Lie to Me (12 page)

“Maybe whoever her benefactor is helped somehow.” Stone secured his watch on his wrist, now more than ever convinced Mack Ellason was
his
Kella. The toy was a dead giveaway.

“We’re dealing with a lot of maybes and ifs here, brother.”

All doubts could be eradicated with one device. “You get the R-scanner?”

“Not yet. You wanted me to be discrete. That’s not a discrete item.”

“No point in arguing further then.” Absolutely none because Stone already knew she was Kella.

––––––––

S
tone took in the campsite as the flyer James navigated neared Mack Ellason’s tracker. It was obviously a work zone. A dozen tents were erected on the flat plains of the location. For miles around, only the red, sandy oasis of dessert terrain greeted the eye. Scaffolding was suspended over a gaping hole in the earth, and it looked like heli lights hovered over the pit. Heli lights worked like the ancient’s helicopters. They could float in one place, or be directed to move around wherever light was needed. They were also solar powered and could last up to three weeks on a single charge. Moreover, their high cost meant only the elite purchased them.

Where’d my little escapee get the funds for them?
Were they stolen? Illegally purchased off the black market? Or did she pull in that type of cash with her occupation.

One buggy resided at the compound, so only four could flee from trouble. Two guards with military grade M-16s, with at most forty rounds between them, was the whole of her defense. The entire set up invited trouble.

“This isn’t enough security for the badlands.” Stone pondered the two men on patrol and figured he could easily take them both. At once. Even with their M-16s.

“What’s it matter to you? She’s not yours.” James put the flyer in park as Stone ground his molars together, not willing to rehash their prior arguments. “If you can’t be reasonable, use the skills you’ve been taught. The territory is flat. Feeders would be spotted two hundred wheels out.”

So much for alleviating his worry. If anyone was going to eat Mack Ellason, it was going to be Regent Stone Emmerson and not a motherfucking man-eater. At the mere thought his downstairs brain stiffened.

Ignoring his reasonable-minded bodyguard, Stone hopped out of the flyer, and a moment later the conveyance settled to the ground. James pushed up and out of the transport and joined him. They walked toward a woman sorting relics on a table beneath the hot glare of the sun. As they neared her, Stone noticed the hot zone signs.

“She’s working in a
hot zone
?” He hissed at his friend.

“Oh, good goddamn.” James pinched the bridge of his nose. “
If
she’s Kella, she’d be safe in a hot zone.
You
aren’t.”

Stone shrugged, uncaring that his irrationality annoyed his buddy. “Mack Ellason,” he said to the worker.

The woman barely spared him a glance as she added relics from a cart to the table. “I’m sorry, sir, she’s unavailable. She’ll be topside later. You’re welcome to wait.”

“I’m Regent Stone Emmerson.” It pleased him that his identity snagged her full attention.

Her head snapped back, and her eyes rounded. Catching sight of James, she swallowed before smoothing her palm over her hair. “I’m sorry, Regent. I didn’t realize—”

“Take me to her.” Ass kissing could wait.

“Yes, of course, sir.” Tripping over the wagon, she waved for them to follow her.

“I’m James. What’s your name?” his friend asked.

“Molly.”

Molly looked like she thought they’d jump her and slit her throat if she turned her back on them too long.

Stopping at a small wooden structure, she explained, “You need suits before you go down.” Molly disappeared inside and returned a few moments later. She handed them each a black bracelet, standard issue hot zone bio-shields.

Stone slid his on and pushed down on the center where it was the widest. A gauzy type of film engulfed him like a suit, but was really nothing more than compressed air mixed with some type of decontaminant. It’d allow him to touch things without being cumbersome, the same as if he didn’t wear the suit. He could even fuck wearing one of these without the bio-shield interfering in the act. He didn’t pretend to understand how the apparatus worked, but they kept folks safe, so that’s what mattered.

“How big’s the dig?” James watched the sway of Molly’s ass.

“It’s huge, sir.”

“Just call me James.”

They halted at the pit, and Stone peered over the edge. Grooved metal caught his eyes, but a small hole in the top allowed for entrance inside the steel. That was a manmade hole crafted into the design of the hull—whatever it was.

Without waiting for James to secure the scene below, Stone hauled himself over the ledge and climbed down the rope ladder. Above him, his bodyguard cursed a blue streak and threatened bodily harm to Stone when they came topside.

Stone watched Molly descend the ladder. When she neared, he tapped his foot on the metal. “What is this?”

Molly jumped from the last rung, and James was already halfway down still bitching under his breath.

“A passenger train.” She sounded a tad winded from the climb down or watching James’s ass, Stone couldn’t decide and really couldn’t care less. “At first we thought it was a commuter, like a subway, then we found luggage.”

James punched Stone on the arm. Had it been anyone else abusing him, he’d have taken offense, but he and James went back to childhood.

“Follow protocol next time. So, doll, tell me...” James turned his attention on Molly, but Stone could tell his friend had shifted into bodyguard mode because his gaze flitted about the area. “How much will a dig like this bring in?”

“Don’t know.” Stone bet she was evasive on purpose, but he said nothing, and she went on. “Mack can be more specific if you like.” She stopped at the hatch into the train. “If you’re interested in a first right of refusal buyer option, that’s a discussion best had with Mack.”

James nodded and then stepped to the hatch. He didn’t wait for permission, just lowered himself into the car. A moment later he peered through the opening at them. “It’s secure.”

Stone helped Molly into the compartment and then lowered himself. This part must’ve been a common area because it housed tables and a variety of skeletons. Some slumped over the table, others on the floor, and then there were the ones reclining in their chairs. The thick dust evidenced the box hadn’t been disturbed since sometime around the 2121 pandemic that spread fast, wiping out ninety percent of the entire population. The scene also put in perspective the realities of that terrifying time. They still paid the price for the ancient’s narcissism, but society as a whole was one step closer to surviving.

That is in large part due to X-genes who spread their immunity to female offspring
.

Unused to seeing the evidence of the contagion’s consequence, Stone forgot his hair was secured at his nape and attempted to ram his fingers through his strands. Hot zones were always sanitized before he ever got a good look at them. This...he took a deep breath and glanced at James. His buddy’s wide-eyed expression verified the impact of the scene affected him too.

“What will you do with the bod...um...bones?” James had the presence of mind to ask.

“There’s a two-man team coming in tomorrow. They’ll dispose of them in a way that meets law requirements.” Molly glanced between them. “Sorry, I should’ve warned you.”

“Kella?” Stone managed to say.

He caught James’s sharp glance as Molly said, “Who?”

“Mack Ellason,” he corrected his gaffe.

She pointed. “That way.”

Once again, not waiting on James to lead him, Stone took off in the indicated direction, stepping over remains as he went. Two cars down, he located his quarry on her knees next to a bunk, in a room he could only presume had been private quarters when the passenger train operated. She peered into a box, the items inside glittering in the heli light’s beams. He guessed jewelry, probably the fake stuff because their ancestors loved costume jewels.

The next thing he noted was that Kella—Mack! Whatever the fuck her name was, but he was sticking with Mack until proved otherwise—wore a standard issue hot zone apparatus too. Of course she would, he reminded himself. If she chose not to, she’d give herself away.

Standing in the doorway, he rested his palm on the jamb. “You’re either reckless or out of your fucking mind.”

Mack gave a small squeal, flinching as she looked up. In that moment, he decided he liked her kneeling before him. And his cock agreed, stiffening beneath the snug borders of his leather pants. Didn’t matter that she was blonde and brown eyed and looked nothing like his Kella. What counted was that his body recognized her either way because he wanted her despite her lackluster features.

A tiny voice reminded that until he proved her identity with an R-scanner, she could very well be Mack Ellason and
not
his Kella. Coincidences occurred all the time.

He ignored the sage advice of the ignorant angel on his shoulder and stepped into the small space. Towering over her, he planted his feet and stared down at her, and reminded his dick she wasn’t kneeling to offer a blowjob, didn’t matter how perfectly set she was for the task.

Mack didn’t miss a beat. Dismissing him, she went back to inventorying her loot. “What are you doing here? Isn’t it a bit reckless of a Regent to be running around a hot zone?”

Yeah, it was reckless, but something about her turned him rash.

She placed a metal point of the device in her hands to a gemstone and the contraption beeped. Afterward she set the jewel on top of a mound of jewelry within the box.

“What’s that tell you?” He nodded at the gadget. “It’s tech and above your pay grade.”

“It tells me if they’re real or fake.” Shutting the lid, she rose to her feet. “Mr. Clueless, this is Regent approved tech for archeologists only. I’ve got papers to attest to the legal veracity or you can ask Regent Jones.” She settled the box on the bench and crossed her arms over her chest. “What are you doing here in a hot zone endangering yourself?”

“While I don’t answer to you, I commanded you to remain in my home.”

“I’ve got a job to do. Unlike you, I have to make a living the hard way and actually
work
. Some of us weren’t born with a silver spoon in our mouth.”

He snorted at her sarcasm. The hard set of her jaw worked against his arousal, and instead of decreasing his libido his desire increased. “I gave you a direct order, and you disobeyed. You ran.” He left out ‘again’ because he didn’t want to give away his conjecture just yet. Instead, he would save that for a more opportune time when he held more damning evidence.

She smirked. “Hard to run, genius, when this is a legal claim and registered with the Regency. I left a note on your desk. Not my problem you can’t read the schedule of my whereabouts.”

––––––––

K
ella watched him closely, wondering if he’d gone to Regent Jones to discover her whereabouts or how exactly he came by her coordinates. Best she knew the divulgement of a dig site was available through the formal means and not information open to all privileged at any given time.

His hair was secured at his nape. Funny how she suffered from the urge to release the chocolaty strands. She’d been partial to the rebellious length, and in their youth he’d indulged her and maintained the longer locks.

“So,” she said, breaking the silence in the hopes if she moved the conversation along he might get to his point. “I’m on a Regent-issued deadline, and you’re holding me up.”

He stared her straight in the eyes, and butterflies took off in her stomach. “You’re lying. Just like when you said you’re a lesbian.”

“Would you believe I’m bi?” His snort served as her answer. Her panties took a direct hit at the resonance of the sound. What was sexy about a snort? Not a goddamn thing, but tell that to her traitorous body. Moisture dampened the thin cotton of her underwear.
Shit.
Stone had always affected her more deeply than other boys. A simple grin had made her giggly at thirteen. Since ditching him, she’d been uninterested in other men. She’d chalked that up to being too busy surviving, but his abrupt arrival in her life disproved that theory.
Damn. Double damn.
What a nuisance to discover it was
him
her body craved.

“In this instance, I’m referring to the deadline spiel. That’s a lie. You’re not under a Regent-issued deadline.”

Oh
...well on that she was busted, but confessing her fib wasn’t on her agenda either. She couldn’t speak for all Regents, but Jones never fussed over a timeline when it came to a dig. Earning an obscene percentage of the profits is what pleased him. Usually. Sometimes he just took what he wanted. Either way, the sooner she finished the dig, the sooner she got Jones off her ass.

“Prove I’m lying.”

“I could arrest you for your disobedience and lies.”

“Sure, if you wanted to be an asshole.” Bigger than the one he already was. Before she could react, his arm shot out, and his hand dug into her tightly bound hair. “Ouch!” she complained, throwing her hands up to grab his wrist. Instead of releasing her, he ripped the band out and freed her long strands. He tilted her head back by using his grip on her hair. “Easy there, you psycho!”

She twisted to get free, but he responded by jerking hard enough to draw a gasp from her. Self-preservation resulted in Kella giving up and going motionless. She thought he had her hair wound around his wrist when he tugged hard enough to drag her against him, drawing her to her toes. The cotton of her shirt was suddenly too thin as her nipples scrubbed against the hard planes of his chest. Something firm pressed against her belly.

Let that be a gun. Let that be a gun. Let that be a damn gun
.

Didn’t matter though, because her body reacted like he sported a hard on? The very thought resulted in another surge of wet heat from her core.

“I dare you to name-call again.”