injected a casual tone into her voice, pushing away intruding doubts that she could pull it off. “Hah. I don’t believe for a second that
Sixer
was built to the same specs as me. My creator worked alone. He never revealed the secrets of my construction to anyone.”
Something shifted in Seth’s eyes. “You don’t know?” He levered himself from the mattress and stood. Slowly, carefully, as though he feared she would slap him away, he cupped her chin in his hands and tilted her face, staring intently into her eyes. He blinked. “Shit-oh-dear, you really don’t know.”
Jay narrowed her eyes at him and he quickly backed up, hands raised in an unmistakable “Don’t shoot” gesture. And then he said, “Evan Caine was Alexander Durham’s illegitimate son.”
Interesting. And potentially very useful information indeed—provided there was any truth to Seth’s claim. Until now, Jay had failed to unearth any significant connection between the two men that would explain Caine’s obsession with Jay’s creator, and his subsequent attempts to duplicate Alex Durham’s life’s work. Unfortunately, extracting more information from Caine’s former employee and verifying the truth was going to have to wait. “Cadillac Escalade,” she announced.